WHEATLAND, MO (May 24, 2014) - Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Points leader, Don O'Neal captured his first career Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com on Saturday Night at Lucas Oil Speedway. O'Neal fought off some stiff competition, including Jimmy Owens, who was trying to win the event for the fourth consecutive year.
After the final caution on lap 57, O'Neal found himself battling Owens who made his way around O'Neal to take over the lead. O'Neal over took Owens for the final time on lap 64, then pulled away from Owens and never relinquished the lead again. O'Neal earned $30,000 for the win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association co-sanctioned event.
Earl Pearson Jr. held the fans attention for most of the race as he came from the 24th starting spot to finish second. Bobby Pierce made his way to third in his second ever Show-Me 100 after starting 12th. Scott Bloomquist made his way around Owens in the final laps to grab fourth spot. Owens faded to finish fifth in the final run-down.
"I finally did it," shouted O'Neal, who started the event for the 16th time in his career. "The car was great from the start of the race and we took our time getting to the front. I was hoping to save on tire wear for all 100 laps by running in the bottom. When Jimmy got around me on that last restart I said 'oh no' here we go again. That guy is pretty much unbeatable at this race track."
In a race that saw five different leaders and six lead changes, O'Neal first took the lead from Tony Jackson Jr. on lap five, but the two exchanged the top spot a few more times until O'Neal forged ahead. "We have been trying to win this race for so long, and we finally got it done tonight. I have to thank my car owner, Clint Bowyer, my crew chief, Jeremy Justice, Lance and Barry Wright, and the entire team; they did a great job all weekend. I have to thank Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Crawford Supply/Traeger Grills, Cometic Gasket, Toyota, Ohlins, and Georgia Boot. This Clements Race Engine was just tremendous as well."
Pearson made an amazing charge from the 24th starting spot and finally got around Owens for second with 23 laps remaining in the race. "Hats off to Don O'Neal, he drove a great race. Our car was just excellent, we were able to roll through the corners fine and our straightaway speed was really good. I thought I was sitting in a pretty good spot on that last restart, and then here comes Jimmy. We have seen it so many times here before. Once he is in front, he usually wins. We had to race some lapped traffic there, but overall I hope the fans enjoyed that race," said the driver of the Bobby Labonte Racing, Lucas Oil Products, and Longhorn Chassis
Pierce made a solid run tonight in the main event. "We battled carburetor problems all-night; I didn't think I was going to make it to the end. I probably could have used a caution there towards the end, but we had pretty good momentum there when we went by Bloomquist and Owens for third. Overall, it is a great honor to race with these guys, this just a fabulous facility, the race track was well-prepared and we look forward to coming back here next year for this race," said the driver of the Champion Spark Plugs, Pro Power Racing Engines, and Pierce Race Cars entry.
Completing the top ten were Mike Marlar, Jesse Stovall, Steve Francis, Shannon Babb, and Ryan Gustin.
In preliminary action, Ryan Gustin set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 65 entrants, with a lap of 15.144 seconds. Jimmy Owens set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 15.442 seconds. Jesse Stovall, Tony Jackson Jr., Don O'Neal, Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, and Scott Bloomquist won their respective heat races. Don O'Neal won the HotRod Tracker Manufacturers Dash and Brian Birkhofer won the Crawford Supply Traeger Grills Race of Champions. Jason Feger, John Blankenship, and Brian Shirley won their respective B-Mains. Tommy Weder won the Midwest Sheet Metal Show-Me Challenge Non-Qualifiers' Race and elected to start 32nd in the main event.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and follow the series on www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and www.twitter.com/lucasdirt.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, May 24th, 2014
22nd Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com
Lucas Oil Speedway - Wheatland, MO
Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Ryan Gustin/15.144 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens/ 15.442 seconds
Fast Shafts Heat Race #1 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jesse Stovall, Ryan Gustin, Terry Phillips, Steve Francis, Wendell Wallace, Steve Casebolt, Dave Eckrich, Randy Roth, Scott Lewis, Reid Millard, Dustin Walker
Eibach Springs Heat Race #2 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Tony Jackson, Jr., Garrett Alberson, Jason Bodenhamer, Jason Feger, Austin Siebert, Chris Brown, Austin Rettig, Junior Coover, Gavin Landers, Richard Kimberling, Joey Smith
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Don O'Neal, Rodney Sanders, Will Vaught, Matt Furman, Bub McCool, Timothy Culp, Mark Dotson, Raymond Merrill, Jon Driskill, Scotty Bough, Justin Asplin-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #4 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Billy Moyer, Jr., Shannon Babb, John Blankenship, Chris Simpson, Brady Smith, Travis Dickes, Jack Sullivan, Bill Koons, David Deetz, John Anderson
Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Robert Baker, Billy Moyer, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jason Hughes, Chad Simpson, Jared Landers, Brantlee Gotschall, Brian Birkhofer, JC Wyman, Bryon Allison
Eibach Springs Heat Race #6 Finish (20 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Bobby Pierce, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Brian Shirley, Jeremy Payne, Jason Papich, Tommy Weder, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jeff Roth, Kyle Beard
HotRod Tracker Manufacturers Dash Finish (10 Laps): Don O'Neal, Jesse Stovall, Bobby Pierce, Ryan Gustin, Will Vaught, Rodney Sanders, Garrett Alberson, Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist, Wendell Wallace, Jeremy Payne
Crawford Supply Traeger Grills Race of Champions Finish (10 Laps): Brian Birkhofer, Earl Pearson Jr., Jimmy Owens, Scott Bloomquist, Shannon Babb, Terry Phillips, John Anderson, Wendell Wallace, Tony Jackson Jr., Billy Moyer
JRi Shocks B-Main #1 (20 Laps, Top 2 Transfer) Finish: Jason Feger, Chris Brown, Steve Francis, Scott Lewis, Junior Coover, Joey Smith, Austin Siebert, Randy Roth, Richard Kimberling, Steve Casebolt, Wendell Wallace, Dave Eckrich, Austin Rettig, Gavin Landers, Reid Millard, Dustin Walker-DNS
CV Products B-Main #2 (20 Laps, Top 2 Transfer) Finish: John Blankenship, Matt Furman, Chris Simpson, Bub McCool, Jack Sullivan, Brady Smith, Mark Dotson, Raymond Merrill, Bill Koons, David Deetz, Travis Dickes, Jon Driskill, Scotty Bough-DNS, Justin Asplin-DNS, John Anderson-DNS, Timothy Culp-DNS
JRi Shocks B-Main #3 (20 Laps, Top 2 Transfer) Finish:Brian Shirley, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jason Hughes, Chad Simpson, Jeremy Payne, Jason Papich, Tommy Weder, Dennis Erb, Jr., Brantlee Gotschall, Brian Birkhofer, JC Wyman, Jeff Roth, Kyle Beard, Jared Landers, Bryon Allison-DNS
Midwest Sheet Metal Show-Me Challenge Non-Qualifiers' Race Finish (20 Laps): Tommy Weder, Jack Sullivan, Chris Simpson, Jason Hughes, Brian Birkhofer, Brady Smith, Austin Siebert, Brantlee Gotschall, Jeff Roth, Scott Lewis, Raymond Merrill, Mark Dotson, Joey Smith, Junior Coover, Richard Kimberling, Kyle Beard, Bill Koons, Dave Eckrich, Bub McCool
22nd Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Feature Finish (100 Laps):
FINISH START CAR # DRIVER NAME HOMETOWN
1 3 5 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
