The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season is a long one which cannot be made or broken by just two or three races. And more, the series only intends to count the best five finishes for each driver out of the nine scheduled races that make up that tour’s time during Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks. But even with both of those factors taken into consideration, no driver or team wants to get off to a poor start.
Tim McCreadie’s luck in the early Lucas Oil races have kept him out of victory lane
Tim McCreadie finished second in the final Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings in 2020 and won several of the big races that were held during the coronavirus-plagued season. However, the Watertown, NY driver has gotten off to a less than inspiring beginning in the three features completed thus far at All-Tech Raceway and East Bay Raceway Park.
Wednesday night’s postponed event aside, McCreadie has posted results of 19th, 25th, and 29th to this point.
As stated earlier in this piece, those who intend to run the full LOLMDS schedule will only have count five of their nine finishes toward the season-long championship. So, McCreadie could very well recover and still post five strong results to emerge from Florida at or near the top of the standings. But, there are not many reprieves remaining which adds pressure to these final six SpeedWeeks races.
McCreadie’s finishes can largely be attributed to bad luck in the features. His heat race performances have indicated signs of strength. A worst finish of third in the four heats in which he has participated shows that he can run near the front. The No. 39 team just needs to carry those heat race finishes through the feature to put an end to their struggles.
At the end of SpeedWeeks in 2020, McCreadie had enjoyed much better luck as he left Florida trailing on non Lucas Oil regular Brandon Shepperd in the standings.
On the other hand, two drivers who have indicated their intentions of seeking Rookie of the Year honors have found difficulty in making and/or finishing feature races. Kyle Strickler and Ricky Thornton, Jr. have each won scores of Modified races during their careers and have also experienced a certain degree of success in the Late Model ranks, even at the highest levels.
The PCC Motorsports Rocket for driver Kyle Strickler
Strickler, who recently won a World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature at Volusia Speedway Park, has made two of the three Lucas Oil features held so far. But in those races, he has only managed results of 23rd(All-Tech) and 21st(East Bay II). He failed to transfer to the main event in the first East Bay race and had finished poorly in his heat race just prior to the postponement of Wednesday’s race.
Strickler made the move to the Rocket Chassis car of PCC Motorsports during the off-season for the purpose of running the full Lucas Oil schedule. His win at Volusia came while driving his own Longhorn Chassis.
Ricky Thornton, Jr. has not been able to carry his success in Arizona forward to Florida(Photo: @ABCracing54)
Thornton joined forces with SSI Motorsports midway through last season and won multiple features. The driver and team opted to take on the full series schedule with their Longhorn Chassis cars in 2021.
The No. 20RT car got off to a good start earlier this month in Arizona by winning one feature and finishing third in the Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout standings behind Jonathan Davenport and Tyler Erb.
The Arizona native has made his way into only one feature of the three held so far in Florida despite solid results in all but one qualifying session. However, heat races have proven to be frustrating as he has finished just outside of transfer positions. A 20th place result in the second East Bay race is all he has to show for his journey to Florida.
With the competition level as it is on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, these three drivers cannot afford to give up much more ground in these early events.
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