Jimmy Owens
Jimmy Owens went into this past weekend thinking he was going to run two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series shows. That national tour was set to contest a race at Pennsylvania’s Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex on Friday night then finish off the two day trip with an event at the Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland on Saturday evening. But as has been the case for much of the racing planned for the eastern United States so far in 2015, the weather interfered with those plans.
The LOLMDS did indeed run its race at Roaring Knob on Friday with Don O’Neal picking up the win. Owens drove to a 13th place finish in that affair. However, the Hagerstown show was called off early in the day on Saturday, which sent the No. 20 Rowland Racing crew hustling in a new direction.
A phone call to fellow east Tennessee racers Pierce and Mack McCarter was made so that the brothers could make their way to Owens’ Newport, Tenn. shop to pick up the tires he would need for his change of plans. At the same time, the hauler was steered toward the Spring Nationals race to be contested at the Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday night.
“We just haven’t had any luck with the Lucas Oil Series this year,” Owens explained in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “It’s just been rain out after rain out after rain out. Sure enough they had to call that race off and they did it early enough that maybe we could get somewhere else. I knew it was going to be real tough so as soon as I heard they called it, I jumped in the truck and we headed south.”
After logging several hours on the road, the rig carrying ‘The O Show’ and his team rolled through the pit gate of Smoky Mountain Speedway. The Club 29 car they unloaded was the same one that had been used the night before in Pennsylvania and it still showed the battle scars from that event.
“We got here in plenty of time and unloaded the car,” Owens recounted. “We beat the dents from last night out of it then went out and had a motor issue in hot laps. We had to get the backup out and didn’t quite make it to the line in time but still qualified pretty decent.”
The backup car was unloaded from the truck and ready to race within a matter of moments from the time the problem with the primary machine was diagnosed. Once heat was built up in the engine and the tires replaced, Owens headed down to the track’s entrance gate.
Since he missed his assigned qualifying spot, the popular driver was allowed one chance at tackling the 4/10 mile oval. The three-time LOLMDS champion still managed to turn the fifth fastest lap among the 23 entrants in a car that had not had the benefit of hot laps.
Owens and his team did a lot of travelling over the weekend.
Owens’ qualifying effort placed him on the pole for his heat race, which he won. That, in turn, set him up for the fifth starting spot on the feature grid.
“The track was kind of tough to pass on tonight but we were able to get up there and pass a few cars,” he said after posting a second place run behind winner Casey Roberts.
With the LOLMDS set to visit Smoky Mountain on June 20th, Owens believes there were a few lessons to be learned. But for the most part, this night was more about just going out and racing.
“Each night is basically its own night,” Owens declared. “I’ve seen guys test and test down here then come feature time they can’t hit their tails. I know we left a little laying out there tonight because we were trying some stuff. We had a pretty decent car, but I feel like we could have made it better.”
But mostly, this night was about the enjoyment of the sport for a driver and team who most of the time have to be concerned with championship points. The craziness of the experience actually provided somewhat of a stress relief.
“We’re down here racing for fun, so it’s kind of exciting. You’re just thinking ‘I hope we can get there in time to get it out and get racing’. You know that if you go out and you don’t qualify good or you don’t run good, it’s no pressure. You just race and go home and have a good time.”
