BROWNSTOWN, IN (September 22, 2012) – Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN solidified his points lead in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series by sweeping the weekend at Brownstown Speedway as the defending series champion took home $20,000 for winning the 33rd Annual Jackson 100 on Saturday Night. Owens led all 100-laps Industrial Solutions Technology LLC sponsored event.
Steve Francis of Ashland, KY was the only car capable of staying with Owens early on in the race, but Owens’ margin of victory was nearly half-a-lap at the finish. Francis finished third, just ahead of 4-time Jackson 100 winner, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN, who placed third. Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN survived a spirited battle with Earl Pearson, Jr. of Jacksonville, FL and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN to claim the fourth spot.
Owens, who started off the weekend by setting fast time on Friday Night, withstood a side-by-side battle with Terry Casey of New London, WI in the first heat to earn the pole starting spot. Owens took the lead at the start of the race with pressure from Francis for the first 24 laps, until the first caution came out.
The restart for Owens was beneficial because he had reached lapped traffic and that was allowing Francis to stay close. Pearson, who started ninth, climbed into third, and was in the hunt. He began battling Francis for third.
There were three more cautions in the race past the halfway mark, but none could slow Owens. Pearson got by Francis for second on lap 63 and held that position until Francis was able to get back around him on a lap 72 restart.
Owens continued to stretch his lead out over Francis in the final 25 circuits as he went on to capture his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race of the season and his 34th all-time in series competition. He joins Hall of Famers Bloomquist and Jeff Purvis as fellow Tennesseans to win the prestigious event.
“The car was great all weekend, from the time we unloaded it, the track was good all night, it took a while to get going. I know it was cold out here, but the crew picked the right tires and I just drove it, we had no problems whatsoever,” said the 40-year-old who extended his points lead over O’Neal, who finished sixth.
“I want to thank Mike Reece, my car owner, Reece Monument Company, Gantte Appraisals, Red Line Oil, Sunoco Race Fuels, Midwest Sheet Metal, Ohlins, Hoosier, Keyser and everybody else for making this possible,” said Owens, whose winning car is a Bloomquist Race Cars Ford powered by a Cornett Racing Engine.
“I was a little worried when they moved those tires out there on the track during that one caution, I set up the car to run low in the moisture, so we had to change our line entering the corner in turn one, but it didn’t really matter, we were able to pull away from everybody, it feels good to win here at Brownstown again.”
In preliminary action, Jimmy Owens set the Red Buck Fast Time amongst the 40 entrants, with a lap of 15.281 seconds. Jared Landers set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 15.563 seconds. Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Jared Landers and Mike Marlar won their respective Heat Races. John Blankenship and Jonathan Davenport won their respective B-Mains.
Next weekend, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will return to action with the 9th Annual Lucas Oil “Late Model Knoxville Nationals” at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, September 27-29th. For more information, log onto www.knoxvilleraceway.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
Saturday Night, September 22nd, 2012
33rd Annual Industrial Solutions Technology “Jackson 100”
Brownstown Speedway – Brownstown, IN
Red Buck Fast Time Group A: Jimmy Owens / 15.281 seconds
Red Buck Fast Time Group B: Jared Landers / 15.563 seconds
Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Terry Casey, Earl Pearson, Jr., Greg Johnson, Tyler Reddick, Chad Stapleton, Dustin Neat, Joe Godsey, Jeremy Hines, Brandon Kinzer
U. S. Steel Second Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Eric Wells, Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, John Blankenship, Wayne Chinn, Tim Rivers, Zak Blackwood, Brian Birkhofer, Matt Boknecht-DNS
Simpson Performance Products Third Heat (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Jared Landers, Billy Moyer, Jr., Dustin Linville, Joe Janowski, Jonathan Davenport, Shelby Miles, Scott James, Justin Rattliff, Josh McGuire, Alan Magner
HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Steve Francis, Brad Neat, Shannon Babb, Mike Jewell, Chris Streeval, Greg Kendall, Steve Barnett, Matt Patus, David Ross, Steve Casebolt
JRi Shocks First B-Main (12 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): John Blankenship, Dustin Neat, Tyler Reddick, Wayne Chinn, Joe Godsey, Tim Rivers, Brian Birkhofer, Jeremy Hines, Brandon Kinzer, Zak Blackwood, Chad Stapleton, Matt Boknecht-DNS
PAC Racing Springs Second B-Main (12 Laps – Top 3 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Shelby Miles, Scott James, Josh McGuire, Steve Barnett, Greg Kendall, Alan Magner, Matt Patus, Steve Casebolt, David Ross, Justin Rattliff, Chris Streeval
Brownstown Speedway Track Provisional Dash (6 Laps – Winner Transfers): Jeremy Hines, Steve Barnett, Greg Kendall, Chad Stapleton, Matt Patus, Chris Streeval
Feature Finish – 100 Laps
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 1 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 2 | 4 | 15 | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 3 | 11 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 4 | 3 | 5b | Mike Marlar | Winfield, TN |
| 5 | 9 | 44 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 6 | 15 | 71 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 7 | 2 | 5 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 8 | 5 | 42c | Terry Casey | New London, WI |
| 9 | 7 | 18e | Eric Wells | Hazard, KY |
| 10 | 6 | 21JR | Billy Moyer, Jr. | Batesville, AR |
| 11 | 22 | P1 | Scott James | Lawrenceburg, IN |
| 12 | 17 | 23 | John Blankenship | Williamson, WV |
| 13 | 20 | 76 | Shelby Miles | Bloomington, IN |
| 14 | 25 | 5H | Jeremy Hines | Seymour, IN |
| 15 | 21 | 11T | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA |
| 16 | 13 | 24H | Greg Johnson | Bedford, IN |
| 17 | 18 | 15d | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA |
| 18 | 14 | 6J | Joe Janowski | Carmel, IN |
| 19 | 24 | 46 | Tim Rivers | Salem, IN |
| 20 | 23 | 15b | Brian Birkhofer | Muscatine, IA |
| 21 | 19 | 25n | Dustin Neat | Dunnville, KY |
| 22 | 10 | D8 | Dustin Linville | Lancaster, KY |
| 23 | 8 | 41n | Brad Neat | Dunnville, KY |
| 24 | 12 | 18 | Shannon Babb | Mowequa, IL |
| 25 | 16 | 9J | Mike Jewell | Scottsburg, IN |