Blankenship Wins Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Debut at Stateline

BUSTI, NY (July 24, 2012) – The record books will show that John Blankenship of Williamson, WV led all 50 laps of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series debut at Stateline Speedway in Tuesday Night. The record crowd that was in attendance knows that just for a moment Ripley, NY’s Mike Knight almost pulled off a major upset.

Blankenship, who won the first major race of his career in 2005 at Stateline, stormed to a healthy early lead over the field. Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN ran in second place for the first 28 laps of the race, until Knight, using the top groove on the track, ran him down and passed him on lap 29.

It took several laps before Knight could finally catch Blankenship and cut down the straightaway lead he had over the field. Blankenship started experiencing difficulties with lapped traffic, and that allowed Knight to close the gap. Knight briefly held the lead off of turn two on lap 48, but Blankenship’s machine bolted out of turn 4 to retake the lead. Knight then tried to pass Blankenship several more times, but he made contact with the wall coming off of turn two, and hurt his chances to pull off a surprising win.

Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, PA came from 16^th to finish third in his best ever Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series finish. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, PA was fourth, followed by Bloomquist, who faded back to fifth.

Blankenship, in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time this year and the third of his career, said he didn’t think it was Knight who was making the pass on him. “I thought it was Scott (Bloomquist). I saw a dark car, but he (Knight) must have run a heck of a race! He tried the cross-over move a couple of times there near the end and I was able to get back in front of him. Our car started to go away at the end, it was just superb right from the drop of the green,” said the 31-year-old.

“He actually got by me once, but I stayed right there with him! I hope the fans enjoyed that finish, it was a little nerve-wracking for me, but I think we put on a great show for everybody that was here. I really like coming up to this track, my dad said maybe I should move up here, but anyway, we have had great success here. Hopefully it will continue for the rest of the week,” said Blankenship, who now is fifth in the LOLMDS Championship Points Standings.

Blankenship’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Coal America’s Energy, Todd Case Trucking, Fast Lane, VP Race Fuels, Bear Cove Village, and Integra Racing Shocks.

Completing the top ten were Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN; Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville GA; Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN; Jared Landers of Batesville, AR; and Ron Davies of Warren, PA.

In preliminary action, John Blankenship, Daniel Stone, Scott Bloomquist, and Chub Frank won their respective heat races. Jimmy Owens and Randy Lobb won their respective B-Mains.

Tomorrow night, July 25^th, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will continue its swing through the state of New York at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, NY before continuing the Fonda Speedway in Fonda, NY on Thursday, July 26^th. Capping off a busy month of July, the Series will make its way down to Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, MD on Saturday, July 28^th. All three events will feature Red Buck Cigars Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and 50-lap main events. For more information, log onto www.uticaromespeedway.com, www.fondaspeedway.com, andwww.hagerstownspeedway.com.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and be sure to follow the series at www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and www.twitter.com/#!/lucasdirt.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Race Summary

Tuesday Night, July 24^th, 2012

“Empire 50”
Stateline-Speedway – Busti, NY

Red Buck Cigars Fast Time Group A: Tyler Reddick / 15.723 seconds

Red Buck Cigars Fast Time Group B: Scott Bloomquist / 16.087 seconds

Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): John Blankenship, Tyler Reddick, Steve Francis, Gregg Satterlee, Jason DuPont, Bump Hedman, John Lobb, Dutch Davies, Greg Oaks, Jordan Eck

U. S. Steel Second Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Daniel Stone, Ron Davies, Ricky Elliott, Dick Barton, Jimmy Owens, Robbie Blair, Jared Landers, Brent Rhebergen, Boom Briggs

Simpson Performance Products Third Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Mike Knight, Earl Pearson, Jr., Don O’Neal, David Scott, Chad Valone, Doug Eck, Chris Hackett, Rich Gardner

HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Chub Frank, Jonathan Davenport, Eric Wells, Dave Hess, Jr., Randy Lobb, Andy Boozel, Darrell Bossard, Scott Gurdak, George LaBarbera

JRi Shocks First B-Main (12 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Jason DuPont, Bump Hedman, Robbie Blair, Dutch Davies, Jared Landers, Brent Rhebergen, Greg Oaks, Jordan Eck, Boom Briggs, John Lobb

PAC Racing Springs Second B-Main (12 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): Randy Lobb, David Scott, Doug Eck, Andy Boozel, Darrell Bossard, Chad Valone, Chris Hackett, Scott Gurdak, Rich Gardner, George LaBarbera-DNS