WHEATLAND, Mo.- Much of the intrigue surrounding this weekend’s sixth annual Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt will be surrounding the O’Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks, which is understandable considering the $10,000 check awaiting Saturday night’s feature winner.

But the storyline for the Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Models also is shaping up as a dandy. Full programs are set for both Friday and Saturday nights, with feature winners collecting $1,000 and $2,000. A season champion of the Lucas Cattle Company ULMA Series also will be crowned.

For Aaron Marrant of Richmond, Missouri, it’s a chance to lock down his second ULMA title in three years. He enters the weekend 54 points ahead of Rookie of the Year leader Cole Henson and 92 in front of Ryan Johnson, another top rookie contender.

“It means the world to us,” Marrant said of another championship bid for him and car owners Michael Meise and Bob Morton. “I couldn’t even imagine trying to do what we’re doing without those guys and just everything they do for me. They give me the opportunity to race every week. I’ve had my own race team and I know what it takes.

“For those guys  to let me do the fun part, it’s just awesome. Hopefully we can bring it home.”

Marrant said the ULMA division has rapidly ascended in the quality of competition the last few years. He cites the last two Lucas Oil Speedway points chases, in which he’s been locked in a three-way battle with eventual champion Johnny Fennewald and Kaeden Cornell until the final lap of the final race the last two years.

“This class, this is my fifth year in it and it has advanced to much from when we started,” Marrant said. “It’s gotten so competitive. All of us, when it comes down to two or three points in the top three positions, it shows nobody has a real advantage on the other. It’s who starts where, who gets out front. We’re all so close to the same speed. It’s just how things fall.”

Marrant has six feature wins and 11 other top-five finishes this season. He’s only been outside the top five one time in 18 ULMA events.

Marrant said he’s focusing on his usual strategy of chasing wins and top-fives and letting the points shake themselves out.

“That’s how we approach it every week,” Marrant said. “You figure if you go there and win, the points will take care of themselves. As long as we do what we’re supposed to do, the points will fall into place.”

Not far behind the top trio at Lucas Oil Speedway this season was Henson, a fast-learning newcomer to the Late Models. The Russellville, Missouri, driver has four feature wins and 10 other top-five finishes in ULMA features in 2019.

“It’s been a great season,” Henson said. “We started out and didn’t focus on points a lot. We were just focused on top-fives and getting as many wins as we could. We’ve picked up some great wins this year, some that are the biggest of my career.

“As the season started to wind down, we noticed that we were in the hunt for this championship. We started to focus on it a little more and make sure we were running as good as we could. My car owner Rob Schlup has been working hard and Tony Jackson Jr. has been helping us. It’s been a great season.”

Henson said he knows overtaking Marrant in points will be a longshot, adding that “some things will have to happen” to Marrant in order for that to happen.

“I never want to see anything bad happen to any of my competitors,” Henson added. “I want to race as hard and clean as I can, just like I want them to race me. Our focus is to just go out there and finish the best we can. If we win it, that would be amazing. But we would be happy with winning Rookie of the Year and finishing second in points. That would be pretty awesome.”

The ULMA Late Models will have heat races, B-mains and features both Friday (25 laps) and Saturday (30 laps).

“We’re excited. It’s always fun to get to stay at a track and run two nights in a row like this,” Henson said.