WHEATLAND, Mo. — Josh Rice of Crittenden, Kentucky led the ultimate six laps Friday night time to seize the Cowboy Traditional at Lucas Oil Speedway, incomes his first Lucas Oil Late Mannequin Grime Sequence victory of the 2026 season.
Rice, the present O’Reilly Auto Elements Rookie of the 12 months factors chief, collected $10,000 for his third profession Lucas Oil Late Mannequin Grime Sequence victory.
Garrett Alberson, who was pressured to a backup automotive after flipping whereas main his warmth race, completed second. Chris Ferguson stormed from the 14th beginning place to take the lead on lap eight and finally rounded out the rostrum.
Level chief Hudson O’Neal completed fourth, whereas Brandon Overton accomplished the highest 5.
Overton led the opening seven laps of the 45-lap characteristic, which had been postponed 24 hours as a consequence of Thursday night time rain. Ferguson then charged from the skin of row seven to the lead in simply eight laps and appeared poised for victory after pacing the sector for the subsequent 25 circuits.
Alberson took command on lap 33, organising an exciting three-car battle between Alberson, Ferguson, and Rice. Working the underside groove to perfection, Rice surged previous each drivers on lap 40 and held on the remainder of the best way for the victory.
Rice’s earlier two Lucas Oil Late Mannequin Grime Sequence wins each got here at his residence observe, Florence Speedway, the place he’s a two-time Ralph Latham Memorial winner. Friday’s triumph got here in his first begin at Lucas Oil Speedway.
“I can’t thank James Ratliff sufficient for sticking with me,” Rice stated. “I used to be doubting myself and questioning what on this planet I had completed. We tried some issues Thursday, and this automotive has been so good. We simply missed it on tires in that first race, and I believed we’d be significantly better than we have been.”
Alberson overcame a tough night time and nonetheless put himself in place to contend for the win.
“I actually needed that one dangerous,” Alberson stated. “It’s been a protracted day, and I made too many errors there late and knocked the spoiler off. However my dad at all times taught us to maintain a superb angle. The primary time I crashed a race automotive, they instructed me to get proper again in one other one. That’s simply racing.”
Ferguson, who earlier within the night completed second to Jonathan Davenport within the Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson characteristic, led a race-high 25 laps earlier than fading late.
“This race automotive was superior,” Ferguson stated. “We broke some stuff there on the finish and simply couldn’t race with these guys the final couple laps. But it surely was undoubtedly ‘cowboy up’ tonight, and actually, I had a blast. We handed a variety of actually good vehicles. Congrats to Josh and Garrett – that was a enjoyable race.”
thirteenth Annual Cowboy Traditional | Function End (45 Laps):
Pos – Begin – Automobile # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 5 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $10,100
2 – 4 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $5,500
3 – 14 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $3,500
4 – 6 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $2,700
5 – 1 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $2,500
6 – 8 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $2,300
7 – 25 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $1,500
8 – 16 – 3S – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $2,100
9 – 10 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,050
10 – 15 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $2,000
11 – 19 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $1,600
12 – 23 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $1,400
13 – 22 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $1,200
14 – 20 – 93 – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $1,000
15 – 2 – 32 – Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – $950
16 – 24 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $925
17 – 17 – 11T – Trevor Gundaker – St. Charles, MO – $900
18 – 7 – 11G – Gordy Gundaker – St. Charles, MO – $875
19 – 13 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $850
20 – 11 – 1X – Aaron Marrant – Kearney, MO – $825
21 – 12 – 18J – Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS – $800
22 – 9 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $800
23 – 18 – 15 – Clay Stuckey – Shreveport, LA – $800
24 – 3 – 56 – Tony Jackson Jr – Lebanon, MO – $800
25 – 21 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $900
