TULSA, Okla. — Emerson Axsom was the show during the final night of the 37th annual Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout.
Axsom picked up a victory in the stock non-winged feature in a photo finish, barely edging USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series champion Alex Bright to collect a Golden Driller.
He followed that up by nearly winning a second Golden Driller in the non-winged outlaw main event. After starting sixth, Axsom rode the cushion to second by the 26th circuit and was chasing leader Jeffrey Newell during the final four laps.
Axsom got a huge run exiting turn four on the final lap, but came up .052 seconds at the finish line. However, he and Newell made contact and Axsom went tumbling into turn one after the checkered flag waved.
He emerged from the car unscathed, but the car was not as fortunate. His crew went to work attempting to repair the car in time for the winged outlaw feature, but the Ten-J Chassis team opted to instead prepare another car that had previously been driven by Dominic Gorden, who failed to make the winged outlaw feature.
Axsom started 16th in the winged outlaw feature and finished eighth.
• Kyle Busch’s maiden Tulsa Shootout voyage came to a close Saturday evening inside the Tulsa Expo Center.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had two opportunities to advance into a feature Saturday, but came up short both times.
The first was in the winged outlaw division, where he started and finished fourth in the eighth and final B main. The other opportunity was in the outlaw non-winged class, where he was scored ninth in the seventh B main.
Only the top-two finishers in each B main advanced to their respective last-chance qualifiers.
• Busch’s six-year-old son, Brexton Busch, came up short of making the junior sprint feature and turned down a promoter’s provisional to start the 20-lap main event.
Brexton Busch won his C main Saturday before racing from 13th to finish fourth in one of four junior sprint B mains.
• There was drama during the third B main in the A class division. Brady Bacon was running second and in a transfer spot on the final lap when Logan Rumsey dove to his inside in turns three and four and they made contact.
The collision sent Bacon spinning, allowing Rumsey to pass him for the final transfer spot into the last-chance qualifier.
Bacon was unhappy with the incident and met Rumsey in the pits before he exited his car, where a brief conversation took place between Bacon and Rumsey’s father. Rumsey failed to advance to the feature, finishing 14th in the last-chance qualifier.
• Four drivers managed to qualify for the four premier class main events — winged outlaw, non-winged outlaw, A class and stock non-winged — during the Tulsa Shootout.
They were the aforementioned Axsom and Bright, who were joined by T.J. Smith and Tommy Kunsman.
Of those four drivers, Smith was the only one who did it by advancing from last chance qualifiers in each class earlier in the day Saturday.
• NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell, previously a Tulsa Shootout winner in 2017 in the winged outlaw class, finished second in A class and sixth in non-winged outlaw.
• Craig Ronk went undefeated inside the Tulsa Expo Center in the winged outlaw division during the Tulsa Shootout.
Ronk started by winning his heat race from the eighth starting position and followed that with a win in his qualifier from fourth. That was enough to give him the pole for the 55-lap finale on Saturday night.
He led every lap of the feature to collect the Golden Driller.
• Photo finishes were the order of the day during the Tulsa Shootout finales. Axsom won the stock non-winged feature by .052 seconds, while Newell won the non-winged outlaw feature by the very same margin.
Lastly, Jett Nunley edged Jett Barnes by .149 seconds in the restricted A class finale.