Lucas Oil Speedway
Missouri standout refocusing on Super Late Models
By Lyndal Scranton
Lucas Oil Speedway
Justin Wells races around Springfield (Mo.) Raceway. (photosbyboyd.smugmug.com)
Justin Wells jokes that it’s a shame a milestone birthday is in the not-too-distant future. The half-century mark can be daunting. No matter the chosen occupation, it's supposed to mean a slower pace.
But the 48-year-old Aurora, Mo., instead is ready to pick up the pace in 2025. He plans a semi-regular schedule of Super Late Model racing after dominating en route to back-to-back Hermitage Lumber Limited Late Model track championships at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
The Ozarks Area Racers Foundation Hall of Famer, a one-time force on the regional racing scene, flashed that he still had the ability last October with runs of third and fourth in the Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway.
“That’s what we’re building on,” said Wells, whose best major-race finish in Super Late Models came with a fourth-place run in the 2006 Show-Me 100 at West Plains (Mo.) Motor Speedway. “It’s been a long time since we concentrated on Super Late Model racing. I’ve got the best cars and best motors and best of everything that I’ve ever owned.
“It’s a shame that I’m getting close to 50,” he added with a chuckle. “I want to give it a whirl before … I’m not saying that I’m ready to quit, but I don’t have a ton of racing left in me. Me and my wife (Missy) talked and with my crew guys and we said, ‘Let’s give it all we’ve got and if it don’t work out, that’s all right. If it does, that’s gonna be cool.’ ”
Wells is looking forward to mixing it up with an expected top-notch field at this weekend’s 12th annual Lucas Oil Speedway Spring Nationals presented by Iconic Apparel. With the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series off this week, last year's Show-Me 100 winner Jonathan Davenport and other national touring drivers are expected to chase winning purses of $7,000 Friday and $20,000 Saturday.
“Everybody wants to tune up for the Show-Me 100 and I think you’re going to draw a lot of good guys, like Davenport and some of them. It should be a good show for the fans,” Wells said.
After winning 23 Limited Late Model features at Wheatland in 2023-24, Wells said he doesn’t have a lot of home-track advantage because the higher-horsepowered Super Late Models make it a different ballgame.
Wells has two open-competition motors available for his two cars: a 2006 TNT chassis that he calls “Old Faithful” that has 116 feature victories and a TNT he debuted last year by making the Show-Me 100 starting field, plus the strong Fall Nationals runs.
“Mainly that’s all we’re gonna do this year,” he said of his Super Late Model efforts. “We’re just hit anything within about a three-hour radius and try that this year.”
While the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association circuit was shuttered in the offseason, Wells has opportunities on the Kansas-based Nutrien Ag Solutions POWRi Revival Super Dirt Series and the Jesse Stovall-created United Late Model Racing Association.
“The Old Faithful car, we’re gonna take our open motor that we ran last year and put that in it … and we’re gonna run the new ULRA series and Revival series and and use that car for the smaller tracks.
“These motors any more, they so high-dollar that you have to have a reason to run ‘em. You can’t just take it to a $1,000- or $1,500-to-win show. There’s got to be some money on the line where you think you have a chance to win something.”
Wells broke out the newer car in late-winter races at Springfield (Mo.) Raceway, but struggled with finishes outside the top 10. He figured to be better prepared for this weekend.
“We’re jacked up about it,” Wells said. “We didn’t start off very good at Springfield, but it was mainly because we weren’t really ready to go. Now we’ve had these three weeks off and I feel good about where we’re at.”
Super stocks and Show-Me Vintage Racers are in action during the weekend with pit gates and grandstands opening at 4 p.m. daily with hot laps at 6:30 and opening ceremonies at 7. Practice is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Thursday.
The first 500 fans through the gate Saturday receive a free 2025 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule magnet courtesy of City Magnet.
