After a one night break due to weather on Friday night, the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series returned to the All-Tech Raceway South of Lake City in Ellisville for the conclusion of their three night run at the undersized half Mile oval. With fifteen grand on the line for the winner, the conclusion here was also the highest paying of the three nights and the drivers responded with a spectacular fifty lap feature race that saw veteran Jimmy Owens win his first main event of 2022. In a dogfight for the win, Owens never saw the front spot until lap forty three as he was the fourth leader of the race, something not seen often these days with the aero issues that seem to favor the leader, especially on a track with such long straightaways as there are here at All-Tech.
Forty four Late Models would sign in to race on Saturday as one driver pulled out for a race elsewhere while Brennon Willard and Ryan Gustin joined the field on Saturday. It was a very cool and cloudy day in North Florida with a few sprinkles in the air from time to time and the engine tuners for the teams were left once again to puzzle over just what the correct setup would be.
Along with the Late Models, the area Street Stocks would also be racing once again with a thousand dollars on the line for the winner of that event. The two class only show would help in ensuring a quick program was run off as there was a reoccurring chance of showers later in the evening and in fact, a decision was made mid program to run the Late Model feature first just to make sure that event was completed and I'm sure that many in the chilled grandstand were more than happy to see the Late Models out first so they could then help for the warmth of their vehicles.
One of the beauties of the Lucas oil Series is that when they schedule the hot laps for a certain time which is always posted, once that is completed they go directly into time trials and then right into the racing so on a night like this, the first heat race hit the track by 6:30 pm and then they just plowed right through the program with the Late Models totally done by 9 pm with the Streets to then wrap up the night.
Devin Moran and Brandon Sheppard would be the quick qualifiers in their groups and would start on the pole for their heats, of which there would be four on this night. For the first time all week, there would be a heat race winner that didn't start on the front row of a heat as Tyler Erb used and unusual line that he discovered to pass Sheppard and win that event. This would then ensure the outside pole, an advantageous place to start, to "Turbo" for the fifty lapper.
With provisional starts assigned, twenty seven cars would take the green flag for the fifty lapper and Tyler Erb would use that outside spot to take the early lead as he continued to use the unusual line that saw him cut down across turn three through the banking. And while that groove worked for the short term, he quickly began to fade after leading the first eight laps and he would barely hold on for a top ten finish later.
The race started haltingly, with five yellow flags in the first eleven laps, all for minor spins and fluid from Mark Whitener's blown motor. But after that, they ran the last thirty nine laps nonstop and there would be plenty of action as the changing surface kept even these Late Model stars guessing as to what should be the quickest line around the track.
Moran would get past Erb and lead for awhile with Tim McCreadie then starting to track him down. Eventually, McCreadie would make a pass on Moran and start to pull away as it looked like the win would be his. However, with the long period of green flag racing, drivers would see their cars shine and then fade some and that is what happened to McCreadie as Moran caught back up to him, briefly led until McCreadie once again grabbed the top spot but while they were battling it out, Owens slowly but steadily gained on both of them.
Lapped traffic became an issue and between fighting with the slower cars and fighting to find the right line on the track, Owens was suddenly right in the mix while Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Sheppard were also closing in.
McCreadie was desperate to get past the slower cars but he didn't feel comfortable moving up the track but when he dove low on lap forty three into turn one, he found himself trapped in a box canyon with no where to move to. Owens positioned himself on the top side and blew past the two lapped cars plus Timmy and took over the lead. He then motored away from the field in the remaining laps to score a very popular victory as he seems to have one of the biggest cheering sections at the track most nights. McCreadie would hold on for second while Moran faded back behind Davenport with Sheppard completing the top five. Twenty cars were still running at the end with six a lap down. It was one of the better races seen so far this year for the Late Models. Brandon Overton, Hudson O'Neal and Chris Madden would be among the drivers that much was expected of this week but not shown so far as they look to rebound at East Bay. Davenport is apparently wrapping up his Speed Weeks tonight as he indicated that he won't be seen at either East Bay or Volusia.
The Street Stocks wrapped up the evening with their twenty lap main that would pay a grand to the winner. Last night's winner Mike Stalnaker would take the top spot once again but things got interesting on the final lap. Earlier, Stalnaker came from the second row of the straight up start to grab the lead and once in front he stretched it impressively.
At one point he was a full straightaway in front of the field and with this big track, that is quite a distance. However, a yellow flew with just four laps to go and that bunched up things.
Stalnaker opted to run the low line on the slick track and Cameron Metts used the top side to gain some momentum and suddenly, he was knocking on the back bumper of the leader. In fact, on the final lap, Metts threw a slider in turn one and blew into the lead. However, Stalnaker crossed him over down the back chute to grab the front spot once again and then withstood a strong challenge off the final corner to take the win over Metts. Last year's track champion Heath Walker would come from tenth to finish third. All racing was complete by 9:30 pm. A large crowd was on hand for the Late Model finale here at All-Tech.
In closing, we have to say that the racing far exceeded our expectations here over the last two nights. I had been here before and found the racing to not be too spectacular with a lot of follow the leader, predictable racing. However, that was not the case here this week. Drivers were using lots of different lines, the track seemed to be endlessly changing and what was good at the start of the race might not be so at the finish.
The exceedingly slick track conditions were very much of a good thing. They helped slow the cars down and were far easier on equipment than some of he previous races I had seen here and helped keep the racing close and the action very good. The heat races were some of the best seen in quite some time as the icy slick conditions befuddled the drivers and really opened up the racing for surprises. Congratulations to promoter Wendell Durrance and his entire crew for some excellent racing, diminished only because we lost one night of racing I believe the drivers enjoyed their stay here as All-Tech seems to be building a stronger presence among the Late Model set when they come to Florida.
No comments:
Post a Comment