Lucas Oil Speedway
Missouri youngster resets Late Model plans
By Lyndal Scranton
Lucas Oil Speedway
Kaeden Cornell in Wheatland, Mo. (gsstanekracingphotography.smugmug.com)
Kaeden Cornell ventured into the world of Super Late Model racing with big dreams and a limited budget. That combination usually doesn't lead to a great deal of success against teams that combine talent and money. | Missouri weekly results
The 23-year-old from Willard, Mo., still has aspirations to compete at the highest level of Late Model racing, at some point. But for now, he and team owners Rick and Melissa Hoover, are returning to their roots.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing for Cornell, a four-time Lucas Oil Speedway winner of the fan-voted Most Popular Driver Award from 2017-20.
"Right now, I just want to race. I actually haven't got to race a lot the last couple of years," Cornell said. "I know it sounds cliche, but I want to win races."
Driving the same Black Diamond Chassis as he debuted in 2023 but with different tire, motor and shock packages, Cornell is back at Lucas Oil Speedway — at least occasionally — in the Hermitage Lumber-sponsored POWRi Late Model division. He finished second to reigning track champ Justin Wells in last week's Big Adventure RV Weekly Championship Series program and looks forward to giving it another go this Saturday night.
"Any time I get to go back there, it’s like a homecoming," Cornell said of Lucas. "That place is like home with all the laps we’ve made there. It’s great to be back and see all the fans, the racers, the staff and everyone there. Everyone is always so nice there."
Cornell started out at Lucas Oil Speedway in USRA B-mods before becoming a championship contender in the weekly Late Model Series when Rick Hoover gave him a ride in 2017. He won three Late Model features in 2019 and two more in 2020.
From 2021-23, he and Hoover Motorsports gave the higher levels of dirt Late Models a try and had a few top-10 runs scattered along the way. But the team was plagued by motor issues and had to back it down this season, after only attempting seven races in 2023.
Despite the frustration, Cornell thinks he's become a wiser driver with some of that experience against the national and regional teams.
"Just how hard those guys drive," Cornell said of his top takeaway. "You can’t take one lap off. It’s dog-eat-dog. That’s why they’re the best of what they do."
Something that seems straightforward, such as time trials to earn a heat-race starting position, is of ultra importance.
"You go out and make those two laps and I’d pull in and tell Dad (and crew chief Aaron Cornell) that I was exhausted," said Cornell, a fifth-place finisher in DIRTcar Summer Nationals last season at Springfield (Mo.) Raceway. "You’re just holding your breath the whole time because those laps are so important. If you start in the back against those guys, you might as well load up and go home.
"The open Late Model deal, it straightup comes down to funds. It’s so expensive to be competitive. I'm so thankful for Rick and Melissa Hoover. They've been so good to me, giving me the opportunity to drive a Late Model."
Cornell said there's a chance, if the season goes well, the team could enter a couple of Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association races late in the season. Two of his better runs came last fall, a 10th and a seventh on back-to-back nights at the MLRA-sanctioned Ron Jenkins Memorial.
But for now, Cornell is keeping his focus on once again winning at Wheatland and some other regional ovals. He plans to hit some other POWRi Late Model events and Dirt Track Bank Cash Money Super Dirt Series races this summer.
"At least we got the dust knocked off," he said of last week's runner-up finish. "I haven’t got to race a bunch the last two years. It was good to be back at Lucas Oil Speedway, where we’ve made a bunch of laps.
"I wish we had won our heat race and had a chance to start up front in the feature. Justin’s really good. There’s a reason he’s in the (Ozarks Area Racing) Hall of Fame."
