Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
K-C Raceway
October 15, 2011
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O'Neal Wins Dirt Track World Championship; Owens Clinches Lucas Oil Series Title

by James Essex
ALMA, OH (October 15) - Don O'Neal of Martinsville, IN led flag-to-flag in capturing the 31st Annual Dirt Track World Championship Presented by Sunoco on Saturday Night at Atomic Speedway. O'Neal started on the pole and paced the field the entire distance to earn $50,000 for his first career win in the event. Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN finished second, enabling him to clinch the 2011 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship. Josh Richards of Shinnston, WV came home third followed by Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN and Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC.

O'Neal waited through several caution flags during the event, none of which were major incidents as he brought the MasterSbilt House Car home for the third crown jewel win of the season and his fifth series victory of the year. "Tonight was all about tire management, we were a little softer than the second and third place cars, we just bided our time out there, I drove it as straight as I could, it's pretty easy when you've got a good race car," said the 47-year-old driver, who finished third in the championship points.

O'Neal had some timely cautions as he was about to catch up to the tail end of the field. "I didn't want to see that lapped traffic, the race was one-lane all night, there wasn't much they could do about it, after starting late afternoon while the sun is still up and the rain last night. I have to thank MasterSbilt Race Cars, Randy, Tader and Cody and all those guys back at the shop, they make it possible for me to run as well as we do, Jay Dickens Racing Engines, they been solid all year long, I have to thank Magnaflow Exhaust for coming on board this year, VP Fuels, Superior Cleaning, Independence Lumber, Janowski Insurance and Second Chance Livestock Dispatch and all of our product sponsors we couldn't do it with them."

Owens trailed O'Neal the entire distance to finish second. In doing so, he clinched his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Title after finishing runner-up the last two years to Scott Bloomquist. "We came here to win the race of course, but once we got into second we took a few shots at the lead, but we've had a great year," said the driver of the Mike Reece owned, Bloomquist Race Cars Ford.

"You've got to be consistent to win this thing, top five finishes are so important, you've got to able to capitalize when someone else has misfortune, that's part of it," said the 39-year-old Owens who captured eight series wins this year on his way to the championship.

"To say we beat Scott Bloomquist, means a lot, he builds a great race car, I know we went back-and-forth all year in the points battle, my crew worked their tails off all year, we are glad to be celebrating after this race, we were conservative on tires, Don was setting a great pace there tonight, we were glad we didn't hit a lot of traffic. I have to thank everyone from the fans, our souvenir people, and all of our sponsors for their support."

Richards was able to get around Bloomquist to finish 3rd in the Kentucky Fuel, Roush-Yates, Rocket Ford as Bloomquist wound up 4th, ending the year second in points in the Miller Brothers Construction, Roush-Yates, Bloomquist Race Cars Ford. Cook finished the season off with a top five finish in the D&R Racing, Rockstar Energy Drink, MasterSbilt Chevrolet.

Completing the top ten were John Blankenship of Williamson, WV; Steve Francis of Ashland, KY; Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN; Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL; and R.J. Conley of Wheelersburg, OH.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com or call the series' office at (951) 532-2503.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, October 15th, 2011
31st Annual U. S. Steel Dirt Track World Championship
Presented by Sunoco
Atomic Speedway (K-C Raceway) Chillicothe, OH

100 Lap Feature
1 1 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN $50,000
2 2 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
3 3 1 Josh Richards Shinnston, WV
4 4 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
5 5 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC
6 6 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
7 12 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
8 7 5b Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
9 10 44 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
10 11 71c RJ Conley Wheelersburg, OH
11 24 44c Clint Smith Senoia, GA
12 18 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA
13 26 41n Brad Neat Dunnville, KY
14 25 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
15 28 11t Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
16 22 37 Jared Hawkins Fairmont, WV
17 27 D88 Dustin Linville Bryantsville, KY
18 19 18e Eric Wells Hazard, KY
19 14 24H Greg Johnson Bedford, IN
20 15 81 Scott James  Lawrenceburg, IN
21 13 4b Jackie Boggs Grayson, KY
22 8 c9 Steve Casebolt  Richmond, IN
23 23 28m Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI
24 21 H1 Jared Miley South Park, PA
25 16 b7 Ben Adkins West Portsmouth, OH
26 17 15b Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA
27 20 25c Shane Clanton Fayetteville, GA
28 9 6 Steve Shaver Vienna, WV

Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (20 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Don O'Neal, Mike Marlar, Jackie Boggs, Eric Wells, Bub McCool, Rod Conley, Justin Rattliff, Shannon Babb, Bryan Casey, Mick Sansom, Josh Bivens, Corey Conley, K.C. Burdette, Kelly Cook, Doug Drown

Wiles Driveshafts Second Heat (20 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Josh Richards, Steve Shaver, Scott James, Jared Hawkins, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Dustin Linville, Jarrod Breeding, Steve Prince, Audie Swartz, Wayne Maffett, Jr., Sonny Conley, Brandon Conkel, Jamie Ferguson, Paul Davis, Paul Moore

Sweet Manufacturing Third Heat (20 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Ray Cook, RJ Conley, Brian Birkhofer, Tyler Reddick, Jimmy Mars, Jason Feger, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Stephen Breeding, Ryan Unzicker, Chad Smith, Russ Frohnapfel, James Watson, Anthony Adams, Timothy Slone, Nick Latham

HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (20 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Steve Casebolt , Greg Johnson, Shane Clanton ,Chris Brown, Michael Chilton, Chub Frank, Josh McGuire, Chip Brindle, Donnie Moran, Dillon Huron, Andy Bond, Brandon Fouts, Roy Roush, Brandon Sheppard

Wiles Driveshafts Fifth Heat (20 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson, Jr., Ben Adkins, Jared Miley, Jared Landers, Tim Dohm , Jonathan Hodgkiss, John Mason, Jason Montgomery , Freddie Carpenter, Billy Gullion, Chris Meadows, Brad Neat, Mike Wilson, Ralph Withem

Sweet Manufacturing Sixth Heat (20 Laps- Top 3 Advance): John Blankenship, Steve Francis, Dale McDowell, Clint Smith, Kent Robinson, Shane McLoughlin, Darrell Lanigan, Tim Lance, Tyler Carpenter, Brian Shirley, Delmas Conley, Richie Edwards, Tony Roush, Kenneth Howell, Mike Johnson, Tim Dohm

JRi Shocks First B-Main (20 Laps- Top 2 Advance): Eric Wells, Jared Hawkins, Bub McCool, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Rod Conley, Dustin Linville, Justin Rattliff, Shannon Babb, Steve Prince, Corey Conley, Wayne Maffett, Jr., Audie Swartz, Jarrod Breeding, Jamie Ferguson, K.C. Burdette, Sonny Conley, Bryan Casey, Mick Sansom, Josh Bivens, Kelly Cook, Brandon Conkel

Wrisco Aluminum Second B-Main (20 Laps- Top 2 Advance): Shane Clanton, Jimmy Mars, Chris Brown, Tyler Reddick, Jason Feger, Chub Frank, Michael Chilton, Josh McGuire, Stephen Breeding, Donnie Moran, Chip Brindle, Andy Bond, Dillon Huron, Ryan Unzicker, Roy Roush, Nick Latham, Anthony Adams, James Watson, Brandon Fouts, Timothy Slone, Russ Frohnapfel, Chad Smith, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Brandon Sheppard

JRi Shocks Third B-Main (20 Laps- Top 2 Advance): Jared Miley, Clint Smith, Tim Dohm , Shane McLoughlin, Kent Robinson, Brian Shirley, John Mason, Tyler Carpenter, Tim Lance, Kenneth Howell, Freddie Carpenter, Mike Wilson, Billy Gullion, Jason Montgomery , Richie Edwards, Tony Roush, Jonathan Hodgkiss, Brad Neat, Jared Landers, Darrell Lanigan, Delmas Conley, Chris Meadows, Ralph Withem, Mike Johnson

Jim Dunn Memorial (Non Qualifiers Race): Tim Dohm, Chris Brown, Rod Conley, Eddie Carrier Jr., Michael Chilton, Jason Feger, Donnie Moran, Stephen Breeding, John Mason, Jamie Ferguson, Freddie Carpenter, Steve Prince, K.C. Burdette, Roy Roush, Tyler Carpenter, Brian Shirley, Kent Robinson, Chub Frank, Shane McLoughlin, Josh McGuire, Bub McCool

Mike Marlar / 15.574 seconds (Group A)
Jimmy Owens / 15.408 seconds (Group B and Overall)