Post by LMR on 06/05/15 at 7:15pm
Dirt Late Model Dream XXI
Eldora Speedway
June 5, 2015
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Davenport & Erb Win During Second Preliminary Night At Eldora Speedway’s 21st Annual Dirt Late Model Dream
Crown Jewel Event Concludes on Saturday with Heat Races, B-Mains & 100-lap, $100,000-to-win Main Event
DIRTcar Racing
ROSSBURG, Ohio. (June 5) - Jonathan Davenport further established himself as a heavy favorite and Dennis Erb Jr. emerged as another serious contender in the 21st annual Dirt Late Model Dream presented by Ferris Mowers with preliminary feature victories Friday night at Eldora Speedway.
Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., and Erb of Carpentersville, Ill., both scored impressive 25-lap triumphs at the historic half-mile oval, earning $5,000 apiece in the DIRTcar-sanctioned races. Friday's results will be combined with finishes from Thursday's first night of preliminary racing to determine drivers' starting spots in heat races for Saturday's $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream main event.
Davenport was nearly unstoppable in racing to his second prelim victory of the weekend. The current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader used a turn-two slidejob to overtake Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind., on lap eight and quickly pulled away from the field.
Davenport's only major obstacle came on lap 12 when he got into the back of a slower car while trying to avoid a tangle between Jared Landers and Wendell Wallace. The contact left Davenport's machine with slight front-end damage, but it didn't slow his pace. He cruised through the second half of the race, using the track's high line to build a lead of 2.620 seconds by the finish.
"This thing was just excellent. It's just such a pleasure to drive," Davenport, who scored his fifth straight victory, said of his K&L Rumley Longhorn Chassis. "I was kind of worried when we got in that little wreck. It bent my hood up and I couldn't turn quite as good getting into the corner. I had to back my corner entry up a little more, but it was still good."
Casebolt settled for second, holding off Jeep Van Wormer of Pinconning, Mich., who finished third. Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., advanced from his 12th starting spot to finish fourth with Chad Simpson of Mount Vernon, Iowa, rounding out the top five.
The race was slowed by two cautions with the first coming for the lap-12 tangle between Landers and Wallace. The second yellow flag appeared when Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., who was Thursday's other prelim race winner, slowed from the fifth position.
Erb was just as impressive as Davenport in Friday's second 25-lap feature, albeit using a different line around the racetrack. He rode the low side of the track from his fourth starting spot to overtake polesitter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., on lap 13. Erb never looked back from there, pulling to a lead of 4.656 seconds by the end of the caution-free race.
"The car's working pretty good," Erb said of the Black Diamond Chassis he debuted at Eldora this weekend. "I think we made the right choice tonight on tires. Hopefully we can keep working on it and be good tomorrow."
McCreadie, a former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion, held off a late-race challenge from Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., for the second spot with 10th-starting Don O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., just behind in fourth. Defending Dirt Late Model Dream winner Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., rallied from the 12th starting spot to finish fifth.
At the conclusion of Friday's racing, Davenport assisted in determining the invert number for Saturday's Dream heat races using Eldora's new Plinko board. Davenport dropped a chip on the number 3, setting up a three-car inversion for Saturday's six 15-lap heats.
The 21st annual Dirt Late Model Dream Weekend Presented Ferris Mowers concludes on Saturday with an action-packed slate of racing, featuring heat races, B-Mains and the 100-lap, $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream finale.
21st Annual Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Commercial Mowers
June 4, 2015: Second of three nights of racing
DIRTcar UMP Late Models - 84 cars
A-Main #1
1 6 Jonathan Davenport 25
2 C9 Steve Casebolt 25
3 55 Jeep VanWormer 25
4 28M Jimmy Mars 25
5 25S Chad Simpson 25
6 25C Shane Clanton 25
7 20 Jimmy Owens 25
8 18 Shannon Babb 25
9 29 Darrell Lanigan 25
10 B5 Brandon Sheppard 25
11 116 Randy Weaver 25
12 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. 25
13 22S Gregg Satterlee 25
14 99M Devin Moran 25
15 1J Davey Johnson 25
16 14M Morgan Bagley 25
17 0 Scott Bloomquist 25
18 68J Jake O'Neil 24
19 11R James Rice 24
20 18K Brandon Kinzer 24
21 1P Earl Pearson Jr. 24
22 777 Jared Landers 23
23 20C Duane Chamberlain 21
24 6m Wendall Wallace 13
A-Main #2
1 28 Dennis Erb Jr. 25
2 39 Tim McCreadie 25
3 25 Jason Feger 25
4 5 Don O'Neal 25
5 17M Dale McDowell 25
6 3s Brian Shirley 25
7 3 Matt Miller 25
8 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr. 25
9 54 Matt Westfall 25
10 76 Brandon Overton 25
11 7R Kent Robinson 25
12 15 Steve Francis 25
13 21 Billy Moyer 25
14 32P Bobby Pierce 25
15 157 Mike Marlar 25
16 1 Josh Richards 25
17 22 Chris Ferguson 25
18 48L Tim Lance 25
19 R5 Chris Simpson 24
20 11S Rusty Schlenk 24
21 R1 Riley Hickman 24
22 23B John Blankenship 24
23 28C Eddie Carrier Jr. 24
24 31 Nick Latham 24
B-Main #1
1 6m Wendell Wallace
2 22S Gregg Satterlee
3 1P Earl Pearson Jr.
4 14M Morgan Bagley
5 F5 Garrett Alberson
6 75P Terry Phillips
7 11JR Josh Rice
8 51M Mack McCarter
9 16 Austin Siebert
10 75 John Gill
11 25Z Mason Zeigler
12 81JR Jason Riggs
13 85D Mark Dotson
14 1N Casey Noonan
15 3c Charlie LaPlant
16 93 Jay Johnson
17 14H Rodney Hamblin
18 4C Ernie Cordier
19 18J Chase Junghans
20 77 Cody Mahoney
21 3G Brian Gray
B-Main #2
1 31 Nick Latham
2 48L Tim Lance
3 R1 Riley Hickman
4 R5 Chris Simpson
5 11A Austin Smith
6 33 Tim Manville
7 28G Kelly Guy
8 30 Mark Voigt
9 16c Matt Cochran
10 47 Tim Shaffer
11 68 Dan Shepherd
12 1G Devin Gilpin
13 444 Brian Ligon
14 5N Dustin Nobbe
15 5* Bryant Dickinson
16 88 Andrew Reaume
17 83 Scott James
18 91 Tyler Erb
Heat #1
1 55 Jeep VanWormer
2 0 Scott Bloomquist
3 68J Jake O'Neil
4 29 Darrell Lanigan
5 116 Randy Weaver
6 51M Mack McCarter
7 75P Terry Phillips
8 77 Cody Mahoney
9 75 John Gill
10 3c Charlie LaPlant
11 4C Ernie Cordier
Heat #2
1 39 Tim McCreadie
2 3 Matt Miller
3 157 Mike Marlar
4 23B John Blankenship
5 21 Billy Moyer
6 88 Andrew Reaume
7 48L Tim Lance
8 30 Mark Voigt
9 76K Butch Kruckeberg
10 5* Bryant Dickinson
Heat #3
1 C9 Steve Casebolt
2 25S Chad Simpson
3 18 Shannon Babb
4 21JR Billy Moyer Jr.
5 25C Shane Clanton
6 6m Wendall Wallace
7 18J Chase Junghans
8 1P Earl Pearson Jr.
9 1N Casey Noonan
10 85D Mark Dotson
11 11JR Josh Rice
Heat #4
1 28 Dennis Erb Jr.
2 3s Brian Shirley
3 5 Don O'Neal
4 22 Chris Ferguson
5 1 Josh Richards
6 31 Nick Latham
7 91 Tyler Erb
8 1G Devin Gilpin
9 68 Dan Shepherd
10 5N Dustin Nobbe
Heat #5
1 6 Jonathan Davenport
2 20C Duane Chamberlain
3 99M Devin Moran
4 777 Jared Landers
5 20 Jimmy Owens
6 14M Morgan Bagley
7 F5 Garrett Alberson
8 16 Austin Siebert
9 81JR Jason Riggs
Heat #6
1 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr.
2 54 Matt Westfall
3 7R Kent Robinson
4 11S Rusty Schlenk
5 28C Eddie Carrier Jr
6 11A Austin Smith
7 R5 Chris Simpson
8 28G Kelly Guy
Heat #7
1 18K Brandon Kinzer
2 B5 Brandon Sheppard
3 28M Jimmy Mars
4 1J Davey Johnson
5 11R James Rice
6 22S Gregg Satterlee
7 93 Jay Johnson
8 3G Brian Gray
9 25Z Mason Zeigler
Heat #8
1 25 Jason Feger
2 76 Brandon Overton
3 17M Dale McDowell
4 15 Steve Francis
5 32P Bobby Pierce
6 R1 Riley Hickman
7 83 Scott James
8 33 Tim Manville
9 47 Tim Shaffer
10 444 Brian Ligon
Group #1 Qualifying
1 0 Scott Bloomquist 15.406
2 116 Randy Weaver 15.626
3 55 Jeep VanWormer 15.680
4 68J Jake O'Neil Best 16.093
5 75P Terry Phillips 16.196
6 29 Darrell Lanigan 16.201
7 77 Cody Mahoney 16.320
8 51M Mack McCarter 16.337
9 75 John Gill Best 16.353
10 3c Charlie LaPlant 16.577
11 4C Ernie Cordier 18.663
Group #2 Qualifying
1 157 Mike Marlar 15.652
2 21 Billy Moyer 15.845
3 23B John Blankenship 15.856
4 39 Tim McCreadie 15.881
5 3 Matt Miller 16.038
6 48L Tim Lance 16.089
7 88 Andrew Reaume 16.139
8 30 Mark Voigt 16.458
9 76K Butch Kruckeberg 17.694
10 5* Bryant Dickinson 18.031
Group #3 Qualifying
1 11JR Josh Rice 15.717
2 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. 15.737
3 C9 Steve Casebolt 15.742
4 25 Chad Simpson 15.828
5 25C Shane Clanton 15.861
6 18 Shannon Babb 15.897
7 6m Wendall Wallace 15.998
8 1N Casey Noonan 16.200
9 85D Mark Dotson 16.324
10 18J Chase Junghans 16.366
11 1P Earl Pearson Jr. 16.379
Group #4 Qualifying
1 22 Chris Ferguson 15.631
2 5 Don O'Neal 15.668
3 28 Dennis Erb Jr. 15.753
4 3s Brian Shirley 16.092
5 1 Josh Richards 16.164
6 1G Devin Gilpin 16.212
7 91 Tyler Erb 16.223
8 5N Dustin Nobbe 16.603
9 31 Nick Latham 16.675
10 68 Dan Shepherd 16.771
Group #5 Qualifying
1 6 Jonathan Davenport 15.707
2 20 Jimmy Owens 15.822
3 20C Duane Chamberlain 15.826
4 99M Devin Moran 15.946
5 14M Morgan Bagley 16.009
6 F5 Garrett Alberson 16.067
7 777 Jared Landers 16.085
8 81JR Jason Riggs 16.343
9 16 Austin Siebert 16.621
10 14H Rodney Hamblin 17.958
Group #6 Qualifying
1 54 Matt Westfall 15.374
2 28C Eddie Carrier Jr. 15.734
3 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr. 15.847
4 11S Rusty Schlenk 16.110
5 7R Kent Robinson 16.168
6 11A Austin Smith 16.171
7 R5 Chris Simpson 16.224
8 28G Kelly Guy 16.664
9 16c Matt Cochran 17.382
Group #7 Qualifying
1 25Z Mason Zeigler 15.874
2 1J Davey Johnson 15.895
3 B5 Brandon Sheppard 16.033
4 18K Brandon Kinzer 16.125
5 11R James Rice 16.175
6 28 Jimmy Mars 16.291
7 22S Gregg Satterlee 16.338
8 93 Jay Johnson 17.018
9 3G Brian Gray 18.157
Group #8 Qualifying
1 47 Tim Shaffer 15.778
2 R1 Riley Hickman 15.780
3 76 Brandon Overton 15.862
4 25 Jason Feger 15.892
5 17M Dale McDowell 15.928
6 83 Scott James 15.931
7 15 Steve Francis 15.941
8 32P Bobby Pierce 15.964
9 33 Tim Manville 15.982
10 444 Brian Ligon 16.974
Event Photos courtesy of Jim Denhamer
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