
Batesville's own Jared
Landers (outside) passed a fading Scott Bloomquist (#0) on lap 84 of the "Topless
100". Bloomquist pitted three laps later for new rubber, and Landers was overtaken by Earl Pearson on lap 95,
only to retake the top spot with just three laps to go.. (Rick Schwallie)
Top That! Landers' First Career LM Win Comes With the Top Down
James Essex
LOCUST GROVE, Ark. - Aug.
22. In an event where tire management was the name of the game for the entire field, local driver Jared Landers
couldn't have asked for a bigger way to break into victory lane as he captured the first Late Model victory of
his career in the $40,000 to win 18th annual COMP Cams
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An exhausted Jared Landers takes a seat on the race track
for an interview with the Speed Channel's Dave Argabright. (Rick
Schwallie) |
"Topless 100" at Batesville Motor Speedway. The 28-year-old veteran open wheel modified
driver took the lead from Earl Pearson Jr. with three laps to go in the 100-lap event.
Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. edged out Pearson at the finish line for second,
followed by Pearson, Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo. and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.
A rainout of Saturday night's feature event forced postponement until Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., subjecting
drivers to a baking sun and an even more abrasive track than usual.
Tyler Landers acknowledges the crowd after his
stunning win at a sun-baked Batesville Speedway. (Rick Schwallie)
“I don’t know what to say,” said the 29-year-old driver in victory lane,
“This is my first Late Model win, to do it here on my home track and in front of my fans; it’s something I’ll
always remember,” said Landers. “I have to thank Shane McDowell and all of my crew; they did a
great job all day long; thanks to Boater Sports, Mark Martin KIA, and Mark Martin Chevrolet for all of their
help along with Warrior Race Cars and Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines … this is unbelievable.”

Billy Moyer (#21) dropped out while running at
mid-pack late in the "Topless 100", while #44 Earl Pearson grabbed the lead from Jared Landers with just
five to go, only to lose it to Landers and have to settle for third after giving up the bridesmaid spot to Jimmy
Owens on the last lap. (Rick
Schwallie)
The afternoon heat and the baked
track surface forced every team that finished the race to pit at least once for fresh
rubber. Landers was waved in by Crew Chief Shane McDowell on lap 42 shen Jason Cliburn brought out a
caution. Until that point, early leader Don O’Neal had been slowed only on lap 17 for a slowing Chris Wall.
As tire wear began to become apparent throughout the field, O'Neal then yielded to the event's fast qualifier,
Chris Madden, who

In the game of musical chairs that was the 2010 "Topless
100", Bub McCool and #c9 Steve Casebolt finished 14th and 10th, respectively. (Rick Schwallie)
got the jump on the lap 43 restart. Madden then held the top spot for
three circuits until ninth-starting Scott Bloomquist took over the lead on lap 46.
Bloomquist and Madden then ran
one-two through several caution flags. Madden re-gained the point from Bloomquist on lap 57, but
Bloomquist came back five laps later to re-take the lead. Bloomquist held the top spot
until a lap 84 restart, when Landers slipped under him on the backstretch to take over the lead, much to delight
of the crowd.

Fast qualifier Chris Madden led his share of laps at
Batesville, only to have to settle for 11th in the rundown. (Rick Schwallie)
Bloomquist began to fade as he
slowed on lap 87 to bring out a caution. He darted into the pits to change tires. Bloomquist
had been the only car on the track that had not pitted. On the restart, Landers was challenged by both
Pearson and Owens. Pearson slipped by Landers on lap 95 for the lead, but Landers came back with authority to
take over the top spot for the final three circuits. Owens got by Pearson on lap 99, and Landers went on to hold
off both Owens and Pearson as the three almost came across the finish nearly side-by-side.
Owens, in the Reece Monument
Company, Mark Martin Ford sponsored Bloomquist Race Cars entry nipped Pearson at the line for second, but said
afterwards he should have pitted a little earlier. “We came in the pits a little sooner than I
anticipated,” said Owens.

"Topless 100" winner, Jared Landers.(Rick Schwallie)
18th annual "Topless
100" 1) Jared Landers, 2) Jimmy Owens
(prov.), 3) Earl Pearson, Jr., 4) Terry Phillips, 5) Brady Smith, 6) Jonathan Davenport, 7) Dan
Schlieper, 8) Dale McDowell, 9) Eric Wells (prov.), 10) Steve Casebolt, 11) Chris Madden, 12) Scott
Bloomquist, 13) Ray Cook, 14) Bub McCool, 15) Jeremy Payne, 16) Shannon Babb, 17) Jon Mitchell, 18) Don
O'Neal, 19) Chris Wall (prov.), 20) Ray Moore, 21) Billy Moyer, 22) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, 23)
Wendell Wallace, 24) Brian Birkhofer, 25) Jason Cliburn
Fast Time (73 entries): Chris Madden (13.254); Don O’Neal (13.932 - Group B)
Heat winners: Madden,Davenport, McDowell, O'Neal, Cook, Landers
B-Main winners: Moore, Moyer
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Rick Schwallie
photo
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First Heat: 1) Chris Madden, 2) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, 3) Bub
McCool, 4) Brian Birkhofer, 5) Chris Wall, 6) Jimmy Owens, 7) Jimmy Mars, 8) Chad Simpson, 9) Brandon
Smith, 10) R.C. Whitwell, 11) Austin Rettig, 12) Tyler Reddick, 13) Phil Edmondson
Second Heat: 1) Jonathan Davenport, 2) Scott
Bloomquist, 3) Dan Schlieper, 4) Ray Moore, 5) Mike Marlar, 6) Brad Neat, 7) Robbie Stuart, 8) Richie
Tosh, 9) Klint Byars, 10) Mark Stephens, 11) Dwight Falcon, 12) Jon Kirby
Third Heat: 1) Dale McDowell, 2) Wendell Wallace, 3)
Earl Pearson Jr., 4) Eric Wells, 5) Billy Moyer Jr., 6) Chris Simpson, 7) Kyle Beard, 8) Rylan Long, 9)
Jason Utter, 10) Kyle Cummings, 11) Wade Byars, 12) Odie Green
Fourth Heat: 1) Don O’Neal, 2) Jon Mitchell, 3) Shannon Babb,
4) Steve Casebolt, 5) Bill Frye, 6) Keith Foss, 7) Raymond Merrill, 8) Josh Danzy, 9) Scott Creel, 10)
Dalton Alexander, 11) Al Purkey
Fifth Heat: 1) Ray Cook, 2) Jeremy Payne, 3) Jason
Cliburn, 4) Dennis Erb Jr., 5) Billy Moyer, 6) Tim Isenberg, 7) Chase Washington, 8) Eric Turner, 9)
Donald Bradsher, 10) Shane Harris, 11) Jimmy Miller, 12) Bo Gordon
Sixth Heat: 1) Jared Landers, 2) Brady Smith, 3) Terry
Phillips, 4) Andrew McKay, 5) Jack Sullivan, 6) John Blankenship, 7) Stacy Taylor, 8) Jeremy Glasgow, 9)
Dewaine Hottinger, 10) Curtis Cook, 11) Brian Ritchie, 12) Leon Henderson, 13) Gary Christian
First B-Main: 1) Ray Moore, 2)
Brian Birkhofer, 3) Eric Wells, 4) Billy Moyer Jr., 5) Rylan Long, 5) Robbie Stuart, 6) Dwight Falcon, 7)
Kyle Beard, 8) Brandon Smith, 9) Wade Byars, 10) Chris Wall, 11) R.C. Whitwell, 12) Brad Neat, 13) Jason
Utter, 14) Odie Green, 15) Chris Simpson, 16) Phil Edmondson, 17) Richie Tosh, 18) Klint Byars
Second B-Main: 1) Billy Moyer, 2) Steve Casebolt, 3) Dennis Erb, Jr., 4) John
Blankenship, 5) Tim Isenberg, 6) Keith Foss, 7) Scott Creel, 8) Josh Danzy, 9) Donald Bradsher, 10) Bill Frye, 11)
Eric Turner, 12) Shane Harris, 13) Jimmy Miller, 14) Jeremy Glasgow, 15) Chase Washington, 16) Brian Ritchie, 17)
Dalton Alexander, 18) Andrew McKay, 19) Curtis Cook, 20) Jack Sullivan
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