Wil continued his Florida Speedweeks trip by entering the 6 nights of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series action at the East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida this past Monday through Saturday nights.

The overall trip was a huge success, as Wil started 5 of the 6 feature events, won his first ever Lucas Oil Series heat race and showed speed all week long.

Night by night recaps:
Monday, Wil qualified 4th overall in his group, struggled in the heat race and fell back to 9th, but then rallied in the b-main and raced from 16th up to 11th, missing a transfer spot, but was awarded a fast time provisional and started the feature from the 25th position. He was able to stay out of trouble and advance 11 spots to cross the finish line with a 14th place effort.

Tuesday, he qualified 27th, raced from 9th up to 7th in his heat race, ran 8th in the b-main and then started the feature 30th based on a points provisional. From his 30th starting position, he was able to move forward 13 positions to cross the finish line 17th when the checkered flag flew.

Wednesday, he was back on the gas and was able to qualify 6th and win his first ever Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series heat race from the outside of the front row, putting him 5th in the feature lineup. The feature was rained out and run after the Thursday night program the following night. (Heath Lawson photo)

Thursday, he qualified 22nd, raced from 8th up to 6th in his heat race, then ran 8th in the b, but again was able to start the feature based on a points provisional, but from there his night ended up rough. He was involved in several crashes and officially was credited with a 30th place finish. The team then went to work to get the car ready for the make-up feature and he was able to race inside the top ten early in the feature, but was again caught up in a crash, ending his night early with a 26th place finish.

Friday, he qualified 24th in his group, fell out of his heat race after being involved in a wreck, charged from 17th up to 6th in the b-main and once again relied on a points provisional to start the feature from the 30th position. From there, he again was able to move through the field and advanced 11 spots to cross the finish line in 19th.

Saturday, he qualified 24th, ran 10th in his heat race, then again worked his way forward in the b-main, coming from 13th up to 5th, but needed to get up to second in order to transfer to the feature, missing a transfer spot by just three spots. 

Again, overall, the week was great. 80+ of the world’s best dirt Late Model drivers were in competition and Wil was able to make 5 of the 6 features and came away with no major damage after the week of racing.

For full results from these events, please visit www.LucasDirt.com.