O'Reilly All Stars: Carrier Holds Off Casebolt on "Stars" Night at K-C

Scott Wolfe

CHILLICOTHE, OHIO-A "Star-Spangled Night" complete with a booming Fireworks display kicked off one of the biggest events of the season at Schrader's K-C Raceway where Eddie Carrier, Jr. of Salt Rock, W.V. claimed the Late Model portion of the "Night the Stars Come Out" and shared the spotlight with All Star sprinter Dale Blaney.

In the competitive 40-lap O'Reilly All-Star Late Model main, Steve Casebolt bolted into the early lead over Carrier who rode shotgun with the leader much of the event.

On lap seven, Frank Heckenast brought out the caution, setting the stage for a Delaware style shootout. Casebolt, who drew the number one pill, again powered away, only to see the action slow on lap ten when Brad Neat slowed on the top of turn three.

Upon restarting, Casebolt again zoomed to the point with some pad between he and second place Carrier. As the pair raced up on traffic on lap 20, Carrier's Ford began to close the gap, three times diving under Casebolt in turn one, scrubbing off some speed on each attempt. Carrier didn't falter as he and Casebolt ran nose to tail much of the next ten laps. As Carrier and Casebolt raced each other up front, Donnie Moran and Tim Dohm closed in, making it a wild four car race.

On lap 31, Carrier again caught Casebolt and put on a slide job on the end of lap 31 to take the lead coming out of four. Earl Pearson, Jr. came on to a strong fifth, but Dohm closed the door on his charge, then rallied the last three laps to again pressure Moran for third. At the finish, it stood at Carrier, Casebolt, Moran, Dohm, and Pearson. Greg Johnson was next in line in what was a spectacular run for the Indiana driver. Johnson came through the B-main, started 17th. and finished sixth to earn hard-charger honors.

"Early in the race I kept changin' my mind a little bit as to where I was gonna' run, and I showed my nose to make him (Casebolt) change his mind a little bit," Carrier said. "He drove a good race too. When the track gets like this you have to be patient and take your time. We were pretty good tonight. I didn't know if I could have got him, if he didn't spin his tires off of two just a little bit."

Second place Casebolt added "I have come in second many times here. It seems like when we come here for $5,000 to win, we run second. It is what it is. I am happy to finish second - it's better than third. You had a great crowd tonight and that's what makes it happen."

Third place Moran said understatedly, "Those guys were running real good tonight. I had a good car, but they were just a little better. For as hot as it was, the track was in pretty good shape."

July 1 - K-C Raceway - O'Reilly All Stars 1) Eddie Carrier, Jr., 2) Steve Casebolt, Jr., 3) Donnie Moran, 4) Tim Dohm, 5) Earl Pearson, Jr., 6) Greg Johnson, 7) Bub McCool, 8) Ben Adkins, 9) Josh McGuire, 10) Delmas Conley, 11) Mike Wilson, 12) Jared Miley, 13) Clint Keenan, 14) Brad Neat, 15) Chad Smith, 16) R.J. Conley, 17) Rod Conley, 18) Frank Heckenast, 19) Mark Frazier, 20) Ken Howell, 21) Russ Frohnapfel, 22) Devin Moran, 23) Dean Boyd, 24) Eric Wells, 25) Brian Casey Fast Time (37 entries): Ben Adkins (14:350); Heat winners: Casebolt, Adkins, Moran, R.J. Conley; B-Main winners: Johnson, Heckenast.
Thomas Hendrickson photo