4/29/2018
RacinBoys
Tony Jackson Jr. celebrates MLRA victory at West Plains
By Billy Rock (West Plains, MO) -- On a Saturday night with 40 of the best late models checked in to do battle at the Legit Speedway, it would be Lebanon, Missouri's Tony Jackson, Jr. taking home his first Lucas Oil MLRA Series win since 2014. Jackson's win would not come easy as he had to maintain the top position through numerous late race restarts.
PHOTO CREDIT: Lloyd Collins/Fast Tack Photos
Jackson would roll from the DirtonDirt.com pole position in the 40 lap A-Main event, but it would be outside front row starter Jack Sullivan taking the early race lead. Sullivan who was representing the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series in the co-sanctioned event, would set a blistering pace early on as the leaders worked into lapped traffic.
The lapped traffic would slow the pace of leader Sullivan, who would work the middle grove of the speedway as he contended with the tail of the field. The traffic would then allow Jackson to real in the leader by running the low line of the 3/8-mile oval. With 23 laps to go Jackson would take back the top spot off the exit of turn four with Sullivan still locked to his rear bumper.
Jackson commented, "With the lap traffic, you just go by your first instinct. Those guys (lapped cars) are racing hard to stay on the lead lap or stay in contention for a lucky dog. I saw Jack working the top and I knew I couldn't go where he was, so I started rolling around the bottom."
A pair of cautions on laps 27 and 29 would then slow the pace and eliminate the lap traffic from the equation for the leaders. The races final caution would fly with just four laps to go for Mason Oberkramer who came to a stop in turn four. As the yellow was displayed, second running Sullivan would also slow on the speedway, a result of a flat right rear tire that would send him pitside.
The final restart of the night put Jackson out in front where he would cruise to the nights $3,000 feature win. Jackson who also collected a heat race win earlier in the night said of the win, "I knew we weren't going to win the way we have been running, but if you get in the top five enough you will win."
Sikeston, MO driver Austin Rettig would come home with a great second place effort followed by Friday nights MLRA winner, Jesse Stovall. Stovall qualified via a B-Main win which put him 16th on the grid. Rounding out the top five was Scott Crigler and MLRA point leader Chad Simpson.
The runner-up run by Rettig was a good finish to his weekend. "We have been fighting the car being too tight all night and we finally got to free it up a little bit. I'm just pretty proud of how we finished up." Rettig had one final chance at the race leader on the last restart where he said, "Tony Jackson is a pretty good driver, and I don't think he was going to mess up on the restart, but we were going to be there if he did."
Stovall, fresh off of his Friday night triumph in Muskogee, OK said of his high side hustle, "The high side is kind of my forte. Some guys are good around the bottom and I'm a little better around the top. I could go good for 2-3 laps on the restarts, I was just kind of wanting another caution once I finally got up to third."
MLRA race teams will now make their shortest turn-around of the year as they will be back in action this coming Thursday night at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA. The upcoming three-day weekend will then find drivers at Davenport, Iowa's ¼ mile speedway on Friday night, before wrapping up their trifecta weekend at the LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, IL. All events will showcase a $3,000 top prize to the feature winners.
Legit Motor Speedway Contingencies 4/28/18
Andy's Frozen Custard Victory Lane - Tony Jackson, Jr.
Casey's General Store's "Hard Charger of the Race" -Hunter Rasdon
DirtonDirt.com "Pole Award" - Tony Jackson, Jr.
Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher" - Robert Baker
Malvern Bank "Most Laps Led" - Tony Jackson, Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" - Chad Simpson
Mittler Brothers Machine and Tool "Crew Chief of the Race" -Rich Tanner
Performance Bodies "Performer of the Race" - Tony Jackson, Jr.
Sunoco "Rookie of the Race" - Mitch McGrath
Wehrs Machine - Mason Oberkramer
RacingJunk.com "Hard Luck Award" -Cole Wells
Allgaier Motorsports Racing Shocks Award - Chad Simpson
Lucas Oil Racing TV A Feature (40 Laps): 1.Tony Jackson, Jr. 2.Austin Rettig 3.Jesse Stovall 4.Scott Crigler 5.Chad Simpson 6.Will Vaught 7.Hunter Rasdon 8.Robby Moore 9.Logan Martin 10.Mitch McGrath 11.Robert Baker 12.Peyton Looney 13.Kaleb Stolba 14.Jeff Floyd 15.J.C. Wyman 16.Joe Godsey 17.Jack Sullivan 18.BJ Robinson 19.Jeff Roth 20.Dane Dacus 21.Mason Oberkramer 22.StacyTaylor 23.Cole Wells 24.Billy Moyer 25.Brad Looney
Hoosier Racing Tires B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1.Kaleb Stolba 2.Robert Baker 3.Stacy Taylor 4.Hunter Rasdon 5.Justin Zeitner 6.Austin Siebert 7.Tanner Kellick 8.Jeff Roth 9.Donnie Miller 10.Jeremy Grady 11.Chad Mallett 12.Travis Ashley 13.Trey Beene
Rugged Radios B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1.Jesse Stovall 2.Billy Moyer 3.Brad Looney 4.BJ Robinson 7.Joe Godsey 8.David Payne 9.Austin Theiss 10.Raymond Merrill 11.Gavin Landers 12.J.C. Wyman 13.Chris Jones
Swift Springs Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1.Tony Jackson, Jr. 2.Mason Oberkramer 3.Mitch McGrath 4.Cole Wells 5.Kaleb Stolba 6.Robert Baker 7.Justin Zeitner 8.Jeff Roth 9.Donnie Miller 10.Jeremy Grady
Casey's General Stores Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1.Scott Crigler 2.Austin Rettig 3.Robby Moore 4.Austin Siebert 5.Billy Moyer 6.Stacy Taylor 7.Gavin Landers 8.Joey Smith 9.Chad Mallett 10.J.C. Wyman
Chix Gear Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1.Logan Martin 2.Jack Sullivan 3.Payton Looney 4.Dane Dacus 5.BJ Robinson 6.David Payne 7.Travis Ashley 8.Tanner Kellick 9.Raymond Merrill 10.Trey Beene
Malvern Bank Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1.Chad Simpson 2.Will Vaught 3.Jeff Floyd 4.Jesse Stovall 5.Brady Looney 6.Hunter Rasdon 7.Joe Godsey 8.Austin Theiss 9.Joey Stark 10.Chris Jones
For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website at http://www.MLRARacing.com.
Fans may also "like" the Lucas Oil MLRA Facebook page by clicking www.Facebook.com/lucasoilmlra or follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/MLRA.
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
