WHEATLAND, Mo. — The stage is set for the grand finale on Saturday night at the 10th annual Summit USRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Features in all five competing divisions on Friday’s night four of the Nationals saw more drivers lock into the A Features for the final night.
A full night of action on Saturday will see “alphabet soup” of features leading to the A features in the USRA Modified, B-Mod, Stock Cars, Tuners and Hobby Stock divisions.
Third-starting Myles Michehl jumped to the lead on the opening lap and held off Pat Graham by .356 seconds to take the first of two features in the USRA Stock Cars division.
Michehl had just taken the white flag with Graham on his bumper when a lapped car spun in turn one to bring out a caution. Both Michehl and Graham evaded the stopped car, leaving them two laps to settle the outcome as scoring reverted to the previous lap. Michehl hung on for the win
Gerald Wahwahsuck finished third, joining the top two in advancing to the Saturday-night A Feature.
Bryan White of Lebanon led all 20 laps to earn the victory in a caution-plagued second Stock Cars feature. White led by 1.2 seconds midway through the 20-lapper, but as second-place Bill Crimmims appeared to be cutting into the gap White expanded the lead to 2.6 seconds by lap 14.
That’s when the race’s fifth caution flew, wiping out White’s cushion. It didn’t matter as White dominated the rest of the way, beating Jake Newman by 2.1 seconds. Crimmins earned the third and final transfer spot into the Saturday feature.
Shadren Turner, entering the night second in USRA B-Mod national points, helped his cause by leading all 20 laps in the first feature. Turner beat Kris Jackson by 2.5 seconds with both of them locking into Saturday night’s main event for the B-Mods.
Turner opened a 1.7-second lead over Mitchell Franklin by the halfway point. Franklin surrendered the runner-up spot on the final lap as Jackson made a pass coming to the finish line and beat him by a half-car-length.
Ben Moudry held off Reece Solander by half a second to earn the second B-Mod feature.
Moudry started on the front row and led the first 15 laps with Kirk pressuring him when a caution flew on lap 14. Andy Bryant took over second on the restart and was nearly a second behind Moudry when a lap 18 yellow came out. Moudry was able to use the high groove to hold off Solander at the finish, as both clinched starting spots on Saturday for the feature.
The third feature saw Cody King pass race-long leader Dan Hovden in turn two on lap 15.
Jon Sheets got around Hovden on lap 17 for the runner-up spot, but was unable to catch the leader. King beat Sheets by .746 seconds, but both locked in feature spots for Saturday.
Carlso Ahumada Jr. of El Paso, Texas, held off Terry Phillips in a dandy to claim the first USRA Modified feature. Ahumada prevailed by .022 seconds in leading all but one lap after starting from the pole.
Phillips started fourth and was able to quickly work his way into the runner-up position. He used the high groove to pull alongside and edge past Ahumada for the lead off turn two on lap 19, but Ahumada regained the top spot on the final circuit.
Cole Anderson finished third to complete the trio locking into Saturday’s Modified finale.
Brandon Givens led the final 17 laps of the second Modified feature, finishing .390 seconds in front of Gabe Hodges. Jason Pursley came home third to earn his way into a locked-in A Feature starting spot on Saturday.
Randy Martin held off Oliver Monson for the USRA Tuners feature victory. Monson was disqualified in post-race tech inspection and Robert Tosh was elevated to runner-up.
Martin started fifth and rolled to the lead by lap three. Martin held a one-second lead by lap 10, but 10th-starting Monson cut the gap to .087 seconds when a lap-13 caution set up a two-lap shootout.
Martin executed an outstanding restart and went on to finish .829 seconds in front of Monson with Tosh crossing the finish line third. The top six earned their way into Saturday’s finale.
Fifth-starting Dylan Clinton took command on lap four and drove away for the USRA Hobby Stocks feature. Clinton, the defending champ of the nationals, beat Chris Hovden by less than a car length.
Clinton had a 2.2-second lead over Chris Hovden by lap 13 when the race’s first caution came out. Hovden stayed close from there and a last-lap bid fell .028 seconds short of the winner.
Jeremy Crimmins was third as the top six advanced to the Saturday feature.