WHEATLAND, Mo. (July 2, 2020)Â – What was a three-car battle for the lead saw Brad Looney emerge as the lone survivor of the trio and the Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Model feature winner at Lucas Oil Speedway’s “Thursday Night Thunder” main event.
Other feature winners on the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series program Presented by Casey’s General Stores and KY3 included Andy Bryant (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods), Tyler Wolff (Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds) and Derek Brown (O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks).
A total of 117 cars, including 56 B-Mods, entered for the special program kicking off the 4th of July holiday weekend.
Looney, a long-time open Late Model competitor who’s in his first season in the ULMA division, picked his first feature win of the season in three attempts. He was a close second on June 6.
Dylan Hoover and fellow front-row starter Kaeden Cornell set the pace through 14 laps, with third-starting Looney following closely behind. The trio was separated by less than one second when the race took a major turn.
Coming down the front stretch to complete lap 15, Hoover’s car suddenly slowed and he pulled into the pits. Cornell inherited the lead, but it wound up being short-lived as one lap later he rolled to a stop in turn two.
That elevated Looney to the point and he didn’t give it up despite a late run by Cole Henson, who came from seventh to second.
“It was a fast track. I just tried to stay patient and maybe those guys would mess up in front of me and sneak in there and get the win,” Looney said. “It worked out for us tonight.”
It was all Looney from there as the veteran from Republic led the final nine laps. He did have to overcome a caution on lap 21, wiping out a comfortable lead, after two-time winner Dustin Walker spun in turn two.
Looney had a clean restart and wound up 1.05 seconds in front of points leader Henson. Tucker Cox was third, advancing seven spots from the start. Matt Becker was fourth and Johnny Fennewald wound up in fifth.
Bryant dominates in B-Mod win: Andy Bryant of Fort Scott, Kansas, breezed to victory in the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature, leading all the way for his second Lucas Oil Speedway feature victory of the season.
Bryant started on the pole and grabbed early command with JC Morton moving from fourth to second on the opening lap. They were separated by just under on second when the race’s first caution came out on lap five.
As the 20-lapper went caution-free the rest of the way, Bryant checked out and won by 3.17 seconds over Morton. Jon Sheets finished a season-best third with points leader Kris Jackson in fourth and Robbe Ewing in fifth.
Despite his dominance, Bryant said he always was aware of where Morton and the rest of the contenders was.
“Always. Everybody here … this is always the most-competitive track we race at week to week,” Bryant said. “Those guys don’t let you take a breath.”
Tyler Wolff runs away with USRA Mod feature: Tyler Wolff of Fayetteville, Arkansas took over the lead on lap four and then ran away and hid from the field in the Pitts Homes USRA Modified feature.
Wolff, who started the feature sixth, wound up nearly half a lap in front of second-place Terry Schultz.
“It was like driving a Cadillac,” Wolff said of his win. “My Dad did a good job of putting the set-up on this thing today. We worked pretty hard in the heat. It’s rewarding. It was easy to drive and that’s good because we’ve been having a little bit of trouble, so we’ll take it.”
Wolff was 20th in his only other Lucas Oil Speedway appearance this season, though he did win two features in two attempts at the track in 2019.
Kyle Thompson slipped past Tracy Wolf for the lead on lap two in a race plagued by three early cautions. Wolff made it three leaders in four laps when he went around Thompson on the outside after a lap-four restart.
Wolff pulled away after a lap-13 caution and distanced the field, prevailing by 7.3 seconds over 13th-starting Schultz. Wolf settled for third with Darren Shaw fourth and Mark Dotson fifth.
Brown makes it four Street Stocks wins: Points leader Derek Brown of Stoutland took command in the second half of the race and earned his fourth O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks victory of the season.
Toby Ott and Brown started together on the front row and they ran side-by-side through most of eight green-flag laps, with Ott staying just in front until a caution flew on lap eight.
Clayton Campbell stalked the two leaders before making a pass of Brown to move into second on lap 10. Two laps later, Brown made the inside line pay off as he edged past Campbell for second and a lap later past Ott and into the lead.
Following a caution with four laps to go, Brown remained glued to the inside groove and was running his fastest laps of the race. He finished 1.07 seconds in front of Campbell with Ott in third. Bob Barnett advanced from ninth to finish fourth with Johnny Coats in fifth.
“I ran the bottom for the longest time, but for some reason I thought the top would be better,” Brown said of his brief slip to third place. “I sure was glad to see the caution come out and get back to the bottom.”
Next up: Racing at Lucas Oil Speedway resumes on Saturday, July 11 with Veterans and Military Appreciation Night Presented by KOZL 27. All Veterans and Military Personnel with ID will be admitted free. The Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods will be the evening’s featured class running for a special 25-Lap, $750 to win main event. Mod Lites will make their first appearance as the guest class
For ticket questions or information for next weekend or any event this season, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.