WHEATLAND, Mo. — The AMSOIL Championship Off Road Series’ Show-Me Shootout at Lucas Oil Speedway on Saturday saw Ryan Beat and Jimmy Henderson prevail in the premier Pro 2 and Pro 4 divisions.
Action was held in seven pro divisions and 13 sportsman classes, with another round of action set to begin at 8:45 a.m. Sunday on the road course.
Meanwhile, the Slick Mist Shootout/Vietti Marketing Night at the Races on the dirt oval saw Robbe Ewing pick up the Late Model victory by a narrow margin. J.T. Carroll prevailed in the Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods and William Garner won the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars main event.
It was all Ryan Beat, of Lincolnton, N.C., in the Pro 2 division. Beat led all the way to beat reigning Pro 2 champ Keegan Kincaid by nearly five seconds for the victory in a wild affair.
Beat was able to check out early and keep the mayhem behind him.
“This was like racing on pavement with water own top of it,” Beat said. “My spotter was keeping me in the loop with what was going on behind me and I knew Keegan (Kincaid) was coming. Sometimes it’s not always about being the fastest but doing the smart thing and not throwing it away.”
Beat blazed to a two-second lead over Jacob Rosales as drivers scrambled for position on lap one. Beat remained in command as the halfway flags waved with his lead at 3.3 seconds over Rosales with Travis Milhausen Jr. another 8.5 seconds behind in the third spot.
The challenge for Beat came on the restart with his margin’s wiped out for the second half of the race. Defending series champ Kincaid, fourth at halfway, blazed into second after the restart, putting himself into contention – but slipped up with two laps to go and fell back to fourth.
That was all Beat needed to make it a comfortable drive, finishing 4.79 seconds clear of Kincaid as the checkers flew. Ricky Gutierrez was third with Rosales fourth.
“This track was brutal, but it was challenging and fun,” Kincaid said. “It’s hard to recap but this truck is fast. It feels good.”
Jimmy Henderson of Conyers, Ga., pulled away over the final laps to pick up the Pro 4 victory in the finale of Day One of the Show-Me Shootout.
After most every starter find trouble on the opening lap, Henderson emerged as the leader by 4.8 seconds over Kyle Greaves after one circuit.
Just before the halfway point, Kyle Greaves, driving for his injured cousin C.J. Graves, pulled to the bumper of Henderson with Johnny Graves, Kyle’s uncle, right behind the top two.
Kyle Graves took the lead, but Henderson quickly regained the top spot with three minutes to go. Henderson was able to steadily pull away from there and beat Kyle Greaves by 5.3 seconds.
“Man, that was a great race,” Henderson said. “Lucas Oil Speedway is pretty awesome and what Champ does for us. All the great partners we have, I’m just proud of the team we’re building. To be able to win the first race, I guess that means we have the points lead – for now.”
Johnny Greaves was third and Adrian Cenni fourth.
Drake Mittag, driving for Connor Barry as Barry recovers from a knee injury, earned the Pro Lites feature victory by 5.11 seconds over runner-up Travis Milhausen Jr.
Michael Funk of Oconomowoc, Wis., grabbed the lead just after the second half of the Pro Lites feature began and appeared on his way to a win – but opened the door for Mittag soon after.
Milhausen had set a blazing pace, opening a 2.28-second lead over Funk just two laps into the event. Milhausen’s lead was down to just under one second as the race hit the midpoint.
Funk surged to the lead after the restart with Milhausen dropped to third as Mittag took over second. Mittag took advantage of of Funk’s spin a lap later to take a lead that he would not surrender.
Jeb Bootle of Yemassee, S.C., got around early leader Nathan Wolff on lap three and those two ran 1-2 the rest of the way in the Pro SxS feature. Bootle took the win by 4.1 seconds.
Wolff held a narrow lead over Bootle after one lap. Those two continued to battle it out until Bootle took the lead on lap three and held a 2.25-second lead at the mid point. It was nearly six seconds back to third-place Kolton Krajicek.
That’s how it ended as Wolff, of Brighton, Illinois, scored a career-best finish.
Cross Kirchmeier of Ennis, Texas, scored his first Pro Stock SxS career victory, taking the lead just after the mid-race restart from Brody Sanders for the feature win.
Sands, of Leavenworth, Kansas, opened a one-second one-second lead over David Gay one lap into the race. Cross Kirchmeier got around Gay on lap two and chopped a two-second deficit to just three-tenths of a second in just one lap when the halfway flags waved.
Kirchmeier took the lead with two laps remaining, diving to the inside of turn two. He held on from there and prevailed over Sands by .370 seconds. Gay came home in third.
Draxton Szymik of Abrams, Wis., took the lead in the early going and rolled to a win of more than two seconds over Nick Visser in the Pro Spec for his first career pro division victory.
Avery Hemmer held a narrow lead over Szymik, Van Den Elzen and Wyatt Miller in the early going, but slipped to fourth on lap two. Szymik assumed the lead and had a nearly two-second gap over Miller by lap three with Van Den Elzen third and that’s how it stayed until halfway.
Trying to pass for the lead after the second-half restart, Miller caught a rough spot and rolled his truck on its side to take him out of contention. Szymik went on to lead Nick Visser by 2.29 seconds as the lap was completed.
Szymik, 14, dominated the rest of the way, beating Visser by 2.22 seconds with Hunter Vanzile in third.
Billy Buth of Stacy, Minn., grabbed the lead on the opening lap and held it all the way to beat Tony Keepers by 2.6 seconds for the Pro Buggy feature win.
Pole starter Michael Meister fell out of the race in the opening turn after the green, rolling to a stop on the infield with mechanical issues. Billy Buth inherited the lead to set the early pace and led Tony Keepers by 1.26 seconds at the halfway mark.
Buth controlled the rest of the race to finish comfortably ahead of Keeprs with Jaden Uribe finishing third.
Sportsman winners were Sam Phillips (SxS), Evan Hockers (1600 Light Buggy), Connor Schulz (1600 Single Buggy), Colt Wierzba (Stock Truck), Nick Byng (Super Stock Truck), Lincoln Mandsager (Mod Kart), Ryker Smith (Short Course Kart), Jojo Pakenham (170 SxS), Gaborik Geyen (200 SxS), William Holtger (570 SxS) and William Holtger (Youth SxS).
