WHEATLAND, Mo. — Jason Pursley was the epitome of determination and perseverance in chasing a goal that he eluded him for nearly a quarter-century-long racing career.
But at long last, 2024 proved to be the magical season that the veteran Modified driver from Hermitage finally captured a Lucas Oil Speedway track championship after nine runner-up finishes.
Pursley, 48, took home the Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modified track championship with consistency paving the way. The superintendent of the Skyline School District had five top-five finishes and three other top-10s on his way to a 78-point margin over Chad Lyle.
After some time to reflect on the championship, Pursley said earlier this week that the warm feelings are carrying over into the wintertime.
“It means a lot just for the simple fact to finally check it off the bucket list after all these years, after coming in second so many times,” Pursley said. “It may not mean a lot to a lot of people, but I really wanted to check it off the list and finally win one there at Lucas. It takes a lot of dedication and perseverance type of deal to never give up.
“It kind of gets the monkey off my back. I’m pretty happy about it.”
After so many second-place points finishes – some by narrow margins and others that were pretty lopsided – Pursley admitted that he wasn’t sure that his time would ever come. But he never gave up, and that’s half the battle.
“I didn’t know if it would ever happen,” he said. “There were a few times I was a distant second, but there were a few times where I was pretty close. One time to Cutshaw (four-time champ Jeff Cutshaw) and another that was fairly close and it came down to the end. It just seems like somebody would get on a roll and they would have an awesome year, or we’d have trouble or whatever.
“But this year it finally paid off. We had a decent year. We were very consistent with our speeds. Top two, three or four several times and I just finally came together for us and paid off.”
Pursley said he was as happy for long-time car owner Tom Campbell as for himself. The two have been partners in the sport for 14 years, an unusually long time between driver and owner.
“I really wanted to get it for Tom. He spends a lot of money and a lot of time,” Pursley said. “We’ve been together a long time as far as driver and owner – a lot longer than most. Racing has its highs, but it has its lows, and a lot of times drivers and owners don’t make it as long as Tom and I have.
“You get mad at each other and aggravated at each other. The owner blames the driver, the driver blames the car and then usually you go separate ways. We both get aggravated at times. We have moments. But we always look at the big picture and try to get better, is what we do. We have a good friendship outside of racing and I think that helps.”
The Lucas Oil Speedway championship “right up there” among Pursley’s racing highlights. He lists two others – a 2005 season in which he won a combined 14 features at Springfield and Urbana to claim championships at both tracks and a USMTS race at Wheatland about a decade ago. He led 32 of 35 laps before finishing second to tour-regular Jason Krohn.
Pursley already is looking forward to the 2025 season, where he will return to Lucas Oil Speedway as the reigning champ for the first time. Along with Campbell, he gave shout-outs to long-time sponsors Ozarks Community Health Care in Hermitage and Fugate Motors, along with son Dayton who moved into the USRA Modified division in 2024 and finished fourth in points.
“Dayton helps me out, we help each other out,” Jason Pursley said. “Racing with him this year was a lot of fun. Just getting the cars ready is so time consuming.”