April 12
Lucas Oil Speedway,
Wheatland, MO
Sanction: Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association (Spring Nationals) - $3,000
Information provided by: Series and team reports (last updated April 13, 5:14 pm)
Payne doubles up at MLRA's Spring Nationals
Spring Nationals
- Jeremy Payne
- Chris Brown
- Chad Simpson
- Terry Phillips
- Jesse Stovall
- Jimmy Mars
- Tommy Weder Jr.
- Bill Leighton Jr.
- Brad Looney
- Will Vaught
- Mike Collins
- John Anderson
- Jason O'Brien
- Travis Dickes
- Brandon McCormick
- Tony Jackson Jr.
- Jason Bodenhamer
- Jacob Magee
- Scott Lewis
- Bill Koons
- Dave Eckrich
- A.J. Diemel
- Kenny Mudd
- Jason Krohn
- Payton Looney
- Lane Ehlert
Jeremy Payne celebrates Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway.
What won the race: Second-starting Jeremy Payne of Springfield, Mo., topped Spring, Texas, native Chris Brown for a $3,000 MLRA victory not long after winning the USRA Modified feature for the second consecutive night.
Quotable: "We had a good car all night," Payne said. "We've been working on this thing and trying things. We finally got it to where we could race it. We were decent in certain situations, but not all of them. I think we got a good start on it. We needed a win like this to get our momentum built up and we're gonna go from here."
Key notes: Runner-up Chris Brown felt he got a break when Terry Phillips picked the outside on the final restart with 13 laps to go. "When he took the outside on that restart I was very surprised," Brown said. "I kind of figured we'd come off in front of him and be in second. Really, Payne had been running the top the whole time as well. I kind of thought maybe I'd have an opportunity to roll by him. I think I showed him or he saw me a little too early because he was able to get down." ... After using heat race passing points on Friday, officials elected utilize group time trials Saturday ... Reigning MLRA champ Tony Jackson Jr. of Lebanon, Mo., set overall fast time, won his race and drew the pole, but fell from contention in the feature, finishing 16th. ... Jesse Stovall of Galena, Mo., led all 30 laps of Friday's opener for his first-ever Late Model feature victory at Wheatland; Stovall placed fifth on Saturday. ... In total, MLRA competitors visit Lucas Oil Speedway eight times this season.
On the move: Woodward, Okla., driver Tommy Weder Jr. sliced through the field with a 19th-to-7th run.
Winner's sponsors: Payne wheels the GRT Race Cars house car, which carries sponsorship from Allgayer, Inc., Cliburn Tank Lines, Keyser Manufacturing Co., Millard Family Chapels, New Vision Graphics and Sweet Manufacturing.
Points chase: Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., sits atop the MLRA standings, finishing no worse than fourth in any of the series' first four events this season.
Car count: 36
Fast qualifier: Tony Jackson Jr.
Time: 16.1 seconds
Polesitter: Tony Jackson Jr.
Heat race winners: Chris Brown, Tony Jackson Jr., Jesse Stovall, Jeremy Payne
Consolation race winners: Brandon McCormick, Dave Eckrich
Next series race: May 9, Davenport Speedway (Davenport, IA) $3,000
Editor's note: Results and race details are unofficial.