Story By: BEN SHELTON / TONY JACKSON JR. RACING – LEBANON, MO – Tony Jackson Jr. turned his luck to the good side with a $5,000 Friday night Midwest Auto Racing Series (MARS) Championship victory at Tri-City Speedway.
His first trip of the season to Victory Lane came in the Gary Gerstner Memorial aboard the Lebanon Ready Mix / Elite Auto Complex No. 56 Superior Power Custom Homes / Willard Quarries / Capital Race Car / Scott Bailey Racing Engine Super Late Model. He had to outrun a hard-charging Cody Laney and Gordy Gundaker to get the win.
“I didn’t really want to have to drive that hard, but Gordy [Gundaker] was good, and them guys kept showing me their nose,” Jackson Jr. shared. “I wanna thank [Capital’s] Marshall Green and Shane Clanton. They come down and we did a lot of work on this thing this week. We’ve kind of been struggling and we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
Bad luck has plagued Tony Jackson Jr. for much of the 2023 campaign. However, his luck began to turn around on Friday evening when he took the checkered flag with the Midwest Auto Racing Series (MARS) at Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, Illinois).
Jackson was among 27 MARS entrants at the 3/8-mile oval for the $5,000-to-win Gary Gerstner Memorial. After posting the ninth-quickest time in qualifying, the Lebanon, Missouri, driver started third in his heat race and turned in a runner-up finish in his No. 56 Late Model.
Jackson then redrew on the pole position for the 30-lap main event.
He led every lap in the feature to score his first victory of the season by 1.905 seconds over Cody Laney. Gody Gundaker took the third podium spot with Mike Harrison and Jason Feger finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
The team plans to return to action on Sept. 1-3 with a trio of Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) events. Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, Mo.) takes center stage on Friday and Saturday with the Ron Jenkins Memorial doubleheader. The opening round posts a $5,000 winner’s check, while Saturday’s program has a $7,000 top prize on the line. Then on Sunday the $10,000-to-win third annual Wiener Nationals will bring the team to Moberly (Mo.) Motorsports Park.