HAGERSTOWN, MD (April 20, 2013) – Jimmy Owens won his second consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event Saturday night at Hagerstown Speedway. Owens took the lead on lap five passing Steve Francis and paced the field the rest of the way to become the eighth different winner in eight LOLMDS appearances at Hagerstown Speedway. Earl Pearson Jr. advanced from his seventh starting position to finish second followed by Vic Coffey, Steve Francis and 18th starting, Gregg Satterlee.
Owens commented on his winning car in victory lane. “It’s a new car that we have only run four or five races with it this year. We were a little worried early on this year but we got the kinks worked out of it and it seems to be really fast. We have never really run that well here so to come here tonight and get this win is great for our whole team. The track was racy and we had a good battle with Francis early on before we were able to pull away towards the end”, said Owens, whose victory was his first at the historic half-mile track.
Steve Francis would lead the first four circuits, until Owens, who started third passed Francis for the lead on lap five and built a straight away lead at times. Earl Pearson Jr. moved up to second during the early stages of the feature but could not find enough to over-take Owens. Pearson kept within striking distance of Owens as a couple of lapped cars kept Owens from lengthening his lead during the late stages of the event. Pearson closed to a few car lengths of Owens, but his momentum was slowed by a lapped car that prevented him from making a late-race run at Owens.
Pearson, who started seventh, was extremely happy with his second place finish. “Jimmy was dominant here tonight and we really didn’t have anything for him. We were running second to Jimmy in Texas and felt like we had a car to win there until we broke. To come here and get second and show that we have a good car feels good and that will help us in the points,” said the 4-time series champ. “This car was redesigned by Kevin Rumley and really is proving to be something we can build on. I love coming to this place and racing on high speed tracks,” said the driver of the #44 Bobby Labonte Racing, Lucas Oil Products sponsored Longhorn Chassis.
Vic Coffey, who survived a torrid battle for third among five drivers, came home in third place. “We had a real good car tonight. We took a little different line there than most of those guys coming off of turn four that really helped me to get into the top three. That was really a heck of race between all of us, just too bad it wasn’t for the lead. We will take third place and head to West Virginia tomorrow” commented Coffey in his post-race interview.
Finishing sixth through tenth in the final standings were Dan Stone, Steve Shaver, Billy Moyer Jr., John Blankenship, and Eddie Carrier Jr. With his win Saturday night Jimmy Owens took over the top spot in the series championship points standings. Owens leads Don O’Neal by fifteen points.
In preliminary action, Marvin Winters set the overall Time (Group A) amongst the 34 entrants, with a lap of 19.402 seconds. Steve Francis set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 19.551 seconds. Jamie Lathroum, Jimmy Owens, Steve Francis, and Vic Coffey won their respective heat races. DJ Myers and Gregg Satterlee won their respective B-Mains.
Tomorrow Night, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns to the “Mountaineer State”, making its return to West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells, WV on Sunday, April 21st. The event will pay $10,000-to-win, and will include RED BUCK Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and the 50-Lap main event. For more information, log onto www.wvspeedway.com.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and follow the series on www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and www.twitter.com/#!/lucasdirt.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, April 20th, 2013
32nd Annual Stanley Schetrompf Classic
Hagerstown Speedway – Hagerstown, MD
Red Buck Fast Time Group A: Marvin Winters / 19.402 seconds
Red Buck Fast Time Group B: Steve Francis / 19.551 seconds
Wiles Drive Shafts Heat Race #1 (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jamie Lathroum, Steve Shaver, J.T. Spence, Marvin Winters, DJ Myers, Scott Bloomquist, Tyler Hershey, Dennis Erb Jr., Frank Plessinger
Eibach Springs Heat Race #2 (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson Jr., Kenny PettyJohn, Don O’Neal, Bobby Pierce, Steven Axtell, Devin Friese, Kenny Moreland
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Steve Francis, Eddie Carrier Jr., Nick Dickson, Dan Stone, Gregg Satterlee, Brian Birkhofer, John Blankenship, Jason McBride, Pancho Lawler
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #4 (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Vic Coffey, Billy Moyer Jr., Gary Stuhler, Brian Tavenner, Jerry Bard, Austin Hubbard, Jared Landers, Jerry Lierly
CV Products B-Main #1 (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): DJ Myers, Scott Bloomquist, Bobby Pierce, Tyler Hershey, Dennis Erb Jr., Devin Friese, Steven Axtell, Kenny Moreland, Frank Plessinger
Wrisco Aluminum B-Main #2 (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Brian Birkhofer, John Blankenship, Jerry Bard, Jerry Lierly, Jared Landers, Jason McBride, Pancho Lawler, Austin Hubbard