TULSA, Oka. — After years of trying, Saturday night was the night for T.J. Smith, who finally landed his first Golden Driller in Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout competition with a dominant performance in Outlaw Non-Wing action.
Chasing Oklahoma’s Jason McDougal the first five revolutions, the door swung open for Smith to take the lead on laps six when McDougal slid off the bottom of the track exiting the second turn. In traffic by lap nine, the slower cars did little to shake Smith’s pace.
Staying low on a late-race restart, Smith was able to protect the lead and win by 1.078 seconds.
Looking to have a runner-up performance in hand, Kyle Spence had other plans as the R7 jumped to the top through the final two turns and snagged second at the line from McDougal. Fourth went to Jaxon Bishop, with Shawn Mahaffey in fifth.
The field of Outlaw Non-Wing competitors numbered 398 and was the second largest class of the Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 8A-T.J. Smith[2]; 2. R7-Kyle Spence[6]; 3. 73-Jason McDougal[1]; 4. 22Z-Jaxon Bishop[4]; 5. 11K-Shawn Mahaffey[3]; 6. 47B-Emerson Axsom[7]; 7. 02-Ashton Torgerson[8]; 8. 81X-Frank Flud[10]; 9. 25A-Anton Hernandez[5]; 10. 6W-Colin White[12]; 11. 67-JJ Loss[18]; 12. 08C-Cannon McIntosh[11]; 13. 89-Jace Park[9]; 14. 36T-Jake Neuman[13]; 15. 110-Karter Battarbee[14]; 16. 24S-Colby Sokol[21]; 17. 21T-Tommy Kunsman[23]; 18. 51T-Kevin Thomas Jr[15]; 19. 36J-Kyle Jones[20]; 20. 41-Logan Rumsey[24]; 21. 121-Steven Snyder Jr[19]; 22. 14R-Jake Nail[22]; 23. 10Z-Dominic Gorden[16]; 24. (DNF) 8J-Jonathan Beason[17]