WHEATLAND, Mo. – Johnny Fennewald did all he could to keep his Lucas Oil Speedway track championship streak alive, but it wasn’t enough.
Cole Henson finished second to Fennewald on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, but that was more than enough to earn the 24-year-old from Russellville the Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA championship.
“Man, it feels great,” Henson said in celebrating the points title as the fans cheered on Rempfer Memorial Championship Night Presented by Bill Roberts Chevrolet-Buick and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Springfield.
Other feature winners were James Flood (O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks), Eric Turner (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Darron Fuqua (Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds).
Meanwhile, joining Henson in celebrating season championships were Kris Jackson (B-Mods), Derek Brown (Street Stocks) and Robbie Reed (USRA Mods).
In the ULMA feature, Fennewald and Henson started up front with Henson 21 points in front of the three-time reigning champion. Fennewald checked out, leading all 20 laps and finishing 4.1 seconds in front of Henson for his fifth feature win of the season and third straight.
“A few weeks back I said I was gonna win the rest of ’em. I did all I could do,” Fennewald said. “Cole did what he had to do. He just had to keep his nose clean. We gave up two races this year with a broken drive shaft and a fire. DNFs kill you.
“If you can’t run consistent, you can’t win points championships. Cole did that and congratulations Cole.”
Henson did not win a feature but never was out of the top 10 and had 10 top-five finishes in 12 races.
“I’m surprised by hair is not gray because I’ve been so stressed out this week,” Henson said. “It’s been an unbelievable season. I know we didn’t get our win yet. We still have more (non-points) races to go. We were consistent all year and that’s what it’s all about.
“We kept our consistency going. I have to congratulate Johnny. He came back these last three races and definitely had me on my toes. I knew I had to get up on my game.
“Rob Schlup, Jeff Schlup and Tony Jackson Jr., Gary Payne, my Mom, my Dad, everybody. They set me up with a great car every week. They have the hard job, I have the fun job. I get to go out there and wheel this awesome car.”
Brad Looney came home in third with Tucker Cox in fourth.
Turner grabbed the lead on lap 13 and went on to out-pace J.C. Morton and claim the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature.
In a race within the race, season championship implications took a dramatic turn when Jackson, who began the night 42 points clear of Morton, lost power on lap 15 and coasted to a stop and could not finish. Jackson finished 17th and it was enough – barely – to claim the title by a mere five points over Morton.
Morton and Turner started on the front row and Turner got the jump and led one lap, with Morton claiming the top spot the next time around.
The race was plagued by a flurry of four cautions through seven laps, disrupting rhythm of a good battle up front with Morton, Turner, Bryant and Jackson, who started seventh.
Turner made an outside pass of Morton on lap 13 to take the lead. Two laps later, the championship chase took a huge turn as Jackson, while running fourth, slowed to a stop in turn two to bring out the sixth caution.
That was all Morton needed to his shot at the championship – but he needed to win the race as it turned out to tie Jackson for the title.
Turner held command, finishing 1.63 seconds in front of Morton for his second feature win of the season.
Flood drove to his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks feature win of the season, leading the final 17 laps.
Flood started third and found his way past Bob Barnett and into the lead on lap three. By the midway point on lap 10, Flood had a 1.9-second lead over Ott, who had worked his way forward from a seventh-starting position.
Three cautions over the next four laps wiped out that lead and forced Flood to handle multiple restarts as Ott, the 2019 champion, started just behind with Campbell third and Brown in fourth.
Flood was up to the challenge, overcoming on more caution on lap 17 to wind up 1.63 seconds in front of Ott at the finish. Campbell wound up third with Brown fourth after starting eighth.
While it wasn’t his best finish of the season, Brown was able to celebrate his first Lucas Oil Speedway championship since 2016.
Fuqua won the race and Reed took the championship in a Pitts Homes USRA Modified duel.
Fuqua finished a car length in front of Reed in a battle between the last two Lucas Oil Speedway division champs.
Fuqua was cruising along with a two-second lead when a lap-15 caution after fourth-place Terry Kirk spun in turn two. That put Reed right behind Fuqua for a five-lap shootout between the last two track champions.
Reed took over the lead with an inside pass coming out of turn four to complete lap 18, but Fuqua sailed around him on the outside of turn two on lap 19. Fuqua held on from there.
Reed began the night 79 points in front of Chase Domer and all he needed to do was start and make a lap to clinch the championship. He spun on lap one, bringing out a caution, but was able to continue.
Reed, who started 17th, rallied to fifth by lap nine and contending for the lead down the stretch.
Kyle Thompson finished third with Ryan Middaugh fourth and Paden Phillips in fifth.