TAMPA, FL (February 11, 2011) – Brad Neat of Dunnville, KY raced to his first ever win at East Bay Raceway Park during the 35th Annual DART Winternationals Presented by Magnaflow Exhaust. 
Neat took back the lead when Mike Marlar pitted for a flat tire on lap 34. Neat then held off Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN to score the win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event. Dennis Erb, Jr. of Carpentersville, IL finished third followed by Josh Richards of Shinnston, WV and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN.
“First off, I have to thank the Good Lord,” said Neat, whose victory was his third career win on the series tour. “I want to thank Bobby Labonte and my entire team, my crew chief Mark Hopper, Eric Fullwood, our team manager Jason Fitzgerald and everybody back at the shop. You have to feel bad for Mikey (Marlar), but that’s the way it goes in racing sometimes, we had a real good car tonight, thanks to Red Buck, Sunoco, Ohlins and PRC and Cornett Engines, this Longhorn Chassis is going to be strong all year,” said the 31-year-old driver.
Neat was solid from the start of the 50 main event as he took the lead from his outside front row starting position. Marlar, who started from the pole fell into second followed by Owens, Eric Wells and Tim Dohm. Neat opened up a sizable lead by the ninth lap as he started to encounter heavy traffic.
Neat was still in control at the halfway mark as Marlar started to close the gap on him. A caution for Jason Feger on lap 32 bunched the field up. Two laps later Wells, who was running fifth had a flat tire and stopped on the track to bring out the third caution. During the caution, Marlar’s right rear started to go flat and he headed to the pit area for a tire change.
As Marlar gave up the lead, Neat took over the top spot with Owens now second followed by Dohm, Josh Richards and Dennis Erb, Jr. Neat and Owens bolted away from the field on the restart and with ten laps to go it appeared as if the race would be settled among those two. Dohm had other ideas, as he caught the two frontrunners pulling alongside Owens on lap 47 just as his right rear tire blew.
The race went green for another lap until the final caution appeared for Austin Hubbard’s flat. The green-white-checkered restart saw Neat hold off Owens to become the 54th different driver to win a Late Model event during the East Bay Winternationals history.
Completing the top ten Tim McCreadie of Watertown, NY, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN, Donnie Moran of Dresden, OH, Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, AR and Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC.
In preliminary action Mike Marlar was the Red Buck Cigar Fast Qualifier among the 66 entrants. Heat race winners were Marlar, Eric Wells, Tim Dohm, Brad Neat, Jimmy Owens and Josh Richards. The B-mains were taken by Donnie Moran and Billy Moyer Jr.
On Saturday, February 12th there will another day-night doubleheader with a 40-lap $10,000 to win event starting with hot laps at 11 AM and a full show to follow. Then tomorrow night will be the 75-lap finale paying $12,000 to win event.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wednesday Night, February 11th, 2011
35th Annual DART Winternationals Presented by Magnaflow
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Mike Marlar / 14.677 seconds (Group A and Overall)
Austin Hubbard / 14.843 seconds (Group B)
Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (10 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Mike Marlar, Jason Feger, David Breazeale, Donnie Moran, Steve Francis, Chris Wall, Dale McDowell, Michael Chilton, DJ Wells, Jackie Nosbisch, James O’Hara
Wiles Driveshafts Second Heat (10 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Eric Wells, Tyler Reddick, Eddie Carrier Jr., Vic Coffey, Dillan White, Daniel Stone, Bobby Pierce, Earl Pearson Jr., Chad Valone, Leon Henderson, Skylar Marlar
Sweet Manufacturing Third Heat (10 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Tim Dohm, Rick Eckert, Dan Schlieper, Billy Moyer, Ray Cook, Bub McCool, John Blankenship, Justin Rattliff, Steve Casebolt, Wendell Wallace-DNS, Duane Harbaugh-DNS
HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (10 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Brad Neat, Dennis Erb Jr., Austin Hubbard, Eric Jacobsen, Davey Johnson, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jason McBride, Joe Denby, Chad Hollenbeck, John Gardner, Doug Blashe
Wiles Driveshafts Fifth Heat (10 Laps- Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Don O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer Jr., Tim Isenberg, Brent Robinson, Brian Birkhofer, Brandon Thirlby, Danny Mitchell, Bob Gardner, Robert Geiger
Sweet Manufacturing Sixth Heat (10 Laps- Top 3 Transfer): Josh Richards, Jared Landers, Tim McCreadie, Tim Fuller, Jared Hawkins, Ricky Weiss, Scott James, Travis Varnadore, Mark Andersen, Russ Adams, Wayne Chinn
JRi Shocks First B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Donnie Moran, Vic Coffey, Billy Moyer, Chris Wall, Dale McDowell, Bub McCool, Dillan White, Michael Chilton, Steve Casebolt, Jackie Nosbisch, Justin Rattliff, Daniel Stone, DJ Wells, Chad Valone, Leon Henderson, James O’Hara, Bobby Pierce, Steve Francis, Ray Cook, Wendell Wallace, John Blankenship-DNS, Earl Pearson Jr.-DNS, Skylar Marlar-DNS, Duane Harbaugh-DNS
Wrisco Aluminum Second B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Billy Moyer, Chris Wall, Dale McDowell, Bub McCool, Dillan White, Michael Chilton, Steve Casebolt, Jackie Nosbisch, Justin Rattliff, Daniel Stone, DJ Wells, Chad Valone, Leon Henderson, James O’Hara, Bobby Pierce, Steve Francis, Wendell Wallace, John Blankenship-DNS, Skylar Marlar-DNS, Duane Harbaugh-DNS
Magnaflow Performance Exhaust Provisional: Davey Johnson
Race Statistics
Entrants: 66
Lap Leaders: Brad Neat (Laps 1 – 31); Mike Marlar (32 – 34); Brad Neat (Laps 35 – 50)
Caution Flags: Lap 10 (Davey Johnson); Lap 32 (Jason Feger); Lap 34 (Eric Wells); Lap 24 (Rick Eckert); Lap 47 (Austin Hubbard)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Earl Pearson Jr., Ray Cook
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: none
DART Fast Pass: Tim Isenberg
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Ray Cook (Started 24th; Finished 10th; Advanced 14 positions)
Allstar Performer of the Race: Jimmy Owens
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Scott Bloomquist
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: none
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award: Mike Marlar
DirtonDirt.com Crew Chief of the Race: Mark Hopper (Brad Neat)