WHEATLAND, Mo. — Mason Beck led all 25 laps in a caution-free O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars main event Saturday night, capturing the headline feature at Lucas Oil Speedway.
The 19-year-old Beck earned $750 for his first victory of the season as he finished in front of runner-up Dean Wille.
Other features winners on the Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series program, presented by Thunderburst Media, included Ryan Middaugh (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds), Ryan Gillmore (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Larry Ferris (Hermitage Lumber Late Models). The four features all ran caution-free on a night that action began two hours early due to cool and windy conditions.
Beck Keeps Field At Bay In USRA Stock Car Feature
Beck rolled to the lead on lap one from his second-row starting position.
He led by 2.2 seconds over Colton Bourland by lap five as Bourland advanced from seventh at the start.
“We’ve been kind of having some bad luck with the redraw this season,” Beck said. “Last week we started third and didn’t have a very good car. This week, we tried some stuff that my dad wanted to do and he was right. I’m gonna have to give that to him.”
Beck’s lead grew to nearly three seconds by lap 10 as Dean Wille moved into second with Doug Keller third as Bourland fell back to fourth.
As action remained green, Beck continued to build his lead, which was at 4.1 seconds by lap 20. All he had to do the rest of the way was to avoid mistakes and that he did. Beck prevailed by 4.02 seconds over Wille with Keller finishing third, William Garner fourth and two-time feature winner Robert White fifth.
“All thanks goes to Sniper Speed and Kris Jackson,” Beck said, adding that he enjoyed the drying track conditions. “I figured if we had more tracks like this, I’d do a lot more winning. I’m not very good at the tacky stuff. I’m a better dry-slick racer, but we finally got her done this year and got a win.”
USRA Stock Car Feature Results (25 Laps)
1. 0F-Mason Beck[3]; 2. 68-Dean Wille[1]; 3. 7K-Doug Keller[9]; 4. 7-William Garner[10]; 5. 5-Robert White[8]; 6. 2-Colton Bourland[7]; 7. 85H-Mike Hailmann[16]; 8. 74-Rodney Schweizer[2]; 9. 21F-Johnny Fennewald[4]; 10. 63-Scott Brown[12]; 11. 8M-James McMillin[5]; 12. 83-James Ellis[6]; 13. 21-Darren Phillips[11]; 14. 12-Christopher Sawyer[14]; 15. 11-Christine Holt[13]; 16. 24-Blayne McMillin[17]; 17. (DNS) 7D-Danny Holt
Middaugh cruises in USRA Modifieds
Middaugh grabbed the lead early and went on to post a win in the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature.
Middaugh started fourth and grabbed the top spot on lap two away from pole-starting Mickey Burrell. By lap five, Middaugh already had a two-second margin with Burrell and Jason Pursley following. Dylan Hoover advanced into the runner-up spot on lap eight before Pursley grabbed second the next time around.
Meanwhile, Middaugh was cruising by himself up front, 2.8 seconds over his pursuers at the midpoint.
As the race ran all 20 laps under the green flag, Middaugh continued to pull away for his first win of the season at Lucas Oil Speedway after one victory last year. He finished 3.8 seconds in front of Hoover with Pursley third, Robbie Reed fourth and Burrell finishing fifth.
“We’ve been working on it and working on it. Man, we really needed this one,” Middaugh said. “We got one at Callaway a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve had a really rough start to the year. We totaled our truck and trailer the first night and tore the car all to heck.
“Thanks to my dad Randy for sticking behind us for sticking behind us. My wife, my daughter, my step-mom and just all of our partners. We finally found a used trailer and got it. I went to West Virginia on Thursday and picked up a new truck. It’s been really hectic. We haven’t been 100 percent prepared, but we’re almost there now.”
Gillmore earns B-Mod feature win
Gillmore grabbed the lead away from Jason Pursley just before the halfway mark and went on to capture his first Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod win of the season.
JC Newell led lap one with fellow front-row starter Pursley edging him at the start-finish line to lead lap two. Pursley continued to set the pace over the next several laps, but Gillmore was closing in and applying pressure as he worked the bottom groove.
Gillmore was able to maneuver past Pursley for the lead, coming out of turn four on lap nine. He pulled away from there to open a 2.1-second lead by lap 13 as he encountered lapped traffic. Once he got around the two slower cars, Gillmore took it home in the caution-free 20-lapper to beat Pursley by 2.8 seconds.
Ferris rolls in Late Model feature
Reigning track champion Ferris scored his first Hermitage Lumber Late Model feature victory of the season, dominating all 20 laps. He beat runner-up Justin Wells by 6.4 seconds. Ferris earned $1,000 for the win.
“I just want to thank Daniel Wosoba and Bryan Larimore for the added money. That makes a big difference and it really helps get the cars in,” Ferris said..
Ferris started on the outside of row one and he roared away for the early lead, distancing himself from Larry Jones by 2.5 seconds after just five laps with Bryon Allison running third. Wells, winner of the two previous late model features this season, advanced from sixth to third but as he dueled with Jones, Ferris kept pulling away. His margin was 4.1 second by lap 10.
The only thing that might give anyone else a chance would have been a caution flag and it never came. Ferris’ command was seven seconds over Wells by lap 17 and he completed the mission with a full straightaway’s margin.
“Finally,” Ferris said. “The car’s always been good. I just haven’t been very good yet.”
Wells finished second with Jones third, Allison fourth and Joe Walkenhorst fifth.