1/11/2019
Lucas Oil Speedway Offseason Spotlight: 12 questions with USRA B-Mod National Champion Kris Jackson
WHEATLAND, Missouri - Kris Jackson of Lebanon enjoyed a career year in 2018, winning the USRA B-Mod National Championship with 29 feature wins and 44 top-five finishes in 48 starts. Six of those victories came at Lucas Oil Speedway, where he wound up third in track points. Lucas Oil Speedway public relations director Lyndal Scranton recently caught up with Jackson for a "12 Questions" Offseason Spotlight:
Question 1 - After a busy and successful 2018 season, what has your offseason consisted of so far and have you taken any time to soak up the success?
Jackson - "Not really. I just stay working and busy and moving every day. It's more of the same. I usually just tackle it in a few days time, but I'm trying to not be so cramped for time come race season this winter, so I'm doing a little bit here and a little bit there."
Question 2 - Are you coming back with the same Rage-chassis race car?
Jackson - "I sold my car and got a newer one just like it. I hope it's as fast. I really hated to (sell the old car) but it had a lot of races on it. I just went ahead and moved on to the next one. It's another Rage."
Question 3 - Your six-year-old son, Karter, loves racing and recently competed in a big go-kart event in Lebanon. How did he do?
Jackson - "He's coming along. He gets better every time he goes out. We're nowhere near a threat to win, but he really enjoys it. For me, that's what's important.
Question 4 - How much of you do you see in young Karter? Did you love racing as much as he does when you were his age?
Jackson - "He's kind of the spitting image of me, never sitting still. Always going, going, going. He's just like his Dad, really. I hate it for him (laughs). It'll get him in a lot of trouble."
Question 5 - Family is a significant key to having racing success, needing everyone on board with the long hours it takes to succeed. Describe what your wife (Krystle) and family mean to your success?
Jackson - "It's everything. You can't be out on the road if your wife is not happy about it. You can't go to the big races, for me any way, if she's not going to pack my bag I can't go. I'm pretty helpless in that realm of things. It's pretty nice to have her on board and satisfied. She never makes a big deal out of it, especially when I'm gone for days on end. She's always real supportive."
Question 6 - If you weren't racing almost every weekend in the spring and summer, what would you be doing to fill that time?
Jackson - "Probably car shows. I paint old cars. I do one or two every year. Recently one that I painted, I got hooked up with a guy who shows cars like I race 'em. He hauls them around and takes them to car shows. I've been lucky enough to get hooked up with him and I'm painting my second one of his now. I did a '67 Camaro for him a couple of years ago and now I'm doing a '65 Chevelle. It's pretty neat to see something that nice and that old to look better than it ever has."
Question 7 - You won the USRA B-Mod national championship with 29 USRA wins and more than 30 wins overall. What was the key to your 2018 season success?
Jackson - "More than anything, just not tearing things up. We had a solid motor package. We had one night with a little bit of trouble, when we broke a rocker arm. Other than that, we didn't have any real mechanical issues. That makes a huge difference when you're able to finish all the races."
Question 8 - When did you know it was going to be a pretty special season and why did you know?
Jackson - "The first weekend out at Humboldt (Speedway), we weren't anywhere near where we needed to be and we were still passing cars. I knew that if we could work on it and make it a little better, we'd be pretty hard to beat."
Question 9 - Was there a win or two that stands out from the rest?
Jackson - "There were two weekends. We went to Mississippi Thunder to the Modified Nationals in Wisconsin. It's three separate days of racing. We won the first two and broke a driveshaft in the third one. A couple of weekends after that, we went to the USRA Nationals in Winston, Missouri and won all three nights there. Then I won a $5,000 race at Lake Ozark, too. Towards the end of the year we were really strong."
Question 10 - You had six feature wins at Lucas Oil Speedway, but a DQ on June 9 took away a win and cost you the track championship. What happened there?
Jackson - "We had won the Whitworth Memorial (at Humboldt Speedway) the weekend prior to that. When we did, the tech guy unplugged my rev (limiter) box to plug it into his tool to make sure my box hadn't been cheated. He didn't plug it back in. It was my mistake. I didn't check on that, and it was left unplugged."
Question 11 - When you win a lot, you start to get a mix of cheers and boos. Do you hear the boos and how do you react to those?
Jackson - "Yeah, I do. It doesn't bother me. It just makes me go that much harder. Most of the time it's grown adults acting like little kids. So I like to give their kids my trophies. That way they have to go home with it and think of me every time they see it."
Question 12 - What are the plans and goals for the 2019 season?
Jackson - "We want to do the exact same thing we did last year. Just more of the same. We plan to race Lucas every week and then hit all the big B-Mod races we can."
Jackson's sponsors include: Ruble Racing Engines, TJR Motorsports, Joe's Pharmacy, Van's Auto Sales, East 32 Meat Processing, GSI Insulation out of Eldon, Show-Me Dent Company and Starnes Excavating.
The Lucas Oil Speedway season kicks off with an open test and tune on March 30, with the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series opening night set for April 6. The Lucas Oil MLRA begins April 12-13 with the 6th annual Spring Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Season passes for the 2019 Lucas Oil Speedway season are available.
Contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at Nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com to purchase a gift card or season pass.
Article Credit: Danny Lorton