Morton earns second straight USRA B-Mod victory in Lucas Oil Speedway headliner as Beck, Ferris, Johnson also pick up wins
WHEATLAND, MO. (July 8, 2023) - JC Morton made it two straight Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature wins at Lucas Oil Speedway, capturing the headliner of Saturday night's Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series action.
Morton, of Springfield, led all 25 wins to take home the $750 victory, holding off Andy Bryant throughout.
Other feature winners on Veterans and Military Appreciation Night Presented by Townsquare Media and KIX 105.7 FM were Mason Beck (O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars), Larry Ferris (Hermitage Lumber Late Models) and Matt Johnson (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds).
Morton jumped to the lead from the pole position, but third-starting Bryant quickly pulled alongside on lap two and those two dueled it out for the first portion of the race.
Sticking to the high groove, Morton repelled Bryant until finally securing near a one-second lead by lap 10 with Terry Schultz running third and Jon Sheets fourth.
As Morton led the faster cars into lapped traffic, he was able to widen the lead to 1.3 seconds in just three laps with Bryant a similar amount in front of Schultz. Morton was cruising with the lead still 1.3 seconds when the first caution flew on lap 18 due to a four-car pileup in turn two.
That set up a single-file restart with seven laps left to decide the outcome. Morton executed a flawless restart and drove away for the victory, finishing 1.1 seconds in front of Bryant with Sheets third, Schultz fourth and Brian Bolin fifth.
"I got the jump on Schultz early and got to the top. I figured that's where those Stock Cars were," Morton said. "Then it looked like me and Andy raced side by side for the first 12 or 15 laps. I kept seeing his nose down there and finally, with the long green run, I got away from him right before lapped traffic."
Morton said he didn't really mind the caution because he was fighting to get around a lapped car at the time.
"The caution gave me fresh, clean air and I just had to hit my marks at that point," Morton said.
Beck earns fourth Stock Cars victory: O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars points leader Mason Beck of Urbana made the winning pass coming to the white flag and held on to beat Ed Griggs for his fourth feature win of the Lucas Oil Speedway season.
Griggs started on the pole and opened up 1.2-second lead over Colton Bourland six laps into the race with Beck in third. By lap 10, Beck pulled alongside Bourland as the leader maintained his margin entering lapped traffic.
The third-starting Beck made the pass for second on lap 15, but in a caution-free race he still trailed Griggs by 1.5 seconds. He quickly cut into the deficit and pulled right behind the leader with two to go.
As the duo came to the white flag, Beck used the inside groove to take the lead out of turn four. Beck held on from there to win by three car lengths over Griggs, with Bourland finishing third, Waylon Dimmitt fourth and Johnny Fennewald fifth.
"I was kind of worried at the beginning, but when I got up to third I knew if I could get around the 2 car (Bourland) that I'd have a good shot at catching him," Beck said.
Ferris captures Late Model triumph: Larry Ferris grabbed the lead on lap five and drove away for his third Hermitage Lumber Late Model feature victory of the season, outdistancing Tommy Cordray and Tucker Cox.
Season points leader Justin Wells drove around the outside of Bryon Allison coming out of turn four to complete lap two for the lead. A lap later, the race’s first caution came out for a pair of spinning cars in turn two.
As the race returned to green, Wells’ car suddenly slowed going into turn two and Allison seized the lead. But it didn’t last long as Ferris took over the top spot on lap five and started to open up a sizable margin over Cox and Allison.
Ferris was leading Cox by 1.5 seconds when Allison spun in turn four to bring out the caution on lap nine. Meanwhile, 13th-starting JC Morton was flying on the high side through the field and was up to third.
Morton briefly made it into second after the restart, but slipped over the cushion in turn three and fell back to fourth. Ferris took advantage and opened a 2.3-second lead over Cox by lap 14 with Cordray third and Morton still in fourth.
Ferris kept stretching the lead from there and wound up beating Cordray by 2.8 seconds. Cox wound up third, Morton fourth and Allison rallied for fifth.
"Bryan Larimore and Dave Collins have worked on this car for a month straight, trying to get this thing straightened out," Ferris said. "We've been fighting gremlins all season and we finally got 'em figured out I think and it's all due to Bryan Larimore."
Johnson cruises to USRA Modified win: Matt Johnson of Archie took over the lead on lap five and dominated from there, outdistancing Ryan Middaugh for his third Lucas Oil Speedway Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature win.
"We unloaded hot tonight, right off the trailer and I couldn't be any happier," Johnson said.
Dylan Hoover led the opening four laps before Johnson got around him on the inside for the lead to conclude lap five.
"I knew Ryan was right on my tail and that I needed to get up there and get around Dylan," Johnson said. "The track was perfect, the car was good and we're tickled to death."
Johnson rolled to a 2.3-second lead by the midpoint of the 20-lapper over season points leader Middaugh, who made his way around Hoover for the runner-up spot.
The margin up front went to 3.2 seconds on lap 14 and, with action remaining caution-free, Johnson cruised from there. He finished 2.3 seconds in front of Middaugh with Hoover taking third, Jason Pursley fourth and Chad Staus fifth.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (July 8, 2023)
Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Seriers
Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
A Feature - 1. 18-JC Morton[1]; 2. 28-Andy Bryant[3]; 3. 8S-Jon Sheets[5]; 4. 90-Terry Schultz[2]; 5. X2-Brian Bolin[7]; 6. 1B-Bobby Williams[4]; 7. 33-Dustin Daniels[13]; 8. 11L-Logan Smith[6]; 9. 10P-Dayton Pursley[10]; 10. 96-Cody Brill[11]; 11. 15-Ryan Edde[14]; 12. 24L-Dakota Lowe[12]; 13. 29-Bronson Wicker[21]; 14. 2-Quentin Taylor[15]; 15. 24D-Donnie Fellers[19]; 16. 2X-Cole Hamilton[23]; 17. 15S-Kody Bray[16]; 18. 0K-Tracy Killian[20]; 19. (DNF) F1-Mitchell Franklin[8]; 20. (DNF) 19B-Kaleb Bray[18]; 21. (DNF) 55-Colson Kirk[17]; 22. (DNF) X1-Caden Bolin[9]; 23. (DNF) 03-TC Hambrick[22]; 24. (DNF) 08-Chad Neill[24]
Heat 1 - 1. 1B-Bobby Williams[1]; 2. 90-Terry Schultz[7]; 3. 10P-Dayton Pursley[3]; 4. F1-Mitchell Franklin[8]; 5. 2-Quentin Taylor[2]; 6. 19B-Kaleb Bray[6]; 7. 0K-Tracy Killian[4]; 8. (DNF) 2X-Cole Hamilton[5]
Heat 2 - 1. 18-JC Morton[2]; 2. 8S-Jon Sheets[4]; 3. X2-Brian Bolin[5]; 4. 96-Cody Brill[6]; 5. 15-Ryan Edde[1]; 6. 55-Colson Kirk[7]; 7. 24D-Donnie Fellers[8]; 8. 29-Bronson Wicker[3]
Heat 3 - 1. 28-Andy Bryant[1]; 2. 11L-Logan Smith[3]; 3. X1-Caden Bolin[2]; 4. 24L-Dakota Lowe[4]; 5. 33-Dustin Daniels[6]; 6. 15S-Kody Bray[8]; 7. (DNF) 03-TC Hambrick[5]; 8. (DNS) 08-Chad Neill
O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
A Feature - 1. 0F-Mason Beck[3]; 2. 47-Ed Griggs[1]; 3. 2-Colton Bourland[2]; 4. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[8]; 5. 91-Johnny Fennewald[4]; 6. 7-William Garner[6]; 7. 8M-James McMillin[5]; 8. 83-James Ellis[7]; 9. 24M-Blayne McMillin[10]; 10. 1DER-Maverick Wunder[9]; 11. (DNF) 24-Noah Long[11]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 1 - 1. 47-Ed Griggs[2]; 2. 2-Colton Bourland[3]; 3. 7-William Garner[4]; 4. 83-James Ellis[5]; 5. 1DER-Maverick Wunder[1]; 6. 24-Noah Long[6]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 2 - 1. 0F-Mason Beck[1]; 2. 91-Johnny Fennewald[3]; 3. 8M-James McMillin[5]; 4. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[4]; 5. 24M-Blayne McMillin[2]
Hermitage Lumber Late Models
A Feature - 1. 51-Larry Ferris[5]; 2. 5-Tommy Cordray[6]; 3. 1T-Tucker Cox[3]; 4. 72-JC Morton[13]; 5. 1A-Bryon Allison[1]; 6. 28-Jim Greenway[7]; 7. 33-Paul Glendenning[15]; 8. 81-Jimmy Dowell[10]; 9. 0X-Jason Sivils[4]; 10. 12B-Chase Breid[8]; 11. 17-Landyn McGlothlin[14]; 12. 50-Kayden Clatt[21]; 13. 73-Francisco Escamila[11]; 14. 98B-Jarrett Ballard[17]; 15. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[20]; 16. 99-Larry Jones[12]; 17. 15-Ed Noll[9]; 18. 6-Bob Cummings[19]; 19. 21P-Darren Phillips[16]; 20. 40-Josh Newman[18]; 21. 98-Justin Wells[2]; 22. (DNS) 21-Johnny Fennewald
Wasoba Seed & Trucking Heat 1 - 1. 5-Tommy Cordray[1]; 2. 1A-Bryon Allison[5]; 3. 15-Ed Noll[3]; 4. 99-Larry Jones[4]; 5. 72-JC Morton[7]; 6. 40-Josh Newman[2]; 7. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[6]; 8. (DNS) 21-Johnny Fennewald
Reed Environmental Heat 2 - 1. 98-Justin Wells[4]; 2. 51-Larry Ferris[5]; 3. 28-Jim Greenway[6]; 4. 12B-Chase Breid[7]; 5. 17-Landyn McGlothlin[3]; 6. 98B-Jarrett Ballard[1]; 7. (DNS) 50-Kayden Clatt
Dirt Track Specialist Heat 3 - 1. 1T-Tucker Cox[2]; 2. 0X-Jason Sivils[6]; 3. 81-Jimmy Dowell[3]; 4. 73-Francisco Escamila[1]; 5. 33-Paul Glendenning[5]; 6. 21P-Darren Phillips[7]; 7. 6-Bob Cummings[4]
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds
A Feature - 1. 1X-Matt Johnson[3]; 2. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[6]; 3. 99-Dylan Hoover[2]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley[8]; 5. C3-Chad Staus[4]; 6. 155-Terry Kirk[1]; 7. 23-Lucas Dobbs[5]; 8. 21-Greg Scheffler[10]; 9. 75L-Lane Whitney[9]; 10. 17-Richard Kimberling[7]
Heat 1 - 1. 155-Terry Kirk[2]; 2. C3-Chad Staus[1]; 3. 23-Lucas Dobbs[5]; 4. 17-Richard Kimberling[4]; 5. (DNF) 21-Greg Scheffler[3]
Heat 2 - 1. 1X-Matt Johnson[2]; 2. 99-Dylan Hoover[1]; 3. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[3]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley[4]; 5. 75L-Lane Whitney[5]
CMH Diamond Nationals next: Coming up next Saturday night, July 15th at Lucas Oil Speedway is the 17th annual CMH Diamond Nationals, featuring the co-sanctioned Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil MLRA. The Late Model stars will pursue a $15,000 winner's share plus a prestigious diamond ring.
The Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds will be in action gunning for a top prize of $1,000 to win and the O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will chase a $750 first prize.
For information about any event at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.
CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984
DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com
Complete Lucas Oil Speedway event information, archived race recaps, previews and driver features, along with ticket information and schedules can be found by visiting LucasOilSpeedway.com.
Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks.
Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141.
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About Lucas Oil Speedway
Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top five racing facilities in the nation. Located in Wheatland, Missouri, approximately an hour from Springfield, Missouri, and just an hour and a half from the Kansas City metro area, the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" lives up to its title.
Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. This year marks the 12th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, "Lake Lucas." New for 2017 was all-purpose built Off Road facility featuring a host of regional events.
Lucas Oil Speedway's dirt oval track plays host to some of the largest and most-popular events in the Midwest with national and regional touring series appearing frequently including: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, POWRi Midget National Series, Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League, United States Modified Touring Series, ASCS Sprint Cars and the Lucas Oil MLRA.
In addition to the special events, the Lucas Oil Speedway Weekly Racing Series features the Late Models, USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods.
2023 Official Lucas Oil Speedway Marketing Partners
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2023 Lucas Oil Speedway Supporters Include:
AM Pyrotechnics, Alliance Sport Marketing, Arctic Food Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts, Berry Tractor and Equipment Co., Big Adventure RV, Bill Roberts Chevrolet-Buick, Bolivar Auto Sales & Detailing, Bolivar Farmers Exchange-MFA, Boone's BBQ Barn, Boubin Tire/American Racer, Branstetter & Lightfoot LLC, Bridal Cave, BWI Sanitation, Camden on the Lake Resort, Candlelight Creations-Dick's Wild Root Horseradish, Casey's, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, City Magnet, Clearlight Inn, Dirt Track Specialist, Dixie Chopper, Eagle Vision Paving LLC, Eibach Springs, Farmers Insurance Agent Kristy Reynolds, Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange, Foley Equipment-Cat Rental Store, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, Impact Signs Awnings Wraps, In the Garden of Eden, KC Bobcat, Kettle Treats, Keyser Manufacturing, Kluhsman Racing Components, Kona Ice, Lucas Cattle Company, MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welding, Missouri Division of Tourism, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, OakStar Bank, O'Bannon Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Ozark Golf Cars, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper, Ozarks Community Health Center, PEM, Pitts Homes, Pitts Realty, Pitts Cattle, Pomme de Terre Resort, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, RacingJunk.com, Rains Ice Company, Real Racing Wheels, Reed Environmental, River's End Motel & RV Park, Rod End Supply, Ron Jenkins Accounting & Tax Service, Rugged Radios, Ryan E. Murphy Law Firm LLC, SBU Athletics, Safety Kleen, Scott Furniture, Sidetrack RV Park, Simpson Racing Products, SMC, Southwest Electric Cooperative, State Tech, Stillwater Resort, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels, US Army Corps of Engineers-Pomme de Terre, Vietti Marketing Group, Wasoba Seed & Trucking, Wheatland Motel, White's Marine Center, Wieland, Wild Animal Safari, Woods Supermarkets.
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