Lucas Oil Speedway
Wheatland favorite excited for new car
By Lyndal Scranton
Lucas Oil Speedway
Kaeden Cornell (heathlawsonphotos.com)
Lucas Oil Speedway fans could have a renewed reason to cheer one of their favorites Saturday as the Wheatland, Mo., oval plays host to the 16th annual CMH Diamond Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment.
Kaeden Cornell, a 21-year-old from Willard, Mo., and four-time Most Popular Driver at the track, plans to field a new Black Diamond chassis for the Rick Hoover Motorsports team in the $15,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event.
Cornell and Hoover were top contenders in the track’s Hermitage Lumber-sponsored Late Model division while racing weekly at Lucas Oil Speedway before branching out to try the rugged waters of open Late Model racing the last two seasons on the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association.
"The car K’s been driving in a 9-year-old chassis," Hoover said. "We were bringing him up slow to make sure he got comfortable running with these big boys and all. He’s there. He was there quite a while ago. But we needed to upgrade the car."
Hoover said he spent considerable time during May’s Show-Me 100 weekend at Wheatland visiting with Ronnie Stuckey of Stuckey Enterprises, which builds the Black Diamond chassis out of Shreveport, La. Hoover said Stuckey talked about the need for younger Late Model drivers in the pipeline as many of the sport's veterans are getting older.
"He said, ‘I’ve been watching 'K' quite a while.’ I made a deal with him," Hoover said. "I went and got a new Black Diamond and we’re gonna get a lot of help from Ronnie. This guy is so smart when it comes to race cars.
“We’ve got the car ready. Everything on it is brand new. We don’t have our new motor ready. We’re gonna have to run the little one. But that’s all right, we’ll get him used to the car which won’t take long."
Cornell, who managed a sixth-place MLRA finish in a recent event at Off Road Speedway in Norfolk, Neb., is understandably elated. The team plans to break in the car — in the familiar-looking white wrap with blue-and-orange trim — Thursday night at a combined Lucas Oil-MLRA event at I-70 Motorsports Park in Odessa, Mo.
"I think we probably have been needing this for a while," Cornell said. "Finances and everything, it took a while to get there. We finally got it and I think it’ll be good and at least get us somewhat even with the field. Everyone we’re racing against, it’s tough. They’re on a endless budget and they’re all really, really good at what they do.
"I’m just thankful for everything Rick’s done for me. We’ve been together five or six years now. There’s not a lot of that around here anymore, kids my age that get opportunities like this. I'm super thankful to Rick and everybody who helps me out."
While the results haven't always been what he's desired since leaving the weekly racing scene, Cornell said he's learned a lot about the Late Model game. Primarily, he's discovered how aggressive one has to wheel the car to keep up, especially against national-touring series competition.
"I get to line up and race against people I’ve watched my whole life," Cornell said. "Half the people I race against, I have their T-shirts that I bought when I was a kid."
Hoover said the outpouring of support via text message, social media or word-of-mouth since news of the new car was released tells him that Cornell's popularity among the local fans has not waned.
"It’s unbelievable. You wouldn’t believe the fans and support, the texts and phone calls," Hoover said. "This kid has so much backing. We’re not running much local since we went MLRA, so only chance they get to him race is video. This kid has so much backing it's unreal. He's such a good kid. Very humble.”
Asked his goals for this weekend and beyond, Cornell said he just hopes "to make Rick look good and Black Diamond to look good."
