Shane Clanton
*Story composed from DirtonDirt.com video and various social media reports.
After two nights of UMP DirtCar Nationals racing for Super Late Models at the Volusia Speedway Park, the World of Outlaws Late Models returned to action on the Barberville, Florida track. A total of 49 machines were presented for competition in the 50-lap feature on the half-mile track that would pay the winner $10,000 and would provide series points throughout the field.
In the end, it was Shane Clanton who claimed his second victory of the week at Volusia and his third win of the season as the No. 25 Capital Race Car was completely dominant.
The field was broken into two groups for qualifying.
Justin Ratliff led Group A time-trials with a quick lap of 16.189 seconds. The Kentucky driver was followed by Frank Heckenast, Jr., Shane Clanton, Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. and Jimmy Owens.
Jonathan Davenport topped the speed charts in Group B qualifying and overall with a time of 16.065 seconds. The Georgian bested Darrell Lanigan, Billy Moyer, Don O’Neal and Josh Richards.
After qualifying, drivers were sent to one of six heat races with the top-3 from each transferring to the feature event. The winner of each heat race would be sent to a redraw to set the starting grid for the first three rows in the feature.
Justin Ratliff went to the lead immediately in heat race #1 and pulled away from and great battle between Dale McDowell and Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. They ultimately finished in that order to transfer to the main event.
The smoking car of Jimmy Owens took the lead at the green flag and drove away from the heat race #2 field. Frank Heckenast, Jr. and Casey Roberts also transferred to the feature out of that preliminary event.
Shane Clanton completely dominated heat race #3 to beat out Kyle Bronson and Brandon Sheppard for the win. Those three drivers moved on to the feature.
Jonathan Davenport led all the way in heat race #4 but was challenged by Mason Zeigler and Josh Richards. Davenport would go to the redraw while Richards jumped around Zeigler on the last lap to claim second.
Billy Moyer drove away to win heat race #5 by a big margin over Morgan Bagley and Stormy Scott. Defending WoO Late Models champion Darrell Lanigan should have started on the front row of the race but was penalized after qualifying for failure to exit the track properly. He finished the heat in 5th.
Don O’Neal beat out Earl Pearson, Jr. to win heat race #6. O’Neal’s Clint Bowyer Racing teammate Steve Francis earned the final transfer spot out of the heat.
Kent Robinson and Wednesday night feature winner Scott Bloomquist transferred to the main event from the first Last Chance Showdown while Tim McCreadie and Dennis Erb, Jr. moved on to the big show out of the second LCS. Gregg Satterlee and Darrell Lanigan earned their way into the feature out of the third and final LCS.
The World of Outlaws Late Models redraw placed Clanton and O’Neal on the front row for the main event with Moyer, Davenport, Ratliff and Owens following. However, Owens had to go to a backup car due to engine problems in his heat race so he would be forced to start the feature from the rear of the field.
Once the feature got underway, Clanton proved to be virtually unstoppable as he went right to the lead and proceeded to pull away from the field by a wide margin while O’Neal, Davenport, McDowell and Pearson fought among themselves for other positions within the top-5.
Clanton had already built a three second lead over the battle involving Davenport and O’Neal for the runner-up position just six laps into the race. Meanwhile, Richards showed flashes of early brilliance as he moved briefly into the top-5 after starting 10th.
Even as the leaders caught slower traffic, those who followed were no match for Clanton’s torrid pace in the early going. However, a caution on lap 14 for the slowing car of Eric Wells briefly allowed the field to see the rear spoiler of Clanton’s yellow racer.
Once the green waved again, the Georgia driver roared away from the pack. But a series of cautions between laps 16 and 33 prevented Clanton from completely decimating the field.
The final 17 circuits of the feature ran caution free. Clanton emerged from a brief battle for the lead with O’Neal and again drove away to a lead of more than 5 seconds. Over the final 10 laps, O’Neal had to fight to hold off Davenport, 19th starting Kent Robinson and Pearson to maintain the runner-up position.
Click here to see how you can get free tickets to the Spring Nationals races at Smoky Mountain Speedway.
Feature Finish: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Don O’Neal, 3. Jonathan Davenport, 4. Kent Robinson, 5. Earl Pearson, Jr., 6. Dale McDowell, 7. Brandon Sheppard, 8. Darrell Lanigan, 9. Jimmy Owens, 10. Steve Francis, 11. Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., 12. Morgan Bagley, 13. Chase Junghans, 14. Dennis Erb, Jr. 15. Tim McCreadie, 16. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 17. Scott Bloomquist, 18. Stormy Scott, 19. Josh Richards, 20. Gregg Satterlee, 21. Kyle Bronson, 22. Chub Frank, 23. Boom Briggs, 24. Rick Eckert, 25. Billy Moyer, 26. Justin Ratliff, 27. Casey Roberts, 28. Eric Wells, 29. Mason Zeigler
