Post by LMR on 09/29/12 at 2:54am
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Knoxville Raceway
September 28, 2012
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Marlar Makes Quick Work of Knoxville Nationals Field on Friday Night
by James Essex
KNOXVILLE, IA (September 28) - Scoring his first career win at Knoxville Raceway, Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN completed a 25-lap journey to the checkered flag, leading all the way. Marlar, who started third in the event, bolted to the lead on the opening circuit and never looked back in taking his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event of the season.
Steve Francis of Ashland, KY came home in second followed by Brady Smith of Solon Springs, WI; Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN; and Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA.
"I have to thank Norman Bryson for giving me this opportunity to drive his race car, we won the Hillbilly 100 after starting last and to come here tonight and win at Knoxville, it's sweet, it is one of the historic tracks in racing and to bring this Rocket Chassis to victory lane here is something I will never forget."
"The car took off great at the start, it felt like it kind of slowed down there a little bit at the end, but I guess I had a big enough of a lead, that it didn't really matter, but it is something to work on for tomorrow night's 100-lapper," said the 34-year-old racer. "I have to thank my sponsors SEG, LLC, Keyser Mfg, Integra Shocks, VP Fuels, GW Performance, Clements Race Engines and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption for all of their support."
Francis, who finished third on Thursday Night, finished one spot higher in Friday's preliminary to set-up a good starting spot for Saturday's $40,000 to win finale. "We have really run well here this week, there are a few things we need to tweak on the car to get it to turn better, it's Barry's (Wright) birthday today and I was hoping to bring home a victory for him said the driver of the Valvoline, Barry Wright Race Cars Chevrolet.
Smith, who won the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals event back in 2007 was happy with his run in the Big Red Motorsports, Team Zero by Bloomquist entry. "Oh we are real happy with everything tonight, Steve and I had a great race for second, but neither of us had anything for Mike, congrats to him for the victory."
Completing the top ten were Red Buck Fast Qualifier Brian Shirley of Chatham, IL; Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL; Tyler Reddick of Corning, CA; and Jason Feger of Bloomington, IL.
In preliminary action, Scott Bloomquist set the Red Buck Fast Time amongst the 80 entrants, with a lap of 17.277 seconds. Brian Birkhofer, Jesse Stovall, Jimmy Mars, Billy Moyer, and Tyler Reddick won their respective Heat Races. Earl Pearson Jr. won the D-main; Frank Heckenast Jr. won the C-Main, and Brady Smith won the B-Main.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday Night, September 28th, 2012
9th Annual Lucas Oil "Late Model Knoxville Nationals"
Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
A-Main
1 3 5b Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
2 5 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
3 6 2s Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
4 7 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
5 10 15d Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA
6 8 3s Brian Shirley Chatham, IL
7 11 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
8 18 44 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
9 9 11T Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
10 12 25 Jason Feger Bloomington, IL
11 16 57J Bub McCool Vicksburg, MS
12 22 15b Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA
13 4 7R Kent Robinson Bloomington, IN
14 14 18 Shannon Babb Mowequa, IL
15 13 1v Will Vaught Crane, MO
16 2 14m Morgan Bagley Tyler, TX
17 19 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
18 23 99JR Frank Heckenast, Jr. Frankfort, IL
19 1 15R Mark Burgtorf Quincy, IL
20 17 5 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
21 15 99 Donnie Moran Dresden, OH
22 24 2a John Anderson Omaha, NE
23 21 50 Denny Eckrich Tiffan, IA
24 20 13 JR Hotovy Hartford, MI
First Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 99 Donnie Moran
2 14m Morgan Bagley
3 5 Jared Landers
4 3s Brian Shirley
5 25S Chad Simpson
6 18e Eric Wells
7 56e Andy Eckrich
8 89 Mike Spatola
9 71 Don O'Neal
10 21b Rich Bell
11 58e Dave Eckrich
12 93 Jay Johnson
13 16b Tyler Bruening
14 18J Chase Junghaus
15 56w Mike Wallace
16 33 Paul Glendenning
Second Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 99 Donnie Moran
2 14m Morgan Bagley
3 5 Jared Landers
4 3s Brian Shirley
5 25S Chad Simpson
6 18e Eric Wells
7 56e Andy Eckrich
8 89 Mike Spatola
9 71 Don O'Neal
10 21b Rich Bell
11 58e Dave Eckrich
12 93 Jay Johnson
13 16b Tyler Bruening
14 18J Chase Junghaus
15 56w Mike Wallace
16 33 Paul Glendenning
Third Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 1v Will Vaught
2 2s Brady Smith
3 20 Jimmy Owens
4 13 JR Hotovy
5 11h Austin Hubbard
6 32C Bobby Pierce
7 2a John Anderson
8 15b Brian Birkhofer
9 3E Kevin Sather
10 25L Steve Lance
11 15c Curt Schroeder
12 22 Jill George
13 5m Mike Fryer
14 28m Jimmy Mars
15 56x Chris Spieker
16 55 Duane Treadwell
Fifth Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 18 Shannon Babb
2 25 Jason Feger
3 11T Tyler Reddick
4 7R Kent Robinson
5 31u Jason Utter
6 32S Chris Simpson
7 58X Ray Guss, Jr.
8 98 Jason Rauen
9 5d John Duty
10 93m Ray Moore
11 24 Ryan Unzicker
12 72 John Mason
13 20x Jake Meier
14 7 Chad Chenoweth
15 14w Dustin Walker
B-Main (15 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 50 Denny Eckrich
2 15b Brian Birkhofer
3 99JR Frank Heckenast, Jr.
4 2a John Anderson
5 28e Dennis Erb, Jr.
6 23 John Blankenship
7 18e Eric Wells
8 11h Austin Hubbard
9 25S Chad Simpson
10 89 Mike Spatola
11 51 Matt Furman
12 32C Bobby Pierce
13 56e Andy Eckrich
14 58X Ray Guss, Jr.
15 31u Jason Utter
16 48 Tim Lance
17 71 Don O'Neal
18 32S Chris Simpson
19 98 Jason Rauen
20 42c Terry Casey
21 58e Dave Eckrich
22 6s Jesse Stovall
C-Main (15 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 21 Billy Moyer
2 71 Don O'Neal
3 58e Dave Eckrich
4 21JR Billy Moyer, Jr.
5 5d John Duty
6 90 Lance Matthees
7 21b Rich Bell
8 1m Rob Moss
9 36 Jeff Larson
10 9t Tim Isenberg
11 16b Tyler Bruening
12 20x Jake Meier
13 3E Kevin Sather
14 78 Rick Wendling
15 1QT Brian Diede
16 72 John Mason
17 25L Steve Lance
18 15c Curt Schroeder
19 56x Chris Spieker
20 3x Skip Frey
21 93 Jay Johnson
22 22 Jill George
23 93m Ray Moore
24 24 Ryan Unzicker
D-Main (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer):
1 16b Tyler Bruening
2 36 Jeff Larson
3 56x Chris Spieker
4 20x Jake Meier
5 18J Chase Junghaus
6 55 Duane Treadwell
7 19L Scott Lewis
8 7 Chad Chenoweth
9 14w Dustin Walker
10 56w Mike Wallace
11 44zo Alonzo Grosse
12 22m Charlie McKenna
13 10c Junior Coover
14 33 Paul Glendenning
We will resume the 9th Annual Lucas Oil "Late Model Knoxville Nationals" at Knoxville Raceway tomorrow night in Knoxville, IA. The event will include Red Buck Time Trials, Heats, Last Chance Races, and another 25-Lap, $7,000-to-win A-Main! On Saturday, the weekend will be capped off with Last Chance Races and the 100-Lap, $40,000-to-win Main Event! 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.