Brandon Overton and Brandon Sheppard Claim the Checkers During Doubleheader at Lernerville Speedway

SARVER, Pa.— June 24, 2017— The 11th annual Firecracker 100 was combined for one huge event on Saturday with back-to-back World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series action at the famed 4/10-mile oval— Lernerville Speedway. The afternoon matinee included a full show with a 30-lap feature which then lead to the main events later that evening— the Uncle Sam 30 and the Firecracker 100.

Firecracker 100 is Overton’s Flair

Brandon Overton claimed the biggest win of his career as he parked it in Victory Lane after leading every lap of the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway.

“Man I tell you what, I come here and get my first Outlaw win and then I get the biggest win of my career,” said Overton. “I just can’t thank my boys enough. I crashed the crap out of this thing earlier today and my boys fixed it up, and tuned it up, and we put ourselves in position to win. This is a dream come true.”

Overton claimed his first-ever Outlaw win during his sophomore season with the Series at the preliminary event for the 10th annual Firecracker 100. His win in 2016 was dedicated to his father’s commitment to helping him to reach that point in his career. Just one year later, Overton was able to put the cherry on top of his experience at Lernerville Speedway with a $30,000 payday.

Mike Marlar and Tim McCreadie were looking to capitalize on any mistakes made by the young gun, but Overton’s run was faultless. With just nine laps remaining in the show, only .429 seconds stood between Marlar and Overton but the Randy Weaver 116 Dream Ride was able to hold him off.

“There really wasn’t a lot of room there to pass him but I was right under him a lot of times,” said Mike Marlar. “They had one little sweet spot on the track and I tip-toed to the left of it and to the right of it but I just couldn’t make anything happen out there.”

Although Marlar couldn’t complete his pass for the lead, he was able to pass McCreadie for second on lap 37.

“I know it’s not easy,” said McCreadie. “I know these two guys up here [Overton and Marlar] made it look easy but it’s not easy. I’m thankful I have a good ride.”

McCreadie sustained a late race charge by Don O’Neal who found his way to contend for the podium with just a few laps to go.

Smith Triumphs in Uncle Sam

G.R. Smith’s first ever visit to Lernerville Speedway ended victorious as he won the Uncle Sam race and $3,000. Smith out ran Boom Briggs in second by 2.961.

“It’s not the one we wanted to win and we hate that we missed the big show but it’s not a bad night,” said Smith. “We came a long way from Charlotte, N.C. to race up here and it’s great to see a dirt track with all of these people here. It’s great to come up and race in front of you guys and I’m honored to do so.”

Sheppard’s time to shine

Sheppard selected a fan from the crowd to draw his starting position for the afternoon event and his redraw luck didn’t run dry as the number one Craftsman wrench was pulled from the toolbox placing him on the pole for the 30-lap feature.

“We had a good heat race and were able to finish second which put us in the redraw. That was key here,” said Sheppard. “I assume it was pretty hard to pass out there. We had a pretty balanced racecar and we were able to keep a good momentum line and get it done.”

Sheppard held on to the lead position for all 30-laps but Mike Marlar tried his best to maneuver around the Rocket1. By lap 13 only .808 seconds stood between Marlar and Sheppard but Marlar could not find the extra push he needed to complete the pass.

Once the pair approached lap traffic, the Rocket Shepp was able slide by cars without a problem allowing him to widen the gap on Marlar to a 1.650 by lap 18 before returning to a 1.1 second difference at the finish.

Chub Frank was all smiles in Victory Lane after he claimed his best finish of the season in his home state of Pennsylvania.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series will return to Lernerville Speedway on Sept. 2 for the Working Man 50. The next stop for the Series will be on June 28 at the Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway for the FVP Outlaw Clay Classic. For more information click here. For tickets click here.

Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway Results:

Craftsman Club Feature: 1. 116- Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 157- Mike Marlar[3]; 3. 39- Tim McCreadie[4]; 4. 5- Don O’Neal[6]; 5. 44- Chris Madden[8]; 6. 17M- Dale McDowell[13]; 7. 56- Russ King[9]; 8. 1- Brandon Sheppard[12]; 9. 72- Mike Norris[7]; 10. 1*- Chub Frank[11]; 11. 25- Shane Clanton[17]; 12. 9- Devin Moran[14];13. 18c- Chase Junghans[16]; 14. 22- Gregg Satterlee[22]; 15. 7- Rick Eckert[19]; 16. 18- Eric Wells[23]; 17. 91- Tyler Erb[21]; 18. 99j- Frank Heckenast Jr[20]; 19. 2c- Joey Coulter[27]; 20. 14m- Morgan Bagley[24]; 21. 10- Alex Ferree[25]; 22. H1- Jared Miley[10]; 23. 40B- Kyle Bronson[15]; 24. 25z- Mason Zeigler[18]; 25. 111- Matt Lux[26]; 26. 14- Darrell Lanigan[2]; 27. 0- Scott Bloomquist[5]

MANSFIELD, OH (July 2, 2017) – The first ever visit to Mansfield Motor Speedway on Sunday Night by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series was a huge success. There was a tremendous crowd combined with a spectacular racing surface saw the fans witness Josh Richards winning for the second night in row.

Richards took the lead at the start of the race and led every lap for the second night in a row, but behind Richards there was two-wide racing for most of the 50 lap feature deep into the field. Gregg Satterlee out-dueled fellow Rookie of the Year contender, Hudson O’Neal to take the second spot as he joined Richards on the podium for the second night in a row. O’Neal – the 16-year-old son of former series champion, Don O’Neal – made his first LOLMDS podium appearance with a third-place finish.

Completing the top five were Darrell Lanigan and Tim McCreadie. Current LOLMDS point leader Scott Bloomquist started 11th and finished in sixth to maintain the series points lead.

“This is one awesome track,” said the 29-year-old in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for this fifth time this season and for the 17th time in his career. “I was fortunate enough to come here and run an ARCA race for Venturini Motorsports like seven years ago. To have another dirt track come onboard, you don’t see that very often. It’s cool to see them put the effort out and with such a facility like this it’s neat to win here.”

“I can’t thank the crowd and the track crew enough. I was a little skeptical from the races earlier this year on how the track conditions would be, but they did a phenomenal job getting the track worked in. The car moved around really well. I could pass cars pretty much at will, I had a few close calls, but other than that, the car was exceptional.”

Richards’ Eric and Kelly Brock owned, Best Performance Motorsports, Rocket is sponsored by Bulk Material Lift, Corey Frazier-State Farm, Valvoline, Keyser, Riggs Motorsports, Integra, Sunoco Fuels, and Alexander Lawn and Landscaping.

The battle for second went on for several laps between Satterlee and Hudson O’Neal. Satterlee was finally able to clear O’Neal with a little more than ten laps to go.

“It an awesome race, just glad to get on the podium two nights in a row,” said Satterlee. “They haven’t raced here a lot. Our hats are off to the promoter and everyone who put this show on tonight. There was a huge crowd here tonight. We always like racing in front of a big crowd it’s always a lot of fun. We had a great car again, but we have some more tweaking to do to catch this green number 1 car.”

“Good job to Hudson, he’s only 16 and he is going to be a threat for years to come. I enjoyed racing with him side-by-side tonight, hopefully we can all get to do this again tomorrow night in Zanesville. This is a beautiful facility and we could race all over the track. I look forward to coming back,” said the driver of the Satterlee Petroleum, Durham Racing Engines, Rocket.

Hudson O’Neal was ecstatic for his first career LOLMDS podium finish. “It was a blast out there. Congratulations to Josh on the win. I am just happy to be here and run inside the top three. I can’t wait to call my car owner Todd Burns and tell him, he is going to be so excited. It’s so much fun racing with all of these guys. It’s a whole team effort. I look to coming back here next year it races phenomenal,” said the driver of the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Vermeer Midwest, Mark Martin Automotive, Kimball Midwest by Krissie sponsored Club 29 entry.

Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr., Jimmy Owens, Steve Francis, and Dennis Erb Jr.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Sunday, July 2nd, 2017
Freedom 50 – presented Summit Racing Equipment
Mansfield Motor Speedway – Mansfield, OH

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal / 16.721 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Gregg Satterlee / 16.881 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, All Transfer): Hudson O’Neal, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jimmy Owens, Doug Drown, Boom Briggs, Rod Conley, Ryan Markham, Larry Bellman, Jr., Bob Mayer

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, All Transfer): Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Don O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist, Matt Irey, Steven Kester, Mike Bores, Dave Hornikel

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, All Transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Earl Pearson, Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Steve Francis, Robert Anderzack, Jason Montgomery, Ben Mott, Kody Evans

Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race Statistics
Entrants: 25
Lap Leaders: Josh Richards (Laps 1 – 50)
Cautions: Doug Drown (Lap 29); Don O’Neal (Lap 40)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: n/a
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Wrisco Feature Winner: Josh Richards
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Scott Bloomquist (Started: 11th; Finished: 5th; Advanced 6 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Don O’Neal
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Josh Richards
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Gregg Satterlee
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Randall Edwards (Josh Richards)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Josh Richards (Lap #2 – 17.6503 seconds)
Safecraft Most Laps Led: Josh Richards (50 Laps)
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Hudson O’Neal
Time of Race: 25 minutes 13 seconds

Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings: