Jacob Patton Wins MOWA Title, First Sprint Car Race

Jacob Patton Wins MOWA Title, First Sprint Car Race

In racing, it’s often said that once a driver gets their first win, the rest will be easier. That was certainly the case for Jacob Patton this season.

Oct 11, 2018 by Tony Veneziano
Jacob Patton Wins MOWA Title, First Sprint Car Race

In racing, it’s often said that once a driver gets their first win, the rest will be a little easier or at least come a bit quicker. That was certainly the case for Jacob Patton this season.

After winning his first-career sprint car feature on May 31 at Macon Speedway with the MOWA Series (Midwest Open Wheel Association) in his home state of Illinois, Patton rattled off four more total wins over the next few months. Ultimately, that momentum helped propel the 27-year-old to the MOWA championship. That title was Patton’s first with the series.

“We worked real hard all year long as a team,” said Patton. “To be champions at the end of the year, makes all of the work worth it. It’s a great feeling, knowing all of that paid off. For the first half of the year we really just tried to go out and get the best finishes we could. Somewhere around mid-season or so, we realized we had a real good shot at this. Then, we started to try even more to not stick our nose in places we didn’t need to be and make sure we were finishing races. In the end, it all worked out for us.”

The 2018 campaign marked Patton’s fourth with the MOWA Series, which celebrated its eighth season of existence. The native of Bethalto, IL, switched to a Maxim Chassis before the season and that move paid dividends over the course of the 16-race season. Along with his win at Macon, Patton also visited victory lane in MOWA action at Jacksonville Speedway in July.

“We switched cars at the beginning of the year and didn’t really know what to expect,” he shared. “It took us a little while to get it figured out, but once we did the car was real consistent every week. I think that contributed to getting those other wins.”

‘Those other wins,’ came when the MOWA Series was off and Patton competed at St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, MO. He visited victory lane three times at the track in 2018, including back-to-back wins in June. In six starts at the three-eighths-mile, Patton ran fourth or better in all six, with five of those being podium finishes.

“Something that is pretty unique about Farmington is that none of the corners are the same,” Patton explained. “If you can put good runs together there, you can probably race good just about anywhere. When we go there on an off night, we usually see something different and that helps us keep brushed up on anywhere else we are going to go.”


Patton and his fellow MOWA competitors ran a couple of co-sanctioned events with the Interstate Racing Association (IRA) this season. The pair of races were contested at Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Illinois and LaSalle Speedway in Northern Illinois. Patton was the Hard Charger at Fairbury, coming from the 23rdstarting spot to finish in 13th, against a stout field of cars. A third co-sanctioned race was scheduled earlier in the season at 34 Raceway in Iowa, but that event fell to rain.

“The IRA guys are very fast,” he noted. “Generally, when we run co-sanctioned races with them, we are not on tracks we see a lot. It’s kind of even ground. You definitely have to be on your game, because the IRA guys know what they are doing. It makes everyone step up their game and that is how you get better as a driver.”

Patton will wrap up his strong 2018 season on October 20 at St. Francois County Speedway in the 23rdAnnual Queen’s Royal. That event was postponed by rain earlier this season. He will look to continue his strong season at the track, which is about 100 miles south of his shop.

“We got lucky that first time it rained out, so we are able to go back this time, because the MOWA season is done,” stated Patton. “It would mean a lot to win there. We have run a lot there when we have not been running with MOWA, even in years past. The fans like when we come down there as well. They have their local favorites, but they like seeing other drivers come and race at their track. Hopefully we can go down there and get one more win and put a great cap on the season.”

Patton looks to defend the MOWA championship in 2019. This past season, the series competed 16 times at seven different tracks, mainly in Illinois. The series also traveled to the famed Tri-State Speedway in Indiana and the always thrilling Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO. The series normally schedules around 20 races, give or take a couple, due to weather.

“Our plan is to run with MOWA again and hopefully we can get a second title,” said Patton. “There are a lot of good guys running with the series and it’s never a given. It’s a good group of guys to race with. We always have a new group of guys coming in. For example, Mike Terry came in this year and had a very good season. It always seems like every year we get someone who comes in and is in contention.”