TUCSON, Ariz. (Jan. 11) — Tony Jackson Jr. took a page from his chassis builder’s racing book on Sunday night at USA Raceway.

“As (Darrell) Lanigan would say,” Jackson said after of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion who designed his Club 29 Race Car, “I just got up on the wheel there and got ‘er done.”

Indeed, it was the Lebanon, Mo., driver’s Lanigan-like, let-it-all-hang-out run around the top of the 3/8-mile oval’s first and second turns that propelled him to victory in the 30-lap feature, the second of six races that comprise the Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout. He responded to seeing Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn., grab the lead — and the preferred inside lane — from him on lap 12 by tossing his machine to the top and regaining command for good on the 14th circuit.

Jackson, 32, controlled the final 17 laps of the race, which ran caution-free and was completed in just under 10 minutes. He earned $5,000 for his first-ever victory at USA Raceway — a triumph that ranked among the biggest of his racing career.

“All of my wins have been good,” said Jackson, who has captured two consecutive MARS DIRTcar Series championships. “But this is definitely the best group of cars I’ve ever won against.”

Adam Hensel, 27, of Baldwin, Wis., finished about three car lengths behind Jackson in second place. He passed Shaw for the runner-up spot on lap 17 and kept Jackson within sight but never got close enough to mount a serious bid for the lead.

Union, Ky.’s Lanigan, who won the Wild West Shootout opener on Saturday night, charged from the ninth starting spot to finish third in the Lousiana-based Childress Racing machine and Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., tore through the pack from the 17th starting position to place fourth in his Rowland Racing mount.

The top-four finishers all drove Club 29/Black Diamond Race Cars produced by Lanigan and chassis guru Ronnie Stuckey.

Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., climbed forward from the eighth starting spot to finish fifth in a Rocket Chassis car.

The 51-year-old Shaw started from the pole position and jumped out to the early lead, but he soon felt pressure from the second-starting Jackson. Jackson nosed ahead to lead lap 11, but Shaw regained command on lap 12 and immediately dived to the inside lane to set the stage for Jackson’s high-side assault.

“I kind of showed Don my hand there on the bottom and he moved down in front of me,” Jackson said. “So I figured if I was gonna have a chance to win it, it was gonna be around the top.

“We tightened up to run the bottom so I wasn’t that great up there (on the outside). I just had to make due with what it was there to get by him and then I could get back down to the bottom and run where I needed to.”

Light rain began to fall late in the race and Jackson certainly noticed the moisture, but he never faltered down the stretch.

“I was just trying to stay in the cleanest line,” Jackson said. “I never varied off the bottom there the last 10 laps. (The sprinkles) didn’t really affect me that much, but I was glad it didn’t rain any harder.”

The checkered flag gave Jackson high hopes for a big 2015 campaign.

“It’s big for momentum, to get rolling,” Jackson said. “That’s what we come out here for — to learn some stuff — and we definitely have. This has been a phenomenal race car —it’s like the fifth race on it, and I think last night (seventh-place finish) was the worst we’ve run in it.

“I’m looking forward to this season. To come out here and race with these guys and win a race, it’s definitely hoping to be a good season. There’s a lot of good cars out here.”

Hensel’s runner-up finish came in the second start of his first career appearance at the Wild West Shootout. He had a rough opening night but roared back with a strong performance on Sunday night.

“We’ve been really good the last two nights in the heat race and then last night (for the feature) we did what we do back at home and that definitely wasn’t the right ticket,” said Hensel, making a rare open-competition start with the Baldwin, Wis.-based J&C Trucking team. “We had the boat anchor on last night. I felt bad because I was in the way and I didn’t want to wreck nothing, and ended up wrecking a whole bunch of sheet metal.”

Hensel and Co. made the right calls for the Sunday’s feature.

“The car just kept getting better and better and I felt like I was gaining on (Jackson),” said Hensel, who started fourth. “But I screwed up coming out a (turn) four a few times, and it seems like when you mess up against these guys it takes so much to catch back up to ‘em.

“It’s huge for us, the team — it’s a huge confidence booster,” the smiling racer continued. “We don’t get to race a whole lot of open (motor) stuff period, and when we do, I just love doing it. I’m pumped … this is great.”

The 44-year-old Lanigan made a late bid, reaching third with a lap-20 pass of Phillips and quickly closing on Hensel. But Lanigan’s attempt to run the outside past Hensel on lap 27 was stymied by a lapped car rounding turns three and four and he ran out of time to mount another challenge.

“It was fun to have a car that good and come up through there like that,” Lanigan said. “I just needed about one more good lap and I think I could’ve been right there with (Jackson) for the lead.

“I’m glad he won. Another Club 29 — I think we swept the top four or something like that, so definitely an awesome night for us.”

Notes: Shaw, who led laps 1-10 and 12-13, faded to ninth at the finish. … Twenty-two of the race’s 24 starters were running at the checkered flag. The only early retirees were Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., who pulled off on lap seven, and Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas, was knocked to the sidelined on lap 27 due to a hole in his car’s radiator. … A red flag was needed on the opening lap of the fourth heat after Shaw and Rob Sanders of Bakersfield, Calif., spun together between turns three and four, setting off a tangle that saw Sanders roll over once and Joey Moriarty Phoenix, Ariz., and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., slide into the wreck as well. No injuries were reported, and Shaw survived the altercation and went on to win the heat. Afterward Shaw reported that his steering locked up as he entered turn three, causing him to spin and precipitate the accident. ... Jake Gallardo of Las Cruces, N.M., won the companion 25-lap open-wheel modified feature for the second night in a row.

B-Main results

First B-Main finish (top 4 transfer): Jimmy Owens, Matt Furman, Pat Doar, Jake O’Neil, Terry Carter, Garrett Alberson, Bumper Jones, Clay Daly, Dave Smith, Brian Diveley, Larry Childress, Marshal Miles, Jeremy Keller (DNS) Ryan Gustin, Joey Moriarty, Jimmy Mars, Rob Sanders.

Second B-Main finish (top 4 transfer): Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, Rodney Sanders, Billy Moyer Jr., Jake Redetzke, Tony Toste, Nick Bartels, Kyle Beard, Hunter Rasdon, Dana Fite, Tyson Turnbull, Sean Bray, Dave Deetz, Trevor Glaser, Matt Micheli, Bucky Andrews, James Laing.

B-Main lineups

(12 laps; top 4 transfer)
First B-Main
Row 1: Jimmy Owens, Terry Carter
Row 2: Pat Doar, Matt Furman
Row 3: Bumper Jones, Garrett Alberson
Row 4: Jake O’Neil, Jeremy Keller
Row 5: Dave Smith, Brian Diveley
Row 6: Rob Sanders, Joey Moriarty
Row 7: Jimmy Mars, Clay Daly
Row 8: Marshal Miles, Larry Childress
Row 9: Ryan Gustin
Second B-Main
Row 1: Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, Rodney Sanders
Row 2: Nick Bartels, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 3: Kyle Beard, Jake Redetzke
Row 4: Bucky Andrews, Tony Toste
Row 5: Dana Fite, James Laing
Row 6: Hunter Rasdon, Dave Deetz
Row 7: Trevor Glaser, Tyson Turnbull
Row 8: Sean Bray, Matt Micheli

Heat race results

First heat finish: Ricky Weiss, Adam Hensel, Jason Papich, Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, Garrett Alberson, Matt Furman, Dana Fite, Dave Smith, Sean Bray, Marshall Miles.

Second heat finish: Darrell Lanigan, Tyler Erb, R.C. Whitwell, Jon Mitchell, Jake Redetzke, Pat Doar, Billy Moyer Jr., Hunter Rasdon, Clay Daly, Larry Childress.

Third heat finish: Tony Jackson Jr., Jimmy Owens, Billy Moyer Jr., Stormy Scott, Bumper Jones, Jeremy Keller, Brian Diveley, James Laing (DNS) Ryan Gustin, Matt Micheli.

Fourth heat finish: Chris Simpson, A.J. Diemel, Terry Phillips, Rodney Sanders, Kyle Beard, Jake O'Neil, Tony Toste, Trevor Glaser, Dave Deetz, Tyson Turnbull.

Fifth heat finish: Don Shaw, Chase Junghans, Terry Carter, Anthony Burroughs, Nick Bartels, Bucky Andrews, Rob Sanders, Joey Moriarty, Jimmy Mars.

Pre-race notes

A 49-car field is signed in for the second of six Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout events. … Two drivers who crashed hard during Saturday night’s qualifying action — Lonnie Parker Jr. of Glendale, Ariz., and Brad Williams of Tucson, Ariz. — have not returned for Sunday’s competition. Jake O’Neil of Vail, Ariz., has registered for his first action of the miniseries but was not yet at the track when hot laps began. … Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, will concentrate on his Dirt Late Model tonight after pulling double-duty on Saturday. His Gressel Racing team had a full day of work after a rough Saturday night — Gustin slowed with a right-rear flat tire due to a bead-lock problem while running second with a lap-and-a-half to go in the Dirt Late Model feature and blew a motor while contending in the open-wheel modified A-Main — and, while Gustin did change his modified engine, his team decided to run just one division. … Coming off a fifth-place finish Saturday night in his first-ever Wild West Shootout Dirt Late Model start at USA Raceway, Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas, will add open-wheel modified competition to his plate tonight. … Many teams spent the late morning and early afternoon in their haulers watching the NFL Divisional Playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. The Packers’s 26-21 victory put smiles on the faces of many Wisconsinites on hand — including Jimmy Mars and A.J. Diemel — while Texans (like Sanders) were quite as happy. Another big Packers fan, Wild West Shootout co-promoter (and Minnesota resident) Chris Stepan, said the game’s result put him in an extremely good mood. … Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., broke his Hatfield engine during Saturday night’s feature, prompting him to pull out his second car — with an Andy Durham-built powerplant under the hood — for tonight’s program. … The USA Raceway track crew continued to massage the inside dirt berm that they formed for the Wild West Shootout. About three more feet of berm was cut off for tonight’s show. … There are some showers dancing around the desert — a few drops even fell during hot laps — but officials hope to run off the program on schedule.

Heat race lineups

(8 laps; winners and remainder of top 16 in passing points transfer to feature)
First heat
Row 1: Sean Bray, Ricky Weiss
Row 2: Garrett Alberson, Dana Fite
Row 3: Adam Hensel, Ronny Lee Hollingsworth
Row 4: Marshall Miles, Matt Furman
Row 5: Dave Smith, Jason Papich
Second heat
Row 1: Darrell Lanigan, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Jake Redetzke, Larry Childress
Row 3: R.C. Whitwell, Hunter Rasdon
Row 4: Clay Daly, Jon Mitchell
Row 5: Pat Doar, Billy Moyer Jr.
Third heat
Row 1: Jimmy Owens, James Laing
Row 2: Brian Diveley, Matt Micheli
Row 3: Bumper Jones, Tony Jackson Jr.
Row 4: Stormy Scott, Jeremy Keller
Row 5: Ryan Gustin, Billy Moyer
Fourth heat
Row 1: Chris Simpson, Trevor Glaser
Row 2: A.J. Diemel, Kyle Beard
Row 3: Rodney Sanders, Terry Phillips
Row 4: Tony Toste, Tyson Turnbull
Row 5: Dave Deetz, Jake O’Neil
Fifth heat
Row 1: Rob Sanders, Don Shaw
Row 2: Terry Carter, Joey Moriarty
Row 3: Bucky Andrews, Nick Bartels
Row 4: Chase Junghans, Anthony Burroughs
Row 5: Jimmy Mars