MLRA Late Model Series
October 2, 2013
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MLRA Late Model Championship to be decided at Lakeside Doubleheader

MLRA PR
WHEATLAND, MO (October 2) - After nearly a season's worth of racing it all comes down to this weekend. The race for the Lucas Oil MLRA championship will be decided Saturday, following two night's of action at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS. Through the first 17 races this season there have been 11 different winners. Point leader Tony Jackson Jr. has four trips to victory Lane. Runner-up Will Vaught has just taken the checkers once this season in Lucas Oil MLRA competition.

55 points separate the top two in the standings. Vaught took the lead and led until around the halfway mark, when Tony Jackson Jr. went on a torrid streak. In 24 total races from Memorial Day Weekend to Labor Day Weekend, Jackson won nine times, had five second place finishes and only finished outside of the top five in four races. The performance put him at the top of the standings.
 
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Decided at Lakeside

Lakeside Speedway, next weekend, marks the final two shows of the 2013 season for the Lucas Oil MLRA. The Championship is up in the air and will be decided, along with the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year. Two rising stars in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing have emerged to contend for Rookie of the Year honors.
 
Madison, Nebraska's Travis Dickes decided early this year to venture out a bit more than in the past and found a home racing with the LucasOil MLRA. Dickes has the help of several good sponsors, but a rash of engine trouble left him a little lighter on equipment than he had hoped. Al and Lori Humphrey stepped up and have recently loaned Dickes a power plant to finish off the year.  "If it wasn't for Al and Lori, we wouldn't be racing right now. They have bailed me out two or three times already. I can't thank them enough for helping us get through the year."
 
Looking back over the course of the season, Dickes is glad the team chose this route. "It's been fun. Racing this year has definitely helped us be faster when we have gone home to race. As far as the Rookie points, I'd like to win it because that's what we set out to do. We'll just have to go out and race and see what happens. I'm not stressing about it."
 
While Dickes brought a new team on the tour, Manhattan, Kansas' Chase Junghans stepped into a team which has as much experience on the tour as anyone. Junghans father, Greg, has fielded cars for the past several years, winning three championships with standout driver John Anderson.Junghans credits Anderson for helping to speed up his learning curve. "It's been a great advantage to have John on our side. All of his experience and success is a big help."
 
The season has ben kind of up and down for both drivers. "It seemed like we started off better than Dickes, but then we struggled and he got to running better," said Junghans. "I really think we are both pretty equal right now. I haven't paid a ton of attention to the rookie points. I just try to go out and race and not let it affect what I do on the track." Sunoco Race Fuels has long been a partner with Shop Quik Racing and Junghans wanted to thank them for supporting the Rookie of the Year Program. "Sunoco has supported our team for a long time. It has been an honor to go out and run for them in this Rookie chase all season."
 
Now down to the nuts and bolts. Dickes holds a 38 point advantage over Junghans. Drivers score points in the heat race and feature. In the heat, the winner earns 10 points with the top five finishers earn two less markers than the finishing spot ahead of them.  In the feature the winner accumulates 70 points, with the same two point incremental drop throughout the field.