Wheatland, Missouri (May 11, 2021) – Lucas Oil MLRA action returns to the track this weekend with an Eastern Iowa double header under the Drt Trak Racing, Inc. banner led by Robert Wagner. The action will go from one extreme to another as drivers tackle the ¼ mile Davenport Speedway on Friday night May 14th followed by the series lone visit of the year to the ½ mile West Liberty Raceway on Saturday night.
Friday nights event will mark the second visit of the season to the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds and the Davenport Speedway, where early season action found veteran driver Billy Moyer scoring his 847th career victory in a spirited back and forth battle with Jason Papich. Eastern Iowa locals Chad and Chris Simpson both have MLRA wins at Davenport with Chris owning three, to lead all drivers in MLRA wins at the facility.
Saturday night will mark the fifth all time visit for the series to West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, Iowa. Moyer grabbed the win in 2020 on the super-fast half mile in a race of tire management and is the only repeat winner in Lucas Oil MLRA history at the Muscatine County Fairgrounds track. Other past winners include Bobby Pierce and Chris Simpson.
With five races in the books, the series title chase is wide open as should be expected. This weekend’s return to the dirt track will be highlighted by a trio of drivers who are each riding their own unique wave of momentum.
2013 MLRA Champion Tony Jackson Jr. comes into the weekend on top of the Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Spoiler Challenge standings. Jackson scored the season opening win at I-80 Speedway back on April 13th and added another pair of top five runs during the first five events. The driver from Lebanon, MO maintains a slim 15- point advantage over Jason Papich. What makes his early season start so impressive is that Jackson has come from deep in the field on multiple occasions, evident by his 38 Hard Charger points which also has him on top of the Casey’s Hard Charger Standings.
Papich enters the weekend riding a huge wave of momentum as he tries to track down his first series championship. The Arroyo Grande, California driver already has a pair of Illini Racing Supply Fast Time Awards, the second of which came at Davenport where he came home with runner-up honors back in mid-April. Just 48 hours later he collected his first career MLRA win and biggest to date at the 34 Raceway, winning the 13th Annual Slocum 50 and its $10,555 top prize.
Garrett Alberson, in his second season racing the Roberts Motorsports #59, is another driver riding a hot streak into the weekend. Alberson sits 65 points out of the top spot and is still searching for his first MLRA win, but just scored the biggest win of his career this past weekend by winning a $12,000 pay day at LaSalle, IL. On the MLRA side, he has a pair of podium finishes including a third place run at the Slocum 50.
“So much of it now days is confidence based and just having faith in your cars,” commented Alberson. “I’m really curious to see if our momentum can carry us through a couple tracks that I probably know the least about.”
After finishing 12th at the Davenport quarter earlier this season he knows that he will have his work cut out for him this weekend to move further up the scoreboard. “They call davenport a quarter mile, but to me because the track is so wide it really races like a bigger track especially if you are running the outside of it. Now if you’re running the bottom it seems like a pretty short little track, but it’s got so much width to it that it’s almost like trying to run two different tracks depending on what lane you’re in.”
For Alberson, half-miles like the flat but super-fast West Liberty Raceway can also be challenging. “I don’t have a ton of experience in general on big half miles, so those are definitely the areas where I feel like I am going to have to be focused and on my game to pullout a good run if I want to be in this title fight.”
Davenport Speedway (1/4 Mile): Davenport, IA (Race Day Info)–Friday 5/14/21
Gates: 3:00 PM Pits/5:00 PM Grandstands
Racing: Hot Laps – 6:00 PM, Racing to follow
Admission: Adults $20, Teens & Seniors $17, 12 & under FREE w/ Paid Adult
Support Classes: Modifieds, Sport Mods, + A.I.R.S.
Website: www.drttrakracing.com
West Liberty Raceway: West Liberty, IA (Race Day Info)—Saturday 5/15/21
Gates: 2:00 PM Pits/5:00 PM Grandstands
Racing: Hot Laps – 6:30 PM, Racing to follow
Admission: Adults $20, Teens & Seniors $17, 12 & under FREE w/ Paid Adult
Support Classes: Modifieds, Sport Mods, + Nostalgic Late Models
Website: www.drttrakracing.com