Frank Heckenast Jr. (Frankfort, Ill.) celebrated his birthday Friday with a win at Jackson Motorplex as he won the 40-lap feature on the opening night of a two-night stop by theWorld of Outlaws Late Model Series.
He earned $10,000 for the win, his second with the series. His first was in 2015.
Heckenast took the lead when the center of Cade Dillard’s (Robeline, La.) right rear wheel broke with 13 laps to go.
"I feel like when everything’s going right, something’s bound to happen," Heckenast said in Victory Lane. "I was just out there the last couple of laps just hoping nothing happened. You don’t get these all the time so we’re definitely going to enjoy this for sure."
Heckenast had been battling for second place with Brandon Sheppard (New Berlin, Ill.) for second place before Dillard's misfortune.
“I was getting passed by [Sheppard] running the line I thought we should’ve been in, but then I totally changed up my driving style,” Heckenast said. “I changed the way I entered and came off the corner and changed my throttle position and the car just started taking off.”
Rounding out the top five were Ryan Gustin (Marshalltown, Iowa), Chris Madden (Gray Court, S.C.) and Brent Larson (Lake Elmo).
Justin Zeitner (Malvern, Iowa) won the 20-lap Tri-State Late Models feature.
A.J. Diemel (Elk Mound, Wis.) was second, followed by Nick Beyenhof (Rock Rapids), Tyler Reagle (Valentine, Neb.) and Brad Vogt (Pierce, Neb.).
Racing is scheduled again Saturday, with the 50-lap WoO main event paying $20,000 to win.