WHEATLAND, Mo. — Justin Wells jokes that it’s a shame a milestone birthday is in the not-too-distant future. The half-century mark can be daunting. No matter the chosen occupation, it is supposed to mean a slower pace.
But Wells, 48, instead is ready to pick up the pace. He plans a semi-regular schedule of Open Late Model racing after dominating en route to back-to-back Hermitage Lumber Late Model track championships at Lucas Oil Speedway.
The Ozarks Area Racers Foundation Hall of Famer from Aurora, a one-time force on the regional racing scene, flashed that he still had the ability last October with runs of third and fourth in the Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway.
“That’s what we’re building on,” Wells said this week. “It’s been a long time since we concentrated on super late model racing. I’ve got the best cars and best motors and best of everything that I’ve ever owned.
“It’s a shame that I’m getting close to 50,” he added with a chuckle. “I want to give it a whirl before … I’m not saying that I’m ready to quit, but I don’t have a ton of racing left in me. Me and my wife (Missy) talked and with my crew guys and we said, ‘Let’s give it all we’ve got and if it don’t work out, that’s all right. If it does, that’s gonna be cool.’”
Wells is looking forward to mixing it up with an expected top-notch field at the 12th annual Lucas Oil Speedway Spring Nationals Presented by Iconic Apparel, this Friday and Saturday. With the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series off this week, defending Show-Me 100 winner Jonathan Davenport and other national-touring drivers are expected, with top prizes of $7,000 on Friday and $20,000 on Saturday.
“Everybody wants to tune up for the Show-Me 100 and I think you’re going to draw a lot of good guys, like Davenport and some of them. It should be a good show for the fans,” Wells said.
After winning 23 weekly features at Lucas Oil Speedway the last two years, Wells said he doesn’t have a lot of home-track advantage because the power of the Open Late Models make it a different ballgame compared to the limited motor.
Wells is looking forward to putting his focus on the open division this season. He said he has two open motors available for his two cars – a 2006 TNT chassis that he calls “Old Faithful” that has 116 feature wins and a TNT he debuted last year by making the Show-Me 100 starting field, plus the strong Fall Nationals runs.
“Mainly that’s all we’re gonna do this year,” he said of open racing. “We’re just hit anything within about a three-hour radius and try that this year.
“The Old Faithful car, we’re gonna take our open motor that we ran last year and put that in it … and we’re gonna run the new ULRA Series and Revival Series and and use that car for the smaller tracks.
“These motors any more, they so high-dollar that you have to have a reason to run ‘em. You can’t just take it to a $1,000 or $1,500 to win show. There’s got to be some money on the line where you think you have a chance to win something.”
Wells broke out the newer car last earlier this spring at Springfield Raceway, but struggled with finishes outside the top 10. He figured to be better prepared for this weekend.
“We’re jacked up about it,” Wells said. “We didn’t start off very good at Springfield, but it was mainly because we weren’t really ready to go. Now we’ve had these three weeks off and I feel good about where we’re at.”
