Bagley Records his Second Top Five Performance of 2016
SARVER, Pa. – Sept. 3, 2016 – Jimmy Mars won the Working Man finale presented by GottaRace.com Saturday night at Lernerville Speedway. Mars started third in the 75-lap Craftsman Club® Feature, ultimately earning the $20,000 purse for the weekend.
“It’s awesome to be back at Lernerville,” Mars said. “We don’t get to race as much as we want to right now. Things are going good, and I have so many people to thank. We have a lot of great people behind us. Everything worked great.”
Mars’ last World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series victory came on July 2014. In a seven-caution spectacular, Mars fought a stout group of series regulars. Three-time Series Champion Josh Richards, who was seeking his record-breaking 18th win of the season, swiftly led the 24-car field in the beginning laps of the race from fourth.
Richards led 64 laps of the main event, while the rest of the top five relentlessly battled for a chance to take on the red-hot driver out of Shinnston, W.V. Early on, it was Mars. Mars maintained a half-second behind Richards for the first eight laps. Thereon, he funneled back to as far as fourth place.
Mars’ greatest battle was between Defending Series Champion Shane Clanton. Clanton, who overtook Mars’ No. 28M Deppe Enterprises/ S&S Transport, Inc. MB Customs car on lap 67, began to trade third and fourth position with Mars. The Menomonie, Wisc. native solidified third on a lap 45 restart. Thereon, he looked toward 2011 Series Champion Rick Eckert for second place. Eckert earned one of the two $2,500-to-win qualifying features earlier in the weekend.
With 28 laps remaining, Mars passed Eckert for second. Meanwhile, 2013 Rookie of the Year runner-up Morgan Bagley moved into fourth position – knocking on the door of his second top five performance of the season.
The pivotal moment in the race came with 11 laps remaining. Richards, who was weaving through lapped traffic and building his lead over Mars, made contact with one of the cars. His car suffered a right-front flat tire, essentially giving Mars the go-ahead for the lead.
“Yeah, that was too bad for Josh,” Mars said. “It’s tough in lapped traffic, you know? That stuff just happens, and it sucks. I’ve been in that position before. For the last few laps before that I’d say Josh and I were both saving our tires a little bit, and the bottom had a lot of moisture. I don’t know what he had for tires, but our car worked great. So I was patient in the beginning, fell back there a little bit, and then I was there at the end.”
On the restart, Bagley catapulted his No. 14M Gotta Race Apparel/ P-W Sales Black Diamond car into second place. Bagley was able to diminish Mars’ lead to 1.258 seconds with four laps to go, but ended up losing a half-second by the time he hit the checkers. Billy Moyer Jr., whose last top five finish came on August 13, squeaked into the final podium spot over Eckert in his No. 21JR Crop Production Services/ Karl Performance Moyer/ Victory racecar.
Bagley’s second place finish was his best of the season. He finished third earlier in the season at Tyler County Speedway (W.V.) on May 29. Mars said the last laps of the race were suspenseful with Bagley on his tail. With Mars “overshooting the corner a couple of times in turn one,” it lent enough room for Bagley to make a last-ditch effort.
“[Our season] is definitely headed in the right direction,” Bagley said. “I’ll tell you, we’ve been really working hard all year trying stuff. I mean, we’re just really getting back to standard. We’re just trying to keep our program up to par, get our cars better. Jimmy was good. Hats off to them. They had the car to beat. We got into [turn] one and two a little better than him. I just ran out of track there. We were going to give him hell and try something.”
Moyer Jr., who leads the Rookie of the Year standings, recorded his fifth top five performance of 2016. Moyer started 12th in the Craftsman Club® feature, and he credits his tires for his strong charge to the podium.
“We came in, changed tires and the car to make it a little better,” Moyer said. “We just really weren’t good at the beginning. Early on, I sometimes don’t drive very well sideways with the wheel-spin like a lot of these guys. I thought we had a flat there and changed tires. It helped. This Billy Moyer car has been really good lately. Thanks to all the fans. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be out here.”
Mike Norris, a hometown Sarver, Pa. native, rounded-out the top five. Norris finished second in his qualifying feature on Friday.
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World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series Statistical Report; September 3, 2016; Lernerville Speedway; Sarver, Pa.
Craftsman Club® Feature (75 laps): 1.28m- Jimmy Mars [3] [$20,900]; 2. 14m- Morgan Bagley [5] [$11,425]; 3. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr [12] [$6,350]; 4. 7- Rick Eckert [8] [$7,300]; 5. 72- Mike Norris [7] [$4,700]; 6. 18- Eric Wells [14] [$3,550]; 7. 72c- Jason Covert [21] [$2,150]; 8. 1- Josh Richards [4] [$5,200]; 9. 25- Shane Clanton [6] [$3,150]; 10. 10- Alex Ferree [16] [$2,025]; 11. 44s- Dave Hess Jr. [19] [$1,900]; 12. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr. [2] [$2,850]; 13. 99B- Boom Briggs [20] [$1,650]; 14. C9- Steve Casebolt [17] [$2,075]; 15. 91- Tyler Erb [10] [$2,200]; 16. 1*- Chub Frank [9] [$2,150]; 17. 2c- Joey Coulter [22] [$1,175]; 18. 14- Dan Angelicchio [18] [$1,250]; 19. 93- Donald Bradsher [23] [$1,150]; 20. H1- Jared Miley [11] [$1,400]; 21. 76- Brandon Overton [15] [$1,825]; 22. 4T8- John Flinner Jr. [13] [$1,300]; 23. 111- Matt Lux [24] [$1,150]; 24. 3s- Brian Shirley [1] [$2,700]
Last Chance Showdown (15 laps – Top 6 Transfer): 1. C9- Steve Casebolt [4] 2. 14- Dan Angelicchio [1]; 3. 44s- Dave Hess Jr. [2]; 4. 99B- Boom Briggs [6]; 5. 72c- Jason Covert [11]; 6. 2c- Joey Coulter [8]; 7. 111- Matt Lux [13]; 8. 93- Donald Bradsher [9]; 9. 29s- Ken Schaltenbrand Jr. [10] [$260]; 10. 66- Todd Bachman [12] [$260]; 11. 20- Michael Davis [3] [$335]; 12. 00- Josh Holtgraver [7] [$285]; 13. 10L- Gary Lyle [5] [$310]
World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners (awards presented to noted finisher/qualifier or next highest displaying decal):
Comp Cams – $50 Product certificate: Morgan Bagley
MSD – $50 Cash: Morgan Bagley
QuarterMaster – $100 Product certificate: Billy Moyer Jr.
Wrisco Aluminum – 3 Sheets of aluminum: Jimmy Mars
Penske Shocks – TBD Product certificate: Billy Moyer Jr.
JE Pistons – $50 Cash: Eric Wells
VP Racing Fuels – $50 Cash: Shane Clanton
Edelbrock – $50 Cash: Shane Clanton
Comp Cams – $50 Cash: Alex Ferree
Morton Buildings – $50 Cash: Dave Hess Jr.
Cometic Gasket – $50 Cash: Frank Heckenast Jr.
JRI Shocks – $50 Cash: Boom Briggs
SuperFlow – $50 Cash: Steve Casebolt
QuarterMaster – $25 Product certificate: Tyler Erb
JE Pistons – Set of rings: Chub Frank
QuarterMaster – $50 Product certificate: Jared Miley
Arizona Sport Shirts – $100 Product certificate: Jared Miley
JE Pistons – Set of rings: Brandon Overton
MSD – $25 Cash: Morgan Bagley
QA1 – $50 Cash: Tyler Erb
Bonus Bucks – $500 Cash: Mike Norris
Rookie Bonus – $250 Cash: Billy Moyer Jr.
Craftsman Bonus – $100 Cash: Jimmy Mars
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Morgan Bagley
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Billy Moyer Jr.
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Rick Eckert
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Eric Wells
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Josh Richards
2016 World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Point Standings as of September 3 – 36 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/residence/points/deficit to leader):
| Pos. | Car # | Driver | Residence | Points | Trail By |
| 1 | 1 | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | 5136 | 0 |
| 2 | 25 | Shane Clanton | Zebulon, GA | 4864 | 272 |
| 3 | 7 | Rick Eckert | York, PA | 4742 | 394 |
| 4 | 76 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | 4570 | 566 |
| 5 | 3S | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | 4488 | 648 |
| 6 | 21JR | Billy Moyer Jr. | Batesville, AR | 4480 | 656 |
| 7 | C9 | Steve Casebolt | Richmond, IN | 4436 | 700 |
| 8 | 1* | Chub Frank | Bear Lake, PA | 4416 | 720 |
| 9 | 99JR | Frank Heckenast Jr. | Frankfort, IL | 4376 | 760 |
| 10 | 18 | Eric Wells | Hazard, KY | 4360 | 776 |
| 11 | 14M | Morgan Bagley | Gladewater, TX | 4314 | 822 |
| 12 | 91 | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | 3922 | 1214 |
| 13 | 2C | Joey Coulter | Union Grove, NC | 3756 | 1380 |
| 14 | 99B | Boom Briggs | Bear Lake, PA | 3514 | 1622 |
| 15 | 18C | Chase Junghans | Manhattan, KS | 3348 | 1788 |
| 16 | 77 | Jordan Yaggy | Rochester, MN | 1586 | 3550 |
| 17 | 72 | Jason Covert | York Haven, PA | 1392 | 3744 |
| 18 | 11 | Austin Smith | Cedartown, GA | 1368 | 3768 |
| 19 | 17M | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga, GA | 1340 | 3796 |
| 20 | 38S | Kenny Pettyjohn | Millsboro, DE | 1270 | 3866 |
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Bad Boy Off Road (Official Side-by-Side Vehicle), Craftsman (Official Tool), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Sears (Official Home Store), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience, VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel) and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, MSD, Penske Shocks, QA1, QuarterMaster, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue