5/29/2022
Lucas Oil MLRA
Ferguson Scores $50,000 Triumph--Wins 30th Annual Show-Me 100
Wheatland, MO (May 28, 2022) – For the second time in his career, Chris Ferguson topped the field at the Lucas Oil Speedway, scoring the $50,000 victory on Saturday night in the 30th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100, Presented by Protect the Harvest.com. The Mt. Holly, NC driver joins and elite class of drivers who have now won both the Show-Me and the Diamond Nationals.
Friday nights prelim winner Johnny Scott fired from the pole, but from the onset it was outside front row starter Jonathan Davenport seizing control of the top spot. Scott, the Lucas Oil MLRA point leader would get his time at the top as well as he powered to the front on lap 10 after an exchange of slide jobs between himself and Davenport.
Just two circuits later Davenport used some early lapped traffic to his advantage and moved back to the race lead, a position he would hold for the next 50 laps. The nights first caution waved on lap 24 when Kolby Vandenbergh spun in turns three and four, wiping out Davenports 3.698 second advantage over Jimmy Owens.
With the green back in the air it didn’t take long for Davenport to distance himself yet again, working deep into lapped traffic until contact between Tyler Erb and Brain Shirley slowed the pace on lap 44 for the second time in the 100 lap event. Bobby Pierce had worked his way up to the third spot, and look like he may be in line for a shot at his second Show-Me title until he was forced to exit the speedway with mechanical issues on lap 47.
Following the restart, Ricky Thornton Jr. would find himself next in line to try and dethrone Davenport. On the 63rd lap, Davenport became pinned behind a lapped car which allowed Thornton to dive to the bottom down the front stretch, taking the lead heading into turn one. Just three laps later however, Davenport returned the favor and used lapped traffic to his advantage to regain control of the main event.
With the leaders battling at the point, 9th starting Ferguson was making his presence felt, as the 2020 Diamond Nationals winner slid past Thornton and into second with just 22 laps to go. Davenport appeared to slowly fade in the closing laps, allowing both Ferguson and Thornton to close the gap making it yet again a three car battle for the win.
Disaster would strike Davenport with just 12 laps remaining. For the second time on the night he found himself trapped behind slower traffic, and as he attempted to maneuver to the outside he made contact with Ferguson who was passing for the lead. The duo made slight contact that ended with Davenport spinning in front of the field and surrendering the top spot. Ferguson would re-fire from the top spot and cruised for the final dozen laps to capture the victory by 3.042 seconds over Thornton.
Defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion Tim McCreadie moved up 14 spots from his 17th starting position to grab the third podium spot. Jimmy Owens finished in the fourth position with two time MLRA series champion Chad Simpson coming from 12th on the grid to round out the top five.
“Man this is awesome, it’s unbelievable,” exclaimed Ferguson. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, we’ve been close but what a better place to do it. We got the Diamond the other year and I was close in the Show-Me a couple of times so this is unbelievable.”
“This is a lot for a kid from Charlotte, NC. Last night we battled really hard and got in a wreck on like the second lap, went to last and came back to tenth. I knew we had a car that would be capable of contending. You know these guys like JD and Thornton, and Hudson, Jimmy Owens they’re the best in the world and we’re right there with them but sometimes its tough to win from 10th, but that just shows a lot.”
The next scheduled outing for the Lucas Oil MLRA is on Friday and Saturday June 24th & 25th at the Off Road Speedway. This will mark the series’ first ever visit to the Norfolk, Nebraska facility which will host a $3,000 to win main event on Friday before capping off the weekend with the $5,000 to win Renegade 50.
30th Show-Me 100 Contingencies 5/28/22
Lap Leaders – Davenport (1 - 9), J. Scott (10 - 11), Davenport (12 - 62), Thornton Jr. (63 - 66), Davenport (67 - 88), Ferguson (89 - 100)
Illini Racing & Supply "Pole Award" – Johnny Scott
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race – Brandon Conrad
Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher" – Garrett Alberson
Performance Bodies "Performer of the Race" – Chris Ferguson
Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Kolby Vandenburgh
Swift Springs “Move of the Race” – Chris Ferguson
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" – Johnny Scott
A-Main Show-Me 100 100 Laps | 00:44:22.171
- 22F-Chris Ferguson[10]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[17]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson[12]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 7. 71-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 8. 15L-Payton Looney[20]; 9. 89-Ashton Winger[6]; 10. 0-Scott Bloomquist[15]; 11. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 12. 1-Brandon Sheppard[11]; 13. 1T-Tyler Erb[21]; 14. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[16]; 15. 32S-Chris Simpson[28]; 16. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 17. 1ST-Johnny Scott[1]; 18. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[9]; 19. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[31]; 20. 18D-Daulton Wilson[27]; 21. 7-Ross Robinson[26]; 22. 11-Spencer Hughes[25]; 23. 18-Shannon Babb[24]; 24. 04-Tad Pospisil[29]; 25. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[18]; 26. 3S-Brian Shirley[22]; 27. 91P-Jason Papich[13]; 28. 32-Bobby Pierce[14]; 29. 2S-Stormy Scott[30]; 30. 97-Cade Dillard[23]; 31. 1S-Jeremy Shaw[19]
B-Main 1 Fast Shafts 15 Laps | 00:09:50.824
- 1S-Jeremy Shaw[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[3]; 4. 86-Kyle Beard[4]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[5]; 6. 90-Brian Rickman[6]; 7. 12-Scott Crigler[15]; 8. 65-Jon Binning[14]; 9. 45-Kylan Garner[8]; 10. 65H-Dewaine Hottinger[10]; 11. 23-John Blankenship[11]; 12. 18P-Shannon Parker[9]; 13. 50C-Kaeden Cornell[7]; 14. 14M-Reid Millard[12]; 15. (DNS) 7J-Jay Fields
B-Main 2 UNOH 15 Laps | 00:14:06.888
- 15L-Payton Looney[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 4. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 5. 7W-Cole Wells[7]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 7. 10J-Joseph Joiner[14]; 8. 3-Brennon Willard[10]; 9. 10-Jacob Magee[9]; 10. 50K-Kayden Clatt[11]; 11. 04-Tad Pospisil[3]; 12. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[13]; 13. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[8]; 14. 6H-Al Humphrey[15]; 15. (DNS) 10W-John Willard
B Feature 3 DirtonDirt.com 15 Laps | 00:15:14.426
- 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 3. 21XXX-Neil Baggett[4]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer[9]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[8]; 6. 11K-Jon Kirby[10]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[12]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[7]; 9. 98-Ben Schaller[6]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]; 11. 36-Logan Martin[5]; 12. 9J-Joseph Gorby[11]; 13. 32S-Chris Simpson[14]; 14. (DNS) 157-Mike Marlar; 15. (DNS) 26-Glen Powell
MSM Show-Me Challenge 20 Laps | 00:26:20.591
- 56-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[4]; 3. 21XXX-Neil Baggett[2]; 4. 3-Brennon Willard[14]; 5. 90-Brian Rickman[7]; 6. 45-Kylan Garner[16]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[21]; 8. 10-Jacob Magee[17]; 9. 98-Ben Schaller[18]; 10. 11K-Jon Kirby[9]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz[12]; 12. 18D-Daulton Wilson[8]; 13. 7W-Cole Wells[6]; 14. 86-Kyle Beard[3]; 15. 93-Mason Oberkramer[5]; 16. 12-Scott Crigler[10]; 17. 10J-Joseph Joiner[11]; 18. 65-Jon Binning[13]; 19. 50K-Kayden Clatt[20]; 20. (DNS) 1X-Aaron Marrant; 21. (DNS) 65H-Dewaine Hottinger; 22. (DNS) 23-John Blankenship; 23. (DNS) 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck; 24. (DNS) 36-Logan Martin
Article Credit: Billy Rock
Submitted By: Billy Rock
