WHEATLAND, Mo. — Ryan Middaugh’s outstanding season continued Saturday night as he grabbed another Lucas Oil Speedway Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature victory.
The Fulton driver earned his fifth Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series win of the season as he held off Austen Becerra for the $1,000 headliner on Mickey Fleehart Fan Appreciation Night at the Races Presented by Thunderburst Media.
Middaugh led all 25 laps of the feature as he started from the pole. Along with leading the points at Lucas Oil Speedway, he’s also on top at his hometown Callaway Speedway’s title chase and paces USRA Modified national points. Middaugh has 13 feature wins in 2023.
“We’ve finally had some luck on our side,” Middaugh said of his season. “Past years, just little things. Engine problems and stuff … had been biting us. I’m just getting a better feel for this place it seems like. This place is tough. The competition is tough.
“The car was good and the track was super fast after the rain. The redraw definitely played in my favor after a tore some stuff up in the heat race.”
Middaugh wasted no time sprinting from his pole-starting spot to open a half-straightaway led by lap three. That’s when the event’s first caution flew to wipe away Middaugh’s 2.3-second lead over eighth-starter Austen Becerra with Tracy Wolf third.
When action resumed, Middaugh needed only five laps to re-establish a 2.2-second lead over Becerra. By lap 15, Middaugh was going through lapped traffic and maintaining his margin as Jeff Cutshaw moved into third, but five-seconds behind Becerra.
Middaugh was cruising along with a 2.3-second lead with three laps to go when a caution put some drama into the outcome. But Middaugh took away much of the mystery with a clean restart and he held off a final-lap charge to beat Becerra by 0.390 seconds or about two car lengths.
“I wanted that caution to get out of lapped traffic, but then I didn’t because one mistake and that Becerra, he’s really fast and he’s good,” Middaugh said. “I knew he was gonna be chomping at the bit there to throw a slider into one. I had to make sure I didn’t go over the cushion or anything.”
Cutshaw, the Lucas Oil Speedway track champion from 2014-17, finished third with Kerry Davis fourth and Jason Pursley fifth.
Other feature winners were Chase Galvin (O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars), Justin Wells (Hermitage Lumber Late Models), J.C. Morton (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Tom Charles in the special guest class Show-Me Vintage Racers.
Feature Finish
1. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[1]; 2. 22-Austen Becerra[8]; 3. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[5]; 4. 68-Kerry Davis[7]; 5. 38C-Jason Pursley[11]; 6. 18-Chad Lyle[9]; 7. 23-Lucas Dobbs[2]; 8. 33-Jaren Martin[6]; 9. 10T-Tyler Brown[13]; 10. (DNF) 21-Greg Scheffler[12]; 11. (DNF) 21W-Tracy Wolf[3]; 12. (DNF) C3-Chad Staus[14]; 13. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[4]; 14. (DNF) 24-Toby Lindell[10]