Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Bay Raceway Park
February 15, 2013
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O’Neal captures $10K Lucas Oil Late Model win at East Bay Raceway Park 
LOLMDS PR
TAMPA, FL (February 15) - Don O'Neal captured his 15th career win at East Bay Raceway Park tonight after taking the lead on lap 39. Doug Drown and O'Neal had a hard fought battle, exchanging the lead several times during the main event. O'Neal captured $10,000 for winning the first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points event of the season.
Drown led the majority of the 50-lap main event and held the top spot until O'Neal chased him down in lapped traffic. Drown fought back hard, closing to within a car length of O'Neal near the end of the race, but came up short in his bid for a first ever LOLMDS win. Pierce; the 16-year-old, second generation driver; held his own, finishing third. He was followed by the Optima Batteries Hard Charger, Earl Pearson Jr., who drove his way from the 18th starting spot to claim fourth, just ahead of Dennis Erb Jr.
"That was a thrilling race, the fans could not have asked for a better feature! We changed so many things on this car, and it was perfect in the end," said the winner, O'Neal. "I got up to second and we (Drown) raced hard for the lead, I would get by him, then he would come back around me". The 48-year-old O'Neal piloted the Optima Batteries and Jay Dickens-powered MasterSbilt House Car.
Drown is racing at East Bay for the first-time in his career this week and was excited with his runner-up finish. "Hats off to Don, he drove a great race! I thought we were going to get it for a moment. I looked over at the scoreboard and saw the 71 behind me, and I thought maybe I could him hold him off, but he is obviously one of the best drivers in the country. Just to run with these guys is quite an honor," exclaimed the elated driver.
Pierce was looking for a clean sweep on the night and was equally excited with his finish. After the race, the young driver commented: "The top groove came back to us late in the race, and I thought maybe we could get Doug and Donnie. We learned a lot tonight and hopefully we will come back tomorrow and do even better!"
In preliminary action, Bobby Pierce (Group A) set the overall Fast Time amongst the 37 entrants, with a lap of 14.404 seconds. Jimmy Owens set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 14.518 seconds. Bobby Pierce, Dennis Erb Jr., Doug Drown, and Don O'Neal won their respective Heat Races. Vic Coffey and Earl Pearson Jr. won their respective B-Mains. LOLMDS Series Provisionals were Jared Landers and Jerry Lierly (Based on Fast Time, as there was only one series provisional). Jason McBride was the DirtOnDirt.com Fast Time Provisional. Stormy Scott was the PRC Strawberry Dash Winner.
After the main event, Doug Blashe won the $1,000-to-win Non-Qualifiers Race. Todd Frank finished second, followed by Brad Malcuit, James O'Hara, and Nick Davis, who rounded out the Top-5.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday Night, February 15th, 2013
37th Annual DART Winternationals
East bay Raceway Park - Tampa, FL
A-Main
1 4 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN $10,000
2 2 63 Doug Drown Wooster, OH
3 1 32 Bobby Pierce Oakwood, IL
4 18 44 Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL
5 3 28 Dennis Erb Jr Carpentersville, IL
6 10 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
7 17 32c Vic Coffey Leicester, NY
8 8 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
9 6 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
10 12 4h Chad Hollenbeck Kingsley, PA
11 15 81jr Jason Riggs Harrisburg, IL
12 5 11T Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
13 11 11H Austin Hubbard Seaford, DE
14 24 7L Jerry Lierly Quincy, IL
15 23 5 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
16 25 77 Jason McBride Carbondale, IL
17 14 28 Eddie Carrier Jr Salt Rock, WV
18 20 99m Devin Moran Dresden, OH
19 9 54 David Breazeale Four Corners, MS
20 19 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
21 26 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, NM
22 22 7 Ricky Weiss St Francois, MB
23 16 5 Eric Jacobsen Seacliff Beach, CA
24 7 16 Justin Rattliff Campbellsville, KY
25 21 32 Chad Stapleton Edinburgh, IN
26 13 99 Donnie Moran Dresden, OH
B-Main #1
1 2 32c Vic Coffey Leicester, NY
2 4 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
3 1 32 Chad Stapleton Edinburgh, IN
4 5 5 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
5 8 21 Todd Frank Green Bay, WI
6 3 7L Jerry Lierly Quincy, IL
7 10 1 Doug Blashe Marion, WI
8 7 77 Jason McBride Carbondale, IL
9 6 44 James O'Hara Daleville, PA
10 9 10 Leon Hendrson Laurel, MS
B-Main #2
1 5 44 Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL
2 1 99m Devin Moran Dresden, OH
3 2 7 Ricky Weiss St Francois, MB
4 6 79 Brad Malcuit Strasburg, OH
5 3 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, NM
6 8 92 Nick Davis Gumboro, DE
7 7 21jr Billy Moyer Jr Batesville, AR
8 9 50 Scott Phillips Marlette, MI
9 4 64 Braden Mitchell Russellville, AL
10 10 48 Bob Geiger Laurel, DE
Heat #1
1 1 32 Bobby Pierce Oakwood, IL
2 3 11T Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
3 5 54 David Breazeale Four Corners, MS
4 7 99 Donnie Moran Dresden, OH
5 8 32 Chad Stapleton Edinburgh, IN
6 4 7L Jerry Lierly Quincy, IL
7 2 5 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
8 6 77 Jason McBride Carbondale, IL
9 9 10 Leon Hendrson Laurel, MS
Heat #2
1 1 28 Dennis Erb Jr Carpentersville, IL
2 2 16 Justin Rattliff Campbellsville, KY
3 5 11H Austin Hubbard Seaford, DE
4 6 81jr Jason Riggs Harrisburg, IL
5 4 32c Vic Coffey Leicester, NY
6 3 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
7 9 44 James O'Hara Daleville, PA
8 7 21 Todd Frank Green Bay, WI
9 8 1 Doug Blashe Marion, WI
Heat #3
1 2 12d Doug Drown Wooster, OH
2 1 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
3 3 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
4 6 28 Eddie Carrier Jr Salt Rock, WV
5 7 99m Devin Moran Dresden, OH
6 5 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, NM
7 4 44 Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL
8 8 21jr Billy Moyer Jr Batesville, AR
9 9 50 Scott Phillips Marlette, MI
Heat #4
1 1 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
2 2 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
3 3 4h Chad Hollenbeck Kingsley, PA
4 4 5 Eric Jacobsen Seacliff Beach, CA
5 5 7 Ricky Weiss St Francois, MB
6 6 64 Braden Mitchell Russellville, AL
7 9 79 Brad Malcuit Strasburg, OH
8 7 92 Nick Davis Gumboro, DE
9 8 48 Bob Geiger Laurel, DE
Fast Time Group A: Bobby Pierce / 14.404 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens / 14.518 seconds
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The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt series will be back tomorrow, Saturday, February 16th with a double-header of high-flying action from the 37th Annual DART Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, FL. Hot Laps for Thursday's make-up event will take place at noon (12pm) and Hot Laps for tomorrow evening's event is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm. Both events will feature RedBuck Time Trials, Heats, B-Mains, PRC Strawberry Dash and Full Features ($7,000-to-win, 35 Laps for the day event; $10,000-to-win, 60 Laps for the evening event). For more information on the event or EBRP, log onto
www.eastbayracewaypark.com.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto
www.lucasdirt.com and follow the series on
www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and
www.twitter.com/#!/lucasdirt.
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