By Lyndal Scranton – WHEATLAND, Missouri (April 20, 2019) – JC Morton used a dramatic last-lap pass Saturday night to make it two-for-two in feature victories this season in the Ozark Golf Cars USRA Modified division at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Morton slipped past Brian McGowen on the final circuit and held on to capture the
headliner of Saturday night’s Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series by .459 seconds over McGowen.
Other feature winners in a program presented by OnMedia/DISH/DirecTV were Aaron Marrant (Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Models), James Flood (O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks) and Robbie Reed (Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds).
Morton, of Springfield, wound up in victory lane after starting 16th. He took home $750 for the win, continue a great start to his 2019 season in defense of his track championship.
“That’s a heck of a run there from 16th,” an excited Morton said. “The track is pretty racy. I have to thank all my sponsors and thanks to all the fans who came out tonight. Without you, we couldn’t do this on a weekly basis.”
McGowen started fourth and took over the lead from pole-starting Dillon McCowan on lap six. Meanwhile, Kris Jackson advanced from seventh and into second by lap 10 with Morton moving into third by lap 16.
Morton slipped underneath Jackson on lap 20 as both gave chase to McGowen with five to go.
“With five laps to go I screwed up down here and lost like five car lengths,” Morton said.
Just as it looked as if McGowen would be able to hang on, Morton worked the inside line after taking the white flag and made a low-side pass stick in turns one and two.
“When the white flag came out, at the flag stand I was going to go to the top,” Morton said. “Then I said, ‘no, it ain’t there.’ I went in there and hit the rut just right. Unbelievable. Thank the Lord.”
Jackson finished third with Robert Heydenreich fourth and Andy Bryant, who started 21st, rallying for fifth.
Marrant dominates for Late Model win: Aaron Marrant started on the front row, got the jump on inside-starting Kaeden Cornell going into turn one and led all 20 laps to claim the Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Model feature.
Larry Ferris finished second with Cornell third and Shane Essary fourth.
Marrant, of Richmond, Mo., started on the pole and the only obstacle to his march to victory came with two laps remaining, when Ashlee Lancaster’s motor went up in smoke and brought out a caution. That wiped out Marrant’s 1.5-second lead over Ferris.
But Marrant handled the restart in flawless fashion and cruised to a 2.037-second margin over Ferris to earn his first feature win of 2019.
“That was nerve-wracking,” Marrant said of the caution. “I thought, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’ The car was awesome tonight. Everything worked out.”
Flood captures Street Stocks feature: James Flood of Crane passed Cody Frazon with five laps remaining and went on to take the O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks main event.
Frazon, from Lamonte, started on the front row and paced the first 15 years though Flood and Toby Ott were pressuring him throughout. Flood made the decisive pass entering turn three on lap 15.
“Cody was real strong. I knew there was no way getting around him unless he pushed up enough and I could get under him,” Flood said. “I finally got there, he gave me room and I got it done.”
Flood finished 1.5 seconds clear of Ott, the week-one feature winner. Ott passed Frazon with two laps left to finish second with Frazon hanging on for third. Bob Barnett was fourth and Johnny Coats finished fifth.
Reed wires USRA Modified field: Robbie Reed started on the pole and went on to lead all 20 laps for the Pitts Homes USRA Modified feature.
“It was a good track tonight, a lot smoother than it was two weeks ago. I love coming down here,” Reed said. “There’s always a lot of good cars down here and good drivers.”
Reed, of Mexico, Mo., finished 1.433 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Domer with Paden Phillips taking third and Jason Pursley fourth.
The feature had five cautions and saw Darron Fuqua, the reigning USRA Modified National Champion, pulled into the infield with eight laps to go. Fuqua wound up 12th.
BIG ADVENTURE RV WEEKLY RACING SERIES RESULTS (April 20, 2019)
Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
Big O Tires A-Feature (25 Laps): 1. 18-JC Morton, 30:49.354[16]; 2. 22-Brian McGowen, 30:49.849[4]; 3. 65-Kris Jackson, 30:50.399[7]; 4. 134-Robert Heydenreich, 30:52.723[8]; 5. 28-Andy Bryant, 30:53.576[21]; 6. 8-Dillon McCowan, 30:53.691[1]; 7. 112-Justin Comer, 30:54.634[2]; 8. 32-Robbe Ewing, 30:55.598[10]; 9. 31-Luke Phillips, 30:57.432[20]; 10. 68-Ricky Watkins, 30:59.117[12]; 11. 16-Blake Pierce, 30:59.614[17]; 12. 19-Jimmy Cummins, 30:59.966[18]; 13. 1B-Bobby Williams, 31:00.571[9]; 14. 1-Lewis Jackson, 31:01.191[19]; 15. 18J-Austin Joplin, 31:01.452[14]; 16. (DNF) 39-Rusty Rickard, 29:09.287[5]; 17. (DNF) 1F-Mitchell Franklin, 23:02.061[11]; 18. (DNF) 30-Mark Long, 22:48.474[24]; 19. (DNF) 121-Tim Phillips, 18:37.496[3]; 20. (DNF) 22W-Greg Woodcock, 09:14.974[6]; 21. (DNF) 14T-Quentin Taylor, 05:40.658[23]; 22. (DNF) 57J-John Fellers, 05:40.828[22]; 23. (DNF) 99T-Eric Turner, 05:17.664[15]; 24. (DNF) 2B-Michael Bowers, 05:17.664[13]
Big O Tires B-Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 16-Blake Pierce, [1]; 2. 19-Jimmy Cummins, [2]; 3. 1-Lewis Jackson, [4]; 4. 31-Luke Phillips, [5]; 5. 28-Andy Bryant, [21]; 6. 57J-John Fellers, [6]; 7. 14T-Quentin Taylor, [7]; 8. 30-Mark Long, [3]; 9. 10P-Dayton Pursley, [16]; 10. 17X-Mike Striegel, [13]; 11. 46-Brice Gotschall, [20]; 12. 77-Jeff Douty, [11]; 13. 21F-Hannah Frazee, [14]; 14. 21-gregory scheffler, [12]; 15. 40-Matt Manes, [9]; 16. 28B-Wesley Briggs, [15]; 17. (DNF) 99X-Jerry Brown, [17]; 18. (DNF) 7R-Richard Reynolds, [10]; 19. (DNF) 17-Rod Cordon, [8]; (DNS) 00T-Taylor Moore, ; (DNS) 99-Jeff Lockard,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22W-Greg Woodcock, [1]; 2. 134-Robert Heydenreich, [4]; 3. 1B-Bobby Williams, [6]; 4. 99T-Eric Turner, [3]; 5. 1-Lewis Jackson, [2]; 6. 14T-Quentin Taylor, [7]; 7. 7R-Richard Reynolds, [8]; 8. 28B-Wesley Briggs, [9]; 9. 10P-Dayton Pursley, [5]; (DNS) 28-Andy Bryant,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Dillon McCowan, 05:48.626[6]; 2. 112-Justin Comer, 05:49.618[8]; 3. 2B-Michael Bowers, 05:52.472[2]; 4. 18-JC Morton, 05:52.521[4]; 5. 19-Jimmy Cummins, 05:52.521[1]; 6. 16-Blake Pierce, 05:52.521[9]; 7. 21-Gregory Scheffler, 05:52.521[5]; 8. 17X-Mike Striegel, 05:52.521[3]; 9. 99X-Jerry Brown, 05:52.521[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Brian McGowen, 07:12.004[4]; 2. 39-Rusty Rickard, 07:13.130[5]; 3. 18J-Austin Joplin, 07:14.370[3]; 4. 32-Robbe Ewing, 07:15.743[9]; 5. 30-Mark Long, 07:17.413[1]; 6. 17-Rod Cordon, 07:18.515[6]; 7. 40-Matt Manes, 07:25.606[8]; 8. (DNF) 00T-Taylor Moore, 03:15.980[7]; 9. (DNF) 99-Jeff Lockard, 00:44.725[2]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Kris Jackson, [1]; 2. 121-Tim Phillips, [8]; 3. 68-Ricky Watkins, [5]; 4. 1F-Mitchell Franklin, [9]; 5. 31-Luke Phillips, [3]; 6. 57J-John Fellers, [7]; 7. 77-Jeff Douty, [4]; 8. 21F-Hannah Frazee, [6]; 9. (DNF) 46-Brice Gotschall, [2]
Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Models
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 1X-Aaron Marrant, [2]; 2. 51-Larry Ferris, [3]; 3. 50-Kaeden Cornell, [1]; 4. 15-Shane Essary, [4]; 5. 42H-Chad Richwine, [10]; 6. 99-Larry Jones, [12]; 7. 7J-Ryan Johnson, [5]; 8. 21-Johnny Fennewald, [9]; 9. 20-Daniel Jessen, [8]; 10. 43-Craig Wood, [6]; 11. 16-Ashlee Lancaster, [7]; 12. 1A-Rodney Ashworth, [13]; 13. (DNF) 6-Bob Cummings, [11]
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Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51-Larry Ferris, [2]; 2. 15-Shane Essary, [4]; 3. 7J-Ryan Johnson, [6]; 4. 16-Ashlee Lancaster, [1]; 5. 21-Johnny Fennewald, [7]; 6. 99-Larry Jones, [3]; 7. 1A-Rodney Ashworth, [5]
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Kaeden Cornell, 04:42.666[3]; 2. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 04:43.642[6]; 3. 43-Craig Wood, 04:44.756[1]; 4. 20-Daniel Jessen, 04:45.240[4]; 5. 42H-Chad Richwine, 04:45.646[5]; 6. 6-Bob Cummings, 04:48.611[2]
O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 42-James Flood, 17:28.582[3]; 2. 27O-Toby Ott, 17:30.084[2]; 3. 04-Cody Frazon, 17:30.850[1]; 4. 27-Bob Barnett, 17:32.415[4]; 5. 35-Johnny Coats, 17:32.525[19]; 6. 12V-Nathan Vaughn, 17:33.019[7]; 7. 1D-Daniel Deason, 17:33.212[5]; 8. 45-Aaron Poe, 17:33.911[18]; 9. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer, 17:33.973[11]; 10. 10-Marc Carter, 17:34.527[8]; 11. 44S-Steve Scott, 17:35.602[13]; 12. 3-Dale Douty, 17:36.550[12]; 13. 7X-John Scott, 17:36.767[14]; 14. (DNF) 54-David Hendrix, 14:50.576[9]; 15. (DNF) 11-Derek Brown, 14:53.816[6]; 16. (DNF) 69-Brian Brown, 09:49.129[15]; 17. (DNF) 11G-Brad Gideon, 06:37.516[17]; (DNS) 7M-Scott Johnson, 03:45.076
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42-James Flood, [3]; 2. 27O-Toby Ott, [7]; 3. 12V-Nathan Vaughn, [2]; 4. 1D-Daniel Deason, [10]; 5. 19-Kenny Shelton, [4]; 6. 3-Dale Douty, [6]; 7. 44S-Steve Scott, [8]; 8. 69-Brian Brown, [1]; 9. (DNF) 45-Aaron Poe, [5]; 10. (DNF) 35-Johnny Coats, [9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 04-Cody Frazon, [6]; 2. 27-Bob Barnett, [4]; 3. 10-Marc Carter, [3]; 4. 11-Derek Brown, [7]; 5. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer, [5]; 6. 54-David Hendrix, [9]; 7. 7X-John Scott, [1]; 8. 7M-Scott Johnson, [8]; 9. (DNF) 11G-Brad Gideon, [2]
Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 5-Robbie Reed, [1]; 2. 227-Chase Domer, [4]; 3. 9D8-Paden Phillips, [3]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley, [6]; 5. 1X-Matt Johnson, [2]; 6. 21-Johnny Fennewald, [11]; 7. 8S-Jon Sheets, [14]; 8. 7-Daniel Franklin, [13]; 9. 1B-Bobby Williams, [15]; 10. 24D-Donnie Fellers, [9]; 11. 4B-Brayton Skaggs, [16]; 12. (DNF) 87-Darren Fuqua, [7]; 13. (DNF) 14W-Dustin Walker, [17]; 14. (DNF) 51G-Lucas Gibbs, [8]; 15. (DNF) 21W-Tracy Wolf, [10]; 16. (DNF) 75-Tad Davis, [5]; (DNS) 11B-Scotty Bough,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Robbie Reed, 06:34.362[3]; 2. 75-Tad Davis, 06:35.459[2]; 3. 87-Darren Fuqua, 06:36.757[1]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley, 06:40.254[7]; 5. 21W-Tracy Wolf, 06:41.104[4]; 6. 11B-Scotty Bough, 06:41.749[9]; 7. 7-Daniel Franklin, 06:41.749[8]; 8. 4B-Brayton Skaggs, 06:41.749[6]; 9. 14W-Dustin Walker, 06:41.749[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 227-Chase Domer, 09:32.560[1]; 2. 1X-Matt Johnson, 09:33.358[6]; 3. 9D8-Paden Phillips, 09:34.142[8]; 4. 51G-Lucas Gibbs, 09:35.038[5]; 5. 24D-Donnie Fellers, 09:35.062[2]; 6. 21-Johnny Fennewald, 09:35.796[7]; 7. 8S-Jon Sheets, 09:36.111[3]; 8. 1B-Bobby Williams, 09:36.770[4]
Next up: Round 3 of the Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series is next Saturday and it’s $5 Night Presented by KY3. Tickets for all adults, seniors and youth are $5 with kids 5-and-under FREE as always. A full program with all four classes will be in action, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks featured in a special 25-lap, $750-to-win main event. Gates will open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.
To inquire about tickets, VIP suites or camping, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at Nichole@LucasOilSpeedway.com.
CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984