WHEATLAND, Mo. –Â In the finish of the year so far at Lucas Oil Speedway, Robert Heydenreich rode the frontstretch wall coming out of turn four to nip Robert Reed in a thrilling Pitts Homes USRA Modified feature that brought the crowd to its feet.
Meanwhile, Erik Maggard started up front and never relinquished the lead in capturing the O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks feature on Saturday night, the headliner on Lucas Oil Speedway’s Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series program.
Maggard, of Brighton, held off three-time feature winner Derek Brown by half a second to record his first feature win. He took home $750 in the program presented by iHeartMedia.
Also earning feature wins were JC Morton (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Todd Shute (Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Models).
Heydenreich made a thrilling outside pass of track champion Reed coming to the finish line to win the USRA Modified main by .060 seconds.
He received a thunderous ovation from the fans as he emerged from his car in victory lane. It was his first feature win in just his second season in the USRA Modified division.
“I don’t know what to think,” an excited Heydenreich said. “I’m kind of speechless because I didn’t think I’d be here.”
Heydenreich started outside of the front row, but fell back to sixth in the first couple of laps. He rallied late and pulled off the win – leading only the last few feet – after it appeared Reed had his third feature win of the season in the bag.
“I have to thank everybody,” Heydenreich said. “We have a good car out here. I was just trying to ride. When the bottom started going away, I seen some guys going around the top and I tried going up top to just give it a shot.”
Lucas Gibbs started on the pole and jumped to the lead, with Reed right behind through two laps. Reed, the points leader, faded by fifth by lap six as Ryan Middaugh advanced into second and Colson Kirk took third.
The race complexion changed on lap nine as Gibbs spun in turn four, in front of the field. That sent Middaugh to the top spot with Heydenreich second and Reed back up into third.
Middaugh had opened a 1.1-second lead over those two by lap 15, but that margin was wiped out by the fifth caution of the race.
Reed took advantage of the restart by using the high side to get side by side with Middaugh the next time around, then made an outside pass for the lead to complete lap 17.
Following a caution for debris on the track, with two laps to go, Heydenreich was able to mount his charge by riding the cushion around the top side of the track. But even he thought chances of winning were slim entering the final turn.
“I didn’t think I had a shot, but drove it off in there as hard as I could,” he said. “It stuck and luckily, Robbie didn’t know I was there and he left a lane. We were able to squeeze through to get the win.”
Middaugh finished third with Chad Jones fourth and Chase Domer fifth.
Maggard got the jump at the start on outside front-row starter Reggie Jackson and was in command, leading by 1.5 seconds, when a yellow flag flew with three laps remaining.
The caution took away his cushion and put Tim Brown and Derek Brown right behind him to create a three-lap shootout.
Maggard was up to the challenge, holding off Derek Brown, who now has two runner-up finishes to go with three wins in 2020. Maggard led flag-to-flag, but it wasn’t without some adversity to overcome.
“It was pretty good tonight,” Maggard said, before adding that his steering box went out before the race.
“I was going to pull out and just get my start money,” Maggard added , “but my Dad talked me into going ahead and driving it and seeing what I could get done. I’m pretty proud to out-run all those (Tony) Jackson cars. This here is one I built in my own shop. That’s pretty good to run with those guys.”
Tim Brown came home in third, less than a second behind the winner. Brian Brown finished fourth and Johnny Coats fifth.
Morton held off Kris Jackson lap after lap to prevail in the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature by three-quarters of a second.
Morton, of Springfield, led all 20 laps for a hard-earned win over the reigning track and USRA B-Mod National Champion.
“Kris raced me with a lot of respect,” Morton said. “He left me a lane there early and let me get out there on the high side. We raced door-to-door there, it seemed like every lap.”
Bryant wound up third with Eric Turner fourth and Clint Johnson fifth.
Shute held off Johnny Fennewald in a two-car breakaway for the Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Model feature triumph.
Shute, of Norwalk, Iowa, finished about three car lengths in front of Fennewald to deny the Appleton City driver his third feature win of the season.
“It won’t take off my itself,” Shute said of his car, which had a broken lower gear and needed a push to get started. “But once I get going and into high gear, it’s fine.
“I know old Fennewald was back there. I felt like my tires were going away at the end. I’m just glad to be here.”
Larry Ferris finished third, nearly four seconds behind Shute. Cole Henson was fourth and Tucker Cox finished fifth.