By Lyndal Scranton – WHEATLAND, Missouri (October 7, 2017) – Randy Timms clearly is falling in love with Lucas Oil Speedway.

Taking command early in Friday’s opener of the Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals weekend doubleheader, Timms drove to the $3,000 feature victory. Modified ace Cade Dillard, making only his third career Late Model start, finished second with Brent Larson third.

“I’ve always liked this place, but I honestly don’t know,” Timms said of his affinity for Lucas Oil Speedway after his second straight win there. “We’ve just been getting better with our little race car here. It all worked out.”

Timms’ only other career MLRA victory came on Sept. 2 at the Larry Phillips Memorial. The Wheatland, Okla., driver only led the final lap of that one, with this triumph much more dominant as he led the final 39 of the 40-lap event.

The stakes are higher in Saturday’s finale, with $5,000 going to the winner as the MLRA season comes to a close. Veteran Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., has all but clinched his fourth series championship.

Meanwhile, the co-headliner on Saturday will be the $5,000-to-win Street Stock Big Buck 50. The first 16 starting positions for that feature were determined on Friday night as 96 Street Stocks checked into the pits along with 31 Late Models. Peyton Taylor of Ash Flat, Ark., earned the pole position.

In Friday’s late model feature, Larson beat fellow front-row starter Timms to the lead after the green flew. But Timms was able to take over the lead on the next circuit and set sail to a sizable lead when the race’s second caution came out on lap nine as Jesse Stovall, while running third, hit the wall in turn four.

That left Dillard, making only his third career Late Model start, in third with Simpson fourth and Payton Looney fifth.

The final 31 laps clicked off caution free. Dillard, of Robeline, La., closed in past the midpoint as Timms encountered lapped traffic. But Timms, in a Black Diamond chassis, was able to regain command and prevailed by about eight car lengths.

“I felt like I was conserving (tires) pretty good,” Timms said. “I could tell Cade was kind of coming in to me, but I knew it was going to tough to pass. I just stayed patient and tried to keep a gap.”

Dillard, the USMTS Modified Central and Southern Region champion in 2017, impressed in an MB Custom Late Model. The 26-year-old said it’s been a dream, since childhood, to drive a Late Model at a high level.

“We got up to second there and I started running him down and making up a lot of ground and I burned the brakes off it,” Dillard said. “I was riding them way too hard. The last seven or eight laps they were to the floor.

“We had a really good hot rod. Congrats to (Timms). He had a really good car.”

Larson wound up third with Simpson fourth and Looney in fifth.

Series points leader Terry Phillips wound up sixth, but it was a good night for the veteran who has all but wrapped up a fourth MLRA championship. Phillips began the night 42 points in front of Rodney Sanders, who finished the feature in 10th, and increased his lead to 54.

Big Buck 50: Peyton Taylor and Derek Brown finished first and second in the dash involving the eight heat-race winners, earning front-row starting positions for Saturday night’s Street Stock Big Buck 50 main event.

Other heat race winners nailing down top-eight starting spots in the Big Buck 50 were Jeremy Russell, Brian Worley, James Flood, Brian Parker, Peyton Taylor, Derek Brown, Robby Arnold and Tim Brown.

Taylor of Ash Flat, Ark., had fast qualifying time, 18.156 seconds in Group B, earning a $500 “Fast Time Award” bonus from Tony Jackson Racing. Dean Wille of Warrensburg, Mo., set fast time in Group A, at 18.525.

The Big Buck 50 winner also will earn a free entry, valued at $3,000, into next month’s Whitetail Trophy Hunt. Asked if he is a deer hunter, Taylor smiled and said, “I will be.”

Robby Arnold and Tim Brown, the defending Big Buck 50 champ, will start on row two of the main event. Brian Parker and Jeremy Russell start on row three with Brian Worley and James Flood on row four.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY RESULTS (October 6, 2017)

Street Stocks Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt

Dash one (determines starting positions 1-8 in Big Buck 50) – 1, Peyton Taylor. 2, Derek Brown. 3, Robby Arnold. 4, Tim Brown. 5, Brian Parker. 6, Jeremy Russell. 7, Brian Worley. DNS James Flood.
Dash two (determines starting positions 9-16 in Big Buck 50) – 1, Burl Woods. 2, Brian Schutt. 3, Dean Wille. 4, David Hendrix. 5, Dale Nelson. 6. Kenny Carroll. 7, Jason Winkle. 8, Matt Becker.
Heat one – 1, Jeremy Russell. 2, Dean Wille. 3, Dalton Imhoff. 4, Aaron Poe. 5, Heath Teel. 6, Scott Johnson. 7, Tim Petty. 8, Chris Tonoli. 9, Jay Lamons. 10, Steve Scott. 11, Steve Sanders. 12, Larry Ferris.
Heat two – 1, Brian Worley. 2, David Hendrix. 3, Chris Lloyd. 4, Doug Moore. 5, Cole Herndon. 6, Rob White. 7, Evan Hayes. 8, Shawn Whitman. 9, Dale Eaton. 10, Brandon Dunham. 11, Stewart Burton. 12, Chuck Knight.
Heat three – 1, James Flood. 2, Matt Becker. 3, Jimmy Myers. 4, Bobby Ratteree. 5, Dexter Frost. 6, Cody Nelson. 7, Dale Berry. 8, Darren Fox. 9, John Kelly. 10, Devin Irvin. 11, John Scott. 12, Marc Carter.
Heat four – 1, Brian Parker. 2, Kenny Carroll. 3, Dalton Garrison. 4, Terry Schultz. 5, Shane Bias. 6, Justin Jarrett. 7, Michael Mullins. 8, Josh Halbrook. 9, Johnny Coats. 10, Jerry Brown. 11, Joe Miller. 12, Daniel Deason.
Heat five – 1, Peyton Taylor. 2, Brian Schutt. 3, Darrin Crisler. 4, Tony Anglin. 5, Mike Striegel. 6, Bobby Barnett. 7, Travis Goodman. 8, Marlin Cathey. 9, Michael Muskrat. 10, Nicholas Fritch. 11, Brandon Hays. 12, Daryl Dooling.
Heat six – 1, Derek Brown. 2, Burl Woods. 3, Jeff Floyd. 4, Toby Ott. 5, Jason Thurman. 6, Kyle Slader. 7, Ray Phipps. 8, Whitney Nunally. 9, Kiel Morton. 10, Terry Muskrat. 11, Ethan Mullins. 12, Tony Bowman.
Heat seven – 1, Robby Arnold. 2, Dale Nelson. 3, Dennis Schoenfeld. 4, Derek Henson. 5, Jesse Shearin. 6, Randy Gilmore. 7, Bryan Arnold. 8, Cody Vail. 9, Scott Lucke. 10, Jake Haynes. 11, Carmon VIncent. 12, Brad Gideon.
Heat eight – 1, Tim Brown. 2, Jason Winkle. 3, Ted Welschmeyer. 4, Edwin Wells. 5, Robert Southerland. 6, Dom Wadlow. 7, Chip Shaddox. 8, Tim Eaton. 9, Bobby Ruff. 10, Rusty Etherton. 11, Mark Mullins. 12, Matthew Harp.

Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals

A Feature – 1, Randy Timms. 2, Cade Dillard. 3, Brent Larson. 4, Chad Simpson. 5, Payton Looney. 6, Terry Phillips. 7, Jack Sullivan. 8, Austin Siebert. 9, Cole Wells. 10, Rickey Frankel. 11, Rodney Sanders. 12, Logan Martin. 13, Tad Pospisil. 14, Dave Eckrich. 15, Jason Rauen. 16, Mason Oberkramer. 17, Raymond Merrill. 18, Jeremy Grady. 19, Tony Jackson Jr. 20, Bill Leighton Jr. 21, J.W. Wyman. 22, Jesse Stovall. 23, Billy Moyer. 24, Chase Junghans.

Heat one – 1, Randy Timms. 2, Cole Wells. 3, Rodney Sanders. 4, Billy Moyer. 5, Tony Jackson Jr. 6, JC Wyman. 7, Raymond Merrill. 8, Jason Rauen.
Heat two – 1, Chad Simpson. 2, Payton Looney. 3, Jack Sullivan. 4, Rickey Frankel. 5, Robby Moore. 6, Tad Pospisil. 7, Jeremy Grady. 8, Cliff Morrow.
Heat three – 1, Jesse Stovall. 2, Terry Phillips. 3, Logan Martin. 4, Bill Leighton Jr. 5, Kaeden Cornell. 6, Jake Davis. 7, Todd Shute. 8, Skip Frey.
Heat four – 1, Cade Dillard. 2, Brent Larson. 3, Austin Siebert. 4, Chase Junghans. 5, Dave Eckrich. 6, Mason Oberkramer. 7, Matt Furman.

B-Main (top 6 transfer) –  B Main (top 6 transfer) – 1, Rickey Frankel. 2, Dave Eckrich. 3, J.C. Wyman. 4, Tad Pospisil. 5, Jason Rauen. 6, Mason Oberkramer. 7, Robby Moore. 8, Kaeden Cornell. 9, Jake Davis. 10, Raymond Merrill. 11, Todd Shute. 12, Jeremy Grady. 13, Cliff Morrow. 14, Matt Furman. 15, Skip Frey.

The final night on Saturday finds gates opening at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6 and racing at 6:35.

(Saturday order of events)

MLRA time trials
Street Stocks F-Feature, 12 laps (top 6 transfer to E-Feature)
Opening ceremonies/National Anthem
Street Stocks E-Feature, 14 laps (top 6 transfer to D-Feature)
MLRA heat races
Street Stocks D-Feature,  16 laps (top 6 transfer to C-Feature)
Hot laps for Top 16 Street Stock A Feature qualifiers
Street Stocks C-Feature, 18 laps (top 6 transfer to B-Feature)
MLRA B-Feature
Street Stocks B-Feature, 20 laps (top 8 transfer to A-Feature)
Intermission
MLRA Feature (50 laps)
Street Stocks Feature (50 laps)

Tickets

Adults (16 and up) $20
Seniors (62 and up)/Military $17
Youth (6-15) $5
Kids (5 and under) FREE
Family Pass $40
Pit Pass $40

For ticket information for all Lucas Oil Speedway events, contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at nichole@LucasOilSpeedway.com.

Complete Lucas Oil Speedway event information, archived stories, ticket info 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.

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