World of Outlaws Late Model Series
The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway
November 2, 2012
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Owens Outduels Eckert & Lanigan For Friday-Night Victory At World of Outlaws World Finals
Tennessee Driver Becomes Winningest Driver In History Of Season-Ending Event At The Dirt Track At Charlotte



by Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, NC (November 2) – Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., became the winningest driver in the six-year history of the PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts with a hard-fought victory in Friday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Owens, 40, advanced from the ninth starting spot to run third behind Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., by lap nine. He battled with the WoO LMS regulars until overtaking Lanigan for second on lap 27 and Eckert for the lead on lap 30.

A winner of the Saturday-night finale of the PEAK World Finals Presented by NAPA in each of the last three years, Owens controlled the final 20 circuits of the feature to register his fourth career triumph during the season-ending spectacular at the four-tenths-mile oval. Eckert crossed the finish line 1.869 seconds behind Owens in second, while Lanigan, who clinched the 2012 WoO LMS championship by entering the weekend’s action, settled for third to remain winless in 19 career starts at The Dirt Track.

Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., who entered the event tied with Owens atop the alltime PEAK World Finals Presented by NAPA win list, finished fourth after starting from the outside pole and sixth-starter Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., placed fifth.

A massive crowd watched Owens outduel the 2012 WoO LMS campaign’s two biggest winners to pocket a $10,000 top prize. It was his first victory of the season and the sixth of his career on the national tour.

“I know the fans got to see a heck of a race,” said Owens, who piloted Mike Reece’s Cornett-powered Team Zero by Bloomquist car. “It’s not very often you get to see three cars battling for the lead.”

Owens spent nearly 20 laps dicing through lapped traffic with Eckert and Lanigan before finally grabbing the lead from Eckert on lap 30 with a surge to the inside of turn three.

“I think they were both kind of occupied with one another,” said Owens. “Lanigan knew I was there but Eckert didn’t, so we were able to slip up on Eckert and get by him.

“The track was a little heavy early during the heats and we weren’t as good, but I knew that if it dried out we’d be O.K. The track came to us in the feature and we were able to pull it off.”

Eckert, 46, saw his two-race win streak on the WoO LMS come to an end. A victor at The Dirt Track for the first time in his career on Oct. 10 when he captured the Circle K World of Outlaws Late Model Showdown, he swapped the lead twice with Lanigan before falling to Owens’s charge.

“Darrell and I had a dogfight there for a while,” said Eckert, who started third in his Team Zero by Bloomquist mount and led laps 15-24 and 26-29. “I heard somebody drivin’ in there into (turn) three under me and I’m like, ‘Here comes Darrell again.’ Then I glanced and it was Owens. I knew we were in trouble then because he started deep so he must have been pretty good.”

Eckert, who won the 2011 WoO LMS championship in a dramatic season-ending A-Main during the PEAK World Finals Presented by NAPA, secured a runner-up finish behind Lanigan in this year’s points standings simply by entering the weekend’s action.

Lanigan, 42, had his bid to extend his single-season WoO LMS victory record to 16 dive-bombed by a tire choice that didn’t quite work out.

“The car was pretty good, but I think we went a little softer on the right-rear than (Owens and Eckert) did,” said Lanigan, who started from the pole position in his Rocket car and led laps 1-14 and 26. “We went all-out for (the win) tonight and gambled a little bit on tires. I guess if we were in a points race we would’ve went the other way.”

Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., finished sixth, earning him a career-best finish in WoO LMS action. Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., placed seventh, former WoO LMS champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., was eighth, Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., took ninth and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind, rounded out the top 10.

Just one caution flag slowed the A-Main, on lap four when Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., executed a single spin in turn one.

Heat winners were Lanigan, Wells, Eckert, Madden, McDowell and Bloomquist. The B-Mains were captured by Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., and Chris Ferguson of Mt. Holly, N.C.

The 2012 PEAK World Finals Presented by NAPA conclude on Saturday night (Nov. 3) with a tripleheader featuring the WoO LMS, the WoO Sprint Car Series and the Super DIRTcar Series for big-block Modifieds. Gates open at 3 p.m., hot laps are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and racing is set to begin at 5 p.m.

Saturday night’s World Finals program will be televised live by the SPEED cable network from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight ET.

For more information, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com or www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.

Results of WoO Late Model Series PEAK Motor Oil World of Outlaws World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts Race No. 1 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (9) Jimmy Owens/50 $10,000
2. (3) Rick Eckert/50 $5,650
3. (1) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,650
4. (2) Scott Bloomquist/50 $2,700
5. (6) Dale McDowell/50 $2,000
6. (4) Eric Wells/50 $2,250
7. (10) Earl Pearson Jr./50 $1,400
8. (7) Steve Francis/50 $1,400
9. (5) Chris Madden/50 $1,250
10. (11) Don O’Neal/50 $1,100
11. (22) Brandon Sheppard/50 $1,150
12. (8) Jason Feger/50 $1,050
13. (27) Josh Richards/50 $1,100
14. (14) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,600
15. (13) Gregg Satterlee/50 $850
16. (12) Vic Coffey/49 $1,350
17. (20) Tim Fuller/49 $1,320
18. (19) Steve Shaver/49 $750
19. (16) Bub McCool/49 $1,580
20. (17) Shane Clanton/49 $1,250
21. (26) Clint Smith/49 $1,250
22. (25) Chub Frank/48 $1,250
23. (23) Zack Dohm/38 $700
24. (24) Jared Landers/36 $700
25. (15) Kent Robinson/30 $1,200
26. (18) Ross Camponovo/24 $725
27. (21) Chris Ferguson/22 $700
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 17 Mins., 21.469 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.869 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 1 (Lap 4)
Lap Leaders: Lanigan (1-14); Eckert (15-24); Lanigan (25); Eckert (26-29); Owens (30-50)
Provisional Starters: Frank, C. Smith (WoO); Richards (fastest pre-entered driver who failed to qualify)
Rookie of the Race: McCool ($250)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Wells ($500)

B-Main #1: 1. Steve Shaver, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Josh Richards, 5. Ray Cook, 6. Eddie Carrier Jr., 7. Pat Doar, 8. Kenny Moreland, 9. Duane Chamberlain, 10. Jerry Bowersock, 11. Chad Hollenbeck, 12. Andrew Reaume, 13. Chris Farrell, 14. Justin Coulter, 15. Brain Ledbetter (DNS) Brett Miller, Coleby Frye, Morgan Bagley

B-Main #2: 1. Tim Fuller, 2. Zack Dohm, 3. Jonathan Davenport, 4. Timothy Culp, 5. Dan Stone, 6. Walker Arthur, 7. Eric Jacobsen, 8. John Mason, 9. R.J Conley, 10. Josh McGuire, 11. Bob Gordon, 12. Jay Sessoms, 13. Denny Fenton, 14. Corey Weaver, 15. Matthew Sponaugle, 16. Kerry King Sr., 17. Randy Sterling, 18. Billy Decker

Heat #1: 1. Darrell Lanigan, 2. Steve Francis, 3. Gregg Satterlee, 4. Steve Shaver, 5. Eddie Carrier Jr., 6. Jerry Bowersock, 7. Josh Richards, 8. Chris Farrell, 9. Chad Hollenbeck, 10. Duane Chamberlain, 11. Justin Coulter, 12. Morgan Bagley

Heat #2: 1. Eric Wells, 2. Jason Feger, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Ray Cook, 5. Dennis Erb Jr., 6. Brandon Sheppard, 7. Pat Doar, 8. Andrew Reaume, 9. Kenny Moreland, 10. Brett Miller, 11. Coleby Frye, 12. Brian Ledbetter

Heat #3: 1. Rick Eckert, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Kent Robinson, 4. Tim Fuller, 5. Zack Dohm, 6. Dan Stone, 7. Jay Sessoms, 8. Matthew Sponaugle, 9. Timothy Culp, 10. Denny Fenton, 11. R.J. Conley, 12. Billy Decker

Heat #4: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Bub McCool, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. John Mason, 6. Bob Gordon, 7. Eric Jacobsen, 8. Josh McGuire, 9. Kerry King Sr., 10. Corey Weaver, 11. Randy Sterling, 12. Walker Arthur

Heat #5: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Don O'Neal, 3. Shane Clanton, 4. Jared Landers, 5. Chub Frank, 6. Dennis Franklin, 7. Jerry Lierly, 8. Rich Bell, 9. Joe Ramey, 10. Rod Conley (DNS) Brian Force, Don Gordon

Heat #6: 1. Scott Bloomquist, 2. Vic Coffey, 3. Ross Camponovo, 4. Austin Hubbard, 5. Chris Ferguson, 6. Ron Davies, 7. Pancho Lawler, 8. Dustin Mitchell, 9. Jacob Hawkins, 10. Dale Hollidge, 11. Clint Smith, 12. B.J. Robinson