*Story submitted by Joshua Joiner
Crown Jewel Event Continues with another DIRTcar-Sanctioned Preliminary Program on Friday Ahead of Saturday’s $100,000-to-win Finale
ROSSBURG, Ohio. – June 4, 2015 – Scott Bloomquist and Jonathan Davenport rolled to impressive preliminary feature victories on the opening night of Eldora Speedway’s Dirt Late Model Dream XXI presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers, splitting Thursday night’s two 25-lap DIRTcar-sanctioned races at the historic half-mile oval.
The $2,500-to-win triumphs put Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., and Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., in prime position for Saturday’s $100,000-to-win Dirt Late Model Dream finale. Saturday’s heat races for the crown jewel event will be set based on drivers’ performances on Thursday and in a second night of preliminary action on Friday.
Scott Bloomquist
Picking up where he left off at September’s World 100, Bloomquist dominated the majority of Thursday’s first 25-lapper. His only serious challenge came midway through the race when third-starting Jeep Van Wormer of Pinconning, Mich., used the track’s high groove to pull into contention as the leaders entered lapped traffic.
But Bloomquist’s self-designed Sweet-Bloomquist Race Car proved too powerful for Van Wormer, easily pulling away through the second half of the race. He built more than a straightaway advantage in claiming the caution-free race.
“We always love coming to this racetrack,” said Bloomquist, the Hall-of-Fame racer who leads all drivers with six Dream victories to go along with his four World 100 wins. “The car just really works good on the bottom. I really think it works good everywhere. We’re really looking forward to Saturday.”
Van Wormer settled for second, 5.570 seconds behind Bloomquist. Sixth-starting Josh Rice of Verona, Ky., was third in a solid performance by the 16-year-old, second-generation racer. Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., was fourth at the finish with Matt Westfall of Pleasant Hill, Ohio, rounding out the top five.
Jonathan Davenport
Davenport, the current points leader on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, had to work a little harder for his victory in the second prelim feature. He advanced from his fifth-starting spot to battle polesitter Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga. McDowell, last year’s Dirt Late Model Dream winner, led the race’s first 10 laps, but he couldn’t hold off Davenport’s Longhorn Chassis.
Davenport held McDowell at bay as the leaders raced through traffic during the closing laps, building an advantage of 1.311 seconds at the finish of another caution-free race.
“It always feels good to be in victory lane, but especially here at Eldora,” said Davenport, who also won a preliminary feature at last year’s World 100. “I got to rolling that bottom and was decent there, but was just way too tight. I saw that outside line was good and realized that was the place to be.”
McDowell settled for second while Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., advanced from eighth to finish third. Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., was fourth at the finish. The current World of Outlaws Late Model Series points leader roared from sixth to third on the race’s opening lap and challenged McDowell early before fading late. He held off a late challenge from Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., who finished fifth.
The 21st annual Dirt Late Model Dream Weekend Presented Ferris Mowers continues on Friday with a second night of preliminary competition. The 84-car field will again be split into two groups for heat races, B-Mains and 25-lap features that will both pay $5,000 to the winners.
The blockbuster weekend concludes Saturday night with Dream heat races, B-Mains and the 100-lap, $100,000-to-win main event. Fans can obtain tickets information for the Dirt Late Model Dream by going online towww.EldoraSpeedway.com or contacting the Eldora offices at 937-338-3815.
Fans who can’t make it to Eldora in person this weekend can still watch all the action live by purchasing the live Pay-Per-View video broadcast of all three nights of action that is available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or www.DirtonDirt.com.
21st Annual Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Commercial Mowers
June 4, 2015: First of three nights of racing
DIRTcar Late Models – 84 cars
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1] ; 2. 55-Jeep VanWormer[3] ; 3. 11JR-Josh Rice[6] ; 4. 777-Jared Landers[11] ; 5. 54-Matt Westfall[7] ; 6. 29-Darrell Lanigan[4] ; 7. 5-Don O’Neal[12] ; 8. 1J-Davey Johnson[2] ; 9. 7R-Kent Robinson[18] ; 10. 11S-Rusty Schlenk[13] ; 11. 21-Billy Moyer[16] ; 12. 31-Nick Latham[5] ; 13. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [21] ; 14. 22-Chris Ferguson[10] ; 15. 1G-Devin Gilpin[8] ; 16. 25-Jason Feger[9] ; 17. 28M-Jimmy Mars[14] ; 18. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[19] ; 19. 6m-Wendall Wallace[22] ; 20. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[24] ; 21. 3s-Brian Shirley[20] ; 22. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[15] ; 23. 39-Tim McCreadie[17] ; 24. 88-Andrew Reaume[23]
A-Main 2 – (25 Laps)
1. 6-Jonathan Davenport[5] ; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell[4] ; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [8] ; 4. 25C-Shane Clanton[6] ; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[1] ; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3] ; 7. 32P-Bobby Pierce[12] ; 8. 23B-John Blankenship[14] ; 9. 81JR-Jason Riggs[7] ; 10. 15-Steve Francis[13] ; 11. 157-Mike Marlar[18] ; 12. 99M-Devin Moran[9] ; 13. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. [20] ; 14. 116-Randy Weaver[11] ; 15. 11R-James Rice[17] ; 16. 83-Scott James[10] ; 17. 18-Shannon Babb[24] ; 18. 3-Matt Miller[15] ; 19. R5-Chris Simpson[19] ; 20. 33-Tim Manville[22] ; 21. 91-Tyler Erb[21] ; 22. 18J-Chase Junghans[23] ; 23. 1N-Casey Noonan[16] ; 24. 25s-Chad Simpson[2]
Qualifying
Group A: 1. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 16.023, 2. Rusty Schlenk (11s), Weston, Ohio, 16.219, 3. Nick Latham (31), Winchester, Ohio, 16.282, 4. Davey Johnson (1j), Latrobe, Pa., 16.367, 5. Mason Zeigler (25z), Uniontown, Pa., 16.457, 6. Josh Richards (1), Shinnston, W.Va., 16.681, 7. Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 16.683, 8. Mark Dotson (85D), Cameron, Mo., 16.761, 9. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 16.958, 10. Jason Bodenhamer (2), Centerview, Mo., 17.230, 11. Brian Ligon (444), Augusta, Ga., no time.
Group B: 1. Jonathan Davenport (6), Blairsville, Ga., 15.729, 2. Devin Moran (99m), Dresden, Ohio, 16.182, 3. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., 16.263, 4. James Rice (11r), Verona, Ky., 16.551, 5. Steve Francis (15), Ashland, Ky., 16.553, 6. Jay Johnson (93), West Burlington, Iowa, 17.083, 7. Kelly Guy (28G), Thomson, Ga., 17.358, 8. Rodney Hamblin (14H), Downs, Ill., 18.162, 9. Ernie Cordier (4c), Brodhead, Ky., 18.881, 10. Jeff Robertson (P3), Defiance, Ohio, 19.457, 11. Cody Mahoney (77), Madison, Ind., no time
Group C: 1. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., 15.762, 2. Earl Pearson Jr. (1), Jacksonville, Fla., 16.000, 3. Eddie Carrier Jr. (28), Salt Rock, W.Va., 16.095, 4. Darrell Lanigan (29), Union, Ky., 16.104, 5. Jimmy Mars (28), Menomonie, Wis., 16.141, 6. Josh Rice (11), Verona, Ky., 16.239, 7. Kent Robinson (7r), Bloomington, Ind., 16.373, 8. Wendell Wallace (6m), Batesville, Ark., 16.959, 9. Riley Hickman (R1), Ooltewah, Tenn., 17.112, 10. Mack McCarter (51m), Gatlinburg, Tenn., 17.399, 11. Bryant Dickinson (5*), Ionia, Mich., 18.684.
Group D: 1. Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., 15.626, 2. Scott James (83), Bright, Ind., 16.334, 3. Chad Simpson (25), Mount Vernon, Iowa, 16.434, 4. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 16.711, 5. John Blankenship (23), Williamson, W.Va., 16.848, 6. Tyler Erb (91), Magnolia, Texas, 17.072, 7. Austin Smith (11), Cedartown, Ga., 17.133, 8. Jake O’Neil (68J), Tucson, Ariz., 17.139, 9. John Gill (75), Mitchell, Ind., 17.564, 10. Austin Siebert (16), Grandview, Mo., no time.
Group E: 1. Jeep Van Wormer (55), Pinconning, Mich., 16.145, 2. Matt Westfall (54), Pleasant Hill, Ohio, 16.226, 3. Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., 16.908, 4. Jerry Bowersock (95j), Wapakoneta, Ohio, 16.931, 5. Brandon Kinzer (18), Allen, Ky., 16.937, 6. Jared Landers (777), Batesville, Ark., 17.004, 7. Duane Chamberlain (20c), Richmond, Ind., 17.055, 8. Mark Voigt (30), Alhambra, Ill., 17.423, 9. Brian Gray (3), Hamilton, Ohio, 17.730, 10. Charles LaPlant (3c), East Prairie, Mo., 18.671.
Group F: 1. Matt Miller (3), Whitehouse, Ohio, 16.315, 2. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 16.499, 3. Tim Manville (33), St. Jacob, Ill., 16.540, 4. Jason Riggs (81jr), Harrisburg, Ill., 16.712, 5. Brandon Overton (76), Appling, Ga., 16.722, 6. Randy Weaver (116), Crossville, Tenn., 16.764, 7. Chris Simpson (R5), Oxford, Iowa, 16.805, 8. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 16.820, 9. Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., 17.035, 10. Morgan Bagley (14m), Longview, Texas, 17.224, 11. Benji Cole (121), Canon, Ga., 17.635
Group G: 1. Scott Bloomquist (0), Mooresburg, Tenn., 16.544, 2. Don O’Neal (5), Martinsville, Ind., 16.884, 3. Devin Gilpin (1G), Columbus, Ind., 16.937, 4. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 16.965, 5. Terry Phillips (75), Springfield, Mo., 17.223, 6. Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., 17.297, 7. Andrew Reaume (88), Blenheim, Ontario, 17.377, 8. Dan Shepherd (68), Greeley, Colo., 18.418, 9. Butch Kruckeberg (76), Edwardsville, Ill., 18.469, 10. Tim Shaffer (47), Aliquippa, Pa., 16.780 (disqualified; light at scales).
Group H: 1. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., 16.071, 2. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 16.375, 3. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 16.422, 4. Casey Noonan (1N), Sylvania, Ohio, 16.421. 5. Billy Moyer Jr. (21jr), Batesville, Ark., 16.552, 6. Tim Lance (48), Brimfield, Ill., 16.733, 7. Matt Cochran (16), Williamsport, Ind., 17.044, 8. Steve Casebolt (c9), Richmond, Ind., 17.127, 9. Garrett Alberson (F5), Las Cruces, N.M., 17.394, 10. Dustin Nobbe (5), Batesville, Ind., 17.875
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps): 1. 1J-Davey Johnson[1] ; 2. 31-Nick Latham[2] ; 3. 25-Jason Feger[7] ; 4. 11S-Rusty Schlenk[3] ; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[9] ; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [4] ; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[5] ; 8. 1-Josh Richards[6] ; 9. 444-Brian Ligon[11] ; 10. 85D-Mark Dotson[8] ; 11. 2B-Jason Bodenhamer[10]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps) : 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2] ; 2. 6-Jonathan Davenport[4] ; 3. 99M-Devin Moran[3] ; 4. 15-Steve Francis[5] ; 5. 11R-James Rice[1] ; 6. 93-Jay Johnson[6] ; 7. 28G-Kelly Guy[7] ; 8. 14H-Rodney Hamblin[8] ; 9. 4C-Ernie Cordier[9] ; 10. P3-Jeff Robertson[10] ; 11. 77-Cody Mahoney[11]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps) : 1. 29-Darrell Lanigan[1] ; 2. 11JR-Josh Rice[6] ; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson[4] ; 4. 28M-Jimmy Mars[5] ; 5. 7R-Kent Robinson[7] ; 6. 6m-Wendall Wallace[8] ; 7. R1-Riley Hickman[9] ; 8. 51M-Mack McCarter[10] ; 9. 5*-Bryant Dickinson[11] ; 10. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[3] ; 11. 28C-Eddie Carrier Jr. [2]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps) : 1. 25s-Chad Simpson[2] ; 2. 25C-Shane Clanton[4] ; 3. 83-Scott James[3] ; 4. 23B-John Blankenship[5] ; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[1] ; 6. 91-Tyler Erb[6] ; 7. 75-John Gill[9] ; 8. 11A-Austin Smith[7] ; 9. 16-Austin Siebert[10] ; 10. 68J-Jake O’Neil[8]
Heat 5, Group E – (8 Laps) : 1. 55-Jeep VanWormer[4] ; 2. 54-Matt Westfall[3] ; 3. 777-Jared Landers[6] ; 4. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[1] ; 5. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[7] ; 6. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[2] ; 7. 18K-Brandon Kinzer[5] ; 8. 3G-Brian Gray[9] ; 9. 3c-Charlie LaPlant[10] ; 10. 30-Mark Voigt[8]
Heat 6, Group F – (8 Laps) : 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[3] ; 2. 81JR-Jason Riggs[1] ; 3. 116-Randy Weaver[6] ; 4. 3-Matt Miller[4] ; 5. R5-Chris Simpson[7] ; 6. 33-Tim Manville[2] ; 7. 18J-Chase Junghans[9] ; 8. 18-Shannon Babb[8] ; 9. 76-Brandon Overton[5] ; 10. 121-Benji Cole[11] ; 11. 14M-Morgan Bagley[10]
Heat 7, Group G – (8 Laps) : 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[4] ; 2. 1G-Devin Gilpin[2] ; 3. 5-Don O’Neal[3] ; 4. 21-Billy Moyer[6] ; 5. 3s-Brian Shirley[1] ; 6. 88-Andrew Reaume[7] ; 7. 75P-Terry Phillips[5] ; 8. 47-Tim Shaffer[10] ; 9. 76K-Butch Kruckeberg[9] ; 10. 68-Dan Shepherd[8]
Heat 8, Group H – (8 Laps) : 1. 17M-Dale McDowell[4] ; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [3] ; 3. 32P-Bobby Pierce[1] ; 4. 1N-Casey Noonan[2] ; 5. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. [5] ; 6. 16c-Matt Cochran[7] ; 7. 48L-Tim Lance[6] ; 8. F5-Garrett Alberson[9] ; 9. C9-Steve Casebolt[8] ; 10. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[10]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps) : 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [1] ; 2. 6m-Wendall Wallace[2] ; 3. 88-Andrew Reaume[4] ; 4. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[5] ; 5. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[3] ; 6. 18K-Brandon Kinzer[7] ; 7. 28C-Eddie Carrier Jr. [22] ; 8. 1-Josh Richards[9] ; 9. R1-Riley Hickman[6] ; 10. 75P-Terry Phillips[8] ; 11. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[18] ; 12. 85D-Mark Dotson[17] ; 13. 51M-Mack McCarter[10] ; 14. 3G-Brian Gray[11] ; 15. 47-Tim Shaffer[12] ; 16. 30-Mark Voigt[19] ; 17. 444-Brian Ligon[13] ; 18. 3c-Charlie LaPlant[15] ; 19. 68-Dan Shepherd[20] ; 20. 5*-Bryant Dickinson[14] ; 21. 76K-Butch Kruckeberg[16] ; 22. 2B-Jason Bodenhamer[21]
B-Main 2 – (10 Laps): 1. 91-Tyler Erb[2] ; 2. 33-Tim Manville[3] ; 3. 18J-Chase Junghans[7] ; 4. 18-Shannon Babb[11] ; 5. 76-Brandon Overton[15] ; 6. 93-Jay Johnson[1] ; 7. F5-Garrett Alberson[12] ; 8. 16c-Matt Cochran[4] ; 9. 48L-Tim Lance[8] ; 10. C9-Steve Casebolt[16] ; 11. 14M-Morgan Bagley[22] ; 12. 75-John Gill[6] ; 13. 28G-Kelly Guy[5] ; 14. 16-Austin Siebert[14] ; 15. 77-Cody Mahoney[21] ; 16. 4C-Ernie Cordier[13] ; 17. 11A-Austin Smith[10] ; 18. 14H-Rodney Hamblin[9] ; 19. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[20] ; 20. P3-Jeff Robertson[17] ; 21. 68J-Jake O’Neil[18] ; 22. 121-Benji Cole[19]
