ARCA Racer Tyler Speer Takes Lucas Oil Drag Boat Championship

The final season of the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series produced some of the closest points battles in series history. One of the pro divisions even finished in a deadlock with a tie-breaking procedure needed to determine the champ.

Tyler Speer, a part time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, and Jim Richards both wound up with 1,896 points in Pro Outlaw following the General Tire World Finals earlier this month at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. Speer, of Woodstock, Georgia, and his Georgia Outlaw wound up taking the championship by virtue of one event win and one second-place finish during the season.

Speer, who narrowly missed an unprecedented double championship after also contending for a Top Fuel Hydro title, lost in the opening round of eliminations in Pro Outlaw. Richards, in Alka-Hauler, made it to the semifinal round.

Richards had one event victory in 2018 but no second-place finishes and that gave the championship to Speer. Finishing just six points behind the pair was Shannon Beal in Split Decision 2.

Speer is a part-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series, with a total of 13 starts over seven seasons. Most recently, he's raced both mile dirt races with Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track Racing in 2016 and 2017. His best career finish was seventh, four times.