TULSA, Okla. — Emerson Axsom will be the driver to watch during the final day of the 38th annual Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout.
Of the drivers already locked in, none have made more than Indiana’s Emerson Axsom, who is the only driver in the field already locked into all Stock and Outlaw divisions. From the front row in A-Class and Outlaw, where he will start second, Axsom will field the others from row four, starting seventh in Outlaw Non-Wing and eighth in Non-Wing, where he is the defending champion.
A two-time Shootout winner, his other Golden Driller came in Outlaw in 2020.
This marks the second time in as many years he’s accomplished this feat.
Putting 20 cars in Junior Sprint competition already, the focus on Saturday will be B Mains and Last Chance Qualifiers to set the field in the remaining five divisions. Looking to match Emerson is Kansas shoe Jace Park and California’s Jake Hagopian, who are each locked into a trio of feature events. For Park, it’s 13th in A-Class, second in Non-Wing, and ninth in Outlaw Non-Wing.
For Hagopian, it’s the pole in A-Class, where he won in 2019 as well as 2022, then 13th in Non-Wing and Outlaw Non-Wing.
Eight drivers in a pair of A-Features, that list consists of Blayden Graham (Rest & Jr.), Cannon McIntosh (SNW and ONW), Daison Pursley (Outlaw and SNW), Jaxon Bishop (SNW and ONW), Kyle Heflin (Rest & Jr.), Michael Faccinto (A-Class and Outlaw), T.J. Smith (Outlaw and ONW) and Shane Stewart (A-Class and Outlaw), who last took part in the Tulsa Shootout in 2003 where he finished runner-up to the late Bryan Clauson.
Another 74 drivers find themselves locked into at least one A-Feature on Saturday.
Down to the final 51 events, a staggering 2,680 green flag laps have already been contested through heats, alphabet and qualifying races, with another 730 in B Mains, LCQs and A-Features on Saturday.