Sam Stoecklin
ULMA Public Relations
May 28, 2013
In a season where ten drivers are contending for rookie of the year honors, a driver needs to find a way to separate him or herself from the rest of their peers and that is just what happened this past weekend in Lucas Cattle Company ULMA competition.
Eighteen-year old Payton Looney of Republic, Missouri, second-generation driver and son of super late model driver Brad Looney, raced his way to victory lane at Callaway Raceway in Fulton, Missouri, becoming the first rookie driver to do so since the 2010 season. Looney’s victory extended his lead in the rookie of the year standings and by claiming the victory; he became the 47th different driver to record a ULMA win since 2007.
The young driver’s night began with a strong run in the opening heat race where he climbed from fifth to second position finishing closely behind 2010 ULMA Champion Vance Wilson, who earned the pole position for the main event by virtue of his heat-race victory. Behind Wilson and Looney in the race were Chris Lapp, Ashlee Lancaster and Todd McCoin.
For heat race number two, new driver Craig Bessinger took the win over Hartsburg, Missouri’s Darren Turner, Walt Imhoff making his first appearance of the year, Chris Cox, and Zeke Langley. Bessinger’s heat-race victory placed him on the outside of row one for the feature race starting grid.
The 20-lap feature race began with close action from the first wave of the green flag as Bessinger, Wilson, and Looney raced close to sort out the opening laps. By lap three, contact with Bessinger during green-flag action shuffled Looney all the way back to eighth place. In watching Looney masterfully make his way back to the front after the incident , he might have gave the impression he cut his teeth at the track but in reality it was his first-ever visit to the three-eighths mile oval facility.
Late in the race, contact with a lapped car sent last week’s Callaway Raceway runner-up finisher Darren Turner into the wall, which led to a lengthy delay in the race. During the delay the cars were kept circling the track for not only the cleanup of this incident but another late-race caution. Looney admitted that he was “worried about the fuel burn off” shortly after taking command of the race when the back-to-back caution period appeared.
Looney’s car owner Russ Niehoff was a bit worried when the race resumed as he watched his driver go back to work. Just before the cautions flew Looney had made his way back to the front and now had Wilson looming behind him for not one, but two restarts in which the veteran driver tried all he could do to make the pass for the win with Looney ultimately holding him off in one of the biggest-ever ULMA upset victories. Niehoff said about his driver after the win, “this guy is a real talent, he will go places.”
Behind Looney and Wilson at the line were a flurry of drivers who advanced several positions to make it into the top five including eleventh-starting Justin Russell, ninth-starting Todd McCoin, and twelfth-starting Bobby Penney, another rookie who recorded his first-ever top-five finish in ULMA action. Rounding out the top ten were Chris Lapp, Zeke Langley, David Miller, Cliff Powell, and Chris Cox.
Callaway Raceway is the lone ULMA points-earning track hosting late model drivers this weekend. Although the track is currently experiencing website troubles, information is available by contacting race promoter Betty Atterberry at (573) 220-1751. When working properly, the website for the track is found at www.callawayraceways.com.
Mother Nature continued to show her spring presence this season as the $1,000-to-win track special event at Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri fell to wet conditions. The track takes this weekend off for a non-circle track event but will resume their regular weekly program, including ULMA late models on Saturday, June 8. Visit the track’s all-new website by pointing your web browser to www.randolphcountyraceway.com.
Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri is giving its staff a rest this weekend after hosting special-event racing last weekend. The next appearance by ULMA cars at the track is also scheduled for Saturday, June 8. Visit the speedway online for complete details at www.lucasoilspeedway.com.
ULMA licensing is mandatory at all sanctioned tracks. Drivers must present their license on arrival when checking in at all tracks. Visit www.ulmaracing.com for scheduling full results, information, stats, rules, and to print and complete the 2013 form prior to competing. Drivers should be prepared for technical inspection at all tracks at all times!
This season marks the first year for ULMA to partner with Hoosier Tire Midwest. Drivers may purchase tires from ULMA throughout the season by contacting ULMA officials, the program benefits drivers at the end of the season during the October 19 championship banquet, which takes place in California, Missouri. Please visit www.racetires.com for additional information.
Drivers earn championship points from their 15 best race appearances throughout the season of the more than 50 possible scheduled race nights. Visit ULMA’s title sponsor at www.lucascattlecompany.com. ULMA sincerely thanks Hoosier Tire Midwest, FastShafts, Rod End Supply, RacingJunk.com, and PhotoGraphics by Shelly Payne for their support this season.
ULMA Standings as of 5-27-13
POS CAR # NAME STARTS POINTS
1st 2J Justin Russell 5 542
2nd 1TC Chris Cox 5 508
3rd 2j Jason Russell 4 482
4th 7X Todd McCoin 4 448
5th 23z Zeke Langley 4 413
6th 17 Daniel Jessen 3 332
7th 12 Payton Looney 3 325
8th 04 Jeremy Kelley 3 322
9th 65 Jon Binning 3 311
10th 6 Donnie Timmerman 3 310
ULMA Schedule at a Glance
Friday, May 31st – Callaway Raceway
Friday, June 7th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, June 8th – Lucas Oil Speedway
Saturday, June 8th – Randolph County Raceway
Friday, June 14th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, June 15th – Lucas Oil Speedway
Saturday, June 15th – Randolph County Raceway
Sunday, June 16th – Double XX Speedway