VIVIAN, La. — Chris Henigan of Marshall, Texas, led all 35 laps Saturday en route to topping the Spears Oil & Gas season-opening event for the USRA American Racer Modified Series presented by Day Motor Sports at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway.
When Henigan starts on the pole at the high-banked red clay oval in Vivian, La., the rest of the field usually needs a little divine intervention to help their cause. The spirits of good fortune were with Henigan from start to finish Saturday.
Thanks to a $500 bonus from Spears Oil & Gas, Henigan pocketed $3,500 for his efforts as he kept ‘Big Daddy’ Joe Duvall in his rearview mirror the entire distance.
For Duvall, he had his hands full the entire race. After battling with Chris Dawson early on, the Sooner State speedster had to fend off multiple threats from multiple racers including third-place finisher Tanner Mullens, who started 20th, and defending series champ Triston Dycus.
Manuel Williams Jr. finished fifth while Mike Dillard, Sean Gaddis, Casey Roderick, Jared Russell and Dillon McCowan rounded out the top 10.
The finish:
American Racer “A” Feature (35 laps): 1. 16 Chris Henigan, 2. 91 Joe Duvall, 3. 02 Tanner Mullens, 4. 14T Triston Dycus, 5. 24 Manuel Williams Jr., Fouke, 6. 66X Mike Dillard, McKinney, 7. 7 Sean Gaddis, Diana, 8. 25 Casey Roderick, Lawrenceville, 9. 4R Jared Russell, Wagoner, 10. 8 Dillon McCowan, Urbana, 11. 2G Kenny Gaddis, 12. 17 Jason Sartain, 13. 712 Trevor Hughes, 14. 718 Tommy Cannon, 15. 6 Donnie Powers, 16. 64 Casey Fowler, 17. 15 Chase Wascom, 18. 4W Tyler Wolff, 19. 34 Michael Walker, 20. 12 Jason Ingalls, 21. 21 Kevin Peters, 22. 7X Chris Dawson, 23. 5D Devon Havlik, 24. 13J James McCreery, 25. 24 Mason Williams