Owens Survives Battle with Lanigan to Win at Florence

UNION, KY (August 10, 2017) – Jimmy Owens survived a fierce battle with Darrell Lanigan to win the Sunoco Race Fuels North/South Shootout – presented by Lucas Oil on Thursday night at Florence Speedway. Owens and Lanigan swapped the lead several times before the halfway mark, with Owens gaining the lead for good on lap 16, though never comfortably ahead of the pack.

Lanigan stayed close and finished right on Owens’ bumper as the checkers fell. Tim McCreadie finished a close third with polesitter, Hudson O’Neal taking fourth. Bobby Pierce charged from 17th to finish fifth.

It was Owens’ third LOLMDS win of the season, but his first outside of his homestate of Tennessee where he had recorded wins earlier this season at Tazewell and Smoky Mountain.

The 3-time North/South 100 winner was elated in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “It was a good show tonight. I was thankful to get the lead on the bottom when I did. The lapped traffic was a bear. I had a hard time getting around Scott [Bloomquist]. Wherever I went, he went, but that’s part of it. Maybe we can run good in the heat races tomorrow and get a good starting spot for Saturday.”

“I really felt like I needed to get off the top. I saw O’Neal up there and I figured he was running the cushion. I didn’t think I could catch the lapped cars on the bottom so that is why I stayed up top. I had to look over my shoulder there at the end to see who was there, especially on a track like tonight the guy running in second has the advantage. You never know where to be. Hats off to the track crew for a doing a great job on the track,” said the 3-time LOLMDS National Champion.

“I really wasn’t leaning on the cushion much. There is $50,000 on the line Saturday night so I wanted to keep it off of the wall. There was an awesome turnout tonight of drivers and fans. It’s great to have everybody come support us. This makes such a prestigious race even better.”

The Ramirez Motorsports, Rocket Chassis driven by Owens is powered by an Andy Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by E3 Spark Plugs, Red Bone Fishing and Rental, Power Rig LLC, Red Line Oil, Boomtest Well Service, Keyser and Integra.

Lanigan debuted a new car and was in the hunt the entire 50-lap distance. “We struggled last week in Illinois and Wisconsin so we came home and built a new one. I love coming home and running here. The fans are great. Hopefully we can finally win this race. We have tried for a long-time to win the North/South 100. We have run second 3 or 4 times. So hopefully we can bring this I-Racing.com entry home with the win for Clint Bowyer and all the guys.”

McCreadie had a great points night with his third-place finish. “It was definitely top-dominated. Jimmy did a good job there and I thought well maybe we could get around him, but Darrell was there and we all had a heck of a race going. I am happy with a third-place. I think we can get some more out of it.”

Completing the top ten were Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Overton, Don O’Neal, Josh Richards, and Zack Dohm.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Thursday, August 10th, 2017
Sunoco North/South Shootout – Presented by Lucas Oil
Florence Speedway – Union, KY

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Hudson O’Neal / 15.402 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Darrell Lanigan / 15.872 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Hudson O’Neal, Josh Richards, Austin Hubbard, Tyler Erb, Shanon Buckingham, Steve Francis, Chad Stapleton, Brandon Kinzer, John Whitney, James Rice, Jason Jameson, Billy Green

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Overton, Chris Ferguson, Don O’Neal, Michael Page, Steve Casebolt , Gregg Satterlee, Mason Zeigler, Jeep VanWormer, Jeff Alsip, John Gill, Roger Williams

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell, Scott Bloomquist, Joey Moriarty, Paul Stubber, Jesse Lay, Zak Blackwood, Austyn Mills, Colin Green

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Earl Pearson, Jr., Michael Chilton, Devin Moran, Billy Moyer, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Jason Miller, Craig Vosbergen, Ray Cook, Devin Gilpin, Kyle Bronson

Sunoco Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Dennis Erb, Jr., RJ Conley, Scott James , Cody Mahoney, Dustin Nobbe, Trevor Landrum, Jackie Boggs, Kody Evans, Connor Meade, Robby Hensley

ASi Racewear Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Rick Eckert, Zack Dohm, Kent Robinson, Timothy Culp, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Brian Shirley, Boom Briggs, Nick Latham, Adam Bowman, Tommy Bailey, Steve Landrum

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Tyler Erb, Michael Page, Dale McDowell, Steve Casebolt , Mason Zeigler, Joey Moriarty, Steve Francis, Zak Blackwood, James Rice, Jesse Lay, Roger Williams, Gregg Satterlee, John Whitney, Jason Jameson, Jeep VanWormer, John Gill, Austyn Mills, Billy Green, Scott Bloomquist, Shanon Buckingham, Jeff Alsip, Paul Stubber, Brandon Kinzer, Chad Stapleton, Colin Green-DNS

Fast Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Devin Moran, Scott James , Billy Moyer, Jr., Cody Mahoney, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Brian Shirley, Craig Vosbergen, Timothy Culp, Jackie Boggs, Boom Briggs, Trevor Landrum, Jason Miller, Ray Cook, Dustin Nobbe, Nick Latham, Devin Gilpin, Connor Meade, Adam Bowman, Tommy Bailey, Kody Evans, Kyle Bronson, Steve Landrum, Robby Hensley

Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Entrants: 67
Lap Leaders: Darrell Lanigan (Laps 1 – 9); Jimmy Owens (Laps 10 – 11); Darrell Lanigan (Lap 12); Jimmy Owens (Lap 13); Darrell Lanigan (Lap 14); Jimmy Owen (Laps 15 – 50)
Cautions: n/a
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Scott Bloomquist, Gregg Satterlee
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: Steve Francis, Boom Briggs
Florence Speedway Track Provisional: Jesse Lay
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jimmy Owens
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Bobby Pierce (Started: 17th; Finished: 5th; Advanced 12 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Josh Richards
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Hudson O’Neal
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jeff Strope (Jimmy Owens)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Lap #2 – 17.6543 seconds)
Safecraft Most Laps Led: Jimmy Owens
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Hudson O’Neal
Time of Race: 19 minutes 46 seconds