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Fennewald captures ULMA Late Model headliner on opening night at Lucas Oil Speedway

By Lyndal Scranton (Wheatland, MO) -- There were some familiar faces leading the way as Lucas Oil Speedway opened the 2019 season on Saturday night.

Reigning track champion Johnny Fennewald of Appleton City grabbed the lead midway through the headliner, fending off a couple of 2018 rivals, and captured the Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Model main event.

PHOTO: Johnny Fennewald--CREDIT: Kenny Shaw

Other feature winners in the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series season-opening program Presented by Benne Media were defending champ JC Morton (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B Mods), Jon Sheets (Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds) and Toby Ott (O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks).

A total of 115 cars checked into the pits for opening night.

Fennewald finished ahead of runner-up Aaron Marrant after passing Kaeden Cornell on lap 12. Those three were 1-2-3 in the final point standings in 2018, separated by just seven points, and served notice that they'll again be formidable.

"It's a really good way to start," Fennewald said after taking the $1,000 prize, courtesy of Hickamo Country Store in Wheatland. "I've raced for a lot of years and brought out brand-new cars before, but I've never won the first night."

Cornell and Fennewald started on the front row and Cornell got the jump after the green fell. The Willard High School senior led the first 11 laps as the duo broke away from the field, often battling side-by-side for the lead.

"I felt like I had a better car. I knew we'd be in lapped traffic pretty quick," Fennewald said of his patient approach. "We have a pretty good hot rod here."

Fennewald used some lapped traffic to his advantage and wrestled the lead away from Cornell coming out of turn four to complete lap 12. While a lap-13 caution bunched the field, Fennewald wasn't seriously challenged after the restart.

As for chasing a third straight track championship, Fennewald said he isn't going to make it a priority.

"We're just going to try and win as many races as we can," Fennewald said of his 2019 goals. "If we win races and have good finishes, that's what wins points races."

It was all Fennewald after the restart as he beat Marrant and third-place Cole Henson. Jason Russell was fourth with Cornell fading late to fifth.

Morton grabs B-Mod win: JC Morton of Springfield opened defense of his Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod track championship with a resounding opening-night victory.

Morton took the lead on lap seven and quickly opened a comfortable margin over runner-up Cole Campbell of Mexico, Missouri as the race remained caution-free the rest of the way.

Morton said he had some doubts about making the show Saturday morning, with some motor problems, but thanked Yeoman Race Engines for getting him fixed up.

Campbell started on the inside of row two and led the first seven laps before Morton got around him with an outside pass coming out of turn four to complete lap eight.

"There early, the track was still pretty greasy from where they (reworked it during intermission) but it seemed like it helped it," Morton said. "Once I got up there and got to a clear track, I was cruising from there."

Morton checked out from there and finished about a straightaway ahead of Campbell and third-place Robbe Ewing. Kenton Allen finished fourth with reigning USRA B-Mod National Champion Kris Jackson, who started 15th, rallying to fifth.

The race had two early cautions, including a seven-car pileup on lap two. Among those eliminated in that accident was former track champion Andy Bryant.

Sheets all the way: Jon Sheets of Nevada started on the pole and led all 20 laps, beating defending champ Darron Fuqua to take the Pitts Homes USRA Modified feature.

In a race with only one caution, which came on lap two, Sheets emerged from an early battle with Terry Schultz to open the lead. He weaved through lapped traffic over the final half of the event to hold off Fuqua.

"This is the third night we've run this year and we've had a pretty good car. I knew we would get one," Sheets said.

Fuqua, the defending track and USRA Modified National Champion, was second with Schultz finishing third and Tanner Mullens fourth.

Ott takes Street Stocks win: Toby Ott had a frustrating 2018 season, only winning two late-season features after dominating the O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks the year before. He began the 2019 season in victory lane.

"Last year we found some things on the car that weren't right. We had some fast nights, but we fought it all year long and never could get it consistent and where it needed to be," Ott said. "I think we finally found what it needs to have and now it seems to be working pretty good."

Ott, the hometown driver and 2017 champ, finished ahead of runner-up David Hendrix, the 2018 champion. But for a while, Johnny Coats of Joplin appeared to be in command.

Coats led the first 15 laps, but surrendered the lead to Ott in turn two on lap 16. One circuit later, Coats pulled off due to mechanical problems.

Bob Barnett was third and Marc Carter finishing fourth.

BIG ADVENTURE RV WEEKLY RACING SERIES RESULTS

Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Models

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald, 20:00.889[1]; 2. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 20:03.929[6]; 3. 31C-Cole Henson, 20:06.210[7]; 4. 2J-Jason Russell, 20:07.024[3]; 5. 50-Kaeden Cornell, 20:08.805[2]; 6. 42H-Chad Richwine, 20:09.639[11]; 7. 51-Larry Ferris, 20:11.099[9]; 8. 0X-Justin Russell, 20:12.367[14]; 9. 7X-Todd McCoin, 20:14.010[21]; 10. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 20:14.225[5]; 11. 1T-Tucker Cox, 20:15.571[17]; 12. 42L-Lane Ehlert, 20:16.406[10]; 13. 99-Larry Jones, 20:18.289[12]; 14. 43-Craig Wood, 20:18.609[15]; 15. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 20:01.880[16]; 16. 13-Shawn Whitman, 20:04.546[20]; 17. 15-Shane Essary, 11:54.309[4]; 18. 4-Josh Poe, 01:51.871[8]; 19. 99D-Dylan Hoover, 01:55.400[13]; 20. 17-Daniel Jessen, 01:55.763[18]; (DNS) 8D-Darek Wiss, 01:55.763; (DNS) 74-Jon Melloway, 01:55.763.

Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald, [6]; 2. 51-Larry Ferris, [2]; 3. 7J-Ryan Johnson, [7]; 4. 99-Larry Jones, [3]; 5. 42L-Lane Ehlert, [8]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff, [4]; 7. 8D-Darek Wiss, [5]; 8. (DNF) 74-Jon Melloway, [1]

Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2J-Jason Russell, 03:06.206[1]; 2. 4-Josh Poe, 03:09.302[3]; 3. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 03:09.583[7]; 4. 42H-Chad Richwine, 03:13.278[2]; 5. 43-Craig Wood, 03:14.933[4]; 6. 17-Daniel Jessen, 03:16.069[6]; 7. 13-Shawn Whitman, 03:17.180[5]

Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Kaeden Cornell, 04:28.166[6]; 2. 15-Shane Essary, 04:31.958[4]; 3. 31C-Cole Henson, 04:33.474[7]; 4. 99D-Dylan Hoover, 04:34.539[3]; 5. 0X-Justin Russell, 04:35.499[2]; 6. 1T-Tucker Cox, 04:35.898[5]; 7. (DNF) 7X-Todd McCoin, 03:21.354[1]

Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

Big O Tires A-Feature (20 Laps): 1. 18M-JC Morton, [2]; 2. 22C-Cole Campbell, [3]; 3. 32-Robbe Ewing, [1]; 4. 98K-Kenton Allen, [6]; 5. 65-Kris Jackson, [15]; 6. 00T-Taylor Moore, [4]; 7. 8M-Dillon McCowan, [9]; 8. 02-Cole Denner, [7]; 9. 22-Brian McGowen, [12]; 10. 1F-Mitchell Franklin, [14]; 11. 1B-Bobby Williams, [10]; 12. 10T-Tyler Brown, [18]; 13. 18D-Curt Drake, [5]; 14. 121-Tim Phillips, [22]; 15. 2B-Bowers Michael, [11]; 16. 10P-Dayton Pursley, [24]; 17. 17-Rod Cordon, [21]; 18. 68-Ricky Watkins, [23]; 19. 19-Jimmy Cummins, [20]; 20. 28-Andy Bryant, [8]; 21. 18-Austin Joplin, [13]; 22. 112-Justin Comer, [16]; 23. 05-Jeremy Lile, [17]; 24. 30R-Rex Harris, [19]

Big O Tires B-Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 05-Jeremy Lile, 11:39.784[1]; 2. 30R-Rex Harris, 11:39.972[3]; 3. 17-Rod Cordon, 11:40.206[5]; 4. 68-Ricky Watkins, 11:41.167[2]; 5. 46-Brice Gotschall, 11:42.416[7]; 6. 21F-Hannah Frazee, 11:44.228[8]; 7. 14T-Quentin Taylor, 11:21.573[6]; 8. (DNF) 28A-Justin Amick, 11:23.378[4]; 9. (DNF) 21-Gregory Scheffler, 07:46.799[9]; 10. (DNF) 29-Dalton Keith, 07:46.804[11]; (DNS) 5-John Briggs, 07:46.804

Big O Tires B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 10T-Tyler Brown, [1]; 2. 19-Jimmy Cummins, [4]; 3. 121-Tim Phillips, [5]; 4. 10P-Dayton Pursley, [2]; 5. 87-Justin Pike, [10]; 6. 57J-John Fellers, [12]; 7. 64M-Shawn Hendren, [6]; 8. 77-Jeff Douty, [7]; 9. (DNF) 8-Robert King, [8]; 10. (DNF) 30-Mark Long, [3]; 11. (DNF) 6-Trenton Butler, [11]; (DNS) 10W-Jason Wescoat,

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18M-JC Morton, 03:12.117[2]; 2. 1B-Bobby Williams, 03:15.206[1]; 3. 18-Austin Joplin, 03:16.408[4]; 4. 112-Justin Comer, 03:17.121[5]; 5. 05-Jeremy Lile, 03:18.603[7]; 6. 68-Ricky Watkins, 03:20.148[9]; 7. 19-Jimmy Cummins, 03:21.013[10]; 8. 46-Brice Gotschall, 03:24.546[6]; 9. 21F-Hannah Frazee, 03:25.468[3]; 10. 21-gregory scheffler, 03:27.652[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 00T-Taylor Moore, 06:19.395[1]; 2. 02-Cole Denner, 06:20.269[3]; 3. 2B-Bowers Michael, 06:20.583[5]; 4. 98K-Kenton Allen, 06:21.598[10]; 5. 30R-Rex Harris, 06:21.935[2]; 6. 17-Rod Cordon, 06:22.742[6]; 7. 121-Tim Phillips, 06:23.695[9]; 8. (DNF) 42J-Donnie Jackson, 02:17.655[4]; 9. (DNF) 5-John Briggs, 02:22.568[8]; 10. (DNF) 57J-John Fellers, 01:16.562[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18D-Curt Drake, 04:11.131[1]; 2. 32-Robbe Ewing, 04:12.527[6]; 3. 1F-Mitchell Franklin, 04:13.323[4]; 4. 8M-Dillon McCowan, 04:13.691[9]; 5. 10T-Tyler Brown, 04:13.780[7]; 6. 30-Mark Long, 04:14.679[8]; 7. 14T-Quentin Taylor, 04:14.782[2]; 8. 64M-Shawn Hendren, 04:16.664[5]; 9. 77-Jeff Douty, 04:17.929[10]; 10. 8-Robert King, 04:22.618[3]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 22C-Cole Campbell, 06:02.597[2]; 2. 28-Andy Bryant, 06:02.790[3]; 3. 22-Brian McGowen, 06:03.085[5]; 4. 65-Kris Jackson, 06:04.010[6]; 5. 10P-Dayton Pursley, 06:05.023[1]; 6. 28A-Justin Amick, 06:05.337[8]; 7. (DNF) 10W-Jason Wescoat, 02:28.440[10]; 8. (DNF) 87-Justin Pike, 01:36.446[7]; 9. (DNF) 6-Trenton Butler, 01:45.221[9]; 10. (DNF) 29-Dalton Keith, 00:58.282[4]

Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8S-Jon Sheets, 11:55.073[1]; 2. 87-Darren Fuqua, 11:57.775[5]; 3. 90-Terry Schultz, 12:00.800[3]; 4. 02-Tanner Mullens, 12:01.289[13]; 5. 227-Chase Domer, 12:02.593[10]; 6. 38C-Jason Pursley, 12:05.584[6]; 7. 53R-Ronnie Woods, 12:06.238[2]; 8. 75-Tad Davis, 12:06.862[11]; 9. 68-Dean Wille, 12:07.892[7]; 10. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 12:08.406[12]; 11. 9D8-Paden Phillips, 12:09.496[9]; 12. 21-Ryan Middaugh, 12:09.816[14]; 13. 5-Robbie Reed, 12:10.475[20]; 14. 16S-Chad Lyle, 12:10.666[17]; 15. 73-Mickey Burrell, 12:11.620[15]; 16. 1X-Matt Johnson, 12:11.826[8]; 17. 21W-Tracy Wolf, 12:13.504[24]; 18. 85S-Tyler Shaw, 11:56.223[19]; 19. 292-Kyle Thompson, 11:56.827[16]; 20. 51G-Lucas Gibbs, 10:57.016[18]; 21. 18JR-Chase Sigg, 10:18.022[22]; 22. 11B-Scotty Bough, 06:59.758[21]; (DNS) 4B-Brayton Skaggs, 06:59.758; (DQ) 16-Austin Siebert, 06:59.758[4]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 16S-Chad Lyle, 09:32.271[2]; 2. 51G-Lucas Gibbs, 09:34.765[1]; 3. 85S-Tyler Shaw, 09:36.784[4]; 4. 5-Robbie Reed, 09:36.844[5]; 5. 11B-Scotty Bough, 09:40.639[13]; 6. 18JR-Chase Sigg, 09:40.955[3]; 7. 4B-Brayton Skaggs, 09:42.181[7]; 8. 21W-Tracy Wolf, 09:43.226[8]; 9. 88-Jimmy Dowell, 09:45.740[12]; 10. 120-Bob Kerbs, 09:45.958[10]; 11. 112-Justin Moon, 09:47.278[11]; 12. 24D-Donnie Fellers, 09:48.065[6]; (DNS) 1B-Bobby Williams, 09:48.065

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 53R-Ronnie Woods, 04:44.031[1]; 2. 8S-Jon Sheets, 04:44.663[5]; 3. 9D8-Paden Phillips, 04:47.169[3]; 4. 227-Chase Domer, 04:47.206[6]; 5. 21-Ryan Middaugh, 04:47.425[7]; 6. 292-Kyle Thompson, 04:48.550[9]; 7. 85S-Tyler Shaw, 04:52.025[4]; 8. 24D-Donnie Fellers, 04:53.154[2]; 9. 120-Bob Kerbs, 04:54.686[8]; 10. 88-Jimmy Dowell, 04:32.575[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 90-Terry Schultz, [1]; 2. 38C-Jason Pursley, [2]; 3. 68-Dean Wille, [4]; 4. 75-Tad Davis, [5]; 5. 22H-Dustin Hodges, [8]; 6. 51G-Lucas Gibbs, [7]; 7. 18JR-Chase Sigg, [10]; 8. 4B-Brayton Skaggs, [3]; 9. 112-Justin Moon, [9]; 10. (DNF) 11B-Scotty Bough, [6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Austin Siebert, 05:27.702[1]; 2. 87-Darren Fuqua, 05:28.266[3]; 3. 1X-Matt Johnson, 05:29.292[2]; 4. 02-Tanner Mullens, 05:30.064[4]; 5. 73-Mickey Burrell, 05:30.591[6]; 6. 16S-Chad Lyle, 05:31.250[7]; 7. 5-Robbie Reed, 05:32.068[5]; 8. 21W-Tracy Wolf, 05:33.837[8]; 9. 1B-Bobby Williams, 05:33.837[9]

O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 27O-Toby Ott, [1]; 2. 54-David Hendrix, [4]; 3. 27-Bob Barnett, [6]; 4. 10-Marc Carter, [11]; 5. 42-James Flood, [5]; 6. 45-Aaron Poe, [8]; 7. 11B-Derek Brown, [3]; 8. 7M-Scott Johnson, [10]; 9. 7-Brett Wood, [13]; 10. 94-Kenny Carroll, [14]; 11. 888-Darren Turner, [16]; 12. 04-Cody Frazon, [12]; 13. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer, [18]; 14. 11-Brad Gideon, [15]; 15. 12V-Nathan Vaughn, [17]; 16. 4-Marshall Berry, [22]; 17. 3-Dale Douty, [21]; 18. 35-Johnny Coats, [2]; 19. 25XXX-Jay Prevete, [20]; (DNS) 5H-Eric Hammons, ; (DNS) 71K-Lehmann Karl, ; (DNS) 19-Kenny Shelton, ; (DNS) 44S-Steve Scott, ; (DQ) 35Z-Zach Zeugin, [7]

Heat 1: 1. 27O-Toby Ott, [3]; 2. 45-Aaron Poe, [1]; 3. 27-Bob Barnett, [7]; 4. 7M-Scott Johnson, [5]; 5. 94-Kenny Carroll, [4]; 6. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer, [6]; 7. 71K-Lehmann Karl, [2]; 8. (DNF) 19-Kenny Shelton, [8]

Heat 2: 1. 54-David Hendrix, 03:17.245[1]; 2. 35-Johnny Coats, 03:17.670[5]; 3. 35Z-Zach Zeugin, 03:19.129[6]; 4. 10-Marc Carter, 03:21.950[2]; 5. 11-Brad Gideon, 03:22.522[4]; 6. 888-Darren Turner, 03:23.450[7]; 7. 25XXX-Jay Prevete, 03:25.034[3]; 8. 4-Marshall Berry, 03:25.743[8]

Heat 3: 1. 42-James Flood, [1]; 2. 11B-Derek Brown, [6]; 3. 5H-Eric Hammons, [2]; 4. 04-Cody Frazon, [5]; 5. 7-Brett Wood, [7]; 6. 12V-Nathan Vaughn, [8]; 7. 3-Dale Douty, [4]; 8. 44S-Steve Scott, [3]

MLRA Spring Nationals next: The Lucas Oil MLRA Dirt Late Models open their 2019 season next Friday and Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway for the 6th annual MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by RacingJunk.com. Full programs capped by A-features are scheduled both nights.

The Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds and O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks also will be in action both nights.

To inquire about tickets, VIP suites or camping, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at Nichole@LucasOilSpeedway.com.

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