Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout Qualifiers Are Crucial & Cutthroat
Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout Qualifiers Are Crucial & Cutthroat
FloRacing sets the stage for Friday's crucial Qualifiers at the Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout.
Many racers agree, Qualifiers at the Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout are arguably the most cutthroat and intense races of the year.
In a program that offers zero room for error and keeps passing at a premium, these 14-car, 10-lap races are as crucial as the main event itself. In each premier Stock/Outlaw class, 112 cars will enter with only 16 punching their ticket to Saturday’s big dance where Golden Driller dreams are realized.
A four-car inversion is in play to give your high point drivers the advantage, but we’ve seen anything can happen in these Qualifiers, and you should expect the same today.
Only 18 of the 600+ drivers entered have survived to make all four Qualifiers for the Winged Outlaw, Outlaw Non-Wing, Stock Non-Wing, and A-Class divisions.
Beyond that, a mere 10 drivers currently possess lock-in spots (top 16) in multiple classes. Those names include Emerson Axsom (IN), Christopher Bell (OK), Alex Bright (PA), Tyler Courtney (IN), Jake Hagopian (CA), Tommy Kunsman (PA), Shawn Mahaffey (OK), Craig Ronk (IN), Gunnar Setser (IN), and Colin White (PA).
The four high point men for each division include this quartet of Golden Driller contenders:
Winged Outlaw – Craig Ronk (135) topped the charts with a wildly impressive 8th-to-1st Heat win aboard Brad Coleman’s #94. The reigning High Banks Hustle champion is chasing his first Shootout A-Main start since 2017.
Outlaw Non-Wing – Blake Hahn showed us why he’s got eight Golden Drillers on his mantle with a maximum 10th-to-1st effort worth 145 points. The 2011 Outlaw Non-Wing champion was super sporty in his Ten-J Chassis as he aims to join Chris Andrews as the only multi-time winners in the division.
A-Class – “On The Fence” Kyle Spence continues to be a top-flight threat in Tulsa as he earned 128 points for going 9th-to-2nd in his No. R7 ride. The Delaware gasser is going for his third Golden Driller in the last four years and could snap a 14-year streak of different A-Class winners.
Stock Non-Wing – A noted non-wing king, Trey Marcham also did his best in maxing his points with a 145-point performance from 10th-to-1st in his Heat. He swept the non-wing classes back in 2015 and now tries to join fellow Okie’s Donnie Ray Crawford and Frank Flud with multiple SNW titles.
VIDEO: FloRacing caught up with Trey Marcham after his picture perfect Stock Non-Wing heat race.
Those are just the four high point drivers to watch, who could lock up the pole position of their respective A-Main with a Qualifier win from the 4th position. There’s still another 111 names to consider in each class.
Beyond Qualifiers, a full slate today also includes more E-Mains, D-Mains, C-Mains, and B-Mains as the alphabet soup continues to eliminate drivers from this year’s record-shattering fields.
Racing begins at 9:00am CT in Tulsa, Okla. and continues all throughout the afternoon and into the evening as the 37th annual event continues the march towards the 359th final race of the week on Saturday night.
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