ARCA racer Speer hopes to clinch Lucas Oil Drag Boat championship this weekend

ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards racer Tyler Speer is prepared to put it all on the line this weekend. Or, better put, put it all on the water...the warm water at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix, Arizona in the Lucas Oil Drag Boat World Finals. 

Speer, who has a commanding lead in the Pro Mod class, can secure the 2016 championship this Sunday, November 6. Speer first took over the championship points lead on the same day of the ARCA race on the DuQuoin Mile Dirt where he finished seventh on the lead lap.

"We had to race that exact same day in the boat races in Wheatland, Missouri," said Speer. "We ended up renting a little puddle-jumper plane to get to DuQuoin."

Speer's tardiness at DuQuoin did not affect his performance, as the Woodstock, Georgia driver steered the No. 10 Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series-Lucas Oil TV Chevrolet to seventh in the final running order. Speer had also finished, two weeks prior, seventh on the Springfield Mile Dirt. Both finishes tied his ARCA career-best.

"We qualified No. 1 in the Pro Mod deal (at Wheatland) and won the first round. We had motor issues in the second round which was better for the ARCA races. Even not going in the second round, we just made it to DuQuoin. Our first lap at DuQuoin was in qualifying.

"Even though we had motor issues in the second round, we came out with the lead. The guy that was in first went out in the first round."

Speer increased his lead in the next event on tour - Thunder on the River in Parker, Arizona in mid-October.

"In our last race, we qualified dead-last. The guy that was third (in points) qualified first, but he couldn't get tuned up right...we went up against him in the first round and knocked him out. The second-place guy also went out in the first round. The water was really rough...it was really challenging for everyone."

Long story shorter - Speer, the only Lucas Oil boat racer who wears an ARCA patch on his uniform and carries ARCA stickers on his boat, marched out with the most "Thunder on the River" and a whopping 200-points lead in the chase for the 2016 Pro Mod national championship.

"We're two rounds in the lead this weekend in Phoenix. We qualify Friday and Saturday and race Sunday."

Speer, in addition to chasing the championship in the Lucas Oil Pro Mod Series, has been competing in some events on the Top Fuel side of the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series. By comparison, that would be tantamount to a NHRA Top-Fuel dragster, but on water.

"We definitely plan to do more Top Fuel next year...more than what we did this year. We would need to get a lot more things in place to make that happen. It takes tons of people and crew to run Top Fuel.

"We're also trying to get some things together to run more ARCA races next year. We definitely plan to run Springfield and DuQuoin, but we'd like to add more. Things are a bit up in the air...we're hoping some people step up so we can do even more."

Once Speer, hopefully, secures the 2016 Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series championship on the Pro Mod side, his next event will be the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show and ARCA national championship awards banquet in Indianapolis December 8-11.

"We'll be at the (ARCA) banquet too. We're actually in the Hedman Hustler Hedders booth all weekend at PRI...we'll have our Top Fuel boat in there this year."

But before he lands in Indy, he's got a championship to procure.

"I'm at the shop here in Atlanta today...we fly out tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. We'll work on the boats in Parker (AZ), then go load it up for the World Finals."

Follow Tyler Speer on his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TylerSpeerRacer. Also follow his Twitter - @TylerSpeerRacer  and Instagram page - @TylerSpeerRacer. For more information about Tyler, visit his website at tylerspeer.com.

Don Radebaugh
dradebaugh@arcaracing.com

Article Source: ARCARacing.com 
TOLEDO, Ohio (Nov. 2, 2016)