August 14 , 2011 (McCool Junction, Nebraska)
Kelly Boen streaked to his third consecutive sweep of the “King of the Hill” Lucas Oil MLRA event, at Junction Motor Speedway, Saturday night. “What a cruiser this thing was to drive,” Boen said of his car. He bided his time early on before taking the lead with 13 laps to go. “I was being real careful. You hate to make a mistake early in the race. I was pacing myself, seeing if I could run good on the bottom or the top, as long as the guys weren’t getting way away from me. I killed my right rear bumping around the bottom and had to move up. It was just a great race for us. We’re really happy.”
Nebraska veteran Al Humphrey paced the first 7 laps of the feature and raced in the top three all evening, coming home second. “We’ve been struggling the last couple of years trying to get some top finishes,” said Humphrey. “We began to wonder if we really belonged here. I showed myself I can still compete with these guys. We haven’t won one of these yet, but tonight we came really close.”
John Anderson made a last lap pass on Al Purkey to finish third. “We’ve got a good car. I’ve just got to drive her. I made a few mistakes again, and I’ve got to clean them up.” Disaster nearly struck Anderson early in the feature when he spun in turn two, while running in third place. He rejoined the back of the field and worked through the pack. “I knew I needed to be patient and stay out of trouble and pick them off. We we’re going at a pretty good pace there, so I just kept it up and kept digging.”
Al Purkey led 15 laps in the feature and finished fourth, while Dave Eckrich busted off his second consecutive top five, finishing fifth. Kyle Berck lost a drive shaft in his heat race and started the feature 22nd. In seven laps he raced up to 7th, where he stayed until a broken shock sent him to the pits for the evening.
Heat race victories went to Travis Dickes, Al Humphrey and Kelly Boen.
Boen pilots a Rocket Chassis with a Cornett Engine. He is sponsored by Road Runner Fabrication and Pannell Chipping. This is Boen’s 20th career Lucas Oil MLRA win. He moved into a tie for 8th place on the series all time wins list. Boen has now won 8 of the last 11 Lucas Oil MLRA races at Junction, including the last 6 consecutively.
Next up for the series is a double header next weekend at Thunder Hill Speedway in Mayetta, KS on Saturday August 20th. Then, Sunday August 21st, it will be the annual stop for the Missouri State Fair Championships at the State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, MO.
Lucas Oil MLRA Contingency Awards
Performance Bodies – Mike Collins
KRC Hard Charger – Steve Kempt
KRC Hard Luck – Kyle Berck
Weld Wheels – Joe Kosiski
BSB Manufacturing – Dave Eckrich
R2C Performance Filters – Al Purkey
Keizer Wheels – Scott Koskovich
Saferacer.com – Travis Dickes
Racing Optics – Al Humphrey
Rod End Supply – Bo Egge and Steve Kempt
Race Results August 13, 2011
Lucas Oil Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Travis Dickes 2. Joe Kosiski 3. Matt Furman 4. Dean Moore 5. Dave Eckrich 6. Andrew Kosiski 7. Bo Egge 8. Kyle Berck
Bodee’s Race Bodies Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Al Humphrey 2. Al Purkey 3. Vince Wagoner 4. Mike Wiarda 5. Robbie Andersen 6. Dustin Walker 7. Brad Wagoner 8. Courtney Kosiski
Fast Track Photos Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. Kelly Boen 2. John Anderson 3. Mike Collins 4. Bill Leighton 5. Scott Koskovich 6. Joe Walkenhorst 7. JT Botts 8. Steve Kempt
Lucas Cattle Company A Feature (35 Laps): 1. Kelly Boen 2. Al Humphrey 3. John Anderson 4. Al Purkey 5. Dave Eckrich 6. Dean Moore 7. Mike Collins 8. Mike Wiarda 9. Matt Furman 10. Joe Kosiski 11. Robbie Andersen 12. Bill Leighton 13. Andrew Kosiski 14. Steve Kempt 15. Brad Wagoner 16. Dustin Walker 17. Vince Wagoner 18. Scott Koskovich 19. Travis Dickes 20. Kyle Berck 21. Courtney Kosiski 22. Joe Walkenhorst 23. JT Botts 24. Bo Egge
Current Lucas Oil MLRA points standings will be available on www.MLRAracing.com.
The Lucas Oil MLRA (Midwest Latemodel Racing Association) sanctions regional Super Dirt Late Model touring series events in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Iowa.
For all the latest news and information on the Lucas Oil MLRA please visit us on the web at www.MLRAracing.com or by calling the series office at (816) 650-5063 or (816) 305-6572.
The Lucas Oil MLRA would like to thank the sponsors of the 2011 Tour including Lucas Oil Products, AAA Missouri, Hoosier Race Tires, Lucas Cattle Company, Hatfield Racing Engines, Larry Shaw Race Cars, AFCO Racing Products, GRT Race Cars, Powertrain Industries, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bodee’s Race Bodies, Outpace Racing Products,Fast Track Photos, Weld Racing Wheels, Impact Signs and Lighting, Rod End Supply, Racing Optics, Schoenfeld Headers, Kluhsman Racing Components, Performance Bodies, ATL Fuel Cells, Bilstein Shocks, RacinDirt.com, BSB Manufacturing, MasterSbilt, R2C Performance Products, SAFERACER, Keizer Wheels,