Dirt Late Model Dream
Eldora Speedway
June 9, 2012
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Clanton Rolls To $100K Victory In Dirt Late Model Dream At Eldora Speedway
Georgian Becomes Just Fifth Driver To Win Dream & World 100 Events At Famed Half-Mile Oval

by Kevin Kovac
ROSSBURG, OH – June 9, 2012 – Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., added another glowing entry to his career resume on Saturday night, rolling to a convincing victory in the DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned Dirt Late Model Dream XVIII by Ferris Commercial Mowers at Eldora Speedway.

The 36-year-old World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular dominated the 100-lap A-Main, surging off the outside pole starting spot to lead the entire distance. He pocketed a $100,000 check – the richest first-place race prize in the dirt Late Model division.

With Clanton having won the World 100 at Eldora in 2008, he became just the fifth driver with victories in both of the high-banked, half-mile oval’s crown-jewel events. He joins a select group that includes Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., and Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.

“To win the Dream is a dream,” said Clanton, whose best finish in five previous Dream A-Main starts was third in 2008. “It’s a hundred-thousand to win and it’s the biggest race we go to every year, so to win it is special. But to win the World also, which is the second-biggest race – prestige can’t get no bigger than these two races.”

Driving a Capital Race Car chassis that he began building last year with former Dirt Track World Championship winner Marshall Green, Clanton recorded his first national-level victory since joining the Kennedy Motorsports team for the 2012 season. He pulled away late in the race to defeat John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., by a commanding margin of 3.149 seconds.

WoO LMS points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., advanced from the 16th starting spot to finish third. Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., placed fourth after starting 17th – matching his best-ever finish in 15 career Dream starts – and 10th-starter Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., was fifth to nab a career-high Dream finish.

“It’s a big confidence builder for sure,” said Clanton, who sits fourth in the WoO LMS points standings but has yet to reach Victory Lane this season. “The best in the business were here. We showed that we could do it here, (so now) we should be able to do it anywhere we go.”

Clanton certainly had good fortune on his side during the Dream weekend – most notably, the three-car heat-race invert gave him an outside-pole starting spot for Saturday’s fifth prelim and he took advantage of it, winning the event to earn the second starting slot for the 100-lapper. But he needed more than the right breaks to fulfill his ‘Dream’ scenario.

“It takes Lady Luck (to win) at a lot of places – and this is one of the biggest places (it’s needed – but I always say luck gets you to the race and you gotta have a good car to finish it,” said Clanton. “We had both tonight.”

Blankenship, who started ninth, inherited the second spot during a lap-23 caution period when five-time Dream winner Bloomquist was moved back one row (to fourth place) by officials for jumping Clanton on that circuit’s initial restart. Blankenship drew within striking distance before a caution flag flew on lap 44, but he gradually lost ground after the restart and couldn’t stay with Clanton following the race’s third and final caution, on lap 66.

“We had a great car,” said Clanton, hailing his Clements-powered machine that was wrenched by Jonathan Owenby, who returned as Clanton’s chief mechanic just over one week ago, and Buddy Chapman. “I could go hard for five, six laps, and then I’d just maintain the pace. The last 20 laps I didn’t see nobody in the infield (giving signals), and I was just driving, making my laps, and maybe the end of the race would hurry up and get there.”

Blankenship, 30, turned back a late challenge from Lanigan to register a career-best finish in his third career Dream A-Main start. The $20,000 runner-up prize was also the biggest payday of his career.

“It’s a bad race to come up short in, but the car was awesome,” said Blankenship. “Clanton’s (car) was a little better – kudos to him, he ran a great race.

“I would’ve liked to get up there with him in the lapped traffic and mixed it up a little more; I felt like my car real maneuverable. But when (Clanton) was up there on the top he was just just a tenth or two better every lap.”

Lanigan, 42, made another strong bid for his first Dream victory since 2003 but fell short, settling for third in his Rocket, nearly three seconds behind Blankenship at the finish. He reached third with a lap-66 restart pass of fellow WoO LMS regular Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., and, on lap 84, actually slipped ahead of Blankenship for second momentarily but he couldn’t make it stick.

“We burned our right-rear tire off and got too loose,” said Lanigan, whose sterling Dream performance record now sports nine top-five finishes in 14 career A-Main appearances. “We just got it hot trying to pass (Blankenship) and had to settle down for a while. We actually came back a little bit at the end, but it was just too late.

“Clanton was awfully good up there anyway. I don’t think I could’ve beat him.”

Smith, who moved forward from the seventh starting spot to run third for laps 45-66, was hampered by a worn right-rear tire after the race’s final restart and slipped to sixth at the finish. Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., quietly was the race’s hard charger, finishing seventh after starting 26 th thanks to a fast-time provisional. Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, was eighth, two-time Dream victor Moyer placed ninth after damaging his car’s right-rear spoiler when he clipped the wall while battling for sixth on lap 66 and 19th-starter Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., rounded out the top 10.

Three caution flags slowed the 100, none for major incidents. WoO LMS traveler Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., slowed on lap 23; Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., fell off the pace on lap 44; and debris on the track tightened the field on lap 66.

Bloomquist was an early contender, moving up from the fifth starting spot to grab second on lap 20 from polesitter Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill. He settled into third after his lap-23 restart jumping penalty but fell back after the lap-44 caution, finally pulling off on lap 66 while eighth due to mechanical trouble.

Defending Dream champion Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., was never a factor in his bid to become the race’s first back-to-back winner. He started 14 th and pitted during each of the three caution periods, failing to crack the top 10 even briefly en route to a 16th-place finish.

Ninety-eight cars were signed in for Friday night’s time trials, which saw Pearson record the quickest lap at 15.476 seconds. He had to use a fast-time provisional to start 25th in the Dream 100, however, after being knocked out of third place in the first heat when he clipped Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., whose car spun out of second place in a cloud of smoke in turn one and collected fourth-place Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn.

The Heat 1 incident ended the nights of both Landers and Owens, whose streak of eight consecutive Dream A-Main starts was snapped. Landers’s Clint Bowyer Racing teammate, Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., also had a short evening, dropping out of the second heat when his engine lost power as he ran second.

Winners of Saturday’s six 15-lap heat races were Klint Byars of Calhoun City, Miss., Bloomquist, Shaver, Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., Clanton and Shirley. Madden captured the 20-lap B-Main and Doug Drown of Wooster, Ohio, topped the 15-lap C-Main.

New to the Dream program this year was a pair of five-lap ‘Scrambles’ for drivers failing to earn transfer positions in the B- and C-Mains. With each sprint offering a $1,000 top prize and full DIRTcar UMP points, Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., captured the ‘B-Scramble’ and Chris Wall of Holden, La., won the ‘C-Scramble.’

Saturday’s qualifying action was marred by a wild accident on lap eight of the sixth heat involving former Dream winner Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis. He barrel-rolled several times in turn one after being squeezed into the outside wall while battling for second with Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga.

Mars was not injured and quickly climbed out of his badly damaged car under his own power. He was not happy with McDowell.

“It’s disappointing because we had a real good car,” said Mars, who had charged forward from the seventh starting to contend for victory in the heat. “I had one groove; I guess Dale had five. I was alongside of him and he kept going up, and you see what I got.”

McDowell accepted full responsibility for precipitating Mars’s crash when he was interviewed by Dream pit announcer Ozzie Altman.

“My apologies go out to Jimmy,” said McDowell. “I was racing the 7 car (Kent Robinson), and the way these seats are with no radios you don’t know when somebody’s to your right rear. I had no clue (Mars) was out there or I’d have left him some room. When I felt him I moved my head forward and looked out the right side of the seat, and all I saw was the underneath of his left front.

“I hate it for him. I feel terrible that it happened. It definitely was nothing intentional. Jimmy and I are buddies, and I feel bad for him.”

The next crown-jewel DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned Late Model event at Eldora is the 42nd annual World 100 on Sept. 7-8. The race pays $45,000 to win.

A-Main
1 5 25C Shane Clanton $100,000
2 9 23 John Blankenship
3 16 29 Darrell Lanigan
4 17 15F Steve Francis
5 10 28E Dennis Erb Jr
6 7 44M Clint Smith
7 26 28C Eddie Carrier Jr
8 11 15B Brian Birkhofer
9 8 21 Billy Moyer
10 19 44CM Chris Madden
11 18 3 Matt Miller
12 12 17M Dale McDowell
13 23 11 Tyler Reddick
14 25 44P Earl Pearson, Jr
15 15 75 Terry Phillips
16 14 71 Don O’Neal
17 4 55 Jeep Van Wormer
18 1 5KB Klint Byers
19 20 1 Brandon Sheppard
20 6 3S Brian Shirley
21 2 0 Scott Bloomquist
22 3 6 Steve Shaver
23 24 18 Shannon Babb
24 22 81 Scott James
25 13 1* Chub Frank
26 21 25F Jason Feger

B-Main
1 44CM Chris Madden
2 1 Brandon Sheppard
3 25F Jason Feger
4 81 Scott James
5 11 Tyler Reddick
6 18 Shannon Babb
7 25R Josh Richards
8 41 Brad Neat
9 53 Ray Cook
10 26K Tony Knowles
11 57J Bub McCool
12 18W Eric Wells
13 3D Austin Dillon
14 71C R J Conley
15 9R Curtis Roberts
16 15H Jon Henry
17 F5 B J Robinson
18 79 Doug Drown
19 99 Donnie Moran
20 7R Kent Robinson
21 24H Greg Johnson
22 39 Tim McCreadie
23 00S Jesse Stovall
24 C9 Steve Casebolt

C-Main
1 79 Doug Drown
2 C9 Steve Casebolt
3 57J Bub McCool
4 9R Curtis Roberts
5 15H Jon Henry
6 99 Donnie Moran
7 71W Chris Wall
8 89 Mike Spatola
9 11B James Rice
10 17D Ronnie Dehaven
11 20J Jerry Bowersock
12 48 Tim Lance
13 34 Ky Harper
14 88 Andrew Reaume
15 31C Shane Cottle
16 99M Devin Moran
17 46 Tim Rivers
18 30 Mark Voigt
19 28L John Lobb
20 81JR Jason Riggs
21 B4 Jackie Boggs
22 36 Matt Irey
23 555 Justin Coulter
24 44P Earl Pearson, Jr
25 5 Jared Landers
26 10 Leon Henderson
27 20 Jimmy Owens
28 31 Scott Creel

Heat #1
1 5KB Klint Byers
2 44M Clint Smith
3 1* Chub Frank
4 44CM Chris Madden
5 00S Jesse Stovall
6 F5 B J Robinson
7 17D Ronnie Dehaven
8 5 Jared Landers
9 20 Jimmy Owens
10 44P Earl Pearson, Jr
11 34 Ky Harper
12 19 Chad Smith
13 44 Greg Kendall
14 20C Duane Chamberlain
15 5B Mike Marlar
16 33 Don Gordon
17 1V Will Vaught

Heat #2
1 0 Scott Bloomquist
2 21 Billy Moyer
3 71 Don O’Neal
4 1 Brandon Sheppard
5 24H Greg Johnson
6 3D Austin Dillon
7 79 Doug Drown
8 9R Curtis Roberts
9 89 Mike Spatola
10 30 Mark Voigt
11 81JR Jason Riggs
12 25N Dustin Neat
13 42 Terry Casey
14 1B Jeff Babcock
15 26L Bill Lewis
16 15 Jonathon Davenport
17 A1 Duke Whiseant

Heat #3
1 6 Steve Shaver
2 23 John Blankenship
3 75 Terry Phillips
4 25F Jason Feger
5 39 Tim McCreadie
6 26K Tony Knowles
7 C9 Steve Casebolt
8 11B James Rice
9 31C Shane Cottle
10 555 Justin Coulter
11 111 Curt Spalding
12 6K Michael Kloos
13 28C Eddie Carrier Jr
14 32 Mark Dodson
15 33B Scott Bowersock
16 1W Dillon Wood

Heat #4
1 55 Jeep Van Wormer
2 28E Dennis Erb Jr
3 29 Darrell Lanigan
4 81 Scott James
5 11 Tyler Reddick
6 53 Ray Cook
7 15H Jon Henry
8 99 Donnie Moran
9 71W Chris Wall
10 31 Scott Creel
11 36 Matt Irey
12 1WC Wayne Chinn
13 22 Chris Ferguson
14 2 Justin Chance
15 1N Casey Noonan
16 17 Shannon Thornsberry

Heat #5
1 25C Shane Clanton
2 15B Brian Birkhofer
3 15F Steve Francis
4 18 Shannon Babb
5 25R Josh Richards
6 71C R J Conley
7 57J Bub McCool
8 99M Devin Moran
9 48 Tim Lance
10 88 Andrew Reaume
11 20H Jacob Hawkins
12 37 Dennis Franklin
13 93 Jay Johnson
14 92 Cody Scott
15 23V Ryan Vanderveen
16 99G Jacob Grizzle

Heat #6
1 3S Brian Shirley
2 17M Dale McDowell
3 3 Matt Miller
4 7R Kent Robinson
5 41 Brad Neat
6 18W Eric Wells
7 B4 Jackie Boggs
8 10 Leon Henderson
9 20J Jerry Bowersock
10 28L John Lobb
11 46 Tim Rivers
12 37H Jared Hawkins
13 28 Jimmy Mars
14 38 Kevin Colston
15 16 Tracy Pearson
16 0 Jay Sessoms