Chad Wheeler hopes the “homefield advantage” helps him this weekend.

The Muskogee driver returns to the Outlaw Motor Speedway tonight to qualify for Sunday’s $5,000-to-win Modified race. Qualifying extends into Saturday after Thursday’s round of qualifying was rained out.

Wheeler won the event two years ago when it was the Azalea Showdown as compared to the more generic label for this year’s event.

“I’ve raced there ever since it’s been open,” he said. “I won the first ever modified race there.”

With the rains, OMS changed its format for the weekend. Modified qualifying as well as Hobby Stock and Pure Stock points races will run at 8 tonight. More Modified qualifying and an Economy Modified points race will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday. An Economy Modified non-points race and the Modified finals are scheduled for at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Gates open at 6 p.m., 3 p.m. and noon today through Sunday, respectively.

Wheeler, a salesman at Wheeler Metals when he’s not racing, likes his chances this weekend.

“I feel like I have a good shot,” the 23-year-old driver said. “Things have to go our way. We’ve got a car to win, but stupid things kill me, like leaving something loose or undone that could give you a (did not finish). There are so many nuts and bolts on a car, we have a checklist now that we go over.”

The field includes some of the top regional names such as Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., and Randy Timms of Oklahoma City. Johnny Bone, Jr. of Pea Ridge, Ark., is the race’s defending champion.

Bone knows repeating as champion won’t be easy.

“There’s going to be a lot of good cars and and they’ve got some good local drivers,” he said.

Phillips, one of the nation’s top late model drivers, is a 22-year racing veteran. He said he hasn’t raced at Outlaw in “three or four” years.

“The track’s big and fast. It’s a nice facility,” he said. “I’ve won a few races down there.”

Phillips has won five Late Model feature races at the track. Timms, meanwhile, raced at the 3/8-mile dirt oval last year and looks forward to returning.

“They do a good job of promoting,” Timms said. “This particular race is $5,000 to win and that’s why I’m planning to be there.”