10/15/2019
JACKSON JR. SCORES MLRA FALL NATIONALS FINALE--VAUGTH CAPTURES SERIES TITLE
Wheatland, MO- After a difficult opening night at the Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals, Tony Jackson got the ultimate redemption on Sunday evening picking up the MLRA season finale at the Lucas Oil Speedway. The win for the 2013 MLRA series champ was his first of the season under the MLRA banner and fourth with the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series (CCSDS) in the weekends co-sanctioned event.
Jackson got his night off to a strong start by capturing the win in his respective heat race, placing him on the DirtonDirt.com Pole for the 40 lap event. Disaster struck fellow front row starter Tyler Bruening on the races initial start as he jumped the cushion and spun at the top of turns one and two. With Bruening moving to the tail, it slid Saturday night winner Ryan Gustin to the outside front row for the re-start.
Jackson Jr. quickly took command over Gustin and Payton Looney until a Reid Millard spin on lap 2 again slowed the field. Back under green, Jackson Jr. proved early he had the car to beat. With Jackson Jr. chasing the tail of the field, it provided him with a great battle in his rear view between the likes of Payton Looney, Gustin, and Jackson's teammate Raymond Merrill.
The races final slow down came on lap 14 just as the leaders began to navigate lapped traffic. The restart gave Looney a prime opportunity as well to gain his own redemption, after concluding Saturday nights action on his top after a pile up on the races initial start. For the final re-start of the year, Jackson again proved to be untouchable as he cruised to a 4.303 second win, lapping all but the top 12 cars.
Looney finished second in his new Capital Chassis, with MLRA Series Champion Will Vaught grabbing third after starting 13th. Gustin and CCSDS Point Leader Timothy Culp rounded out the top five.
Jackson Jr. snagged $3,000 for his efforts along with a $750 bonus in memory of Ron Jenkins-the original builder of Wheatland Raceway. "We've had a good car ever since we unloaded," stated Jackson Jr. "We broke a shock on the first lap last night and just had to stay out there for points."
Using patience to methodically work his way through the field he continued, "Sometimes you've just got to take the good with the bad. Sometimes the lapped traffic helps you and sometimes it hurts you. They had a pretty good pace tonight so I wasn't real anxious to get by them-it was good, concluded the Lebanon, Mo driver.
The Atnip Motorsports entry of Looney had a great finish to his weekend after spending countless hours overnight thrashing to repair his ride from Saturday nights roll over. "It was a pretty late night but we got it patched back up and fortunately it wasn't tore up too bad. It was a really fun race," noted Looney. "I kind of pulled up alongside of him and thought maybe we would be able to race a little bit, but I just didn't have anything for him."
The biggest win of the night came with the culmination of the 2019 MLRA Campaign as Will Vaught scored third and secured his first ever series title. "Last night we kind of missed the set up and being conservative---that doesn't ever go together," joked a jubilant and relieved Vaught in victory lane. "We got a decent finish last night and the car was a lot better tonight. We changed a lot of things on the car today and worked hard to get this thing a lot faster, we just needed a caution at the end."
As a two time MLRA series runner up, including 2018, Vaught concluded, "I have never been a points racer, but this last couple years has fit our schedule with the kids playing sports and racing themselves. Eric (Barnes) has worked really hard at the shop and a lot of this is for him. Just to be able to do this with my family is the biggest and most important thing to me."
Logan Martin was also awarded the 2019 MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels.Rookie of the year Award at the conclusion of the race weekend. Martin Recorded 10 top five finishes along with 15 top ten's on the season.
The Lucas Oil MLRA Championship Banquet scheduled for November, 9th will take place at the Lucas Lodge just outside of Wheatland, MO. Doors will open at 5:30 pm with social hour from 6-7pm and dinner and awards to follow. For tickets contact Nicole McMillan at 417-282-5984 or email mholman@lucasoil.com. All ticket request must be received by November 2nd.
Article Credit: Billy Rock
