WHEATLAND, Mo. – Scotty Allen is a race track promoter, race car builder and part-time race car driver. Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, Allen was dominant in the latter role.
The Urbana resident led all 25 laps to capture the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature, beating Burl Woods by about six car lengths at the finish.
Other winners in the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series Midseason Championships Presented by the Bolivar Herald-Free Press and KTTS were Chase Domer (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds), JC Morton (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Johnny Fennewald (Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models).
A total of 94 cars checked into the pits as the regular season reached the halfway point. Midseason champions crowned were David Hendrix (USRA Stock Cars), Dillon McCowan (USRA Modifieds), Kris Jackson (USRA B-Mods) and Cole Henson (ULMA Late Models).
In the night’s headliner, Allen was a clear winner as a season-high 24 USRA Stock Cars checked into the pits. He took home $750 for the triumph.
Allen started up front and grabbed command from the start and opened a 1.3-second lead over Derek Brown by lap five, when the race’s first caution flew. Woods moved past Brown and into second as the race returned to green before another caution slowed the field.
Brown and Woods swapped second place two more times over the next five laps, with Allen leading by just over a second when the event’s fourth caution came out on lap 12.
Brown fell off the pace and dropped out with five laps to go, leaving Allen up front by 2.2 seconds over Woods. Jeff Dix was third and Dominic Thyfault, who started eighth, moved to fourth as action slowed for another caution on lap 20.
Allen was up to the challenge on the restart and, as the race remained green over the final five laps, he went on to beat Woods by just under s second. Dixon wound up third with Thyfault fourth and Robert White fifth.
For Allen, owner of Allen Autosports and promoter of Dallas County Speedway, it was his first appearance in a USRA Stock Car at Lucas Oil Speedway and just his second time in the car overall.
“This was my son’s car. He ran third in the points over at Dallas County last year,” Allen said. “We’ve been working real hard on our B-Mod program and our Stock Car program. I had my B-Mod and … there are some boys in the pits and I don’t think I’m gonna sell ’em any more cars because I can’t outrun any of them.
“My son wanted to take a little break. I bought this and it’s our second night out. Two heats, two wins. Two features, two wins.
“Them old boys behind me, you get Burl and Derek Brown. Man, that’s some meat. For us to come out and do that, I am very happy because those are some good race-car drivers. They say anybody can win from the pole, but I’m almost 50. I’ll take it.”
Allen and Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Danny Lorton have partnered to put up a $250 bonus for any USRA Stock Car driver sweeping features at Dallas County Speedway and Lucas Oil Speedway on the same weekend. Dallas County Speedway was rained out on Friday.
David Hendrix wound up 11th, but that was enough to nail down the midseason points championship.
“We were running really good and we’ve got some sort of motor issues these last couple of weeks,” Hendrix said. “We’re gonna have to tear it apart again. We’ll get it fixed. But I’m so glad to see that many cars here tonight. That was awesome. It’s so much more fun when there are 24 cars here.”
Domer picked up his first Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature win of the season, leading the final 19 of 20 laps and holding off Fulton’s Ryan Middaugh.
Dillon McCowan of Urbana had a solid and uneventful run, starting fourth and finishing fourth, to secure the midseason points title.
Tracy Wolf and Domer started on the front row and Wolf lead the first lap before Domer pushed in front coming off turn four to complete lap two. Darron Fuqua moved into second and Middaugh into third on lap five, behind the pace-setting Domer, with the race’s second caution coming out at that time.
Those three separated themselves from the field by nearly two seconds as the race remained green the rest of the way. Domer worked the outside groove to hold off Middaugh over the final five laps.
Domer held on to win by a half-second over Middaugh with Fuqua third, McCowan fourth and Kyle Thompson in fifth.
Morton took over the lead on lap six and went on to prevail in the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature, beating Mitchell Franklin by about eight car lengths.
Morton came up a little short of the midseason championship, however, finishing unofficially four points behind Kris Jackson whose fifth-place run was good enough.
Eric Turner led from the start, from his pole-position-starting spot with Morton and Franklin giving chase.
A lap after a restart, Morton made a diving move to the inside of turn one on lap six to slip past Turner and into the lead. Two laps later, Turner’s car lost power and several cars piled up in a chain-reaction in turns three and four.
“There early, Eric was a little better than us and he kind of rotated around us the first five or six laps,” Morton said. “On that restart, I tried to decide if I wanted the top or bottom. I decided to give the top a chance and it ended up working, getting me back to the lead.”
That left Morton, Franklin, Gillmore and JC Newell up front, with Jackson having worked his way from 12th to fifth.
With the race settling into a caution-free rhythm the rest of the way, Morton held off a brief challenge from Franklin and pulled away to win by 1.48 seconds. Gillmore finished third with Kyle Slader fourth and Jackson fifth.
Fennewald spanked the field, beating second-place Larry Ferris by 8.4 seconds for the Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Model feature win.
Cole Henson came from sixth to finish fourth and nailed down the midseason championship.
Fennewald started on the pole and, without a caution to aid the chasers, gradually built up an insurmountable lead that was five seconds by lap 10. His final margin equated to roughly a half lap over Ferris. Todd McCoin wound up third.
Fennewald won for the first time in 2021 after capturing five features wins last season when he was second in the points to Henson. That snapped Fennewald’s three-season reign as track champ.
Henson is halfway toward his goal of repeating his championship after another solid run. He has two wins and six top-five finishes in six races.