^{Photo: Lloyd Collins - Fast Track Photos}

Looney Wins Season Opener

April 2, 2011 (Buckner, Missouri) Brad Looney held a strong and fast line around I-80 Speedway in the Lucas Oil MLRA season opener Saturday night, to top the field of 48 super late models.  Looney of Republic, Missouri, finished second in the Lucas Oil MLRA points in 2010 without winning a feature event. 2011 started off with a bang at the Spring Meltdown in Greenwood, Nebraska for Looney, with his second career MLRA win. Looney drives the Federal Protection, Victory Circle by Moyer #14 with a Hatfield Racing Engine. Brad's win Saturday also locks him into the Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway in July. In the Triple A Victory Lane, Looney thanked his family and sponsors for their support.   

The Spring Meltdown brought 48 of best drivers in the Midwest to I-80 Speedway. The stacked field made for plenty of racing action all evening long. Five heat races set the lineup for the feature event and two B features. Heat race victories went to, Travis Dickes, David Turner, Jake Meier, John Anderson and Denny Eckrich. The top 16 drivers in passing points went on to the Lucas Cattle A Main, while the remaining drivers battled for the  top three finishing spots in each of two B Features.  

In B Feature #1, Chad Simpson, RC Whitwell and Bryant Goldsmith earned starting positions in the feature. B Feature #2 sent Mike Collins, Bill Leighton and Jason O'Brien onto the main event.  

Series provisional starting spots were awarded to Justin Asplin in the 77A  and the 58E of Dave Eckrich. Two track provisionals were awarded to Joe Kosiski and Mike Wiarda.  

Twenty-six drivers took the green flag for thirty-five laps. A caution on lap three sent the 00 of Jesse Stovall to the back of the pack. Stovall worked his way back to a 9th place finish. Another yellow flag on lap eight gave John Anderson's Shop Quik team enough time to change a flat tire and tag the back of the field before the restart. A battle ensued as Kyle Berck charged from the 14th place starting position to 3rd place in less than ten laps. Berck would continue to run side by side with Chris Simpson in the 32 for the rest of the feature before overtaking Simpson just before the checkers flew. Simpson and Berck's race kept them just behind Looney who led the feature from start to finish.  

Lucas Oil Products Heat Race #1 Results (10 Laps):1. 21 Travis Dickes, 2. 77 Kurt Kile, 3. 56 Tony Jackson Jr. (R), 4. 3 Mike Collins, 5. 25 Chad Simpson, 6. 10 Jr. Coover, 7. 83 Denton Ducan, 8. 92 Delbert Smith, 9. 51 Billy Koons Jr. (R), 10. 6H Al Humphrey    

Powertrain Industries Heat Race #2 Results (10 Laps):1. 15 David Turner, 2. 74 Jeremy Payne, 3. 22P Craig Preble, 4. 14B Kyle Berck, 5. 24 Bill Leighton, 6. 14JR RC Whitwell, 7. 58 Dave Eckrich, 8. 88 Kevin Kile, 9. 4W Jason Pursley (R), 10. 45 Dan Battaglia

ATL Fuel Cells Heat Race #3 Results (10 Laps):1. 20 Jake Meier, 2. 33 Al Purkey, 3. 77A Justin Asplin, 4. 22 Alan Vaughn, 5. 82 Robbie Anderson, 6. 53K Joe Kosiski, 7. 29K Bill Koons, 8. 40 Shawn Harker, 9. 2P Dwane Pospisil, 10. 24S Stoney Stuart

Peterson Fluid Systems Heat Race #4 Results (10 Laps):1. 2J John Anderson, 2. 14 Brad Looney, 3. 15 Jason O'Brien, 4. 00 Jesse Stovall, 5. 4 JC Wyman, 6. 12 Trenton Jackson, 7. 62 Leon Zeitner, 8. 8 Mike Wallace, 9. 14W Dustin Walker

Fast Track Photos Heat Race #5 Results (10 Laps):1. 50 Denny Eckrich, 2. 32 Chris Simpson, 3. 75 Terry Phillips, 4. 24G Bryant Goldsmith, 5. 26JR Corey Zeitner, 6. 1W Mike Wiarda, 7. 33 Brian Kenkel, 8. 19 Dustin Reeh (R), 9. 15 Jase Kaser

Lucas Oil MLRA Contingency Awards for April 2, 2011:

Performance Bodies: 33 Al Purkey

KRC Hard Charger: 25 Chad Simpson

KRC Hard Luck: 58 Dave Eckrich

Weld Wheels: 24G Bryant Goldsmith

BSB Manufacturing: 29K Bill Koons

R2C Performance Filters: 14 Brad Looney

Keizer Wheels: 56 Tony Jackson Jr.

SAFERACER: 22 Alan Vaughn  

Racing Optics: 6H Al Humphrey

Rod End Supply: 1W Mike Wiarda and 14W Dustin Walker  

Sunoco Race Fuels B Feature #1 Results (12 Laps):1. 25 Chad Simpson, 2. 14JR RC Whitwell, 3. 24G Bryant Goldsmith, 4. 4 JC Wyman, 5. 62 Leon Zeitner, 6. 82 Robbie Anderson, 7. 58 Dave Eckrich, 8. 1W Mike Wiarda, 9. 77A Justin Asplin, 10. 29K Bill Koons, 11. 4W Jason Pursley, 12. 15 Jase Kaser, 13. 2P Dwane Pospisil, 14. 40 Shawn Harker, 15. 8 Mike Wallace, 16. 45 Dan Battaglia

Hoosier Racing Tire B Feature #2 Results (12 Laps):1. 3 Mike Collins, 2. 24B Bill Leighton, 3. 15B Jason O'Brien, 4. 88 Kevin Kile, 5. 12 Trenton Jackson, 6. 14W Dustin Walker, 7. 10 Jr. Coover, 8. 24S Stoney Stuart, 9. 19 Dustin Reeh (R), 10. 83 Denton Ducan, 11. 33 Brian Kenkel, 12. 6H Al Humphrey, 13. 51 Billy Koons Jr. (R), 14. 26JR Corey Zeitner, 15. 53K Joe Kosiski, 16. 92 Delbert Smith  

Lucas Cattle Company A Feature Results (35 Laps):1. 14 Brad Looney, 2. 14B Kyle Berck, 3. 32 Chris Simpson, 4. 25 Chad Simpson, 5. 50 Denny Eckrich, 6. 33 Al Purkey, 7. 75 Terry Phillips, 8. 15 David Turner, 9. 00 Jesse Stovall, 10. 22 Alan Vaughn, 11. 21 Travis Dickes, 12. 24B Bill Leighton, 13. 77K Kurt Kile, 14. 2J John Anderson, 15. 74 Jeremy Payne, 16. 14JR RC Whitwell, 17. 1W Mike Wiarda, 18. 3 Mike Collins, 19. 53K Joe Kosiski, 20. 15B Jason O'Brien, 21. 24G Bryant Goldsmith, 22. 56 Tony Jackson Jr. (R), 23. 77A Justin Asplin, 24. 20 Jake Meier, 25. 22P Craig Preble, 26. 58 Dave Eckrich    

The Lucas Oil MLRA heads to Heartland Park Topeka and Lucas Oil Speedway April 8th and 9th for two nights of racing action. Heartland Park Topeka will have gates open at 5:30 PM with racing at 7:00 PM on Friday April 8th. For more information on the upcoming events at HPT please visit www.HPT.com or  www.MLRAracing.com . Saturday, April 9th is the opening night for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. Gates will open at 5:00 PM, Hot Laps at 6:30 PM with racing at 7:05 PM. For more information on this and other events at Lucas Oil Speedway visit www.LucasOilSpeedway.com .  

Visit the series website www.MLRAracing.com for the most up to date information on the Lucas Oil MLRA

The Lucas Oil MLRA (Midwest Latemodel Racing Association) sanctions regional Super Dirt Late Model touring series events in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Iowa.   

For all the latest news and information on the Lucas Oil MLRA please visit us on the web at www.MLRAracing.com  or by calling the series office at (816) 650-5063 or (816) 305-6572.

The Lucas Oil MLRA would like to thank the sponsors of the 2011 Tourincluding Lucas Oil Products, AAA Missouri, Hoosier Race Tires, Lucas Cattle Company, Hatfield Racing Engines, Larry Shaw Race Cars, AFCO Racing Products, GRT Race Cars, Powertrain Industries,  Sunoco Race Fuels, Bodee's Race Bodies, Outpace Racing Products,Fast Track Photos, Weld Racing Wheels, Impact Signs and Lighting, Rod End Supply, Racing Optics, Schoenfeld Headers, Kluhsman Racing Components, Performance Bodies, ATL Fuel Cells, Bilstein Shocks, RacinDirt.com,  BSB Manufacturing,  MasterSbilt, R2C Performance Products, SAFERACER, Keizer Wheels