WHEATLAND, Mo. — It’s one of the best weeks of the year in the Dirt Late Model racing world as the crown-jewel season kicks off at the 34th annual Show-Me 100 Presented by Ace Doran Hauling and Rigging at Lucas Oil Speedway.
The three-night event, which culminates with Saturday’s $75,000-to-win, 100-lap main event, is a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series cornerstone but attracts the best of the best from the national and regional Late Model scene.
That means a big field of cars are headed to south-central Missouri for preliminary nights – Thursday’s Cowboy Classic, a tribute to the late Allen “Cowboy” Chancellor, co-founder and former owner of the MLRA and Friday’s Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson, who started the Show-Me 100 in 1993 as owners of West Plains Motor Speedway.
The Thursday and Friday feature winners collect $10,000. Just as important, drivers accumulate points each of the first two nights toward starting position on Saturday night.
In the event of inclement weather, Sunday, May 24th, will serve as the rain date for Saturday’s finale.
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., won the High Bank Heist opener at Eagle Speedway in Nebraska before the final two nights of the event were canceled due to rain. The 2021 Show-Me 100 winner leads the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship standings, 90 points in front of 2023 Show-Me 100 winner Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio.
O’Neal and Moran both have a series-best five feature victories in 2026 with third-place Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ohio, picking up three wins. Sheppard trails O’Neal by 165 points.
Pierce looks to go back-to-back: There hasn’t been a repeat winner of the Show-Me 100 since Jimmy Owens went back-to-back in 2012 and 2013. Bobby Pierce will attempt to change that.
One year ago, the eighth-starting Pierce gradually moved into contention and took the lead on lap 69 and clung to it the rest of the way, beating Jonathan Davenport and O’Neal to the finish. It was Pierce’s second triumph, going with the one in 2017.
Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., has nine feature wins this season – the last one May 13 in a World of Outlaws race at Georgetown Speedway in Delaware.
CHASING DAVENPORT
Even with O’Neal, Pierce and Moran strong choices, the real favorite is likely Jonathan Davenport, the driver from Blairsville, Ga., who won the race in 2024 to go along with his victory in 2015.
“Superman” certainly lives up to his nickname as Lucas Oil Speedway. He swept both ends of the MLRA Spring Nationals at the track in April, making it 10 feature wins there since the spring of 2023.
“We’ve got a really good notebook here,” Davenport said after this year’s Spring Nationals. “We’ve kind of made it a tradition to bring a car here to get prepared for (the Show-Me 100). This is an awesome facility and we love coming here.”
HISTORY LESSON
Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., won the first two runnings of the Show-Me 100 (1993 and 1994) at West Plains Motor Speedway and has won the event three times. The late Scott Bloomquist record six Show-Me 100 wins, more than anyone else. Don O’Neal (2014) and Hudson O’Neal (2021) are the only father-son duo to win the race.
Jimmy Owens (2011, 2012, 2013) has the most wins since the race moved to Lucas Oil Speedway in 2010.
LOCAL SHOES
Terry Phillips of Springfield (1999) and Payton Looney of Republic (2020) are the only Missourians to win their home stat’s biggest race. Tony Jackson Jr. of Lebanon is a possible contender to make it three, along with 22-year-old Dillon McCowan of nearby Hermitage. McCowan is running for Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year honors the season, and us 14th in points with three top-10 finishes in 19 events. He finished sixth in the 2023 Show-Me 100.
DRAMATIC FINISHES
Rarely has the Show-Me 100 come to the wire with a late-race pass determining the winner. Pierce took the lead for good on lap 69 a year ago with Davenport leading all the way in 2024 in a race shortened to 80 laps due to impending rain. The six races prior to 2024 did see the final lead change come on lap 87 or later three times.
