9/2/2023
Tyler Stevens
Stevens takes maiden MLRA win at Lucas Oil Speedway
Tyler Stevens added to his young Super Late Model resume on Friday evening with his first-career Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) triumph.
His maiden voyage to Victory Lane with the Missouri based tour came at Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, Mo.) aboard his Keith Hammett Trucking & Construction LLC / James A. Rogers Excavating No. 2 Southern Belle / SFP Performance Systems / Longhorn by Wells Motorsports / Mod Co Racing Engine Super Late Model.
A different tire choice than his challengers helped propel Stevens to his first win of the season.
“Man, you have no idea,” exclaimed Stevens in Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Victory Lane of his excitement. “We have had the worst luck this year. New car, new motor, new shocks, new everything and it feels good. We had a little bad luck at the Topless (100) a few weeks ago and I knew we had a heck of a hotrod and we just needed to put it all together.
“I thought I was a sitting duck,” he commented of the early laps of the main event. “I knew Chad and Mason (Oberkramer) and (Scott) Crigler they all had 40’s on the right rear and I was the only one with a three, so I was worried I was going to wear the right rear out, but man the car was so good I just steered around there and didn’t really have to slide. I was pretty patient there and ran up behind Chad and he was pretty much committed to the bottom and then when he got to that lapped traffic I knew if he didn’t move way up and find that clean area of the racetrack that I thought I could roll by him. They are awesome racers, the MLRA’s the best there is, they’ve proven throughout the the past few weeks they can go run with any of these guys and it feels good to be on top of the podium.”
Tyler Stevens opened the Labor Day weekend with a trip to Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, Missouri) for the ninth annual Ron Jenkins Memorial.
He left the track with his first Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) victory.
The two-day stop on the MLRA calendar began on Friday with 34 competitors in the pits at the pristine 3/8-mile oval. Stevens set the second-quickest time in his group during qualifying, then went on to win his heat race from the pole position.
The driver from Searcy, Arkansas, began the 30-lap, $5,000-to-win main event from the fourth position and made the pass for the lead exiting the second turn on Lap 16.
He masterfully navigated lapped traffic as he led the rest of the way, taking the win over Chad Simpson by a slim 0.328-second margin. Dillon McCowan rounded out the podium, with Scott Crigler finishing fourth and Logan Martin taking the fifth spot.
Steven’s triumph was his first feature victory of 2023.
On Saturday, the second night of the Ron Jenkins Memorial attracted 35 MLRA Late Model drivers seeking the evening’s $11,000 first-place payout. Stevens finished fifth in his heat race, then used a B-Main victory to transfer to the 40-lap feature.
Stevens rolled off 17th, but ran into overheating issues in the race’s early stages and was unable to finish.
He recorded a 23rd-place result in the event finale.
Full results are available at www.mlraracing.com.
The team is now shifting gears and getting ready to roll south for a pair of COMP Cams Super Dirt Series (CCSDS) Super Late Model events. Action opens with the $5,555-to-win Kenneth Mitchell Memorial at Texarkana (Ark.) 67 Speedway on Friday evening with the $5,000-to-win 51st annual Louisiana Dirt Track Championship at Boothill Speedway (Greenwood, La.) scheduled for Saturday.
Full event details are available at www.COMPdirt.com.
Article Credit: Todd Boyd image
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