It was the 53rd Annual Points Championship Night honoring the track founder Tillman Evans
In the current iteration of NASCAR, the idea is you have to win the final race to win the Championship. At The Mighty Tri-State Speedway, three out of the four feature winners did just that. On a night honoring the tracks founder Tillman Evans, the track blends the original name Mighty Mouse Speedway and the name change to Tri-State Speedway. Four drivers; Wesley Bourne, Trevor Hughes, Jacob Campbell, and Brandon Hunter, set out to win the 2023 track championships in their respective USRA classes.
USRA B-Mod
It seemed like with all the wins Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Dalton Ragsdale and Kyle Slader had acquired over the season the championship battle would have been between them. Surprise, it wasn’t. The super consistent Jacob Campbell put together a great season at the Pocola track and was leading Ragsdale and Slader. For Campbell to win the Championship it would not start easy as he would roll off 15th in the A Feature.
J.R. Owen would start on the pole with Elkins’ Devin Barker to his right. Barker would get the slim advantage to lead lap 1, a caution on lap 4 would bunch the field back up. On the restart Dalton Ragsdale would put pressure on Devin Barker, as another caution waved, with Barker in 1st, Dalton Ragsdale, Kyle Slader, J.R. Owen, and Ty Evans in the top 5. Just past them, Jacob Campbell had worked his way from 15th to 6th. A few laps after the restart, Slader would slide up in front of Devin Barker to take the lead. With momentum killed in the corner Barker dropped back to fourth. Kyle Slader would put a gap between him and Dalton Ragsdale, until a caution came out. After the restart Ragsdale got past his longtime competitor Kyle Slader for the lead. As if it was scripted, Jacob Campbell found himself in 3rd chasing down Slader for 2nd. The race between the 19K of Slader and the 27 of Campbell allowed Ragsdale to put some real estate between himself and 2nd. Ragsdale would go on to win the race and Jacob Campbell came home in 2nd and 91 points ahead of Ragsdale in the Championship.
Medieval Chassis USRA Stock Cars
Brandon Hunter came into Championship night with a lead over Jeff Metcalf, both had the same amount of A Feature appearances, but Hunter’s 7 wins set him apart.
Brandon Hunter started the A Feature outside the front row with H. Palmer on the pole. After the first lap it was all Brandon Hunter. Two Cautions and a Red Flag for a wreck bunched the group up giving Hunter’s main challenger Cody Jones an opportunity to try and seize first. While the 1/4 of Brandon Hunter ran the bottom of the track in the turns, Cody Jones in the 92 found a line that worked at the top. Jones would bobble a couple times but was within striking distance. The last restart came with 6 to go; Hunter, Jones, H. Palmer, Jeff Metcalf, and Neil Johnston were the top 5. Brandon Hunter would put distance between himself and the rest of the group and winning the A Feature and the Championship. Cody Jones would get 2nd, H. Palmer in 3rd, Neil Johnston in 4th, and Ray Phipps in the L7 came home in 5th.
USRA Modified
In 11 features leading up to Championship night, the 712 of Trevor Hughes visited victory lane 5 times. The closest to Hughes in the win total was Jared Russell in the 4R with 2 wins. Second place in the Championship is the now track owner Jake Davis, who has bowed out of racing to concentrate on track ownership.
Van Buren’s Mike Hines started on the pole, feature winners Brent Holman and Mike Hansen rolled off the grid 2nd and 3rd. Championship leader Trevor Hughes started 4th. Brent Holman led lap 1 with Mike Hansen and Trevor Hughes in tow. Last race weekend at Tri-State, Mike Hansen found a groove up top and beat the always fast Tyler Wolff for the win. This week was no different as the 12H found a spot on the top groove and made it stick all around the track. A caution for a spin made the top 3 of Hansen, Hughes, and Holman that much closer. On the restart the Triple H top 3 would not separate for several laps, another caution for a spin the closing laps saw Hansen pull off. A couple slow rolling caution laps later Mike Hansen would pop back on the track in 12th at the tail end of the grid. Trevor Hughes would take the green in the lead, Mike Hansen would pick up 7 spots in one lap as the white flag waved. Hughes would take the win and the Championship. Brent Holman was 2nd, Roy Long out of Stilwell, Ok was 3rd, Mike Hansen made it back up to finish 4th, and Greenwood’s Jason Payton rounded out the top 5.
Sunoco USRA Factory Stocks presented by PG Roofing
Rock Island, Oklahoma native Wesley Bourne was looking to be this season’s only back-to-back Champion and he was doing so in the same class. Second place Dallas Bourland left the track before racing started leaving Bourne just needing to run the race.
Greenwood’s Chris Patterson started on the pole with J.R. Owen to his outside. Wesley Bourne started 4th. J.R. Owen would lead lap one with pressure from Chris Patterson in the 148. A Caution in turn 2 bunched the field up, and on the restart, Wesley Bourne would make his way to the front. A lengthy red flag for a flipped car in turn 2, brought everyone together again. The top on the restart were Bourne, J.R. Owen, Chris Patterson, Ty Abernathy, and Rocky Cox. A caution a for a car in turn 1 and then another caution a few laps later for two cars breaking at the same exact time, had Wesley Bourne out front with J.R. Owen and Ty Abernathy battling for 2nd on the restart. One more caution would bring the field together. On the restart it was all Bourne as took the Checkered Flag and the Championship. J.R. Owen was 2nd, Ty Abernathy 3rd, Rocky Cox dropped one spot from his starting position to finish 4th, and Tate Abernathy in the 4T finished 5th.
Up next for The Mighty Tri-State Speedway is the 44th Annual Spooker. With over $80,000 up for grabs in the 4-day race that welcomes racers from all over the country for a shot at one of the most unique trophies in the tracks history, a hand painted Reaper. Also, up for grabs in the Modified and Late Models is the drivers name etched in history and their name on the back of every Spooker shirt. Only one driver has won the Modified class and Late Model in the same night, that honor goes to current Case World of Outlaws Late Model racer Ryan Gustin. The Reaper won two Reaper trophies in back-to-back features in 2020. Over 240 cars a night for The Spooker the last three seasons and it looks to be the same this year. Then on November 10th and 11th the POWRi 410 Sprints invade Tri-State Speedway, going for $5000 to win each night. USRA B-Mod will be the support class night going for $500 to win.
