WHEATLAND, Mo. — Sawyer Crigler continued his dominance on the 4 State Dirt Late Model Series and its action at Lucas Oil Speedway this season, winning the 30-lap feature on Saturday night.
Criger took the lead on lap three and held on after a late restart to earn his fifth series victory of the season and back up his 4 State win at Lucas Oil Speedway in March. He earned $1,250 for the win as he led the final 28 of 30 laps.
“It took a couple of laps to kind of get my rhythm going, but after that it was smooth sailing,” the third-starting Crigler said in victory lane.
Dalton Cloyd led the opening two laps before Crigler grabbed the lead on lap three going down the backstretch. Crigler opened a 1.6-second lead when he caught lapped traffic on lap eight with Cloyd second and Cole Wells third.
The second-generation driver continued to thread his way through slower traffic to lead by 2.2 seconds at the halfway mark on lap 15.
Wells took the second spot from Cloyd on lap 19 and began pursuit of the leader. But as the race remained under green, Crigler extended his cushion to 3.2 seconds with laps dwindling.
Just as it appeared that Crigler was on his way to a lopsided win, caution flew on lap 25 to give Wells, Cloyd and fourth-place Dustin Atkinson another chance.
Wells moved to second on the restart, closing briefly within two car lengths on the leader. But Crigler found a burst and opened a 10-car length lead with two laps remaining as yellow flew for Atkinson’s spin in turn two. That left a two-lap shootout with Cloyd and Wells right behind Crigler.
Crigler stuck to the low groove with Cloyd moving around the white flag lap. Crigler held on to win by .427 seconds with Wells third, Brandon Baldridge fourth and Jace Parmley fifth.
Also posting feature wins on Horton Supply Company Veterans and Military Appreciation Night were Ryan Middaugh (Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds), Kris Jackson (Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Mason Beck (O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stocks Cars).
