Media Contact: Trenton Berry
trenton@racindirt.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Wheatland, Missouri (October 7, 2016) - Friday's opening round of the 3rd Annual Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals had a little bit of everything ... lead changes, contact and heartbreak.

Billy Moyer sat on the DirtOnDirt.com pole and showed the way early on, prior to jumping the berm in turn two on lap 13. Tucson, Arizona's Jake O'Neil seized the opportunity and took control of the race. He led until a yellow waved for Joseph Gorby who hit the wall in turn four.

While under yellow, O'Neil pulled to a stop on the track and was pushed to the pits. Later, it was determined he had a mud clod pass thorugh his radiator causing his engine to run hot.

Moyer re-assumed the point and looked to be well on his way to the win, until Jesse Stovall and Bobby Pierce came to life. Stovall started 19th and was involved in a 13 car wreck in the middle of three and four on the opening lap. Pierce snuck through, and both went to the front as the laps clicked away.

Stovall was running second and took the lead for the first time on lap 35, Moyer passed him back, before Stovall took the lead for good. With two laps left to go, Stovall got into Brantlee Gotschall whom he was trying to lap. It caused damage to both cars and setup a two lap shootout to the checkers.

Lucas Oil MLRA rules call for a single file restart in the main event with less than five laps to go. Bobby Pierce who passed Moyer before the yellow, fired at Stovall's tail. The two were racing so closely they had no margin for error. The #00 had just enough left to seal the deal and win the opening night of the Fall Nationals for the second straight year, it is Stovall's eighth win of the season and fifth with the Lucas Oil MLRA.

"It was awesome to start that deep in the field and work your way up through there,"said Stovall in Andy's Frozen Custard Victory Lane. "At the end of the day, we've got something else were working for here. Hopefully we can calm down a little bit tomorrow and just go out and race."

Pierce seems to have a knack for charging through the field at Wheatland. He's done it in the Spring Nationals and Show Me 100 both earlier this season.

"This was a lot of fun,"commented Pierce. "The track was very race-able. I like coming here. The dirt is just a little different than what we are used to. I'm glad with the run we had, starting in the back like that. Maybe tomorrow we can just be a little bit better."

There were a couple other things of note form the evening. Brian Shirley made his first appearance in over a month Friday. He suffered a concussion earlier this season and had been away from the seat for several weeks. He was running third late and jumped over the pesky turn two berm and fell to fifth before coming back one spot.

The Comp Cams Super Dirt Series also had their share of excitement as far as points are concerned. Hunter Rasdon got together with another car in hot laps and damaged his car to a point where they had to unload the backup. He was part of the 13 car pileup, like Stovall, in the feature's opening lap. Ultimately he left the track on the hook early and surrendered several points to seventh place finishing Jack Sullivan. The CCSDS championship battle will come right down to the wire Saturday.

Racing begins one hour earlier Saturday, with hot laps at 6:00 PM and racing at 6:30 PM. The Street Stocks will also be in action completing their $5,000 to win program. Champions from both the Lucas Oil MLRA and Comp Cams Super Dirt Series will be crowned.

Lucas Oil Speedway Contingencies 10/7/16
Hooker Harness "11th Place" - Tyler Erb
Andy's Frozen Custard Victory Lane - Jesse Stovall
Fasttrack Photos - Jesse Stovall
Crew Chief of the Race - Tony Rogers
Casey's General Stores "Hard Charger of the Race" - Jesse Stovall
Sunoco "Rookie of the Race" - Tad Pospisil
Real Racing Wheels - Brantlee Gotschall
Wehrs Machine - Dave Eckrich
DirtonDirt.com "Pole Award"- Billy Moyer
Malvern Bank & Trust "Most Laps Led" - Billy Moyer
AR Bodies - Randy Timms
KRC - Rodney Sanders
RacingJunk.com "Hard Luck Award" - Jake O'Neil
Landrum Springs "Top Performer" - Jesse Stovall
Performance Bodies "Performer of the Race" - Bobby Pierce

Lucas Oil Racing.TV A Feature (40 laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Bobby Pierce 3. Billy Moyer 4. Brian Shirley 5. Terry Phillips 6. RC Whitwell 7. Jack Sullivan 8. Jason Papich 9. Tony Jackson Jr 10. Rodney Sanders 11. Tyler Erb 12. Tim Manville 13. Randy Timms 14. JC Wyman 15. Dave Eckrich 16. Brantlee Gotschall 17. Tad Pospisil 18. Jake O'Neil 19. Matt Furman 20. Joseph Gorby 21. Jeff Floyd 22. Jacob Magee 23. Hunter Rasdon 24. Larry Jones 25. Chris Simpson 26. Kyle Beard

Hoosier Tires B Feature 1 (12 laps): 1. Tyler Erb 2. Rodney Sanders 3. Will Vaught 4. Chris Brown 5. JC Wyman 6. Brent Larson 7. Al Humphrey 8. John Driskell 9. Dustin Walker 10. Mark Burgtorf 11. Robby Moore 12. Kyle Beard 13. Chris Cox

Impact Signs, Awnings, Wraps B Feature 2 (12 laps): 1. Tad Pospisil 2. Jeff Floyd 3. Josh Poe 4. Gavin Landers 5. Hunter Rasdon 6. Mason Oberkramer 7. Austin Theiss 8. Johnny Fennewald 9. Brandon Wilson 10. Phil Edmonson 11. Rob Hall 12. Logan Martin

HotRodProcessing.com B Feature 3 (12 laps): 1. Jesse Stovall 2. Randy Timms 3. Brantlee Gotschall 4. Wendell Wallace 5. Jon Mitchell 6. Jeff Roth 7. Charlie McKenna 8. Austin Siebert 9. Garrett Alberson 10. Jonathan Rowan 11. Chad Richwine 12. Jon Binning

Bilstein Shocks Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Jake O'Neil 2. Larry Jones 3. Joseph Gorby 4. Bobby Pierce 5. Hunter Rasdon 6. Will Vaught 7. Brantlee Gotschall 8. Mark Burgtorf 9. Charlie McKenna

Casey's General Stores Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. Matt Furman 2. Chris Simpson 3. Dave Eckrich 4. Jesse Stovall 5. Tad Pospisil 6. Garrett Alberson 7. Jon Binning 8. Austin Theiss 9. Chris Cox

Chix Gear Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. RC Whitwell 2. Billy Moyer 3. Rodney Sanders 4. Dustin Walker 5. Austin Siebert 6. Brent Larson 7. John Driskell 8. Chad Richwine 9. Rob Hall

Malvern Bank Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. Terry Phillips 2. Jack Sullivan 3. Josh Poe 4. Tyler Erb 5. Chris Brown 6. Logan Martin 7. Al Humphrey 8. Jon Mitchell 9. Jeff Roth

Sunoco Race Fuels Heat 5 10 (Laps): 1. Tim Manville 2. Jason Papich 3. Jonathan Rowan 4. Gavin Landers 5. JC Wyman 6. Wendell Wallace 7. Johnny Fennewald 8. Kyle Beard 9. Robby Moore

Bilstein Shocks Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. Brian Shirley 2. Jacob Magee 3. Tony Jackson Jr. 4. Randy Timms 5. Jeff Floyd 6. Phil Edmonson 7. Mason Oberkramer 8. Brandon Wilson

For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com.
  
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