June 21, 2025 | By Lyndal Scranton

Dayton Pursley rolls to first USRA Modified win in Lucas Oil Speedway spotlight feature

WHEATLAND, MO.—Dayton Pursley of nearby Hermitage, who grew up watching his dad race USRA Modifieds at Lucas Oil Speedway, found his way to victory lane in the division on Saturday night.

Pursley led all but the opening lap and held off Dustin Hodges for his first Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modified victory and pick up the $1,000 check in the headliner during Ozarks Food Harvest Food Drive Night at the Races.

Other feature winners in the Pitts Homes and Realty Weekly Racing Series program were Johnny Fennewald (Hickamo Super Stocks), Tucker Cox (Hermitage Lumber Late Models), Jon Sheets (Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and William Garner (O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars).

Dayton Pursley, who started third, took the lead on lap two after pole-starting Hodges paced the opening circuit. Pursley also zoomed past his dad who's the reigning track champ, Jason Pursley, to make his way to the front.

Competing for only the second time this season, Dayton Pursley never surrendered the lead the remainder of the 25-lapper, despite a strong challenge from Hodges on the final lap. Nic Bidinger was third and Jason Pursley came home in fourth.

"I can't thank the Lord enough for giving me the opportunity," Dayton Pursley said in victory lane. "This is my second race of the year and first win. That's 50 percent, so it ain't bad. I want to thank my grandpa, who's worked his butt off, and my dad for his countless hours and money and everything.

"I want to thank all my sponsors. I don't know what to say."

Pursley drove like a veteran from the start. His lead was 1.4 seconds when the first caution flew on lap seven. Pursley drew off to a 1.6-second margin by lap 15 as Hodges and Jason Pursley gave chase. The leaders entered lapped traffic soon after and it didn’t slow down the eventual winner - but a caution did on lap 19 to bunch the field for another restart with six to go.

Hodges stayed within two car lengths the rest of the way after action resumed and tried a low-side bid in the final turns of the final lap, but couldn’t get around the 22-year-old in his first full season driving a USRA Modified.

It was Dayton Pursley’s second career win at Lucas Oil Speedway, with the other coming in a USRA B-Mod in 2023.

Fennewald dominates Super Stocks feature: Johnny Fennewald of Appleton City led all the way in a caution-free Hickamo Super Stocks feature, outdistancing runner-up Tony Anglin by two seconds.

Fennewald grabbed the lead at the start and had a 1.9-second command over Tony Anglin at the midway point of the 20-lapper. With the race staying green throughout, Fennewald’s lead wasn’t threatened.

Tim Brown was third with Michael Muskrat fourth and Derek Brown fifth. Fennewald lapped everyone up to Derek Brown.

"We have a pretty good car now," Fennewald said. "We jumped the cushion last week and had a hell of a week. We got it fixed, working really hard this week to get it done."

Cox prevails in a Late Model thriller: Tucker Cox of Jefferson City came away with the Hermitage Lumber Late Model win in a one-lap shootout set up by a caution as he and Matt Becker were dueling for the lead on what was to be the final lap.

The entertaining battle between Cox and Becker featured five official lead changes, though there were more within several of the laps. It was Cox's first win of the season.

"He was just using the entire race track. He was making it as hard as he could to pass," Cox said. "I was getting such a run off (turn) two, I knew that's where I could get him. I was glad to see that last caution. He was gonna chop me going there into three."

Becker led the first two laps before Cox went around him on the outside to take the front on lap three. Becker moved back to the point on lap five as those two separated from the field by nearly three seconds.

Becker was able to forge a half-second lead by lap 10, but Cox jumped to the high side and found speed. He closed in briefly pulled alongside Becker on lap 11 but was unable to complete the pass.

Cox made a dive to the inside out of turn four on lap 15, but that didn’t work, either. Finally, on lap 17, he edged into the top spot before Becker took it back the next time around. Then it was Cox in front at the white flag, but Becker regained the lead on the outside.

Scott Bergen spun in turn four right in front of the leaders, who somehow dodged him,. The caution set up a one-lap sprint for the win and Cox prevailed.

Bergen settled for second with Robbe Ewing third, Bryon Allison fourth and JC Morton fifth.

Sheets hangs on in a B-Mod battle: Jon Sheets of Nevada picked up his third Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mod victory of the season, holding off Tyler Potter and JC Morton in a terrific finish.

"The motor wasn't running right. After lap three or four, we picked up a miss," Sheets said. "We lost our fuel pressure. It was sure hindering us. I've got to thank the guys behind me for not running over me."

Sheets took the lead on lap five after Colson Kirk had paced the opening laps. Sheets immediately got loose entering turn two and lost the lead - but a caution that occurred behind the leaders meant the running order for a restart reverted to the last completed lap.

Sheets made the most of the opportunity after his bobble, hugging the low grooves in the turns to open a 1.3-second gap on Kirk by lap 10. Meanwhile, seventh-starting Tyler Potter supplanted Kirk for second on lap 13, just before the race’s second caution.

JC Morton, who started 12th, charged into third on lap 16 to make it a three-way battle for the win. They were three-wide nearing the start-finish line as the white flag was set to fly - but instead a caution appeared. That left the running order as Sheets, Potter and Morton for a two-lap finish.

Sheets was able to fend off the pair the rest of the way to prevail for his 11th overall win of the season by .329 seconds over Potter with Morton .089 behind the winner.

"I knew they'd be reeling me right back in," Sheets said of Potter and Morton. "There's only so long you can hold off someone like JC. The 94 car, Potter, he's good, too."

Kirk settled for fourth and J.T. Carroll came home in fifth.

Garner all the way for Stock Cars win: William Garner of Lebanon led all 20 laps, but had to navigate a late restart to hang on for the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature win.

The front row was wiped out on the first lap as pole-sitter Dawson Fennewald spun in turn four and Jaylen Wettengel clipped him and suffered a flat tire.

Garner inherited the pole on the restart and set the pace, rolling to a 2.3-second lead over Beck by lap nine when a caution tightened the field.

After action resumed, Garner didn’t fool around. He needed just five laps to reclaim his comfortable margin over Beck with Christopher Sawyer in third. Garner’s lead was fourth seconds coming to the white flag when a slower car spun to bring out one more yellow.

Garner handled the restart to beat Beck by a second. Sawyer was third, James McMillin fourth and Butch Bailey fifth.

"When Dawson and Jaylen got together and I hit Dawson, I thought I just ripped the rear end out of this thing," Garner said. "I don't know how I didn't get a flat. I hope his car's not too bad. It (stinks) when a race car gets tore up and you don't get to even make a lap."


LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (June 21, 2025)
Pitts Homes and Realty Weekly Racing Series


Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds

A Feature - 1. 10P-Dayton Pursley[3]; 2. 22-Dustin Hodges[1]; 3. 3B-Nic Bidinger[5]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley[2]; 5. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[9]; 6. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[8]; 7. 92-Daniel Scrogham[4]; 8. 68-Dean Wille[15]; 9. 73-Mickey Burrell[7]; 10. 127-Paden Phillips[11]; 11. 25-Scotty Roberts[14]; 12. 75L-Lane Whitney[12]; 13. 24D-Donnie Fellers[20]; 14. 33S-Ben Stockton[18]; 15. 23N-Kenny Nutter[13]; 16. 53-Charlie Laizure[19]; 17. (DNF) 03-Jason Sivils[16]; 18. (DNF) 21W-Tracy Wolf[10]; 19. (DNF) 91-Hoyt Miller[17]; 20. (DNF) 23-Lucas Dobbs[6]; 21. (DNS) 88-Jimmy Dowell; 22. (DNS) 98K-Kenton Allen; 23. (DNS) 1B-Bobby Williams; 24. (DNS) 12X-Skip Pope

Heat 1 - 1. 38C-Jason Pursley[1]; 2. 92-Daniel Scrogham[4]; 3. 23-Lucas Dobbs[6]; 4. 75L-Lane Whitney[2]; 5. 68-Dean Wille[3]; 6. 33S-Ben Stockton[5]; 7. 24D-Donnie Fellers[7]; 8. (DNF) 88-Jimmy Dowell[8]

Heat 2 - 1. 10P-Dayton Pursley[1]; 2. 3B-Nic Bidinger[3]; 3. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[2]; 4. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[7]; 5. 25-Scotty Roberts[6]; 6. 03-Jason Sivils[8]; 7. 53-Charlie Laizure[5]; 8. (DNS) 98K-Kenton Allen

Heat 3 - 1. 22-Dustin Hodges[5]; 2. 73-Mickey Burrell[1]; 3. 21W-Tracy Wolf[2]; 4. 127-Paden Phillips[6]; 5. 23N-Kenny Nutter[7]; 6. 91-Hoyt Miller[4]; 7. (DNS) 12X-Skip Pope; 8. (DQ) 1B-Bobby Williams[3]


Hickamo Super Stocks

A Feature - 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[2]; 2. G1-Tony Anglin[3]; 3. 111-Tim Brown[6]; 4. 164-Michael Muskrat[1]; 5. 11-Derek Brown[5]; 6. 35-Johnny Coats[8]; 7. 41-Cragar Harris[9]; 8. 16-Logan Thompson[10]; 9. 70-Patrick West[14]; 10. (DNF) 4G-Gary Clark[7]; 11. (DNF) 25-Aaron Murry[4]; 12. (DNF) 1G-Nick Gibson[11]; 13. (DNF) 40-Alcoa Harris[12]; 14. (DNS) 26-Burl Woods

Heat 1 - 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[3]; 2. G1-Tony Anglin[5]; 3. 11-Derek Brown[6]; 4. 35-Johnny Coats[2]; 5. 41-Cragar Harris[7]; 6. (DNF) 40-Alcoa Harris[1]; 7. (DNF) 70-Patrick West[4]

Heat 2 - 1. 164-Michael Muskrat[4]; 2. 25-Aaron Murry[3]; 3. 111-Tim Brown[5]; 4. 4G-Gary Clark[6]; 5. 16-Logan Thompson[7]; 6. 1G-Nick Gibson[2]; 7. (DNF) 26-Burl Woods[1]


Hermitage Lumber Late Models

A Feature - 1. 1T-Tucker Cox[2]; 2. 00-Matt Becker[1]; 3. 32-Robbe Ewing[3]; 4. 1A-Bryon Allison[5]; 5. 72-JC Morton[10]; 6. 20-Alan Westling[7]; 7. 28-Jim Greenway[4]; 8. 99-Larry Jones[8]; 9. 3K-Richard Kimberling[9]; 10. 18-Scott Bergen[6]; 11. (DNS) 18E-Shawn Eggeman

Heat 1 - 1. 00-Matt Becker[1]; 2. 1T-Tucker Cox[3]; 3. 32-Robbe Ewing[4]; 4. 28-Jim Greenway[6]; 5. 1A-Bryon Allison[7]; 6. 18-Scott Bergen[2]; 7. 20-Alan Westling[8]; 8. 99-Larry Jones[5]; 9. 3K-Richard Kimberling[9]; 10. (DNF) 72-JC Morton[11]; 11. (DNF) 18E-Shawn Eggeman[10]


Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

A Feature - 1. 8-Jon Sheets[3]; 2. 94-Tyler Potter[7]; 3. 18-JC Morton[12]; 4. 55-Colson Kirk[1]; 5. 94C-JT Carroll[11]; 6. 7L-Trevor Drake[2]; 7. 15-Ryan Edde[4]; 8. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[8]; 9. 32-Robbe Ewing[6]; 10. F1-Mitchell Franklin[10]; 11. 11S-Scotty Bough[14]; 12. 82N-Keith Nutter[15]; 13. 214-Eric Spreer[18]; 14. 42J-Donnie Jackson[21]; 15. 1-Justin Allen Jr[13]; 16. 39-Trent Rogers[17]; 17. 08-Chad Neill[23]; 18. 1R-Rylan Gibbs[5]; 19. (DNF) 98-Christopher Watts[16]; 20. (DNF) 17L-Londen McClure[20]; 21. (DNF) 03-Chase Jones[19]; 22. (DNF) 29-Bronson Wicker[22]; 23. (DNF) 30-Trevor Wilson[9]

Heat 1- 1. 55-Colson Kirk[2]; 2. 8-Jon Sheets[5]; 3. 94-Tyler Potter[3]; 4. 18-JC Morton[4]; 5. 94C-JT Carroll[8]; 6. 214-Eric Spreer[6]; 7. 03-Chase Jones[1]; 8. 42J-Donnie Jackson[7]

Heat 2 - 1. 7L-Trevor Drake[2]; 2. 32-Robbe Ewing[1]; 3. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[3]; 4. F1-Mitchell Franklin[5]; 5. 11S-Scotty Bough[7]; 6. 98-Christopher Watts[8]; 7. 17L-Londen McClure[6]; 8. (DNF) 08-Chad Neill[4]

Heat 3 - 1. 1R-Rylan Gibbs[1]; 2. 15-Ryan Edde[5]; 3. 30-Trevor Wilson[3]; 4. 1-Justin Allen Jr[4]; 5. 82N-Keith Nutter[6]; 6. 39-Trent Rogers[2]; 7. (DNF) 29-Bronson Wicker[7]


O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars

A Feature - 1. 7-William Garner[3]; 2. 0F-Mason Beck[6]; 3. 12-Christopher Sawyer[4]; 4. 8M-James McMillin[7]; 5. 111-Butch Bailey[8]; 6. 35Z-Zach Zeugin[10]; 7. 24-Blayne McMillin[11]; 8. L23-Allen Luttjohann[13]; 9. 83-James Ellis[5]; 10. 19J-jett stovall[12]; 11. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[2]; 12. (DNF) 54T-Gage Test[14]; 13. (DNF) 34-Blake Bolton[9]; 14. (DNF) 22-Dawson Fennewald[1]; 15. (DNS) 54-William Gillette

Heat 1 - 1. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[1]; 2. 7-William Garner[4]; 3. 83-James Ellis[5]; 4. 34-Blake Bolton[2]; 5. 111-Butch Bailey[8]; 6. 19J-Jett Stovall[6]; 7. L23-Allen Luttjohann[3]; 8. (DNS) 54-William Gillette

Heat 2 - 1. 22-Dawson Fennewald[2]; 2. 12-Christopher Sawyer[1]; 3. 0F-Mason Beck[4]; 4. 8M-James McMillin[5]; 5. 35Z-Zach Zeugin[6]; 6. 24-Blayne McMillin[3]; 7. 54T-Gage Test[7]

Kubota High Limit Diamond Classic next: The 2nd annual Kubota High Limit Sprint Diamond Classic is next up at Lucas Oil Speedway, with three nights of racing June 26-28. NASCAR champion Kyle Larson will be on hand for the first night on Thursday.

The 410 winged sprint car national series, owned by Larson and six-time National Sprint Car champion Brad Sweet, will host 60 events in 20 states across the United States. The series, in just its second national touring season, will pay out nearly $6 million in prize money.

Grandstand gates open at 4 p.m. each day with hot laps at 6:30 and qualifying set for 7. All single-day ticket prices for Lucas Oil will increase by $5 if purchased at the track. Advance tickets can be purchased online through Stubwire on the Lucas Oil Speedway website.

For more information about Kubota High Limit Racing, including archieved stories, standings and schedules, visit highlimitracing.com.

Ticket or camping questions: For information on admission or camping for any Lucas Oil Speedway event in 2025, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.