Fast times at Lucas Oil Speedway as Garet Williamson sets track record, wins POWRi 410 Sprint feature
WHEATLAND, MO. — Garet Williamson went from the fastest driver to ever record a qualifying lap at Lucas Oil Speedway to the 25-lap POWRi 410 Outlaw Bandit Sprint Series feature winner on Saturday night.
Williamson, of Columbia, Mo., set a track record to help earn the pole and went on to lead the main event wire-to-wire and take home $5,000. It was the first-ever POWRi 410 Sprint Series appearance at Lucas Oil Speedway and Williamson made it memorable.
"This means everything to me. It feels really good to win this close to home," Williamson said. "This is pretty neat."
Also earning feature wins on Saturday night were Justin Wells (Hermitage Lumber Late Models) and Rodney Schweizer (O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars).
Williamson set a blistering pace from the pole, taking only five laps to catch lapped traffic as he opened a 1.7-second lead over Scotty Milan with Jace Park running third.
The first caution flew on lap eight when fifth-place Joe B. Miller spun in turn three. Williamson, Milan and Park were continuing to show the way with Ayrton Gennetten fourth.
The restart resulted in a melee going into turn one. Williamson and Park emerged clear as Milan got sideways going for the lead, with Kyle Clark and Kyle Bellm also involved to bring another caution out quickly. Milan’s car suffered heavy damage, ending his night.
As action resumed, Park spun and made hard contact with the turn-three wall to end his chances. Three green-flag laps were run before the next caution appeared as Bellm and Lane Warner spun in turn two.
Williamson had a 1.4-second lead over Gennetten at the time with Gage Montgomery third and Ben Brown in fourth.
Williamson seemed to get faster after the next restart, rolling away to a 2.7-second lead over Montgomery when action was stopped on lap 15 for a red flag as Warner took a wild, rolling ride in turn three. Warner emerged from the battered car under his own power.
Williamson took advantage of an extended run at speed to take a commanding 5.5-second lead over Gennetten, but that margin was wiped away with a lap-23 caution. That gave Gennetten and third-place Riley Kreisel, who rallied from 18th, two laps to overtake the leader.
But there was no denying Williamson as he held on to beat Ben Brown with Kreisel third. Mitchell Moore was fourth and Bellm fifth. Gennetten appeared to have a mechanical issue after the restart and limped home in 10th.
Williamson, 23, posted his fourth feature victory of the season and first POWRi 410 Outlaw Bandit Sprint Series win.
“This was a fun race, I almost tried to give it away a few times on the restart but man this feels good,” Williamson said. “I’m so proud of my team as we continue to build momentum in this thing.”
Outside from Williamson, Kreisel had the night's most-impressive run as he improved 15 positions from the start after rolling his car during hot laps and struggling in time trials and his heat.
"I have to hand it to my guys, they sweated a lot," said Kreisel, who's from nearby Warsaw. "They really busted their tails for me and I appreciate it."
Williamson set an unofficial track record in qualifying with a lap of 12.998. The lap eclipsed what is believe to be the record of 13.019 by Jason Meyers in a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series race at the speedway in 2010.
Wells grabs 9th Late Model feature win: Justin Wells' ninth Hermitage Lumber Late Model feature win of the season was probably his toughest, as the Aurora driver held off a late-charging Johnny Fennewald by .117 seconds at the checkers.
"He came out of nowhere there," Wells said of Fennewald. "I was pretty comfortable with what I was doing, then I saw him with maybe two or three to go. I thought, 'man, you could lead this whole thing and lose it right here. You better get up on the wheel. We had to turn it up a notch or two."
Pole-sitter Tucker Cox led the first four laps before Wells charged around him on the outside of turn two for the lead on lap five. From there, he set sail for his ninth feature win of the season.
Wells had a 3.5-second lead by lap 13, when Fennewald got around Cox for second. A close call occurred on lap 14 when Noah Ames spun in turn four to bring out the first caution. Wells was able to slow down just in time to avoid Ames, though it did erase his 3.4-second lead over Fennewald.
Fennewald worked the inside groove and was within .662 seconds on lap 21 and pulled alongside Wells to complete lap 23. The two were nearly even coming to the white flag and Fennewald made a last-ditch dive in the final turn, but Wells was able to hold on by a half-car-length.
Larry Ferris finished third with Ed Noll fourth and Bryon Allison fifth. Cox, running third with a lap to go, saw his motor go up in smoke and wound up a hard-luck 10th.
Schweizer captures a Stock Cars thriller: Rodney Schweizer of Kansas City, Kan., outdueled leader Mason Beck in an O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars 25-lap feature that was a thriller throughout.
Schweizer took the lead on lap 13 and was able to hang on for his first Lucas Oil Speedway feature win of the season in a race that saw five cars tightly bunched up front at times.
William Garner led the first six laps with fourth-starting Schweizer applying pressure. Then Johnny Fennewald, who started 10th, jumped into the mix taking over second on lap nine and pulling alongside Garner on the outside.
The trio was three-wide into turn one on lap nine before Fennewald made the pass on lap 11 as Mason Beck joined the fray along with Waylon Dimmitt. The five cars were separated by only a couple of car lengths in an entertaining battle.
Schweizer regained the lead on lap 13, just before the race’s first caution came out. Beck moved into second on the restart as the top two were able to get a bit of separation as Dimmitt, Fennewald and Garner followed.
The race remained green the final 11 laps as Beck applied pressure. On lap 24, he dove to the inside out of turn four, but could not make the pass. Schweizer was able to hang on to win by .218 seconds as Dimmitt and Fennewald were right behind.
"These Stock Cars are always tough. We were fortunate tonight," Schweizer said.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Aug. 19, 2023)
POWRI 410 Outlaw Sprints
Feature - 1. 12X-Garet Williamson[1]; 2. 7B-Ben Brown[6]; 3. 91-Riley Kreisel[18]; 4. 51-Mitchell Moore[13]; 5. 14E-Kyle Bellm[10]; 6. 42-Andy Bishop[14]; 7. 17-Wout Hoffmans[15]; 8. 6-Corey Nelson[7]; 9. 74-Xavier Doney[11]; 10. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[3]; 11. 3P-Russell Potter[19]; 12. 9C-Tony Crank[20]; 13. 30-Faron Crank[17]; 14. 79-Gage Montgomery[9]; 15. 122-Lane Warner[16]; 16. 00-Broc Elliott[12]; 17. 97-Scotty Milan[2]; 18. 87J-Jace Park[4]; 19. 51B-Joe B Miller[5]; 20. 9$-Kyle Clark[8]
Heat 1 - 1. 87J-Jace Park[2]; 2. 12X-Garet Williamson[4]; 3. 74-Xavier Doney[1]; 4. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 5. 42-Andy Bishop[5]; 6. 91-Riley Kreisel[6]; 7. 9C-Tony Crank[7]
Heat 2 - 1. 9$-Kyle Clark[1]; 2. 7B-Ben Brown[2]; 3. 97-Scotty Milan[4]; 4. 00-Broc Elliott[6]; 5. 17-Wout Hoffmans[5]; 6. 30-Faron Crank[7]; 7. 51-Mitchell Moore[3]
Heat 3 - 1. 14E-Kyle Bellm[1]; 2. 6-Corey Nelson[2]; 3. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 4. 79-Gage Montgomery[3]; 5. 122-Lane Warner[5]; 6. 3P-Russell Potter[6]
Qualifying - 1. 12X-Garet Williamson, 00:12.998[7]; 2. 97-Scotty Milan, 00:13.013[5]; 3. 19-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:13.231[12]; 4. 51B-Joe B Miller, 00:13.326[11]; 5. 51-Mitchell Moore, 00:13.371[10]; 6. 79-Gage Montgomery, 00:13.438[17]; 7. 87J-Jace Park, 00:13.440[18]; 8. 7B-Ben Brown, 00:13.460[8]; 9. 6-Corey Nelson, 00:13.534[6]; 10. 74-Xavier Doney, 00:13.656[14]; 11. 9$-Kyle Clark, 00:13.673[1]; 12. 14E-Kyle Bellm, 00:13.750[2]; 13. 42-Andy Bishop, 00:13.761[20]; 14. 17-Wout Hoffmans, 00:13.782[4]; 15. 122-Lane Warner, 00:13.878[15]; 16. 91-Riley Kreisel, 00:13.960[16]; 17. 00-Broc Elliott, 00:14.177[19]; 18. 3P-Russell Potter, 00:14.701[13]; 19. 9C-Tony Crank, 00:14.707[9]; 20. 30-Faron Crank, 00:14.987[3]
Hermitage Lumber Late Models
Feature - 1. 98-Justin Wells[3]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald[5]; 3. 51-Larry Ferris[7]; 4. 15-Ed Noll[6]; 5. 1A-Bryon Allison[1]; 6. 99-Larry Jones[11]; 7. 7J-Jake Morris[4]; 8. 73-Francisco Escamila[10]; 9. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[8]; 10. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Cox[2]; 11. (DNF) 31-Shawn Eggeman[12]; 12. (DNF) 5JR-Noah Ames[13]; 13. (DNS) 21P-Darren Phillips; 14. (DNS) 82-Jace Parmley
Wasoba Seed & Trucking Heat 1 - 1. 7J-Jake Morris[2]; 2. 1T-Tucker Cox[4]; 3. 15-Ed Noll[5]; 4. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[1]; 5. 21P-Darren Phillips[3]; 6. 99-Larry Jones[7]; 7. 5JR-Noah Ames[6]
Reed Environmental & Dirt Track Specialist Heat 2 - 1. 98-Justin Wells[2]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald[6]; 3. 1A-Bryon Allison[1]; 4. 51-Larry Ferris[5]; 5. 73-Francisco Escamila[3]; 6. 31-Shawn Eggeman[4]; 7. (DNS) 82-Jace Parmley
O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
Feature - 1. 74-Rodney Schweizer[4]; 2. 0F-Mason Beck[8]; 3. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[5]; 4. 91-Johnny Fennewald[10]; 5. 7-William Garner[2]; 6. 5-Bryan White[1]; 7. 27-Jeff Tennant[7]; 8. 83-James Ellis[3]; 9. 34-Blake Bolton[9]; 10. 45-Bob King[6]; 11. (DNF) 99-Robert White[11]; 12. (DNF) 5DJ-DJ Barnes[12]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 1 - 1. 7-William Garner[1]; 2. 5-Bryan White[2]; 3. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[3]; 4. 27-Jeff Tennant[6]; 5. 91-Johnny Fennewald[5]; 6. (DNF) 5DJ-DJ Barnes[4]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 2 - 1. 74-Rodney Schweizer[4]; 2. 83-James Ellis[2]; 3. 45-Bob King[5]; 4. 0F-Mason Beck[3]; 5. 34-Blake Bolton[6]; 6. 99-Robert White[1]
Season Championships next: Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series rack champions will be crowned next Saturday at the Rempfer Memorial Season Championship Night Presented by Bill Roberts Chevrolet-Buick and On Media.
The Hermitage Lumber Late Models, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars and the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods all will be in action for the final points program of 2023.
Pit Gates open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.
For information on 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
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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.
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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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