4/6/2023
Lucas Oil Speedway
Lucas Oil Speedway Spotlight: "Weekend Warrior" Collins eager for Easter Bowl 150 Enduro
WHEATLAND, MO. (April 6, 2023) - Evan Collins is used to helping put on thrill shows for fans, as part of his job as an official with the Monster Truck Insanity Tour. This time, Collins is looking forward to being a part of the big show Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Collins, from Van Buren, Arkansas, will start on the front row of the Easter Bowl 150 Enduro at Lucas Oil Speedway. The 150-lap race is for cars that are basically street-legal with some racing modifications for safety. It’s a free-for-all with bumping, banging and spins. Stoppages occur only for a red flag, if the track is blocked for a dangerous situation.
“I’m there to put on a show for the people who come to watch it,” Collins said. “I’ve been in the live entertainment industry for three or four years now. It’s about the people who spend their money who come to the show and come to support Lucas Oil and us weekend warriors.”
The first car to endure the mayhem and make it to 150 laps wins the $1,500 first prize. Drivers will lineup in the order that entries were received and Collins is No. 2, scheduled to take the green from the middle of row one in a three-wide, standing-star format.
“The best advice I can give somebody - along with myself - is to just stay out of the carnage,” Collins said. “The best car is probably not going to win. A guy last year went from 33rd to 3rd, purely by attrition. It’s more bob and weave for an hour and a half.”
Collins, 27, said he’s done some dirt-track racing in the past, but has mostly stuck with Enduro and Demolition Derbies as hobbies. His best Enduro finish has been a fifth, but he won a demolition derby last fall at home hometown track in Van Buren.
"But this will be by far the biggest Enduro that I've been to," he said.
Collins said his job with the Monster Truck Insanity Tour involves flying into a city, laying out the track, working the show as an official and interacting with the crowd. When it’s over, he said the goal is to tear everything down and “put things back to normal and leave it better than how we found it.”
This will be his first trip to Lucas Oil Speedway and he’s gone through his 1970 Buick Century “with a fine-tooth comb” to get it prepared for the action.
“We’re just going up there to have fun,” Collins said.
Clay Goodman of Carthage came home the winner of last year's inaugural Easter Bowl 150 Enduro. Troy Mitchell, of Henley, Mo., was a distant second and Jeremy Wilson of Humboldt, Kansas, wound up third after starting 33rd.
Enduro entry is $150 and entry forms can be found on the Drivers' Dashboard section of LucasOilSpeedway.com.
Payout for the Enduro race will be: 1st $1,500; 2nd $1,000; 3rd $750; 4th $500; 5th $300, 6th $250; 7th $200; 8th $175; 9th $150 and 10th $125.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will be a USRA Summit Shootout Qualifier, paying $1,500 to win and $150 to start. B-Main non-qualifiers will earn $110 and there will be a $50 entry in the division.
To qualify for the Summit Shootout, which will be held in October during the week-long 10th annual Summit USRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway, you must be a current track champion at a Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series track or win a Summit Shootout Qualifier during the 2023 racing season. If the winner of a Summit Shootout Qualifier also is a track champion, the second-place finisher in the Qualifier will get the invite to race in the Summit Shootout.
In the Midwest Mods it will be $600 to win and $110 to start with $70 going to B-Main non-qualifiers. Entry will be $25 and Midwest Mods will follow a POWRi Midwest Mod rules package.
Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.
Easter Bowl Enduro 150 ticket information:
Advance discount tickets online only (16 and up) - $12
Adults (16 and up) - $15
Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $12
Youth (ages 6-15) - $5
Kids (5 and under) - FREE
Family pass (two adults and up to three youth) - $35
Pit pass - $35
Off Road practice Saturday afternoon: Also on Saturday afternoon, due to a high interest in the inaugural MidAmerica Outdoors Side-by-Side Series event set for April 28-29 a practice day on the Off Road track will be held from noon-4 p.m. Pit gates will open at 10 a.m. with pit passes $25. That pass also will be good for admission into the Easter Bowl Enduro 150 program on the dirt track.
SRX roster of drivers expands, with tickets on sale: General admission tickets for the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) race scheduled for Aug. 17 at Lucas Oil Speedway remain on sale. The SRX Thursday Night Thunder event will be the finale in the six-race series, which features some of racing's biggest names.
Drivers previously announced for the Wheatland event include Tony Stewart, Kenny Wallace, Hailie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves, Clint Bowyer, reigning SRX Champion Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Tickets for the SRX event will be $35 in advance and $40 at the gate (ages 16 and over). Kids (ages 6-15) will be $20 with ages 5-and-under free. Advance tickets can now be purchased via Stubwire - https://www.stubwire.com/event/srxespnthursdaynightthunder/lucasoilspeedway/wheatland/28075/ Pit passes are $50 and must be purchased the day of the event.
For information about any event at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.
CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984
DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com
Complete Lucas Oil Speedway event information, archived race recaps, previews and driver features, along with ticket information and schedules can be found by visiting LucasOilSpeedway.com.
Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks.
Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141.
In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway
About Lucas Oil Speedway
Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top five racing facilities in the nation. Located in Wheatland, Missouri, approximately an hour from Springfield, Missouri, and just an hour and a half from the Kansas City metro area, the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" lives up to its title.
Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. This year marks the 12th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, "Lake Lucas." New for 2017 was all-purpose built Off Road facility featuring a host of regional events.
Lucas Oil Speedway's dirt oval track plays host to some of the largest and most-popular events in the Midwest with national and regional touring series appearing frequently including: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, POWRi Midget National Series, Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League, United States Modified Touring Series, ASCS Sprint Cars and the Lucas Oil MLRA.
In addition to the special events, the Lucas Oil Speedway Weekly Racing Series features the Late Models, USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods.
2023 Official Lucas Oil Speedway Marketing Partners
Arizona Sport Shirts
"The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Bill Roberts Chevrolet-Buick
"The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Dixie Chopper
"The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway"
General Tire
"The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Lucas Oil Products
"The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway
MAVTV
"The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper
"The Official Soft Drink" of Lucas Oil Speedway
RacingJunk.com
"The Official Classifieds" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Rugged Radios
"The Official 2-Way Communications Provider" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Summit Racing Equipment
"The Official Sponsor" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Sunoco Race Fuels
"The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Super Clean
"The Official Sponsor" of Lucas Oil Speedway
2023 Lucas Oil Speedway Supporters Include:
AM Pyrotechnics, Alliance Sport Marketing, Arctic Food Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts, Berry Tractor and Equipment Co., Big Adventure RV, Bill Roberts Chevrolet-Buick, Bolivar Auto Sales & Detailing, Bolivar Farmers Exchange-MFA, Boone's BBQ Barn, Boubin Tire/American Racer, Branstetter & Lightfoot LLC, Bridal Cave, BWI Sanitation, Camden on the Lake Resort, Candlelight Creations-Dick's Wild Root Horseradish, Casey's, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, City Magnet, Clearlight Inn, Dirt Track Specialist, Dixie Chopper, Eibach Springs, Farmers Insurance Agent Kristy Reynolds, Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange, Foley Equipment-Cat Rental Store, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, Impact Signs Awnings Wraps, In the Garden of Eden, KC Bobcat, Kettle Treats, Keyser Manufacturing, Kluhsman Racing Components, Kona Ice, Lucas Cattle Company, MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welding, Missouri Division of Tourism, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, OakStar Bank, O'Bannon Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Ozark Golf Cars, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper, Ozarks Community Health Center, PEM, Pitts Homes, Pitts Realty, Pitts Cattle, Pomme de Terre Resort, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, RacingJunk.com, Rains Ice Company, Real Racing Wheels, Reed Environmental, Rod End Supply, Ron Jenkins Accounting & Tax Service, Rugged Radios, Ryan E. Murphy Law Firm LLC, SBU Athletics, Safety Kleen, Scott Furniture, Sidetrack RV Park, Simpson Racing Products, Southwest Electric Cooperative, State Tech, Stillwater Resort, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels, US Army Corps of Engineers-Pomme de Terre, Vietti Marketing Group, Wasoba Seed & Trucking, Wheatland Motel, White's Marine Center, Wieland, Wild Animal Safari, Woods Supermarkets.
Article Credit: By Lyndal Scranton, Lucas Oil Speedway
