WHEATLAND, Mo. – Larry Ferris put an end to Johnny Fennewald’s five-race winning streak in the ULMA Late Model division, leading all 25 laps of Saturday night’s headline feature at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Ferris, of Nevada, picked up $1,000 for the dominating victory, finishing 6.7 seconds in front of runner-up Will Vaught in the next-to-last Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series program of the season.
Also capturing feature wins on Public Safety Appreciation Night Presented by KOLR were Kris Jackson (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods), Kevin Blackburn (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds) and James McMillin (O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars).
Ferris earned his second feature victory of the season, scoring a runaway win after starting on the front row.
“The track definitely had a lot of character tonight,” Ferris said, noting some bumpy spots after heavy overnight rain affected the conditions. “I was just trying to hold on there at the end.”
Ferris picked up his ninth top-five finish in nine attempts and was a new visitor to victory lane, ending Fennewald’s long run of summer success.
Fennewald started ninth in the feature after struggling in his heat race. He had made it to sixth by lap five in the feature before spinning in turn four to bring out a caution.
That sent Fennewald to tailback for the restart, with 20 laps to make up ground. Meanwhile, Ferris has opened a 1.7-second lead over Henson when the caution came out.
Ferris set sail after the restart and opened a 3.3-second lead over Vaught with Henson running third as a caution flew on lap 12. Just as the race resumed, Fennewald’s car did not get up to speed and he headed to the pits as the race remained under caution.
Fennewald wound up 11th and lost valuable ground to reigning track champion Cole Henson in the title chase. Henson, who began the night 14 points in front of Fennewald, finish third. Henson unofficially takes a 35-point lead into the final points night next Saturday.
It was more of the same the race remained green over the final 13 laps. Ferris checked out and won by nearly a half-track margin over Vaught who was making his first ULMA Late Model appearance since winning on opening night in the Moon Brothers ride.
Following the top three were Dalton Imhoff, advancing 11 positions from the start, to finish fourth and Todd McCoin in fifth.
Jackson of Lebanon earned his seventh Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature victory of the season, holding off Cody King by about three car lengths.
Jackson led all but one lap in bouncing back after blowing a motor the previous night at Lebanon Midway Speedway.
“I couldn’t do it without my guys,” Jackson said. “We blew up a motor last night. Luckily Jim (Ruble) was working on a guy’s motor and he allowed me to use it tonight. My new motor is not quite done.
“This is about the time of the year when we put a fresh one in. I probably pushed it a little too late and put one too many races on it. I just asked a little too much out of it.”
Jackson, who started on the pole, relinquished the lead only once. That was on lap two when JC Newell beat him at the start-finish line by a few feet coming off turn four.
But Jackson regained the lead just two turns later and was on his way to victory.
Bryant worked his way from his seventh-starting position into second by lap nine. He and Cody King swapped the runner-up position over the next five laps with King in second when the race’s fifth caution flew on lap 14 with Jackson holding a 1.3-second lead.
King outdueled Bryant over the final six laps, but he was no match for Jackson as the five-time track champion won by one-second. Bryant finished third with Terry Schultz fourth and Newell winding up fifth.
Jackson is in prime position to earn his sixth track championship next Saturday in the regular-season finale. He began the night 58 points ahead of JC Morton and Morton wound up in sixth, meaning an unofficial 77-point gap between the two.
It was all Blackburn in the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modfied featured. Staring up front, the Fulton driver led all 20 laps for his first feature win of the season in four attempts at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Blackburn had finishes of second, third and sixth earlier this season at the speedway and finally got the win. He beat runner-up Shad Badder by 4.5 seconds with Chase Jones rallying from ninth to third.
In 19 total races this season, Blackburn had four second-place finishes and has only been out of the top 10 only three times.
“We’ve been fast this year,” Blackburn said. “We’ve been there, we’ve been there, we’ve been there … but couldn’t get a win. I’m proud. This is our first win at Wheatland. We raced a bunch here when I was a kid. I’m proud to be standing here.”
Kyle Ledford finished fourth and Jason Pursley wound up fifth. Season points leader Dillon McCowan started 10th and finished eighth. McCowan unofficially has a 69-point margin over Ryan Middaugh finished 19th.
McMillin emerged from a terrific battle with Ed Griggs and picked up his third O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature win of the season.
McMillin and Griggs started on the front row and they spent the opening two laps side by side, swapping the lead with John Coats and David Hendrix right behind. That was a preview of what the 20-lap race would become.
The race was red-flagged on a lap-three restart as Darren Phillips, second in track points, rolled his car in turn one. He crawled out without injury with the safety crew quickly extinguishing a small fire underneath the hood.
As action returned to green, McMillin and Griggs resumed their battle. McMillin took over the lead on lap five – the third and final lead change of the race. Griggs pulled alongside and attempted to pass lap after lap coming out of turn four, but could not complete the pass as McMillin had momentum off the high groove.
“I think that’s what is pretty cool about these stock cars. They’re all pretty even, really,” McMillin said after his third Lucas Oil Speedway feature win of the season. “If you can get four or five of them up there, that’s the most fun you can have in racing.”
McMillin was able to open a gap over the final three laps and wound up 1.6 seconds in front of Griggs. Points leader Hendrix was third with Coats fourth and Burl Woods fifth.