From Brian Walker
WHEATLAND, Mo. (September 20, 2019) – Fans at Lucas Oil Speedway played witness to an instant classic in Friday’s Rockwell Security preliminary program. The 25-lap POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League feature offered a handful of lead changes, side-by-side racing through the pack, and a race-deciding move in the closing laps. Ultimately, it was Brady Bacon capping a perfect night as he pounced on Mario Clouser on lap 23 and survived for an epic win on night two of the ninth annual Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial.
Entering the feature, a trio of drivers including Brady Bacon, Wyatt Burks and Logan Seavey all had the chance to record a perfect night with a feature win. Bacon, Burks and Seavey each set quicktime in their respective groups, then they all won their heat races from fourth, and they each won qualifiers from sixth, slotting them sixth, seventh and eighth in the 25-lapper.
Catching the eight-car inversion and landing on the front row, however, was Anthony Nicholson of Bartlett, Tenn. with Brandon Mattox of Cory, Ind. Nicholson, who won Friday’s Hockett/McMillin Memorial prelim in 2018, commanded the opening circuit while Mario Clouser of Auburn, Ill. drove into second.
Seavey of Sutter, Calif. and Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla. came storming into the top five early on as Clouser reeled in Nicholson and lighted a fight for the top spot. Locked in a side-by-side affair, Nicholson and Clouser went toe-to-toe as Nicholson kept his No. 16 glued to the low line and Clouser continued to push the cushion aboard his No. 6 machine.
Officially taking the lead on lap 12, Clouser cleared Nicholson and began to pull away, but a few circuits later on lap 16, Bacon came bursting into the second spot and had his sights set on Clouser. Switching to the bottom of turns three and four, Bacon failed to make much ground early in his chase for the lead, but a costly bobble on the cushion from Clouser allowed the “Macho Man” to close quickly in the final laps.
Going wheel-to-wheel for the lead on lap 23, Bacon and Clouser sent the crowd into a frenzy as the race heated up. Launching a slider into turn one, Bacon sent his No. 410 to the point as Clouser went for a crossover off turn two and prepared for his own slider into turn three. However, his momentum wasn’t enough, as Bacon mashed the gas and powered around the outside to see the white flag waving.
The final 3/8th-mile went by without hesitation for Brady Bacon, who sealed the deal on his fourth POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League win of 2019. Completing a perfect night, Bacon’s tally of 264 points from quicktime, heat win, qualifier win, and feature win solidified himself as the Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial high point man.
Mario Clouser followed Bacon to the line with a heartbreaking, but strong second-place result for his No. 6 entry. Logan Seavey rounded out the podium in the Donnie Cooper No. 01 after making a late charge to pass Anthony Nicholson. Closing out the top five was Nicholson in fourth and Dave Darland with a fifth-place finish in the JD Black owned No. 7R.
Also finishing inside the top ten was Brian Beebe in sixth, Wyatt Burks in seventh, Katlynn Leer in eighth, Chris Parkinson in ninth and Brandon Mattox in tenth.
The ninth annual Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial wraps up tomorrow as the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League finale takes to Lucas Oil Speedway. IF you can’t make it, you can watch LIVE on www.lucasoilracingtv.com.
For more information on the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League, you can visit www.powri.comonline, follow @WARSprints on Twitter or Instagram, or like POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints on Facebook.
POWRi WAR Sprint League
Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin
Lucas Oil Speedway
Wheatland, MO
Friday September 20, 2019
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 11W-Wyatt Burks, [4]
2. 7R-Dave Darland, [1]
3. 73S-Lane Stone, [2]
4. 16-Anthony Nicholson, [3]
5. 3-Raven Culp, [7]
6. 118-Scott Evans, [5]
7. 41-Brad Wyatt, [6]
DNS: 4-Braydon Cromwell,
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 01-Logan Seavey, [4]
2. 12-Wesley Smith, [3]
3. 9$-Kyle Clark, [2]
4. 54-Trey Gropp, [1]
5. 89-Todd McVay, [5]
6. 31-Dylan Kadous, [6]
7. 75-Tyler Blank, [7]
8. 6R-Frank Rogers, [8]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 37-Brian Beebe, [2]
2. 77K-Katlynn Leer, [1]
3. 77-Jack Wagner, [3]
4. 22S-Slater Helt, [5]
5. 22-Jeff Pellersels, [4]
6. 72-Al Thomas, [8]
7. 8-Jeff Wingate, [6]
8. 13-Grant Wresche, [7]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 410-Brady Bacon, [4]
2. 5C-Colten Cottle, [2]
3. 6-Mario Clouser, [3]
4. 28M-Brandon Mattox, [5]
5. 91-Gunner Ramey, [1]
6. 65-Chris Parkinson, [6]
7. 21C-Chris Desselle, [7]
8. 36-Kevin Reed, [8]
Qualifier #1 (10 Laps)
1. 11W-Wyatt Burks, [6]
2. 6-Mario Clouser, [3]
3. 16-Anthony Nicholson, [2]
4. 7R-Dave Darland, [4]
5. 22S-Slater Helt, [1]
6. 37-Brian Beebe, [5]
7. 31-Dylan Kadous, [8]
8. 41-Brad Wyatt, [9]
9. 3-Raven Culp, [7]
10. 21C-Chris Desselle, [10]
11. 36-Kevin Reed, [11]
Qualifier #2 (10 Laps)
1. 01-Logan Seavey, [6]
2. 28M-Brandon Mattox, [1]
3. 12-Wesley Smith, [5]
4. 77-Jack Wagner, [4]
5. 73S-Lane Stone, [3]
6. 22-Jeff Pellersels, [2]
7. 89-Todd McVay, [7]
8. 75-Tyler Blank, [9]
9. 72-Al Thomas, [8]
DNS: 13-Grant Wresche
DNS: 4-Braydon Cromwell,
Qualifier #3 (10 Laps)
1. 410-Brady Bacon, [6]
2. 5C-Colten Cottle, [5]
3. 54-Trey Gropp, [2]
4. 77K-Katlynn Leer, [4]
5. 65-Chris Parkinson, [8]
6. 91-Gunner Ramey, [1]
7. 118-Scott Evans, [7]
8. 8-Jeff Wingate, [9]
9. 6R-Frank Rogers, [10]
10. 9$-Kyle Clark, [3]
B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 91-Gunner Ramey, [2]
2. 9$-Kyle Clark, [6]
3. 89-Todd McVay, [3]
4. 31-Dylan Kadous, [4]
5. 8-Jeff Wingate, [9]
6. 22-Jeff Pellersels, [1]
7. 41-Brad Wyatt, [8]
8. 3-Raven Culp, [7]
9. 118-Scott Evans, [5]
10. 36-Kevin Reed, [14]
11. 6R-Frank Rogers, [12]
12. 21C-Chris Desselle, [13]
13. 72-Al Thomas, [11]
14. 75-Tyler Blank, [10]
DNS: 13-Grant Wresche
DNS: 4-Braydon Cromwell,
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 410-Brady Bacon, [8]
2. 6-Mario Clouser, [3]
3. 01-Logan Seavey, [6]
4. 16-Anthony Nicholson, [1]
5. 7R-Dave Darland, [9]
6. 37-Brian Beebe, [13]
7. 11W-Wyatt Burks, [7]
8. 77K-Katlynn Leer, [11]
9. 65-Chris Parkinson, [15]
10. 28M-Brandon Mattox, [2]
11. 5C-Colten Cottle, [5]
12. 77-Jack Wagner, [10]
13. 54-Trey Gropp, [12]
14. 73S-Lane Stone, [14]
15. 91-Gunner Ramey, [17]
16. 22S-Slater Helt, [16]
17. 12-Wesley Smith, [4]
18. 31-Dylan Kadous, [20]
19. 89-Todd McVay, [19]
20. 9$-Kyle Clark, [18]