Shane Clanton
*Story composed from DirtonDirt.com video and various social media reports.
The World of Outlaws Late Models once again took to the track at the Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida on Friday night. A total of 47 Super Late Models were signed in for competition in a race that would pay $10,000 to the eventual winner on the half-mile track located near Daytona Beach.
And once again, Shane Clanton remained red hot by scoring his second WoO Late Models win in a row and his third for the season in that series. But the driver of car #2 did have to overcome a serious challenge from Dale McDowell to earn the victory.
Clanton began the night by setting fast time in Group A qualifying and overall with a lap of 15.717 seconds. The Georgia driver was followed by Walker Arthur, Darrell Lanigan, Billy Moyer and Jonathan Davenport in that group.
Another Georgian, Dale McDowell, led the way in Group B time-trials with a lap of 15.745 seconds. He beat out Scott Bloomquist, Chub Frank, Ricky Weiss and Kenny Pettyjohn.
After qualifying, the field was broken into four heat race groups. The top-4 from each of the preliminaries would transfer to the feature.
Clanton continued to look unbeatable as he blasted his way to the win in heat race #1 by more than a straightaway over Jonathan Davenport, Darrell Lanigan and Jimmy Owens.
Eric Wells bypassed Walker Arthur midway through heat race #2 and raced on to the win. Arthur held off Billy Moyer and Jared Landers to claim the second spot. All four of those drivers moved on to the main event.
Dale McDowell built up a big lead then had to outrun the field in a one-lap dash after a late caution in heat race #3. Chub Frank came home 2nd while Josh Richards moved up two spots on that final restart to earn his way into the feature along with Kenny Pettyjohn.
Wednesday night UMP feature winner Scott Bloomquist drove away for the win in heat race #4 over Ricky Weiss, Mason Zeigler and Casey Roberts.
The top-2 from each heat were sent to a redraw to establish the first four rows on the starting grid for the feature.
That redraw placed Clanton on the pole with Bloomquist designated to start alongside. Weiss, Wells, Davenport, Frank, McDowell and Arthur would follow them to the green flag.
Don O’Neal, Rick Eckert, Morgan Bagley and Earl Pearson, Jr. made the feature out of Last Chance Showdown #1 while Brandon Overton, Kent Robinson, Brandon Sheppard and Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. moved on from LCS #2.
The start of the 50-lap feature looked like business as usual for Clanton as he motored away from the field during the early laps, leaving Weiss, Bloomquist, McDowell and Wells to battle behind him. Lanigan also made a strong early move as he took to the high side of the track and moved from his 9th starting spot into 2nd by the sixth lap.
But as he had on two other occasions this week, Clanton set sail and built a huge advantage over those who attempted to keep pace. Even in heavy traffic, no one was able to close the gap on the leader during the first half of the event.
Meanwhile, Bloomquist, Moyer, McDowell, Davenport and Langian continued to jockey for position as the race approached the halfway mark. A lap 21 caution for Chase Junghans brought the field back together and erased the seven second lead Clanton had built over Lanigan.
On the ensuing restart, McDowell moved around Lanigan to take the runner-up spot and moved in to challenge Clanton for the top spot on the leader board. Again, however, Clanton appeared as if he would pull away as Chub Frank came through the top-5 to take on McDowell for 2nd place.
Instead of falling back, though, McDowell and Frank edged back to Clanton’s rear spoiler. Eventually, McDowell wrested the lead away from the seemingly invincible Clanton, pulling Frank along with him into the 2nd position.
A lap 36 caution for the 4th running Davenport getting into the turn two wall provided Clanton with an opportunity to cool his tires and make a final run at the leader. And that proved to be just what he needed as the #25 assumed the top spot again by using the high side of the track to get by McDowell on lap 38.
McDowell valiantly tried to close back in and make another run but Clanton was able to keep him at bey over the closing circuits.
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Feature Finish: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Chub Frank, 4. Scott Bloomquist, 5. Billy Moyer, 6. Darrell Lanigan, 7. Eric Wells, 8. Brandon Sheppard, 9. Rick Eckert, 10. Josh Richards, 11. Morgan Bagley, 12. Ricky Weiss, 13. Jimmy Owens, 14. Tim McCreadie, 15. Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., 16. Mason Zeigler, 17. Chase Junghans, 18. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 19. Boom Briggs, 20. Brandon Overton, 21. Jonathan Davenport, 22. Earl Pearson, Jr., 23. Don O’Neal, 24. Kenny Pettyjohn, 25. Casey Roberts, 26. Jared Landers, 27. Walker Arthur, 28. Kent Robinson
