Kyle Thompson won the USRA Modified main event.

Saturday night during the 15th Annual CMH Diamond Nationals, action got underway a couple of hours later after a drenching, late-afternoon rain soaked the Lucas Oil Speedway.

When the final checkered flag waved, Kyle Thompson picked up the USRA Modified feature win and James McMillin prevailed in the Medieval USRA Stock Cars.

Thompson, of Joplin, regained command with five laps to go and held off Nic Bidinger to capture the win.

"We've never won here before," Thompson said. "This is the first time. God is good."

Thompson got by Paden Phillips on lap three to take over the top spot and those two dueled nose-to-tail with Bidinger right behind them until a lap-12 caution bunched the field.

Bidinger had a terrific restart to grab the lead away from Thompson on lap 13 but Thompson came right back and regained the top spot two laps later.

"Once I could run out there in clean air, I could run a pretty good line," Thompson said. "It was put down my right foot and don't let off of it."

Thompson pulled away from there and won by 1.6 seconds over Bidinger. Jason Pursley finished third, points leader Dillon McCowan was fourth and Ryan Middaugh earned fifth.

USRA Stock Car win goes to McMillin: McMillin, of Warrensburg, made a last-lap pass for the Medieval USRA Stock Car feature win as he slipped by Ed Griggs for his first Lucas Oil Speedway triumph.

"I was trying to find a smooth line," McMillin said of the final lap. "Let's just say that race track was challenging, at best. We worked our way through there and I found a place down there in three and fourth where I could drive through there straight and it worked out."

Darren Phillips grabbed the lead on lap three, after Griggs paced the opening two circuits. But Phillips’ pursuit of his first Lucas Oil Speedway victory ended when his car lost power entering turn two on lap six.

That boosted Griggs back to the front, followed by Hendrix and McMillin.

As Hendrix, McMillin and Dominic Thyfault battled behind him, Griggs was able to open a one-second lead by lap 15. But the cushion didn’t last long, with McMillin pulling alongside the leader with two laps remaining.

McMillin was able to make the winning move on turn two of the final lap and then held on, beating Griggs by .311 seconds. Hendrix wound up third with Derek Brown fourth and Thyfault fifth.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo.
Saturday, July 17, 2021

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 03 Chase Jones (4); 2. 98D Paden Phillips (8); 3. 292 Kyle Thompson (9); 4. 16 Austin Siebert (2); 5. 14W Dustin Walker (5); 6. 21 Ryan Middaugh (7); 7. 24D Donnie Fellers (1); 8. 88 Jimmy Dowell (6); 9. 32 Michael Foster (10); 10. 2+12 Khaled Graham (3).

Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 8 Dillon McCowan (2); 2. 17L Roy Long (1); 3. 17 Brent Holman (3); 4. 91 Joe Duvall (4); 5. 11 Darren Shaw (6); 6. 7 Daniel Franklin (9); 7. 23 Lucas Dobbs (7); 8. 21J Johnny Fennewald (8); 9. 17JR Drake Long (5).

Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. 3B Nic Bidinger (5); 2. 21TW Tracy Wolf (2); 3. 165 Kevin Blackburn (8); 4. 38C Jason Pursley (9); 5. 155 Terry Kirk (4); 6. 33 Chad Smith (1); 7. 811 Justin Radcliff (6); DNS – 7J Justin Johnson; DNS – 17E Earl Roark.

Feature (20 laps): 1. 292 Kyle Thompson (4); 2. 3B Nic Bidinger (1); 3. 38C Jason Pursley (7); 4. 8 Dillon McCowan (5); 5. 21 Ryan Middaugh (17); 6. 165 Kevin Blackburn (6); 7. 98D Paden Phillips (2); 8. 14W Dustin Walker (16); 9. 7 Daniel Franklin (14); 10. 03 Chase Jones (3); 11. 17 Brent Holman (10); 12. 155 Terry Kirk (15); 13. 88 Jimmy Dowell (22); 14. 24D Donnie Fellers (19); 15. 11 Darren Shaw (13); 16. 811 Justin Radcliff (20); 17. 21J Johnny Fennewald (23); 18. 32 Michael Foster (24); 19. 17L Roy Long (8); 20. 16 Austin Siebert (11); 21. 33 Chad Smith (18); 22. 91 Joe Duvall (12); 23. 17E Earl Roark (28); 24. 17JR Drake Long (25); 25. 21TW Tracy Wolf (9); 26. 23 Lucas Dobbs (21); 27. 2+12 Khaled Graham (26); DNS – 7J Justin Johnson.

MEDIEVAL USRA STOCK CARS

Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 31E Ed Griggs (2); 2. 54 David Hendrix (5); 3. 8M James McMillin (8); 4. 27 Dominic Thyfault (6); 5. 12 Christopher Sawyer (1); 6. 33T Thomas Ground (4); 7. 69N James Barker (3); 8. 03 MIckey Self (7).

Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 11 Derek Brown (2); 2. 21P Darren Phillips (6); 3. 5 Robert White (7); 4. 7J Scott Johnson (4); 5. 27A Aaron Gustin (5); 6. 75 Dylan Keepper (3); 7. 31 Toby Ott (1).

Feature (20 laps): 1. 8M James McMillin (5); 2. 31E Ed Griggs (2); 3. 54 David Hendrix (4); 4. 11 Derek Brown (3); 5. 27 Dominic Thyfault (7); 6. 31 Toby Ott (14); 7. 27A Aaron Gustin (10); 8. 33T Thomas Ground (12); 9. 12 Christopher Sawyer (9); 10. 7J Scott Johnson (8); 11. 75 Dylan Keepper (11); 12. 69N James Barker (13); 13. 21P Darren Phillips (1); 14. 5 Robert White (6); DNS – 03 MIckey Self.