August 30, 2025 | By Lyndal Scranton

Simpson leads all the way to capture Ron Jenkins Memorial opener at Lucas Oil Speedway

WHEATLAND, MO.—It was a different sanctioning series, but the same winning results Friday night for Chris Simpson at the 11th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Simpson, of Oxford, Iowa, led all 30 laps to capture the opener of the weekend Comp Cams Super Dirt Series doubleheader. It was one year ago that Simpson also won the Night One feature at the Ron Jenkins Memorial when it was a Lucas Oil MLRA event

Simpson earned $7,500 for his night's work, which included a $2,000 bonus for the win and $500 fast-time bonus courtesy of Mary Jenkins Holt in honor of the late Ron Jenkins, builder of the original Lucas Oil Speedway. A total of 45 Late Models entered the opener.

"We were good. This was a brand new car and we were gonna go to Illinois and race, then I was like 'why don't we get the new car out and go to Wheatland?' Good choice," Simpson said in victory lane. "We run good here and we love coming here and the track is always racy."

After setting fast qualifying time earlier and winning his heat race, Simpson started on the pole and roared to a 3.8-second lead over fellow front-row starter Gordy Gundaker by lap five. The first caution few one lap later for a spinning Kayden Clatt, after Simpson’s cushion had reached 4.1 seconds.

Simpson sprinted away again after the restart, rolling to a three-second lead over Gundaker by the race's midpoint on lap 15, while in the midst of lapped traffic. Gundaker was able to slice into the lead as the duo navigated slower cars, pulling within two seconds by lap 19. Simpson then regained his rhythm, opening up by 3.3 seconds by lap 25.

"I knew that bottom would be good, so I knew if I got a good start on Gordy and he didn't beat me into (turn) one that I could kind of roll that bottom," Simpson said of the rae's start. "The part I was worried about was when I ran up on lapped traffic, if I could move out and get by those guys, otherwise that would bring Gordy right back to me."

Simpson poured it on late as the race stayed caution-free, beating Gundaker by 4.5 seconds at the finish.

"Congrats to Gordy. He's a good buddy of mine," Simpson said. "For us to come down here and run 1-2 is pretty cool."

Gundaker, of St. Charles, said Simpson was simply too tough - from the time he unloaded until the checkers flew.

"Chris was the class of the field all night," Gundake said. "You could tell from when they unloaded. We're parked right next to each other and I could tell he was confident. But when you get in lapped traffic, you never know what is going to happen.

"I was trying to stay within fighting ground of him, I was a little tighter than I would have liked."

R.C. Whitwell was a distant third with series points leader Billy Moyer fourth after starting eighth and Jon Kirk was fifth.

Justin Wells (sixth), Terry Phillips (ninth) and Dillon McCowan (10th) were southwest Missouri drivers earning top-10 finishes.

Simpson had the fast qualifying lap, the only driver to go sub-15 seconds as he posted a 14.802 to pace Group A.

The stakes are higher on Saturday night with a $10,000-to-win feature and Mary Jenkins Holt adding a $2,000 bonus to the winner plus another $500 fast-time qualifier bonus.

Super Stocks win goes to Carver: Taylor Carver of Lockesburg, Ark., built up a big advantage as he paced all 30 laps, then held on late to beat Blaine Ewing for the Hickamo Super Stocks feature.

Carver set the early pace from his pole-starting position and had a one-second lead over Ewing when caution slowed the action on lap six. Ewing briefly pulled alongside Carver after the restart, but Carver quickly cleared and drew away to nearly a two-second lead by lap 10.

It was more of the same the rest of the way under green-flag conditions, with Carver leading by 3.6 seconds before Ewing cut into the lead late. Carver, after battling lapped traffic, wound up .778 seconds in front of the runner-up. Terry Schultz was third, J.T. Carroll fourth and Tony Anglin fifth.

"This was the first night in this car and we just tried to get out front and hang on," Carver said, adding that the Super Stocks Big Buck 50 in October is the primary reason for the visit this weekend.

"That's why we're here this weekend. We plan on coming back" for the Big Buck.

Evinger earns Show-Me Vintage Racers win: Owen Evinger of Odessa grabbed command on lap six and drove away to a lopsided victory over Mickie Cook in the Show-Me Vintage Racers feature, his third SMVR victory of the season.

Fourth-starting Jason Isabell started fourth and had the lead by the end of lap one, holding it until Evigner, who started eighth, grabbed the top spot on lap six. Isabell was closing back in when caution flew on lap eight.

Isabell spun in turn two on the restart, sending him to the rear of the field and elevating Cook into second for the ensuing restart. Evinger was able to take it to the checkers from there, finishing 4.3 seconds clear of Cook.

"It was a lot of fun. The track was really good," Evinger said. "My wife's birthday is tomorrow and this will be nice for her."

Bob Werkmeister finished third with Chad Eickleberry fourth and Damon Clevenger fifth.



LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Aug. 29, 2025)

11th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial

Comp Cams Super Late Model Dirt Series

A Feature - 1. 32-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[2]; 3. 7-RC Whitwell[6]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[8]; 5. 11-Jon Kirby[3]; 6. 98-Justin Wells[11]; 7. 1ST-Justin Reed[7]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[4]; 9. 75P-Terry Phillips[5]; 10. 75M-Dillon McCowan[12]; 11. 96-Dalton Imhoff[15]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner[17]; 13. 86-Kyle Beard[24]; 14. 93-Mason Oberkramer[14]; 15. 1-BJ Robinson[22]; 16. B17-Brandon Ball[18]; 17. 66-Eli Ross[23]; 18. 12-Scott Crigler[9]; 19. 7J-Ryan Johnson[20]; 20. 14M-Morgan Bagley[21]; 21. (DNF) 50C-Kayden Clatt[13]; 22. (DNF) 5-Jon Mitchell[10]; 23. (DNF) 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[16]; 24. (DNF) 15L-Payton Looney[19]

Smiley's Racing Products B Feature 1 - 1. 4G-Bob Gardner[2]; 2. 15L-Payton Looney[1]; 3. 1-BJ Robinson[4]; 4. 1T-Tucker Cox[5]; 5. 91-Chris Jones[6]; 6. 19-Thomas Langley[7]; 7. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[11]; 8. 66-Eli Ross[8]; 9. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[9]; 10. 87-Shawn Mann[14]; 11. 14W-Dustin Walker[13]; 12. 24B-Chris Bragg[12]; 13. 86-Kyle Beard[10]; 14. (DNF) 15-Shane Stephens[3]; 15. (DNS) 75A-Daniel Adam

Delta Thunder Motorsports B Feature 2 - 1. B17-Brandon Ball[1]; 2. 7J-Ryan Johnson[4]; 3. 1X-Aaron Marrant[2]; 4. 7W-Cole Wells[6]; 5. 2-Charlie Cole[7]; 6. 15S-Clay Stuckey[5]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[9]; 8. 14M-Morgan Bagley[3]; 9. 88-Chance Mann[12]; 10. (DNS) 25B-Chevy Boyer; 11. (DNS) 28-Jim Greenway; 12. (DNS) 7D-Dusty Leonard; 13. (DNS) 6-Brad Smith; 14. (DNS) 4D-Doug Tye

P/W Sales Heat 1 - 1. 32-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 75P-Terry Phillips[2]; 3. 12-Scott Crigler[3]; 4. 50C-Kayden Clatt[7]; 5. 15L-Payton Looney[5]; 6. 15-Shane Stephens[9]; 7. 1T-Tucker Cox[4]; 8. 19-Thomas Langley[10]; 9. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[11]; 10. (DNF) 75A-Daniel Adam[6]; 11. (DNF) 24B-Chris Bragg[8]; 12. (DNS) 87-Shawn Mann

Keyser Manufacturing Heat 2 - 1. 11-Jon Kirby[1]; 2. 1ST-Justin Reed[2]; 3. 98-Justin Wells[3]; 4. 96-Dalton Imhoff[4]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 6. 1-BJ Robinson[8]; 7. 91-Chris Jones[5]; 8. 66-Eli Ross[9]; 9. 86-Kyle Beard[7]; 10. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[10]; 11. (DNF) 14W-Dustin Walker[11]

Mann Motorsports Heat 3 - 1. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[2]; 2. 7-RC Whitwell[1]; 3. 5-Jon Mitchell[5]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer[4]; 5. B17-Brandon Ball[3]; 6. 1X-Aaron Marrant[6]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson[8]; 8. 7W-Cole Wells[7]; 9. (DNF) 25B-Chevy Boyer[9]; 10. (DNF) 4D-Doug Tye[10]; 11. (DNS) 88-Chance Mann

Air Power Consultants Heat 4 - 1. 78S-Steve Stultz[1]; 2. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[3]; 3. 75M-Dillon McCowan[2]; 4. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[5]; 5. 7D-Dusty Leonard[8]; 6. 14M-Morgan Bagley[9]; 7. 15S-Clay Stuckey[7]; 8. 2-Charlie Cole[4]; 9. (DNF) 11T-Trevor Gundaker[10]; 10. (DNF) 6-Brad Smith[6]; 11. (DNS) 28-Jim Greenway

Mark Martin Auto Group A Qualifying - 1. 32-Chris Simpson, 00:14.802[19]; 2. 11-Jon Kirby, 00:15.405[5]; 3. 75P-Terry Phillips, 00:15.406[6]; 4. 1ST-Justin Reed, 00:15.406[12]; 5. 12-Scott Crigler, 00:15.432[16]; 6. 98-Justin Wells, 00:15.591[4]; 7. 1T-Tucker Cox, 00:15.643[9]; 8. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:15.655[7]; 9. 15L-Payton Looney, 00:15.658[21]; 10. 91-Chris Jones, 00:15.713[17]; 11. 75A-Daniel Adam, 00:15.749[23]; 12. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:15.764[20]; 13. 50C-Kayden Clatt, 00:15.774[11]; 14. 86-Kyle Beard, 00:15.791[3]; 15. 24B-Chris Bragg, 00:15.812[14]; 16. 1-BJ Robinson, 00:15.859[13]; 17. 15-Shane Stephens, 00:15.947[18]; 18. 66-Eli Ross, 00:16.112[2]; 19. 25B-Chevy Boyer, 00:16.125; 20. 19-Thomas Langley, 00:16.174[10]; 21. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt, 00:16.178[15]; 22. 24C-Brandon Conkwright, 00:16.519[22]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:16.822[8]; 24. 87-Shawn Mann, 00:17.166[1]

Mark Martin Auto Group B Qualifying - 1. 7-RC Whitwell, 00:15.121[3]; 2. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:15.173[17]; 3. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:15.528[11]; 4. 75M-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.535[15]; 5. B17-Brandon Ball, 00:15.687[5]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:15.690[4]; 7. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:15.760[2]; 8. 2-Charlie Cole, 00:15.769[22]; 9. 5-Jon Mitchell, 00:15.835[14]; 10. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:15.875[6]; 11. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:15.948[21]; 12. 6-Brad Smith, 00:15.971[19]; 13. 7W-Cole Wells, 00:15.981[9]; 14. 15S-Clay Stuckey, 00:16.042[7]; 15. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 00:16.060[12]; 16. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:16.077[10]; 17. 25B-Chevy Boyer, 00:16.125[1]; 18. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 00:16.338[13]; 19. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:16.359[20]; 20. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.548[18]; 21. 88-Chance Mann, 00:16.627[16]; 22. (DNS) 28-Jim Greenway


Hickamo Super Stocks

A Feature - 1. 40T-Taylor Carver[1]; 2. 04-Blaine Ewing[6]; 3. B4-Terry Schultz[14]; 4. 94C-JT Carroll[3]; 5. G1-Tony Anglin[4]; 6. 26M-Donnie Miller[5]; 7. 111-Bill Frye[19]; 8. 1T-Bradley Tucker[8]; 9. 25-Aaron Murry[18]; 10. 35-Johnny Coats[16]; 11. 41-Cragar Harris[10]; 12. 27S-Will Smart[12]; 13. 07D-Mike Daugherty[13]; 14. 59RR-Jacob Rexing[21]; 15. 18K-Kyle Cotter[20]; 16. 216-Brian Junkersfeld[11]; 17. 15M-Michael Matthews[9]; 18. 73-Francisco Escamilla[7]; 19. 10-Steve Beach[22]; 20. 61R-Randi Goins[15]; 21. 16-Logan Thompson[23]; 22. (DNF) 94-Kenny Carroll[2]; 23. (DNF) 1X-Mitchell Waters[17]; 24. (DNS) 06-Morgan Campbell

B Feature - 1. 1X-Mitchell Waters[4]; 2. 25-Aaron Murry[6]; 3. 111-Bill Frye[9]; 4. 18K-Kyle Cotter[8]; 5. 59RR-Jacob Rexing[3]; 6. 10-Steve Beach[1]; 7. 16-Logan Thompson[7]; 8. 06-Morgan Campbell[11]; 9. 26-Mike Plante[5]; 10. 10C-Jacob Combs[2]; 11. (DNF) 40-Alcoa Harris[10]; 12. (DNF) 34-Lawrence Dickson[13]; 13. (DNS) 27-Jeff Tennant

Heat 1 - 1. 94C-JT Carroll[2]; 2. 26M-Donnie Miller[3]; 3. G1-Tony Anglin[8]; 4. 27S-Will Smart[1]; 5. B4-Terry Schultz[6]; 6. 59RR-Jacob Rexing[5]; 7. 35-Johnny Coats[10]; 8. 16-Logan Thompson[7]; 9. (DNF) 40-Alcoa Harris[9]; 10. (DNS) 06-Morgan Campbell

Heat 2 - 1. 94-Kenny Carroll[6]; 2. 73-Francisco Escamilla[1]; 3. 1T-Bradley Tucker[5]; 4. 07D-Mike Daugherty[2]; 5. 216-Brian Junkersfeld[8]; 6. 10C-Jacob Combs[3]; 7. 1X-Mitchell Waters[9]; 8. 18K-Kyle Cotter[7]; 9. (DNS) 34-Lawrence Dickson; 10. (DQ) 27-Jeff Tennant[4]

Heat 3 - 1. 40T-Taylor Carver[9]; 2. 04-Blaine Ewing[3]; 3. 41-Cragar Harris[1]; 4. 15M-Michael Matthews[8]; 5. 61R-Randi Goins[6]; 6. 10-Steve Beach[2]; 7. 26-Mike Plante[7]; 8. 25-Aaron Murry[5]; 9. 111-Bill Frye[4]



Show-Me Vintage Racers

A Feature - 1. 18-Owen Evinger[8]; 2. 14-Mickie Cook[6]; 3. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[7]; 4. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[27]; 5. 113-Jim Thorne[5]; 6. 6-Damon Clevenger[10]; 7. 63-John Martin[18]; 8. 27-Danny Lorton[11]; 9. 99E-Emma Davis[20]; 10. 58-Beth Martin[3]; 11. 5-Ken Brown[15]; 12. 99-Jim Siewert[12]; 13. 3X-Richard Fields[16]; 14. 15-Jason Isabell[4]; 15. 19-Mark Evinger[21]; 16. 711-Darrell Doerr[17]; 17. 54S-Ken Snyder[22]; 18. 71-Mike Lawless[1]; 19. 72-Tim Wies[24]; 20. 42-Rob Brash[19]; 21. 86-Justin Cruise[26]; 22. 8X-Gary Proskocil[23]; 23. 1-Angela Ashworth[25]; 24. (DNF) 1A-Rodney Ashworth[13]; 25. (DNF) 119-Teddy Thomas[28]; 26. (DNF) 2C-Allen Clark[2]; 27. (DNF) 76-Kevin Prall[9]; 28. (DNF) 88-Dan Schmidt[14]

Heat 1 - 1. 6-Damon Clevenger[4]; 2. 99E-Emma Davis[5]; 3. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[6]; 4. 113-Jim Thorne[1]; 5. 27-Danny Lorton[3]; 6. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[8]; 7. 19-Mark Evinger[7]; 8. (DNF) 18-Owen Evinger[2]

Heat 2 - 1. 15-Jason Isabell[6]; 2. 63-John Martin[1]; 3. 14-Mickie Cook[5]; 4. 54S-Ken Snyder[2]; 5. 99-Jim Siewert[4]; 6. 1A-Rodney Ashworth[3]; 7. 71-Mike Lawless[8]; 8. 58-Beth Martin[7]; 9. 88-Dan Schmidt[9]

Heat 3 - 1. 5-Ken Brown[8]; 2. 76-Kevin Prall[2]; 3. 711-Darrell Doerr[3]; 4. 2C-Allen Clark[1]; 5. 72-Tim Wies[4]; 6. 3X-Richard Fields[7]; 7. 42-Rob Brash[9]; 8. 119-Teddy Thomas[10]; 9. 1-Angela Ashworth[11]; 10. (DNF) 86-Justin Cruise[5]; 11. (DNF) 8X-Gary Proskocil[6]


Finale on Saturday: Night 2 will find the Comp Cams Late Models chasing a $10,000-to-win feature with Mary Jenkins Holt adding a $2,000 bonus to the winners. The Hickamo Super Stocks will race for a $750 top prize and Craig Danuser of Whitetail trophy hunt has put up an additional $250 bonus money to make it $1,000 to win for the Super Stocks. The SMVR also will return.

Pit and spectator gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.

Diamond Drag Boat Nationals continue: Fans can catch action on Lake Lucas during the day time on Saturday. The 15th annual Diamond Drag Boat Nationals, sanctioned by the Kentucky Drag Boat Association, continue with qualifying before the elimination rounds on Sunday.

Grandstands at Lake Lucas open at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Qualifying is set to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with eliminations at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.


Saturday Dirt Track Admission:

Advance Discount Tickets online only (13 and up) - $27

Adults (13 and up) - $30

Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $27

Youth (6-12) - $10

Kids (5 and under) - FREE

Family Pass - $70

Pit Pass $45


Saturday Drag Boat Admission:

Drag Boat Event Only GA (6 and up) - $20

Kids GA (age 5 and under) - FREE

(Combo Ticket (Drag Boats & Dirt Track Events) includes entry to the Dirt Track Event on Saturday night):

Adults GA Combo (13 and up) - $50

Seniors (62 and up)/Military GA Combo - $47

Youth GA Combo (6-12) - $30

Kids GA Combo (age 5 and under) - FREE

Family Pass GA Combo - $130 includes admission for 2 Adults and Up to 2 Kids Ages (6-12)


Sunday Drag Boat Admission

Drag Boat Event Only?GA (6 and up) - $20

Kids GA (age 5 and under) - FREE

For information on admission or camping for any Lucas Oil Speedway event in 2025, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-6119 or (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.