Steve Shaver after
Friday's victory in the "Grassy Smith Memorial" at Cherokee Speedway. (George Missita)
Lucas Oil Series: Shaver Clips Cook For "Grassy Smith Memorial" Win at
Cherokee
James
Essex
GAFFNEY, S.C. – June 17. Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.V. edged out Ray Cook of
Brasstown, N.C. to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned 13th "Grassy Smith Memorial" on
Friday at Cherokee Speedway. Shaver, who started fifth, took over the lead on lap 44 when race leader
Jonathan Davenport pitted for a flat tire.
Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. finished third; followed by 23rd starting Don
O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., and Steve Casebolt of Richmond, Ind.
Jimmy Owens restarts outside of Tyler Reddick before padding his points lead with a
third place run at Cherokee. (George
Missita)
Chris Ferguson led the first six laps until Davenport took over the top spot on
lap seven. Rookie contender Jared Landers then used the high-side to his advantage as he moved into second
on lap nine. Landers and Bloomquist then ran side-by-side for several laps and Ferguson fell to
fourth.
Davenport was holding the lead through heavy traffic until the red flag came out
on lap 23. Bloomquist and Landers went door-to-door in turn three and Bloomquist flipped in turn four, bringing
out the red. Bloomquist went pitside and returned to the race, staying on the lead lap.
Steve Casebollt races #15 Steve Francis before
Casebolt went on to finish fifth at cherokee, putting his early season slump on hiatus.
(George Missita)
Davenport then held off Shaver for several laps until a caution came out on lap
43. During the caution flag, Davenport’s right rear tire went flat and he went pitside for a tire
change. Shaver then took over the lead as Owens and Cook battled it out for second
place.
Cook went by Owens on the top shelf with two laps to go. Cook then tracked down
Shaver in a hurry and pulled even with Shaver in the final two circuits. Shaver slammed the door on Cook
as he went on to become the tenth different winner in LOLMDS action this season.
Scott Bloomquist and #777 Jared Landers race for position before the pair came
together and Bloomquist flipped his mount. (George
Missita)
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane, the 47-year-old Shaver said he didn’t know if he had
enough left at the end. “There’s probably not any tread left on either rear tire, I tried to baby them
there at the end, but to hold Ray off, he’s a clean racer and a great driver and to win this race means a lot
to me and my race team,” said Shaver, who drives for the Greensboro, NC based K&L Rumley Team.
Cook finished second by a car length, while Owens maintained his points lead with a third place finish.
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Big Gains for Hubbard, Pearson, Ogle - The A-Team Has Been Updated 05-15-12
Scott James battles #13 Barry Doss in heat race action at Florence (Ky.) Speedway, but in the $2,000-to-win feature, the only thing anyone saw was the tail end of James' #81 car. (Roy Walker)
After plenty of trash-talking via the electronic media between Jeff Matthews and Ivedent Lloyd last week, it was #21 Lloyd who got the final word as he reeled in #33 Matthews to win Friday's LM feature at Oclala, Fla.'s Bubba Raceway Park. (R.E. Wing)
Fans at Markleysburg, Pa.'s Roaring Knob Motorsports Comlex were treated to dual LM features Saturday - one a makeup from a May 5th rainout. (Above) Tim Senic challenges eventual regular feature winner Chuck Harper, while Jared Hawkins (below) claimed the makeup race. (Tommy Micheals)
Henley, Missouri's Jason Russell leads the way to Victory Lane in the ULMS Late Model feature at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday. (Chris Bork)
Some fierce racing action at Lucas Oil speedway. (Chris Bork)
Dalton, Ga.'s Craig Reece returned to Dixie Speedway Saturday and led all the way to win the Crate LM victory. (Steve Hixson)
Ray Guss Jr. races last week's Quad City Speedway winner, Mike Murphy, Jr. This time, it was advantage Guss. (Chris Damitz)
With a strong motor back into his mount, Veteran Lamar Scoggins claimed last Friday's Crate LM victory at Boyd's Speedway. (Steve Hixson)
Veteran racer Lance Matthees navigates Spring Lake, Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway before taking Saturday's WISSOTA Late Model checkers. (Jason Durst)
Racing hard at mid-pack, it's the dueling 55s of Cory Mahder (inside) and Greg Nippoldt at Deer Creek. (Jason Durst)
Ryan King (above and below) swept both the Ltd. Late Model and Crate Late Model features Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (Chad Wells)
Still riding his wave in Iowa, Mike Murphy, Jr. in early action before taking the main event win at Davenport last Friday. (Chris Damitz)
Jason Jameson ran a gauntlet to finally capture another win Friday night at Moler
Raceway Park (see main page). (Roy
Walker)
After holding back a charge from Alex Ferree, Chub Frank drove home with a Friday night win at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (John Stivason)
Bobby Pierce, Brett Sievert, and Mike Glynn race in a tight pack in Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway's "Crosstown Cup", but (below) it was ultimately Shawn Toczek (42) here racing the high side of Mike Provenzano, who sailed to the win. (Dan Simpson)
A-Team Leaders from 1997-2011 (Click on link for complete rundown)
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