WHEATLAND, MO. (May 29, 2021) – It was a long, excellent Friday night/Saturday morning for Josh Richards at Lucas Oil Speedway – especially the second half of the doubleheader setting the stage for Saturday’s 29th annual Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtectheHarvest.com.
Richards, of Shinnston, West Virginia, followed a fifth-place run in the opener by dominating the Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson program. Richards led the final 35 of 40 laps to beat Shane Clanton and hard-charging Chris Ferguson in a race that ended at 2 a.m.
“I can’t thank everyone with Clint Bowyer Racing and everyone on this car enough,” Richards said. “The car was really good. I can’t thank everyone enough for staying up. We had a great night tonight and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
Tim McCreadie took the first preliminary earlier on Friday night, leading all 45 laps of the “Cowboy Classic.” McCreadie finished seventh in the second half of the doubleheader.
Drivers from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil MLRA accumulated points through their finishes in the events to help set the field for Saturday night’s 100-lap, $30,000-to-win Show-Me 100.
A total of 58 Late Models checked into the pits for the doubleheader, necessitated by postponement of Thursday’s scheduled action due to rain.
The Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson was dominated by the sixth-starting Richards, who earned $6,000 for the win. After taking over the lead, not even four caution flags the rest of the way could help the field run him down.
Richards held a commanding 4.1-second margin over Scott Bloomquist when the race’s first caution flew at the midpoint when Ryan Gustin slowed on the front stretch.
Richards took over the lead on lap six from Brian Shirley and gradually stretched it out from there, even as he encountered lapped traffic by lap 15. Bloomquist, meanwhile, slipped past Shirley for the runner-up spot on lap 14 and those two battled it out as the leader stretched his command.
It didn’t take long after the lap 20 restart for Richards to re-establish dominance as he opened up by 2.4 seconds over Shirley, Bloomquist and Clanton in just two laps and kept building it as that trio slugged it out in a battle for second.
A turn-one tangle between Chase Junghans and Hudson O’Neal, who were battling for eighth, brought out a caution on lap 27. That again erased a comfortable margin that Richards had built, 3.7 seconds over Clanton with Shirley third and Bloomquist in fourth.
Once again, it was no problem for Richards, a 33-year-old who’s seeking his first Show-Me 100 triumph. Navigating another caution with five laps to go, Richards went on to beat Clanton by 2.26 seconds.
“I was a little bit,” Richards said of his level of concern after the late cautions. “It felt like the right rear tire kind of greased up a little bit. My biggest fear was hitting a hole and pushing down in (turns) one and two.
“I was a little conservative on my entry, but after we ran a couple of laps and I was able to widen out and get a little more speed once was got a little bit of gap.”
Clanton, of Zebulon, Georgia, said he thought he might have something for Richards on the final restart.
“But overall we had a good night and hopefully it puts us in a good spot tomorrow to win this thing,” Clanton said.
Ferguson, who made the long haul from Mt. Holly, North Carolina, charged from 23rd at the start to finish third. Not only did the team deal with mechanical issues on the transporter on the way to Missouri, it had to replace the rear-end in the race car following hot laps prior to Friday’s second feature.
Last year’s Diamond Nationals winner at Lucas Oil Speedway, Ferguson raced his way into the Gibson Tribute feature through a B Main.
“We battled all night and had a good hot rod,” Ferguson said. “We just needed a couple of more laps. We really like coming out here to this place. If we can put ourselves in a position to start up front, I think we can win that thing tomorrow.”
Brandon Sheppard wound up fourth with Kyle Bronson fifth and Bloomquist sixth.
Ricky Thornton Jr. had the fastest qualifying lap with a time of 14.931 seconds in Group A. Bloomquist paced Group B at 15.371. Bloomquist went on to win his heat race to earn a front-row starting position for the feature.
Timms completes USRA Modified sweep: Randy Timms completed a sweep in the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds, again using a last-lap pass to take the night’s final feature to cap a program ending at 4:01 a.m.
Timms, of Wheatland, Oklahoma, held off Dillon McCowan in another thrilling finish by less than a half-second.
“I had no idea how it was looking up front. You’re kind of a sitting duck up there, especially in these conditions,” Timms said of protecting the lead on a bumpy surface. “You just have to get up on the wheel and try to get it done.”
Timms picked up his second $750 check of the night and earned the pole for Saturday night’s $1,500-to-win, 30-lap feature.
Timms took over the lead on lap two after fellow front-row starter Ryan Middaugh paced the opening circuit. By lap six, Dillon McCowan had moved into second and Jason Pursley into third and that trio opened a gap over the rest of the field.
Pursley and McCowan continued to apply pressure to Timms with McCowan and Pursley going around Timms with five to go – but a caution flag waved at the same time to send the running order back to the previous lap.
McCowan powered past Timms and into the lead the lap after the restart, then Timms regained the lead the next lap before McCowan took it back as the white flag flew.
Timms made the final, decisive pass and won by a half-car-length. Driving a car owned by Joe Duvall, Timms was racing for the first time in 2021.
“Joe gave me a good car and I’m just happy for the chance to come wheel it for him,” Timms said.
Pursley wound up third with Duvall fourth and Middaugh in fifth.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (May 29, 2021)
29th annual Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtecttheHarvest.com
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series “Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson”
A Feature – 1. 14-Josh Richards[6]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[23]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard[10]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 6. 0-Scott Bloomquist[2]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie[8]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 9. 20-Jimmy Owens[12]; 10. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[18]; 11. 157-Mike Marlar[19]; 12. 59-Garrett Alberson[20]; 13. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[13]; 14. 71-Hudson O’Neal[24]; 15. 36-Logan Martin[16]; 16. 25S-Chad Simpson[14]; 17. 18-Shannon Babb[9]; 18. 0E-Rick Eckert[22]; 19. 2S-Stormy Scott[15]; 20. 66C-Matt Cosner[17]; 21. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[21]; 22. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[11]; 23. 18J-Chase Junghans[7]; 24. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]
Penske Shocks Heat 1 – 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 6. 15D-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 8. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 9. 7JR-Ryan Johnson[8]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 6. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 7. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[7]; 9. (DNS) 7J-Jay Fields; 10. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker
Simpson Race Products Heat 3 – 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[10]; 6. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[7]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[8]; 10. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp
Ohlins Shocks Heat 4 – 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 25S-Chad Simpson[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[9]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 8. 11R-Justin Reed[7]; 9. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 10. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall
Fast Shafts Heat 5 – 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[8]; 9. 44W-David Webster[9]; 10. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey
Lucas Oil Heat 6 – 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 5. 91P-Jason Papich[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]
B Main 1 – 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 5. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 7. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[10]; 9. 7J-Jay Fields[12]; 10. (DNS) 15D-Justin Duty; 11. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney; 12. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson; 13. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker
B Main 2 – 1. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 8. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[8]; 9. 11R-Justin Reed[10]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[9]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 12. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 13. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp; 14. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall
B Main 3 – 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 91P-Jason Papich[4]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 11. 44W-David Webster[11]; 12. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 13. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds
A Feature – 1. 91X-Randy Timms[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[3]; 3. 38C-Jason Pursley[6]; 4. 91-Joe Duvall[4]; 5. 21-Ryan Middaugh[1]; 6. 292-Kyle Thompson[7]; 7. 88-Chad Wheeler[22]; 8. 227-Chase Domer[19]; 9. 65-Kris Jackson[15]; 10. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[5]; 11. 21H-Andy Bryant[8]; 12. 23L-Lucas Dobbs[20]; 13. 89-Tyler Hibner[17]; 14. 17-Rod Cordon[24]; 15. 21C-Cody Schniepp[21]; 16. 92-Tyler Grooms[18]; 17. (DNF) 3J-Lewis Jackson[10]; 18. (DNF) 21J-Johnny Fennewald[9]; 19. (DNF) 18JR-Chase Sigg[11]; 20. (DNF) 03-Chase Jones[13]; 21. (DNF) 10-Kyle Schmidt[12]; 22. (DNF) 7-Daniel Franklin[23]; 23. (DNF) 64-Casey Fowler[14]; 24. (DNS) 02-Robert Powers
Heat 1 – 1. 38C-Jason Pursley[1]; 2. 3J-Lewis Jackson[3]; 3. 91X-Randy Timms[9]; 4. 21J-Johnny Fennewald[10]; 5. 60-Cody Kretchmar[2]; 6. 7T-Treyton Gann[5]; 7. 23L-Lucas Dobbs[7]; 8. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[6]; 9. 17-Rod Cordon[8]; 10. 21B-Bryce Schniepp[11]; 11. (DNF) 93D-Josh Dugan[4]
Heat 2 – 1. 292-Kyle Thompson[1]; 2. 10-Kyle Schmidt[11]; 3. 21H-Andy Bryant[7]; 4. 75L-Lane Whitney[4]; 5. 64-Casey Fowler[9]; 6. 00-Scott Bryant[10]; 7. 51-Lucas Gibbs[8]; 8. (DNF) 88-Chad Wheeler[6]; 9. (DNF) 25-Frank Huff[3]; 10. (DNF) 27-Toby Ott[5]; 11. (DNS) 24-Jarret Dotson
Heat 3 – 1. 21-Ryan Middaugh[10]; 2. 91-Joe Duvall[5]; 3. 03-Chase Jones[1]; 4. 02-Robert Powers[2]; 5. 98D-Paden Phillips[7]; 6. 98-Robert Heydenreich[6]; 7. 07-Daniel Harris[9]; 8. 74-Rodney Schweizer[4]; 9. (DNF) 24D-Donnie Fellers[3]; 10. (DNS) 23-Adam Kates; 11. (DNS) 194-Scott Phillips
Heat 4 – 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 2. 18JR-Chase Sigg[1]; 3. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[8]; 4. 65-Kris Jackson[5]; 5. 89-Tyler Hibner[3]; 6. 92-Tyler Grooms[11]; 7. 7-Daniel Franklin[7]; 8. 99B-Brandyn Ryan[4]; 9. 227-Chase Domer[10]; 10. 21C-Cody Schniepp[6]; 11. 90-Terry Schultz[9]
B Main 1 – 1. 89-Tyler Hibner[3]; 2. 227-Chase Domer[8]; 3. 21C-Cody Schniepp[9]; 4. 7-Daniel Franklin[6]; 5. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[1]; 6. (DNF) 98-Robert Heydenreich[4]; 7. (DNF) 00-Scott Bryant[2]; 8. (DNF) 25-Frank Huff[11]; 9. (DNS) 07-Daniel Harris; 10. (DNS) 99B-Brandyn Ryan; 11. (DNS) 90-Terry Schultz; 12. (DNS) 27-Toby Ott; 13. (DNS) 93D-Josh Dugan; 14. (DNS) 24-Jarret Dotson
B Main 2 – 1. 92-Tyler Grooms[4]; 2. 23L-Lucas Dobbs[5]; 3. 88-Chad Wheeler[10]; 4. 17-Rod Cordon[8]; 5. 7T-Treyton Gann[3]; 6. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[7]; 7. 74-Rodney Schweizer[6]; 8. 24D-Donnie Fellers[11]; 9. (DNF) 98D-Paden Phillips[1]; 10. (DNF) 21B-Bryce Schniepp[9]; 11. (DNS) 51-Lucas Gibbs; 12. (DNS) 23-Adam Kates; 13. (DNS) 60-Cody Kretchmar; 14. (DNS) 194-Scott Phillips
Lee Greenwood part of Saturday festivities: In addition to the racing on Saturday night, CMA and ACM Country Music Male Vocalist of the Year, Grammy Award winner and American Patriot Lee Greenwood will serve as Grand Marshall for the action.
Greenwood will sing the National Anthem during opening ceremonies and also his iconic song “God Bless the USA,” after driver introductions just prior to the green flag falling to begin the 100-lap feature.
Show-Me 100 Saturday schedule:
3 p.m. – Grandstands open
5:30 p.m. – Hot laps
6:15 p.m. – Racing begins
Saturday tickets:
General admission – $35
Seniors (62 and up)/Military – $32
Youth (ages 6-15) $10
Kids (5-and-under) FREE
Family pass – $80
Pit pass – $40
For ticket information for any event during the 2021 Lucas Oil Speedway season, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at Nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com. Fans also can use the online ticketing system.