Wheatland, MO (December 9, 2015) – As Jeff Cutshaw eyes a three-peat in the ultra-competitive Pitts Homes USRA Modified division at Lucas Oil Speedway, the veteran Bolivar driver contemplates an even bigger challenge in 2016.
How about adding a Late Model to his stable and already-busy schedule? Stay tuned.
“We’re kicking around the thoughts of trying to run a Late Model a little bit,” Cutshaw said this week. “We don’t know just yet. We’re working on a couple of things, but it hasn’t come together just yet.”
Cutshaw can promise another run at supremacy in the top-modified division at Lucas, where he won three times and finished 51 points clear of Henley’s Jason Russell for the repeat championship.
After 21 seasons in a race car, the 51-year-old doesn’t travel to race as much as he used to, but Cutshaw feels he’s at the top of his game. And that’s a must in a class filled with talent, lots of it young and hungry.
“With the competition we have down there, it means a lot,” Cutshaw said of another title. “You have all these young kids coming in. It kind of makes it tough for us old guys.
“We had three wins this year and probably should have had several others. But that’s what happens when you’re cautious and trying to make sure you finish instead of being aggressive and trying to win every night. That’s the key to points racing.”
Fellow competitor Eric Turner said Cutshaw always has been one to beat on the Ozarks modified racing scene.
“He was racing when I first started about 13 years ago,” Turner said. “He was winning races when I started and we couldn’t hit our butts for nothing.
“He’s always been a good, clean race-car driver. A good competitor with nice, clean equipment.”
The cockpit of a race car is something of a sanctuary for Cutshaw, where he can get away from the grind of a demanding job. As a service department manager of a Bolivar automobile dealership, he regularly clocks 13 or 14-hour days.
“It gets you away from the normal grind of complaining people and customers, where you can just do what you want to do,” he said of racing.
Cutshaw pointed out that, with his daily job requirements, he could not field a championship-caliber race car without good help. His lists crew chief Billy Mitchell, along with Andrew Miller and Michael Mitchell and his wife, Linda, with making for a winning combination.
Sponsors SCP Racing Engines out of St. Louis and Electric Beach Tanning Salon also are paramount to the team’s success.
Preparation for the 2016 season already has begun with freshening of the motor and building new body panels.
And at some point, a decision will come on whether to try double duty. He’s only driven a late model a couple of times, several years ago during a trip to Arkansas.
“I really enjoyed it. It’s a lot different,” Cutshaw said. “You have to drive them a lot different. There’s a learning curve. It would be fun to try it.”
Please visit www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for the most up to date information about “America’s New Motorsports Destination”, Lucas Oil Speedway.
Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, MO. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With it’s 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 www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.
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