Lucas Cattle Company Becomes ULMA Title Sponsor!

Sam Stoecklin
ULMA Public Relations
April 23, 2012

                In what will easily go down as the most successful and memorable weekend in the six-year history of ULMA, the association is proud to announce Lucas Cattle Company has come on board as the association’s title sponsor. Lucas Cattle Company is a brand you can trust and provides cattle you can count on! The company strives for the finest Simmental genetics available. Since its inception, Lucas Cattle Company has grown into an operation consisting of 17,000 acres, 1,200 head of Simmental cows, and 800 head of commercial cows.

                Obviously, this is a huge boost for ULMA at the right time. ULMA is thrilled to make this announcement and wishes to thank the company for believing in what the association has accomplished to date and what it has yet to conquer and achieve in the future. ULMA looks forward to a continuing relationship with Lucas Cattle Company. For more information, visit the company online at www.lucascattlecompany.com. Everyone at ULMA will perform at their absolute best to ensure the namesake of the Lucas Cattle Company ULMA Late Models is upheld to the highest standards. With this announcement, ULMA officials are now capable of creating an end-of-year points fund available at the end of the season for the top performers among the already over 40 drivers participating in the championship season. Look for a future announcement from ULMA regarding the point fund in the near future.

                To accompany the exciting title sponsor news, ULMA drivers participated in its most successful weekend ever, beginning with a visit to the ‘Historic Half Mile’ in Sedalia at Missouri State Fair Speedway as support class to the ever-popular World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. Twenty-four ULMA drivers signed in to compete on the night and it took two jam-packed 12-car heat races to sort things out to determine the main event lineup as the night wore on. Neosho, Missouri driver Chris Hawkins claimed the Midland Printing opening heat race from his fourth starting position with Kevin Coyne, Jimmy Morris, and Jason Bodenhamer following him across the line. For General Fence, LLC heat race number two, it was Lane Ehlert of Foristell, Missouri, a first-time competitor at the track taking the win ahead of pole-sitter Bob King, current ULMA point leader Jason Russell and seventh-starting Brett Wood. With a good-old fashioned straight up start for the main event, it was heat-race winners Hawkins and Ehlert claiming the front row for the 20-lap main event.

                Hawkins quickly asserted himself as the proverbial front-runner when he darted out to an early lead over Ehlert, Coyne and Morris. Ehlert appeared to have Hawkins covered in the turns but Hawkins denied any and all challenges on the long straight-a-ways anytime a new suitor thought he could make a move. Things ran smoothly until lap six when several cars got together down the front stretch triggering a chain reaction accident that eliminated Walt Imhoff with left-front damage on his machine. At the same time, the strong running Ehlert was hit from behind and was relegated to the back of the field unable to complete the race, ending his strong half-mile debut. Ron Binning, Gary Billings Jr., and Dave Mosley also saw their nights come to an early end as they exited the speedway. The field slowed again a couple of laps later when sixth-place runner Jason Bodenhamer lost oil pressure down the back stretch, ultimately ending his bid for a return trip to ULMA victory lane at Sedalia. When the race resumed, it was third-starting Coyne who began to come to the front with a classic battle for position with Russell and Morris. Later in the race, Brandon Imhoff began making his way to the front of the heap as he drove into the top five just past the halfway point.

                The next ten laps were caution free and featured several close battles for position among the talented group of drivers laying it all on the line. Inside the top five, Hawkins continued to edge out Coyne for the lead while Imhoff surged, ultimately taking the third position and dropping Russell and Morris back one position each. Just as the race appeared to be going green to the final lap, Jon Binning’s motor let go with just two laps remaining setting up a two-lap dash to the checkers among the leaders. When the green flag waved to resume the race, Hawkins did all he could to hold of Imhoff’s surge to the front with Coyne in tow. On the white-flag lap, Imhoff took second and set his sights on Hawkins for the win but the leader was not to be denied in this event as Hawkins claimed the victory on his first-ever visit to the speedway. Imhoff crossed the line second, Coyne third, Russell fourth, 13-year old Jake Griffin came away fifth, while Morris brought home a solid sixth-place finish.

                The next night at Lucas Oil Speedway, a record ULMA weekly car count of 35 drivers participated in the race program’s five heat races and b-main event to setup the lineup for the 25-lap main event. Ehlert made his first trip to the speedway pay off with a win in the opening heat while past track champion Tommy Cordray claimed heat two. Larry Jones, Matthew Brookshire and Imhoff claimed heats three, four and five while Chris Morelock took the checkers in the b-main event.

                Ehlert and Cordray earned the front row positions for the main event by virtue of earning the most passing points for the night through the heat races as the pair set out at the front of the field at the initial green flag. Ehlert ran inside the top three behind Cordray and Jason Russell for the opening laps until the first caution flag flew for a stalled Brett Wood in turn three. Another caution flag waved on the next lap when Justin Russell spun, at the same time 2-time ULMA winner Chris Hawkins left the speedway with a flat tire, ultimately to return and post a seventh-place finish at the conclusion of the race. On lap twelve, with an intense battle at the front of the field that included Cordray, Russell, Ehlert and Jeremy Kelley, an incident with a lapped car ended Russell’s night on the hook just as he was going for the lead. Mike Berger and Chris Morelock also saw their nights come to an end around the same time as Andy and Harlan Kennedy and Matthew Brookshire also exited the race before the checkered fell.

                The race featured a classic three-man battle for the win as Cordray, Imhoff and Kelley searched around the multi-lane racing surface for the fastest way around the speedway. At one point coming off turn four and heading down the front stretch in front of the enthusiastic crowd, the leaders actually made contact with one another to add even more excitement to the already intense battle for the lead. On lap 17, Kelley grabbed the second position from Imhoff who slipped to third as both drivers kept Cordray in their cross hairs in hopes of claiming the win. With just two laps remaining, Coyne brought his car to the fourth position from his original 21st starting position to add to the lead group excitement. Coming for the checkered flag, Kelly pushed hard for the win one final time only to have his bid fall short at the line as Cordray claimed the $1,000 winner’s share edging out Kelley, Imhoff, Coyne, Ehlert, and Jones at the finish. Next week another exciting weekly program awaits drivers and fans at the speedway, be sure to check out the track online by logging onto www.lucasoilspeedway.com.  

                Once again Friday night action at Callaway Raceway lost out to Mother Nature last week as the track had hoped to roll into its second race program of the year last Friday night. The venue will try again this Friday to again host another night of racing excitement for the fans and drivers. Callaway Raceway is located in Fulton, Missouri. The track may be found on the World Wide Web by visiting www.callawayraceways.com.   

                ULMA’s official website is www.ulmaracing.com; here you will find race results, point standings, and much more. Like ULMA on FaceBook to stay current on the latest racing developments leading up to and after all ULMA racing events.  Affiliated tracks for ULMA this season include weekly racing at Lucas Oil Speedway and Callaway Raceway as well as select Friday night racing at Valley Speedway and special events at Double X Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway.
                This year’s sponsors include our title sponsor, Lucas Cattle Company as well as affiliated sponsor Imhoff Construction and contingency sponsors Rod End Supply, Buyraceparts.com, General Fence LLC, Midland Printing, Racingjunk.com, and Photographics by Shelly Payne. ULMA is a proud supporter of Homes for Our Troops. To join the team, or to request addition to ULMA’s email group, send your request to unitedlatemodelassociation@hotmail.com.

Upcoming racing:
Friday, April 27th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, April 28th – Lucas Oil Speedway
Friday, May 4th – Callaway Raceway
Friday, May 11th – Valley Speedway
Friday, May 11th – Callaway Raceway
Saturday, May 12th – Lucas Oil Speedway

Current ULMA Point Standings