DUQUOIN, Ill. — Rette Jones Racing a few weeks ago brought aboard 15-year-old Landen Lewis to run the dirt race on the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
As if Lewis’ seventh-place run in his ARCA Menards Series debut wasn’t impressive enough, the Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, native, won the General Tire Pole Award ahead of Sunday evening’s Southern Illinois 100 presented by Lucas Oil at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, the series’ second and final dirt race of the season and Lewis’ second start.
Lewis logged the fastest lap in qualifying at 34.236 seconds (105.152 mph) driving the No. 2 L&A South Tire/Lou Lous Waterfront Restaurant Chevrolet.
Lewis, who is competing in ARCA Menards Series on the strength of a successful career in Legends Cars, Super Trucks and Dirt Modified competition, is banking on his experience in Dirt Modifieds as well as advice from Ken Schrader, the 66-year-old veteran racer who also is in the field for Sunday’s DuQuoin race.
Dirt track ringer Ryan Unzicker will join Lewis on the front row to start Sunday night’s race after qualifying second.
Corey Heim, Ty Gibbs and Schrader rounded out the top five in qualifying.
The Southern Illinois 100 presented by Lucas Oil is scheduled to start shortly after 9 p.m. ET. It will broadcast live on MAVTV Motorsports Network with a live stream available on NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass.
Qualifying results / starting lineup: Southern Illinois 100 presented by Lucas Oil
| Pos. | Car No. | Driver | Sponsor, OEM | Best Time | Best Speed | In Lap | Laps | Diff. |
| 1 | 2 | Landen Lewis* | L&A South Tire/Lou Lous Waterfront Resurant Chevrolet | 34.236 | 105.152 | 1 | 1 | – |
| 2 | 24 | Ryan Unzicker | Hummingbird/RJR Transportation Chevrolet | 34.349 | 104.807 | 1 | 1 | 0.113 |
| 3 | 20 | Corey Heim* | Craftsman Toyota | 35.596 | 101.135 | 1 | 1 | 1.36 |
| 4 | 18 | Ty Gibbs* | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 35.634 | 101.027 | 1 | 1 | 1.398 |
| 5 | 10 | Ken Schrader | Kuttawa Fire Department Toyota | 35.94 | 100.167 | 1 | 1 | 1.704 |
| 6 | 69 | Will Kimmel | Clarksville Schwinn Ford | 36.033 | 99.908 | 1 | 1 | 1.797 |
| 7 | 46 | Taylor Gray* | DGR Ford | 36.189 | 99.478 | 1 | 1 | 1.953 |
| 8 | 25 | Toni Breidinger* | VMS Toyota | 38.214 | 94.206 | 1 | 1 | 3.978 |
| 9 | 12 | D.L. Wilson* | FastTrackRacing.com Toyota | 38.827 | 92.719 | 1 | 1 | 4.591 |
| 10 | 27 | Zachary Tinkle* | Latino Immigration & Legal Center Toyota | 39.638 | 90.822 | 1 | 1 | 5.402 |
| 11 | 1 | Tim Monroe* | Carolina SIM Works Chevrolet | 39.685 | 90.714 | 1 | 1 | 5.449 |
| 12 | 11 | Owen Smith* | PedalinPup.com Ford | 41.269 | 87.233 | 1 | 1 | 7.033 |
| 13 | 48 | Brad Smith | Henshaw Custom Automation Chevrolet | 44.157 | 81.527 | 1 | 1 | 9.921 |
| 14 | 6 | Wayne Peterson | GreatRailing.com Chevrolet | 58.78 | 61.245 | 1 | 1 | 24.544 |
| 15 | 15 | Jesse Love * | Redwood City, CA | Mobil 1 | Toyota | – | – | – |
| 16 | 16 | Kelly Kovski | Sherman, IL | Schluckebeier Farms-Schnapp Sewer Service | Chevrolet | – | – | – |
