Media Contact: Billy Rock

Moberly, MO (June 12, 2020) – The latest season start in the history of the Lucas Oil MLRA proved to be worth the wait for Shannon Babb on Friday night at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri.   Babb collected the $3,000 top prize in Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Victory Lane after besting a strong field of 37 late models, represented by drivers from eleven different states.

Babb secured a strong starting spot by grabbing the quick time in Group “A” Time Trials and also capturing the win in his heat race, putting him on the DirtonDirt.com Pole Position for the 30 lap main event.  Chad Simpson garnered the overall fast time with a lap of 17.178 seconds to capture the “Slick Mist” Fast Time Award.

At the drop of the green flag, Babb quickly took command over outside front row starter Tony Jackson Jr.  Babb jumped out to a comfortable advantage as the race went green for the first nine circuits before the first caution stopped the event for the slowing car of Aaron Marrant.

On the restart, Jackson Jr. out drove Babb through turns one and two and was able to slip by and overtake the race lead as the pair excited turn four on lap number ten.  Jackson Jr. quickly pulled away from Babb and appeared to be headed for back-to-back MLRA wins after he scored the win in last year’s season finale at the Lucas Oil Speedway.  However, for the second time on the night the caution would again wave on lap eighteen when Tim Manville came to a stop at the exit of turn two.

With roles reversed from the prior restart, this time Babb used a top side move to the outside of Jackson Jr. to slip by for the race lead off the exit of turn two and regain the top spot.  As the leaders crossed the strip with Babb at the point, the caution again waved this time for a three car incident involving Daryn Klein, and Roberts Motorsports teammates Jeremiah Hurst, and Garrett Alberson.  Both Hurst and Alberson had to be towed to their pits with heavy damage, bringing an early end to the night for the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the year contenders.

On the final restart of the night with just eleven laps to go, Babb jumped back to the lead over Jackson Jr. and two-time series champion Chad Simpson.  Babb would go on to score his fourth career Lucas Oil MLRA feature win while Ryan Gustin moved past Simpson late in the race to grab runner-up honors.  Simpson came home in third, followed by Jackson, Jr. and defending series champion Will Vaught rounding out the top five.  Mitch McGrath secured the Casey General Stores Hard Charger Award with his seven position advancement, resulting in a 10th place finish.

Saturday night action heats up with $5,000 on the line, as the Lucas Oil MLRA returns to the Maquoketa Speedway in Maquoketa, Iowa for the first time since 2014.  Under the direction of Drt Trak Racing, Inc. gates will open at 5 PM with hot laps at 6:30 and racing action to follow.

The opening weekend will conclude on Sunday at the West Liberty Raceway where Bobby Pierce will look to repeat his victory from a year ago, cashing in on the $5,000 top prize.  Action will start at an early time of 4:30 for hot laps with racing to follow.

Randolph County Raceway Contingencies 6/12/20

Slick Mist “Fast Time Award” –  Chris Simpson  17.178 sec.

Allgaier Motorsports Racing Shocks Award – Ryan Gustin

Casey’s General Store’s “Hard Charger of the Race” – Mitch McGrath

DirtonDirt.com “Pole Award” – Shannon Babb

Dynamic Drivelines “Crew Chief of the Race” – Pat Dempsey

Hooker Harness “11th Place Finisher” –  Tony Toste

Midwest Sheet Metal “Points Leader Spoiler Challenge” –  Shannon Babb

Performance Bodies “Performer of the Race” – Shannon Babb

RacingJunk.com “Hard Luck Award” – Justin Duty

Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Tony Toste

Lucas Oil Racing TV A Feature (40 Laps): 1.Shannon Babb  2.Ryan Gustin  3.Chad Simpson  4.Tony Jackson Jr.  5.Will Vaught  6.Payton Looney  7.Chris Simpson  8.Dennis Erb Jr.  9.Billy Moyer Sr.  10.Mitch McGrath  11.Tony Toste  12.Jeremy Conaway  13.Jeremiah Hurst  14.Daryn Klein  15.Garrett Alberson  16.Tim Manville  17.Gordy Gundaker  18.Jason Papich  19.Trevor Gundaker  20.Joseph Gorby  21.Jordan Yaggy  22.Aaron Marrant  23.Bobby Pierce  24.Jeremy Grady

Allgaier Motorsports Racing Shocks B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1.Mitch McGrath  2.Tim Manville  3.Bobby Pierce  4.Daniel Hilsabeck  5.Dave Eckrich  6.Scott Crigler  7.Joseph Gorby  8.Dewayne Kiefer  9.Reid Millard  10.Ryan Johnson  11.Kolby Vandenbergh

MAV TV Motorsports B Feature 2 (10 Laps):  1.Trevor Gundaker  2.Garrett Alberson  3.Jorday Yaggy  4.Justin Duty  5.Justin Reed  6.Brennon Willard  7.Jeremy Grady  8.Joseph Hughes  9.Darek Wiss

Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1.Shannon Babb  2.Aaron Marrant  3.Jason Papich  4.Gordy Gundaker  5.Tim Manville  6.Dave Eckrich  7.Scott Crigler  8.Dewayne Kiefer  9.Reid Millard  10.Ryan Johnson

Casey’s General Stores Heat 2 (10 Laps):  1.Payton Looney  2.Chris Simpson  3.Billy Moyer Sr.  4.Jeremy Conaway  5.Mirchh McGrath  6.Bobby Pierce  7.Daniel Hilsabeck  8.Joseph Gorby  9.Kolby Vandenbergh

Sunoco Race Fuels Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1.Tony Jackson Jr.  2.Chad Simpson  3.Tony Toste  4.Dennis Erb Jr.  5.Garrett Alberson  6.Jordan Yaggy  7.Trevor Gundaker  8.Darek Wiss  9.Brennon Willard

Midwest Sheet Metal Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1 Will Vaught  2.Ryan Gustin  3.Jeremiah Hurst  4.Daryn Klein  5.Justin Duty  6.Jeremy Grady  7.Joseph Hughs  8.Justin ReedWheatland, Missouri (June 11, 2020) – Pismo Beach

For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com.

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