8/21/2009
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Owens Outguns Bloomquist in Toyota of Knoxville 75 at Tazewell Speedway in Friday Night
TAZEWELL, TN (August 21, 2009) – The top two drivers in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series thrilled the partisan crowd on Friday Night at Tazewell Speedway as Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN outran Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN in winning the Toyota of Knoxville 75. Owens passed Bloomquist in traffic on lap 21 and then held off the current series point’s leader down the stretch to score his third series win of the season. Bloomquist finished second as he now holds a 215 point lead over Owens with eight races remaining. Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN finished third followed by Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA and 14th starting Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC.
Shanon Buckingham and Bloomquist started on the front row for the 75 lap main event as Bloomquist jumped to the point at the drop of the green flag. An early caution for Shon Flanary would bunch the field up for the first restart of the race as Bloomquist was on the point followed by Owens, who had started third, Buckingham, PRC Fast Qualifier John Blankenship and 4-time track champion, Rick Rogers.
The race went green for five laps until a three car accident in turn two halted the action. Bloomquist would again lead the field on the restart, but two green flags would end with a caution for a slowing Chad Ogle, who was leaking fluid on the race track. Bloomquist and Owens then sprinted away on the restart with Blankenship holding down third followed by Buckingham and Rogers.
The two frontrunning cars of Bloomquist and Owens then entered traffic with 15 laps scored and when Bloomquist got boxed in behind a slower car Owens made the move for the lead coming off of turn number two going by Bloomquist on the top groove to take over the lead on lap 21.
Owens was in front for two laps when Steve Casebolt’s flat tire slowed his pace and allowed Bloomquist to restart on his tail. Owens and Bloomquist again showed their strength and a green flag stretch of five laps would already result in the duo entering more traffic as they picked up the back of the pack.
By lap 32 there were four cars in front of Owens as he was hanging on for the lead as Bloomquist was putting on a charge again for the lead. Blankenship was still running by himself in third as Buckingham got shuffled back to eighth on lap 34 after fourth from the start of the race.
Owens kept Bloomquist at arm’s length, holding a three to four car length lead at the halfway mark of the race. Blankenship was now getting pressure for the first time in the race for his position as O’Neal was up from his eighth starting spot to challenge Blankenship for third.
The sixth caution of race for Eric Jacobsen on lap 54 would bunch the field up again and on the restart O’Neal was finally able to pass Blankenship for third after several laps of trying. With 60 laps complete it was still the high flying show between Owens and Bloomquist as they were still setting a quick pace around the high-banked oval.
The seventh and last caution of the race would come out for Blankenship who slowed with a flat tire with eleven laps remaining in the race. The final restart of the race would have the capacity crowd on their feet as Owens and Bloomquist would battle it out to the finish.
Owens shot to a three-car length advantage over Bloomquist with five laps to go. Bloomquist kept trying a lower groove off of turn one to try and slice Owens’ lead, but Owens hit his marks in the closing laps as he went on to score the win over his chassis builder.
In the Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the third time in 2009 Owens as he always does thanked a multitude of supporters including his car owner, Mike Reece, who hails from Tazewell and was on hand to watch his driver win. “I glad that we can win here in front of Mike and all the great fans we have, Scott and I had a real good race out there, it seemed like we got into traffic quite a bit which happens a lot here, but we got a timely yellow when we needed it, the lapped cars did a great job of letting us by, it’s tough out there on this track with traffic, but our car was just really good on the restarts,” said the 37-year old driver as he recorded his 12th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win.
The Mike Reece owned winning Bloomquist Race Cars Ford Fusion is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Gantte Appraisals, PRC, Ohlins Shocks, VP Racing Fuels, Red Line Oil, Hoosier Tires, Byrd’s Radiator and C&C Trucking.
Bloomquist had his third straight second place finish to keep his points lead over Owens which stands at 215 points with eight races remaining on the schedule. Bloomquist in his Miller Brothers Coal/Sweet Mfg/Bloomquist Races Monte Carlo SS still is winless on the Lucas Oil Series tour in 2009. O’Neal claimed third in the Racing United Marketing/Superior Cleaning/MasterSbilt Race Cars followed by McDowell in the Clint Bowyer Racing/Dollar General/Warrior Impala SS and Ray Cook in the D&R Racing/Hicks and Ingle General Contracting/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo SS.
Completing the top ten were PBM/Erson cams Hard Charger of the Race, Billy Ogle Jr. of Knoxville, TN, Rick Rogers of Knoxville, TN, Shanon Buckingham of Morristown, TN, Brad Neat of Dunnville, KY and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL.
To find out more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log on to www.lucasdirt.com or call the series office at (951) 532-2503.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday Night, August 21st, 2009
Toyota Knoxville 75
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, TN
PRC Fast Time: John Blankenship/ 11.116 seconds
Hawk Brake First Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Shanon Buckingham, John Blankenship, Vic Hill, Bryan Hendrix, Tommy Kerr, Billy Ogle Jr., Eric Jacobsen, Justin Rattliff, Brian Smith, Jeff Wolfenbarger
Hawk Brake Second Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Rick Rogers, Don O’Neal, Chad Ogle, Ray Cook, David Breazeale, Steve Casebolt, Marty Calloway, Shon Flanary
AFCO Racing Products Third Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson Jr., Dale McDowell, Brad Neat, Steve Smith, Brent Dixon, Freddy Smith, Michael Smith, Michael Walker, Dan Schlieper
Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main (12 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Eric Jacobsen, Freddy Smith, Steve Casebolt, Shon Flanary, Marty Calloway, Justin rattliff, Brian Smith, Michael Walker, Michael Smith, Dan Schlieper, Jeff Wolfenbarger-DNS
Toyota Knoxville 75 Feature Finish (75 Laps): Jimmy Owens, Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, Dale McDowell, Ray Cook, Billy Ogle Jr., Rick Rogers, Shanon Buckingham, Brad Neat, Earl Pearson Jr., David Breazeale, Steve Casebolt, Eric Jacobsen, Bryan Hendrix, John Blankenship, Shon Flanary, Brent Dixon, Tommy Kerr, Steve Smith, Freddy Smith, Vic Hill, Chad Ogle, Michael Walker, Dan Schlieper
Race Statistics
Entrants: 29
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-20 (Scott Bloomquist); Laps 21-100 (Jimmy Owens)
Caution Flags: Lap 1 ( Tommy Kerr and Shon Flanary); Lap 6 (Michael Walker and Shon Flanary); Lap 8 (Chad Ogle); Lap 22 (Steve Casebolt); Lap 38 (Eric Jacobsen); Lap 54 (Eric Jacobsen); Lap 64 (John Blankenship)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Dan Schlieper, Michael Walker
Emergency Provisional: none
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Billy Ogle Jr.
Allstar Performance Performer of the Race: Dale McDowell
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Don O’Neal
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: David Breazeale
Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Time of the Race: 54 minutes 07 seconds
Submitted By: Jeremy Shields
