Post by LMR on 09/05/13 at 9:49pm
Eldora Speedway
September 5, 2013
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VanWormer & Clanton Open World 100 Weekend With Victories In Twin 25-Lap A-Features Thursday Night At Eldora Speedway
by Kevin Kovac
ROSSBURG, OH (September 5) - Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., and Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., opened the newly expanded World 100 weekend with victories in Thursday night’s Twin 25-lap features at Eldora Speedway.
With the DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned event’s 112-car field split in half by time-trial results, VanWormer captured the caution-free first A-Main for odd-numbered qualifiers and Clanton added another flourish to his sparkling record at the Big E in the nightcap reserved for even-numbered qualifiers. Both drivers cashed $5,000 paychecks for their triumphs.
A fan favorite well known for his hard-charging style on the high-banked, half-mile Eldora oval, VanWormer vaulted from the third starting spot to the lead at the initial start of the first feature and never looked back. He led every lap of a race that was completed in just under seven-and-a-half minutes.
Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., was able to draw within a few car lengths of VanWormer as the leader worked lapped traffic in the final circuits but didn’t make a serious bid for the top spot. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular settled for a career-best Eldora finish of second driving a Stapleton Motorsports car.
WoO LMS travelers Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., finished close together in third and fourth, respectively, and Matt Miller of Whitehouse, Ohio, who won two preliminary A-Features during June’s Dirt Late Model Dream weekend at Eldora, completed the top five.
VanWormer, who has cut back on his normally busy racing schedule this season to focus on work commitments (Thursday night’s feature marked just his 16 th start of the season), said he hopes that his checkered flag kicks off a memorable weekend at Eldora. He has started the World 100 A-Main seven times since 2004 with a top finish of third on two occasions, in 2006 and ’08.
“I would hope so,” VanWormer said when asked if he feels his Rocket machine is capable of winning the World 100. “At least I know kind of where to go with my car a little bit. It definitely felt good tonight.”
Clanton, 36, demonstrated his Eldora acumen in the nightcap. He started seventh but was up to second behind Dustin Neat of Dunnville, Ky., when a caution flag flew on lap two. He followed Neat until another caution period, on lap seven, provided the restart opportunity that put the WoO LMS follower in front for good.
“I knew I was a little better than (Neat),” said Clanton, who assumed command as lap eight was scored. “I was just biding my time there because we went on a little softer tire than I think they did. The main thing is just getting the lead and getting clean air on the nose where it’ll stick and you don’t slide.”
Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, overtook Neat for second on lap 15 and restarted alongside Clanton after Neat slowed to bring out a caution flag on lap 18. But Birkhofer only briefly challenged Clanton when the green flag flew for the final time, ultimately finishing several car lengths behind the victor in second place.
Tyler Reddick, a 17-year-old native of Corning, Calif., who now resides in DuQuoin, Ill., navigated his way forward from the 16th starting spot to register a career-best Eldora finish of third. Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., finished fourth and 2013 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., placed fifth.
One of just five drivers to win both the World 100 (2008) and Dirt Late Model Dream (2012) crown-jewel events at Eldora, Clanton feels good about his chances of capturing the $46,000 first-place prize awaiting Saturday night’s World 100 winner.
“We struggled the past month,” said Clanton, whose last victory was a WoO LMS A-Main on June 1 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y. “We tried a lot of different things and come back to the basic setup we won the Dream with last year. It’s working pretty good right now.
“If the car’s like that (on Saturday) I can (win the World 100). When it drives that easy, it’s easy to be aggressive with the car and make moves early in the race. I ain’t had a car since the Dream that I could do that with. Hopefully everything will keep going our way.”
Ky Harper of Tiffin, Ohio, was the fastest qualifier in Thursday night’s multi-car time trials with a lap of 16.811 seconds. But after the 23-year-old spun a ‘3’ for the heat-race inversion he failed to qualify for the A-Feature.
Among odd-number qualifiers, heat-race winners were Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., McCreadie, Miller, VanWormer, Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., and McCool and the B-Mains were captured by Jerry Bowersock of Wapakoneta, Ohio, Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., and Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va.
Even-number qualifier heat wins went to Madden, Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind., Birkhofer, Sheppard, Dustin Neat and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., while the B-Mains were topped by Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.
Eldora Speedway
September 5, 2013
Race Results
A-Main #1
1 3 55 Jeep Vanwormer
2 1 57J Bub McCool
3 5 39 Tim McCreadie
4 8 29 Darrell Lanigan
5 4 3 Matt Miller
6 7 71C R J Conley
7 10 22S Gregg Satterlee
8 11 25F Jason Feger
9 13 88 Andrew Reaume
10 17 28C Eddie Carrier Jr
11 2 75P Terry Phillips
12 20 5B Mike Marlar
13 9 15J Greg Johnson
14 6 101 Casey Roberts
15 14 7W Ricky Weiss
16 12 5 Jared Landers
17 15 15 Steve Francis
18 16 116 Randy Weaver
19 22 32P Bobby Pierce
20 21 20H Jacob Hawkins
21 19 95J Jerry Bowersock
22 18 28 Dennis Erb Jr
23 23 16R Justin Ratliff
24 24 46 Tim Rivers
A-Main #2
1 7 25C Shane Clanton
2 4 15B Brian Birkhofer
3 16 11 Tyler Reddick
4 6 44M Chris Madden
5 3 B5 Brandon Sheppard
6 10 23 John Blankenship
7 17 17M Dale McDowell
8 9 71 Don O’Neal
9 19 49D Jonathan Davenport
10 21 18 Shannon Babb
11 22 1 Josh Richards
12 12 11N Brad Neat
13 13 97 Michael Chilton
14 18 20C Duane Chamberlain
15 8 48 Chad Ruhlman
16 15 99 Donnie Moran
17 23 0 Scott Bloomquist
18 2 6 Dustin Neat
19 24 D8 Dustin Linville
20 20 20 Jimmy Owens
21 11 21 Billy Moyer
22 5 7R Kent Robinson
23 1 28M Jimmy Mars
24 14 81 Randy Korte
B-Main #1
1 95J Jerry Bowersock
2 32P Bobby Pierce
3 25Z Mason Zeigler
4 11S Ryan Sutter
5 48L Tim Lance
6 14C Henry Cooper
7 21H Robby Hensley
8 2 Justin Chance
9 3G Brian Gray
10 3 Jim Gingery
11 1N Casey Noonan
12 34 Ky Harper
13 1* Chub Frank
14 9I Steve Isenberg
B-Main #2
1 49D Jonathan Davenport
2 1 Josh Richards
3 25 Chad Simpson
4 89 Mike Spatola
5 1DJ Doug Drown
6 15H Jon Henry
7 33M Tim Manville
8 99M Devin Moran
9 23V Ryan Vanderveen
10 17 Shannon Thornsberry
11 58X Gary Christian
12 86C Scott Clifford
13 48X Steve Lance Jr
14 1Z Doug Zartler
B-Main #3
1 5B Mike Marlar
2 16R Justin Ratliff
3 44 Earl Pearson, Jr
4 49 Brian Ruhlman
5 11D Brian Diveley
6 9T Tim Isenberg
7 11W Jeff Watson
8 4GH Jeff Sloan
9 93 Jay Johnson
10 69M John Mayes Jr
11 91N Jeremy Nichols
12 83 Scott James
B-Main #4
1 20 Jimmy Owens
2 0 Scott Bloomquist
3 1J Jeff Babcock
4 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr
5 21M Jason Montgomery
6 32 Chris Simpson
7 72 John Mason
8 25S Jason Smith
9 13 Jr Hotovy
10 77K Steve Kester
11 23B Jay Brunson
12 28W Jeff Wolfenbarger
B-Main #5
1 20H Jacob Hawkins
2 46 Tim Rivers
3 15A Phil Ausra
4 18K Brandon Kinzer
5 19 Chad Smith
6 1V Vic Hill
7 36 Matt Irey
8 2R Joe Ramey
9 0D Brad Dyer
10 360 Michael Asberry
11 98 Mason Combs
12 81JR Jason Riggs
B-Main #6
1 18 Shannon Babb
2 D8 Dustin Linville
3 14M Morgan Bagley
4 66 Jody Knowles
5 17W Brett Wyatt
6 58 Ray Guss Jr
7 33 Don Gordon
8 79U Shane Unger
9 3S Brian Shirley
10 B12 Kevin Weaver
11 31 Nick Latham
12 45H Don Hammer
Heat #1
1 101 Casey Roberts
2 71C R J Conley
3 88 Andrew Reaume
4 32P Bobby Pierce
5 34 Ky Harper
6 1* Chub Frank
7 1N Casey Noonan
8 21H Robby Hensley
9 48L Tim Lance
10 9I Steve Isenberg
Heat #2
1 44M Chris Madden
2 25C Shane Clanton
3 97 Michael Chilton
4 25 Chad Simpson
5 89 Mike Spatola
6 15H Jon Henry
7 23V Ryan Vanderveen
8 17 Shannon Thornsberry
9 33M Tim Manville
10 1Z Doug Zartler
Heat #3
1 39 Tim McCreadie
2 29 Darrell Lanigan
3 7W Ricky Weiss
4 95J Jerry Bowersock
5 25Z Mason Zeigler
6 11S Ryan Sutter
7 14C Henry Cooper
8 2 Justin Chance
9 3G Brian Gray
10 3 Jim Gingery
Heat #4
1 7R Kent Robinson
2 48 Chad Ruhlman
3 81 Randy Korte
4 49D Jonathan Davenport
5 1 Josh Richards
6 48X Steve Lance Jr
7 1DJ Doug Drown
8 99M Devin Moran
9 58X Gary Christian
10 86C Scott Clifford
Heat #5
1 3 Matt Miller
2 15J Greg Johnson
3 15 Steve Francis
4 5B Mike Marlar
5 44 Earl Pearson, Jr
6 11D Brian Diveley
7 11W Jeff Watson
8 69M John Mayes Jr
9 83 Scott James
Heat #6
1 15B Brian Birkhofer
2 71 Don O’Neal
3 99 Donnie Moran
4 20 Jimmy Owens
5 1J Jeff Babcock
6 21M Jason Montgomery
7 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr
8 25S Jason Smith
9 28W Jeff Wolfenbarger
Heat #7
1 55 Jeep Vanwormer
2 22S Gregg Satterlee
3 116 Randy Weaver
4 16R Justin Ratliff
5 49 Brian Ruhlman
6 93 Jay Johnson
7 9T Tim Isenberg
8 91N Jeremy Nichols
9 4GH Jeff Sloan
Heat #8
1 B5 Brandon Sheppard
2 23 John Blankenship
3 11 Tyler Reddick
4 0 Scott Bloomquist
5 72 John Mason
6 32 Chris Simpson
7 13 Jr Hotovy
8 77K Steve Kester
9 23B Jay Brunson
Heat #9
1 75P Terry Phillips
2 25F Jason Feger
3 28C Eddie Carrier Jr
4 360 Michael Asberry
5 18K Brandon Kinzer
6 46 Tim Rivers
7 15A Phil Ausra
8 81JR Jason Riggs
9 98 Mason Combs
Heat #10
1 6 Dustin Neat
2 21 Billy Moyer
3 17M Dale McDowell
4 D8 Dustin Linville
5 18 Shannon Babb
6 B12 Kevin Weaver
7 66 Jody Knowles
8 33 Don Gordon
9 79U Shane Unger
Heat #11
1 57J Bub McCool
2 5 Jared Landers
3 28 Dennis Erb Jr
4 20H Jacob Hawkins
5 19 Chad Smith
6 1V Vic Hill
7 2R Joe Ramey
8 0D Brad Dyer
9 36 Matt Irey
Heat #12
1 28M Jimmy Mars
2 11N Brad Neat
3 20C Duane Chamberlain
4 3S Brian Shirley
5 14M Morgan Bagley
6 17W Brett Wyatt
7 31 Nick Latham
8 58 Ray Guss Jr
9 45H Don Hammer
The World 100 weekend continues on Friday night (Sept. 6) with a second preliminary night of competition. Time trials will once again split the field into two groups for heat races, B-Mains and 25-lap features that will pay $5,000 to win.
Heat races for Saturday night’s World 100 will be aligned using each driver’s best qualifying lap from time trials on Thursday and Friday, putting plenty of importance on the second round against the clock on Friday night.
Hot laps are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with time trials to follow. Racing will get the green flag at 8 p.m.
Fans can obtain tickets information for the World 100 by going online to www.EldoraSpeedway.com or contacting the Eldora offices at 937-338-3815.
Fans who can’t make it to Eldora in person this weekend can still watch all the action live by purchasing the live Pay-Per-View video broadcast of all three nights of action that is available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
