Lucas Oil Series: Owens Claims "Show-Me" in a Close One
James
Essex
WHEATLAND, Mo. – May 28. Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. held off Scott Bloomquist
at the finish line to win the 19th annual DART "Show-Me 100" Presented by Lucas Oil Products on Saturday at
Lucas Oil Speedway. Owens took home $30,000 for the victory after nearly giving away the win on the final
lap when he pushed up the track in turn four. Owens recovered and barely managed to hold off Bloomquist at the
line to win a half car length in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt and Lucas Oil MLRA sanctioned
event.
Don O'Neal (#71) led part of the main event, but began to slip in the closing laps,
while #9 Steve Casebolt put in his best showing of the year with his advance to third. (Rich
Edwards, Jr.)
“That was one tremendous race from start to finish, the car was great all 100
laps. When I got by (Don) O’Neal, I knew we had a real good chance to win, but I nearly gave it away there in
turn four. The car pushed up the track and he (Bloomquist) was right there, and I was afraid I had just thrown
the $30,000 out the window,” said the 39-year-old, who picked up his first win in the Memorial Day weekend
crown jewel event.
Close racing between Jonathan Davenport (#49), who dropped out early veteran
Steve Francis (#15), who finished seventh, and #9 Steve Casebolt, who rallied to third.
(Lloyd Collins)
Owens led three different times during the race; he led the first six laps of the
race until Dan Schlieper took over the lead on a restart. Schlieper held the lead until Owens set up the
veteran driver and maneuvered around him on lap 19. O’Neal then made the top side work to his advantage as he
sailed around Owens to take over the lead on lap 38. O’Neal, Owens, and Bloomquist then pulled away from the
field as the trio battled through heavy traffic. O’Neal continued to lead the field for most of the race as he
held off several attempts from Owens.
Brian Birkhofer (#15) slipped by early leader #71 Don O'Neal in the later laps and
garnered fourth, while Batesville, Ark. driver Jared Landers (#7) picked up tenth. (Lloyd Collins)
Owens was finally able to overhaul O’Neal for the lead on lap 83. With 12 laps to
go, a caution came out for Jared Landers, who was running fourth, setting up a showdown between Owens,
Bloomquist, and O’Neal. Owens darted away from the others, holding a two-car length lead over Bloomquist for
most of the final circuits. It all came down to the last turn as Bloomquist made a final charge to overtake
Owens; but it was Owens at the finish line after nearly slipping up in turn four on the final circuit. A
late surge from Steve Casebolt vaulted him into third place.
While O'Neal slipped back to sixth, Brian Birkhofer took over fourth, tracked by
Cleveland, Texas driver Chris Brown.
SRRS regular Chip Brindle qualified for the biggest event of his career and raced to
a respectable 11th place. (Drew England)
A small slip by #20 Jimmy Owens almost cost him a
$30,000 win at Lucas Oil Speedway, but he gathered it up before fellow Tennessee driver Scott
Bloomquist could completely overtake him. (Drew England)
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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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