The "Racing Principal" Pursley looks for first Lucas Oil Speedway track title

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Lyndal Scranton (Lscranton755@gmail.com)  

Wheatland, Missouri (March 3, 2016) - Jason Pursley is the principal who drives fast. It's all good. Students and parents cheer him on.

"I trade in my suit and tie for a helmet and a fire suit," said Pursley, the Hickory County R-1 Skyline-Urbana elementary-school boss man. He's been racing A-Modifieds around Ozark-area dirt tracks for about 15 years.

Pursley, from Hermitage, is eager to make a run at his first Lucas Oil Speedway Pitts Homes USRA Modified track championship in 2016 after finishing fourth in points a year ago.

His cheering section is more unique than most. It's not uncommon for kids from Skyline-Urbana, where Pursley has been elementary principal for 12 years, to attend races and visit him afterward in the pits.

"I take my car to school every few years and usually work with Dan (Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Dan Robinson) on a teacher night and a lot of teachers come over to the speedway," Pursley said. "Last year. I gave some rides in the two-seater. The kids love it."

It's not a novelty act. Pursley is a serious - and talented - race-car driver.

"He and I started racing about the same time, over at Urbana," fellow Modified competitor Eric Turner said. "Jason's always been a good driver and very clean."

Pursley said the mix of school administrator and race-car driver isn't too difficult to manage. By the time the racing season is cranking up, the school year is winding down.

"Once basketball season is over, my nights free up a bunch as far as doing supervision," he said. "It works out pretty good. I get a lot of work done on the weekends not the race car."

Racing is a family tradition. Pursley joked that he's "been going to the races since before I was born" at tracks in Humansville and Nevada.

"I had two grandpas who raced, my dad (Larry Foltz) raced and I have two uncles (John Fellers and Donnie Fellers) that still race," Pursley said. "I got into racing because it's a family affair."

Pursley always has driven an A-Modified, with his first race-car costing $1,500. He marveled at how the division has evolved, in cost and technology.

He pointed to the $100,000-to-win modified race at Batesville Speedway in Arkansas that was held about 10 years ago as changing the division forever.

"Late Model guys found out they could make some money in the Modified division," Pursley said. "A lot of them got themselves a Modified and brought the technology with them."

This season, Pursley is driving a new GRT owned by Tom Campbell of Warsaw. Purely said winning a Lucas Oil Speedway championship is his goal after a "just average" 2015 season, which did not include a victory.

"I've got second in points at Lucas probably five or six times," Pursley said. "I would like to be the bride and not the bridesmaid, for once."

Pursley's sponsors include Fugate Motors, Midwest Low-E Insulation, NAPA Auto Parts, Christian Home Care, Fellers Masonry, Mach One Machine and Vinyl Works.

Lucas Oil Speedway's season fires up April 8-9 with the Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals with the first Budweiser Weekly Championship Series race set for April 16.
 

Jason Pursley, after several runner-up finishes and a fourth last season, has a goal to win his first track championship in 2016. (Photo by Chris Bork)

Please visit www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for the most up to date information about "America's New Motorsports Destination," Lucas Oil Speedway.  

Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With it's entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. 

Click www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.  

In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway.  

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CONTACT:

Dan Robinson
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director
Office: (417) 282-5984 

Dan@lucasoil.com   
About Lucas Oil Speedway 
Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top five Race Tracks in the Nation. Located in Wheatland, Missouri, approximately an hour from Springfield, Missouri and just a quick hour and a half from the Kansas City Metro Area, dubbed the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" Lucas Oil Speedway certainly lives up to the title.

Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. 2016 marks the 6th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, Lake Lucas. Two Nationally televised Drag Boat Races featuring the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series will be held in 2016.

Lucas Oil Speedway hosts some of the largest and most popular events in the Midwest! National and regional touring series appear frequently for Special Events on the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, POWRi Midget National Series, Lucas Oil Pro-Pulling League, United States Modified Touring Series, ASCS Sprint Cars and the Lucas Oil MLRA.  

In addition to the incredible Special Events, the Lucas Oil Speedway Budweiser Weekly Racing Series features, the ALPS Food Store ULMA Late Models, Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds, Carson's Corner NAPA Street Stocks and the USRA B-Mods, racing weekly.