Earl Pearson Jr. scored a $50,000 win at Port Royal
Earl Pearson Jr. had amassed a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series losing streak of 114 races but that streak ended on Saturday night in the Rumble by the River at the Port Royal Speedway. ‘The Hurricane’ blew to the lead on lap 10 then held off a determined charge by Ricky Thornton Jr. to claim the victory.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Jacksonville, Florida was paid $50,000 for the win at the half-mile Port Royal, PA track in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
Heat race lineups were set from the results from Friday’s racing action.
A total of 51 cars were signed in for competition
Heat 1 Results: 1. Dale Hollidge, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Mike Marlar
Heat 2 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Bryan Bernheisel
Heat 3 Results: 1. Chris Ferguson, 2. Daulton Wilson, 3. Michael Norris
Heat 4 Results: 1. Earl Pearson Jr., 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Garrett Alberson
Heat 5 Results: 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Gary Stuhler, 3. Rick Eckert
Heat 6 Results: 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Gregg Satterlee, 3. Tyler Erb
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Mason Zeigler, 2. Justin Weaver
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Dillan Stake, 2. Hayes Mattern
Feature Re-cap: At the start of the 50-lap feature Thornton rushed to the lead with Hollidge, Owens, Pearson and Ferguson trailing. Pearson went on the move early when he passed Owens for third. Then on the fourth circuit, Pearson, Owens and Ferguson all moved around Hollidge for positions 2-4.
Pearson then broke free from that battle to move in on Thornton to fight for the race lead.
Pearson passed Thornton for the lead on lap 10 while Ferguson got by Owens for third. At the same time, Sheppard broke into the top-5 only to have Satterlee move up to challenge for that spot.
Pearson began to slip away from his pursuers on lap 16 while Owens and Ferguson engaged in a battle for third. Owens took that spot leaving Ferguson to fall back into a squabble for fourth. Meanwhile, Pearson had built an advantage of more than two seconds over Thornton.
However, Thornton began to cut into that lead on lap 38 as Wilson moved into the top-5. A lap 44 caution for the slowing car of Erb set up a final dash to the finish.
Thornton applied pressure after the restart but Pearson was able to hold the lead. It was his first feature win in two years and his first win since the passing of his father.
Feature Results: 1. Earl Pearsomn Jr., 2. Ricky Thornton Jr., 3. Gregg Satterlee, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. Daulton Wilson, 6. Jimmy Owens, 7. Mike Marlar, 8. Chris Ferguson, 9. Brandon Sheppard, 10. Hudson O’Neal, 11. Tim McCreadie, 12. Garrett Alberson, 13. Mason Zeigler, 14. Dale Hollidge, 15. Colton Flinner, 16. Gary Stuhler, 17. Tyler Erb, 18. Rick Eckert, 19. Spencer Hughes, 20. Bryan Bernheisel, 21. Ross Robinson, 22. Michael Norris, 23. Justin Weaver, 24. Dillan Stake, 25. Hayes Mattern
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