Post by LMR on 09/27/12 at 11:04pm
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Knoxville Raceway
September 27, 2012
________________________________________
Billy Moyer Best in Opening Night of Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals
by James Essex
KNOXVILLE, IA (September 27) - Billy Moyer of Batesville, AR swept to the win on the opening night of the 9th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Thursday Night at Knoxville Raceway. The Hall-of-Famer took the lead on lap eight and pulled away for a convincing $7,000 victory, his 16th win overall this season.
Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, IL, who was looking for his first-ever win at the historic track finished second, followed by Steve Francis of Ashland, KY; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, IA; and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, WI.
Tyler Reddick of Corning, CA took the lead at the start of the 25-lap main event with Iowa native, Denny Eckrich of Tiffin, IA running in the second position. Reddick held the lead until lap six when Babb took over the top spot.
Babb then yielded the lead to Moyer on lap eight after the two ran side-by-side for a couple of circuits. Moyer, who started third then pulled away in the final 15 circuits to record his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season.
"Growing up in Des Moines, I came down here quite a bit to watch my dad race sprint cars, and then I moved away to Arkansas, but this place has always been special to me and my family, we have a lot of sponsors from this area, so it's always nice to win here, it's such a great facility," said the 54-year-old.
"The track was great all night long, those heat races were something else, we started alongside Shannon in the feature and we had a good race, once I got up to him and was able to get around him, the car just handled terrific, even through traffic we were good and it's nice to have Shannon finish second, so it was a clean sweep for the Moyer Victory Circle cars. They do such a nice job with track here it's a combination of the layout of the track and the work they do to it, you can come from anywhere and win here, two years ago we were fortunate to sweep all three nights, I don't know if I can do it again."
Moyer's Clements Racing Engines powered Chevrolet is sponsored by Banner Valley Hauling, L&D Trucking, Watters Auto Land, Cooley Transport, Sunoco, Henderson Motorsports, Car City, Midwest Sheet Metal, McCarthy's One Hour Heating.
Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, WI; Brian Shirley of Chatham, IL; Denny Eckrich of Tiffin, IA; and Reddick.
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
Thursday Night, September 27th, 2012
9th Annual Lucas Oil "Late Model Knoxville Nationals"
Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
A-Main
1 3 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
2 4 18 Shannon Babb Mowequa, IL
3 6 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
4 5 15b Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA
5 9 28m Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI
6 8 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
7 21 2s Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
8 10 3s Brian Shirley Chatham, IL
9 1 50 Denny Eckrich Tiffan, IA
10 2 11T Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
11 13 57J Bub McCool Vicksburg, MS
12 7 7R Kent Robinson Bloomington, IN
13 11 42c Terry Casey New London, WI
14 22 25F Jason Feger Bloomington, IL
15 18 14m Morgan Bagley Tyler, TX
16 17 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
17 24 75 Terry Phillips Springfield, MO
18 20 9t Tim Isenberg Marshfield, WI
19 19 58X Ray Guss, Jr. Milan, IL
20 15 11h Austin Hubbard Seaford, DE
21 14 5m Mike Fryer Freeport, IL
22 12 6s Jesse Stovall Galena, MO
23 16 51 Matt Furman Columbus, OH
24 23 32x Chris Simpson Oxford, IA
First Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Brian Birkhofer, Matt Furman, Scott Bloomquist, Terry Casey, Jason Feger, Donnie Moran, Jimmy Owens, Don O'Neal, Jared Landers, Bobby Pierce, Rick Wendling, Mike Wallace, Darrel DeFrance, Earl Pearson, Jr., Scott Lewis, Jill George
Second Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Jesse Stovall, Austin Hubbard, John Blankenship, Shannon Babb, Brady Smith, Tim Lance, Jonathan Davenport, Billy Moyer, Jr., Lance Matthees, Rich Bell, Charlie McKenna, John Mason, Curt Schroeder, Alonzo Grosse, Nick Marolf, Andy Eckrich-DNS
Third Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Jimmy Mars, Bub McCool, Morgan Bagley, Steve Francis, Chris Simpson, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb, Jr., John Anderson, Chris Spieker, Mike Spatola, Walker Arthur, Ray Moore, Jeff Larson, Dustin Walker, Jay Johnson, Tyler Bruening
Fourth Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Billy Moyer, Brian Shirley, Ray Guss, Jr., Kent Robinson, Ryan Unzicker, Rob Moss, Jason Rauen, Chase Junghaus, Steve Lance, Jake Meier, Kevin Sather, Junior Coover, Chad Simpson, Jason Utter, Tim McCreadie, Will Vaught
First Heat (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Tyler Reddick, Denny Eckrich, Tim Isenberg, Mike Fryer, Mark Burgtorf, Terry Phillips, Mike Marlar, JR Hotovy, Dave Eckrich, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Duane Treadwell, Brian Diede, Skip Frey, John Duty, Paul Glendenning, Chad Chenoweth
First B-Main (15 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Brady Smith, Jason Feger, Chris Simpson, Terry Phillips, Donnie Moran, Eric Wells, Jimmy Owens, Mark Burgtorf, Tim McCreadie, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Don O'Neal, Jason Rauen, Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport, John Anderson, Billy Moyer, Jr., Jared Landers, Dennis Erb, Jr., JR Hotovy, Tim Lance, Chase Junghaus, Mike Marlar, Ryan Unzicker, Rob Moss
C-Main (15 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Frank Heckenast Jr., Jared Landers, Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie, Will Vaught, Mike Spatola, Charlie McKenna, Rich Bell, Jeff Larson, Lance Matthees, Jake Meier, Dave Eckrich, Brian Diede, Steve Lance, John Mason, Junior Coover, Chris Spieker, Rick Wendling, Mike Wallace, Duane Treadwell, Kevin Sather, Walker Arthur-DNS, Ray Moore-DNS, Earl Pearson, Jr.-DNS
D-Main (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer): Earl Pearson Jr., Will Vaught, Tim McCreadie, Jeff Larson, John Duty, Darrel DeFrance, Tyler Bruening, Jay Johnson, Curt Schroeder, Chad Chenoweth, Dustin Walker, Alonzo Grosse, Paul Glendenning, Jill George, Skip Frey, Scott Lewis, Chad Simpson, Jason Utter, Nick Marolf, Andy Eckrich
