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9/18/2022
Shane Clanton
Shane Clanton banks $7,000 Knoxville Nationals opener
Shane Clanton earned his sixth victory of the season on Thursday night in the opening night of the 18th annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals aboard his Skyline Motorsports No. 25 Bennett Explosives/ Super K Express/ Capital Race Cars / Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model.
"I could pass lapped cars in the bottom when I had to, so I knew my car is pretty good. ... the air means so much here," Clanton said in regards to the Thursday night victory. "The rest of the weekend didn’t go as well as we had hoped, but a seventh-place finish in the finale on Sunday wasn’t so bad. Now we’re geared up for a busy week in Indiana and Georgia with a lot of big money on the line."
Back in action on Tuesday, Shane Clanton ventured to Fairbury Speedway (Fairbury, Ill.) for the sixth round of the Castrol FloRacing Night in America miniseries.
Drawing 42 cars for the third annual One for the Road, Clanton laid down the eighth-fastest time in his group before placing third in his heat. Starting the $22,022-to-win A-Main in 12th, Shane dropped one spot in the 50-lapper to finish 13th.
Joining the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) on Thursday, Shane invaded Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa) to pilot his Olson Explosives No. 25 Late Model for the opener of the 18th annual Knoxville Nationals.
Charging from third-to-first in his heat race, Clanton locked into the pole for the preliminary feature. Leading flag-to-flag in the 25-lap affair, Shane cruised to his sixth win of the season and sixth-career LOLMDS triumph. He collected a $7,000 paycheck ahead of Earl Pearson Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, and Kyle Strickler.
For Friday’s preliminary night, Clanton scratched from his B-Main after missing a transfer spot by one car in his heat race.
Earning the seventh-starting position for Sunday’s rain-delayed $50,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals finale via passing points from prelims, Shane recorded a seventh-place finish in the 50-lap affair.
Full results from the weekend are available at www.FloSeries.com and www.LucasDirt.com .
Clanton has a busy week of racing in front of him. Action resumes on Monday and Tuesday at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway with an XR Super Series doubleheader. A $20,000 top prize is on the line on Monday evening with Tuesday’s program being highlighted by a $40,000-to-win finale.
From there the team will trek south to Boyd’s Speedway (Ringgold, Ga.) on Friday and Saturday with a World of Outlaws (WoO) Case Late Model Series doubleheader. The weekend is headlined by a $10,000-to-win affair on Friday and a $20,000-to-win slate on Saturday night.
For more information on this week’s plans for Skyline Motorsports and Shane Clanton, please visit www.XRSuperSeries.com and www.WoOLMS.com.