Post by LMR on 06/27/14 at 8:18pm
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Lernerville Speedway
June 27, 2014
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Jimmy Owens Edges Scott Bloomquist on Second Night of Lernerville Speedway’s Firecracker 100 Weekend
Stage set for Saturday’s $30,000-to-win World of Outlaws Late Model showcase
WoOLMS PR
SARVER, Pa. (June 27) - Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., turned back a furious late-race challenge from Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., to capture Friday night's 30-lap Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com preliminary feature at Lernerville Speedway.
Making his first appearance at the four-tenths-mile oval in five years, Owens raced off the pole position to lead the entire distance. But he didn't secure his first-ever triumph at Lernerville and the eighth World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory of his career until surviving a scare of his own doing and a strong last-lap bid from Bloomquist.
After Owens, 42, nearly slipped over Lernerville's turn-two berm on lap 19 while holding a comfortable lead of over 2.5 seconds, he didn't make another mistake. He stuck strong to the outside lane and held off Bloomquist to win by 0.510 of a second.
"We had an excellent car all night long," said Owens, who earned $6,050 for his first WoO LMS victory since Nov. 2, 2012, at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. "The high side was gone (in the final laps) and I wanted to move down, but we were so successful up there you just hated to move. We just stayed with it and held on."
Bloomquist, 50, settled for his second runner-up finish in as many nights. He chased the designer of Owens's Club 29 chassis, Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., across the finish line in Thursday night's Firecracker 100 preliminary feature.
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., advanced from the seventh starting spot to finish third, nearly three seconds behind the victor. Two-time Firecracker 100 winner Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., moved forward from the ninth starting spot to place fourth and third-starter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., placed fifth for his third top-five finish in his last four WoO LMS starts.
Owens admitted following the race that his designs on victory flashed before his eyes when he got too high on lap 19, but he quickly realized he still had control of the event.
"I entered that corner just like always but them crumbs were up there and I just slid off the track a little bit," said Owens. "I knew we had a pretty good lead when we didn't lose the lead (on lap 19)."
Owens's checkered flag assured him of a pole starting spot in a heat race during Saturday night's Firecracker 100 finale. He feels good about his chances for winning the $30,000 top prize.
"We'll give it a whirl and see what we can come up with," Owens said of his plans for Saturday night.
Bloomquist placed himself alongside Owens as a Firecracker favorite after his second consecutive contending run.
"We were good," said Bloomquist, who also assured himself a pole starting spot on Saturday night. "We fell a little short at the end, but the thing that makes me really happy is that tomorrow is a hundred laps and we were getting better."
Lanigan had a rare off night on the WoO LMS, finishing 11th after starting 18th. It was his first finish outside the top 10 in 16 events this season, but he still extended his points lead to 164 points over Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who finished 17th after using a provisional to start the A-Main.
Just two caution flags slowed the feature - on lap 11 when Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., and Jared Miley of South Park, Pa., tangled in turn one, and on lap 24 when Russ King of Bristolville, Ohio, slowed on the track.
Fifty-five cars were signed in for the second straight night.
Lernerville regular John Garvin Jr. of Sarver, Pa., was the overall fastest qualifier in the split Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, turning a lap of 16.849 seconds.
Heat winners were Owens, Frank, Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., Bloomquist, Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and Zeigler. The B-Mains were captured by Miley, Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Pa.
The Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com concludes on Saturday (June 28) with a program that includes heat races, B-Mains, the Uncle Sam 30 non-qualifiers' race and the 100-lap finale. Race time is set for 7:35 p.m.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Results of WoO Late Model Series Firecracker 100 Preliminary A-Main No. 2 at Lernerville Speedway
(Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (1) Jimmy Owens/30 $6,050
2. (2) Scott Bloomquist/30 $3,150
3. (7) Tim McCreadie/30 $2,150
4. (9) Jimmy Mars/30 $1,750
5. (4) Chub Frank/30 $1,650
6. (3) Tim Fuller/30 $1,250
7. (22) John Blankenship/30 $1,150
8. (12) Kent Robinson/30 $1,650
9. (20) Austin Hubbard/30 $1,050
10. (10) Jonathan Davenport/30 $1,000
11. (18) Darrell Lanigan/30 $1,050
12. (17) Dan Stone/30 $875
13. (8) Shane Clanton/30 $900
14. (21) Davey Johnson/30 $725
15. (13) John Garvin Jr./30 $750
16. (23) Morgan Bagley/30 $730
17. (25) Rick Eckert/30 $820
18. (27) Clint Smith/30 $160
19. (11) Frank Heckenast Jr./30 $940
20. (15) Eric Jacobsen/30 $620
21. (26) Eric Wells/30 $650
22. (24) Chase Junghans/30 $600
23. (28) Boom Briggs/30 $160
24. (14) Russ King/24 $600
25. (6) Mike Marlar/12 $600
26. (16) Gregg Satterlee/12 $625
27. (5) Mason Zeigler/11 $600
28. (19) Jared Miley/11 $600
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 17 Mins., 57.270 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.510 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 2 (laps 11, 24)
Lap Leaders: Owens (1-30)
Provisional Starters: Eckert, Wells (WoO points); Briggs, Smith (WoO emergency) Rookie of the Race: Heckenast ($250) WoO LMS 'Bonus Bucks' Winner: Robinson ($500)
Heat #1: Owens, McCreadie, Garvin, Blankenship, Knight, C. Smith, Pegher, Musolino, Tavenner, Lockwood
Heat #2: Frank, Clanton, King, Miley, Wells, Krummert, Cochran, Briggs, Lyle
Heat #3: Marlar, Mars, Jacobsen, Benedum, Ferree, Drown, Blair, Norris, Roberts
Heat #4: Bloomquist, Davenport, Satterlee, Hubbard, Bagley, Coffey, Kann, Sarver, Bachman
Heat #5: Fuller, Heckenast, Stone, Hess, Junghans, Angelicchio, Altobelli, McDowell, J. Flinner
Heat #6: Zeigler, Robinson, Lanigan, Eckert, D. Johnson, Schaltenbrand, Casner, C. Flinner, Bertolini
B-Main #1: Miley, Blankenship, Knight, Wells, Cochran, Smith, Pegher, Krummert, Tavenner, Lyle, Musolino, Lockwood, Briggs
B-Main #2: Hubbard, Bagley, Benedum, Ferree, Drown, Coffey, Blair, Kann, Roberts, Norris, Sarver, Bachman
B-Main #3: Johnson, Junghans, Eckert, Hess, Schaltenbrand, Angelicchio, J. Flinner, Altobelli, Bertolini, Casner, C. Flinner (DNS) McDowell
Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
Group 'A'
1. J4-John Garvin/Sarver, PA 16.849
2. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.875
3. 157-Mike Marlar/Winfield, TN 16.907
4. 20-Jimmy Owens/Newport, TN 16.914
5. 29K-Garrett Krummert/Butler, PA 16.935
6. 25b-Mike Benedum/Salem, WV 16.986
7. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 17.016
8. 99B-Boom Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 17.021
9. 28M-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 17.064
10. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 17.105
11. 56-Russ King/Bristolville, OH 17.134
12. 5-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 17.156
13. 9K-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 17.218
14. 18-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 17.237
15. 20d-Doug Drown/Wooster, OH 17.32
16. 21-Tony Musolino II/Pittsburgh, PA 17.331
17. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, GA 17.348
18. 72-Michael Norris/Sarver, PA 17.37
19. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 17.422
20. H1-Jared Miley/South Park, PA 17.446
21. 111-Max Blair/Titusville, PA 17.448
22. 37-Brian Tavenner/Winchester, VA 17.481
23. 10L-Gary Lyle/Leechburg, PA 17.548
24. 10-Alex Ferree/Saxonburg, PA 17.634
25. 1c-Mike Pegher Jr./Wexford, PA 17.709
26. 16-Matt Cochran/Williamsport, PA 17.847
27. 101-Casey Roberts/Toccoa, GA 17.9
28. 57-Bo Lockwood/Brookville, PA 17.937
Group 'B'
1. 6-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 16.873
2. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 17.195
3. 7R-Kent Robinson/Bloomington, IN 17.245
4. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 17.303
5. 2-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 17.407
6. 25z-Mason Zeigler/Chalk Hill, PA 17.415
7. 66-Justin Kann/Hesston, PA 17.541
8. 99Jr-Frank Heckenast Jr./Frankfurt, IL 17.567
9. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 17.607
10. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Indiana, PA 17.622
11. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 17.633
12. 1-Rick Eckert/York, PA 17.665
13. 11-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 17.843
14. 44H-Dave Hess Jr./Waterford, PA 17.872
15. 1J-Davey Johnson/Latrobe, PA 17.905
16. 88-Chuck Sarver/W. Sunbury, PA 17.907
17. 18c-Chase Junghans/Manhattan, KS 17.93
18. c33-Chris Casner/Mifflintown, PA 18.043
19. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 18.099
20. 48-John Flinner Jr./Zelionople, PA 18.149
21. 75-Colton Flinner/Allison Park, PA 18.168
22. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 18.297
23. 14-Dan Angelicchio/Mt. Pleasant, PA 18.413
24. 29s-Ken Schaltenbrand/Sarver, PA 18.453
25. 66-Todd Bachman/Natrona Heights, PA 18.469
26. 79-Mike Altobelli/Saxton, PA 18.563
27. 7x-Herman Bertolini/Creighton, PA 18.707