Jimmy Owens led all the way to get the win in Batesville
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rolled into the Batesville Motor Speedway on Friday night to contest a preliminary event that will lead into Saturday’s prestigious Comp Cams Topless 100. It would be Jimmy Owens who scored the win after a quick night of racing at the Arkansas track. The Rocket Chassis driver from Newport, Tennessee took home a paycheck valued at $5,000 from a non-points paying event shown live by MavTV Plus.
A total of 47 cars were signed in for competition.
Jimmy Owens was fastest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.734 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval outperforming Brandon Overton, Tim McCreadie, Mike Marlar and Billy Moyer Sr.
Jonathan Davenport posted the quickest time in Group B time-trials with a lap of 14.932 seconds to better Nick Hoffman, Hudson O’Neal, Billy Moyer Jr. and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Jimmy Owens earned the pole for the feature after he was the victor in the first heat race over Mike Marlar and Scott Crigler while Brandon Overton took the second preliminary ahead of Billy Moyer Sr. and Kyle Bronson.
Tim McCreadie claimed the third heat race by outrunning Josh Richards and Stormy Scott.
Billy Moyer Jr. would start the feature from the outside of the front row after he won the fourth heat ahead of Jonathan Davenport and Cade Dillard then Nick Hoffman defeated Ricky Thornton Jr. and Shane Clanton in the fifth preliminary.
Hudson O’Neal bested Tyler Erb and Timothy Culp in the sixth and final heat.
Wendell Wallace and Kylan Garner won the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup.
At the start of the 30-lap feature it was Owens who went to the lead with Moyer Jr., Overton, McCreadie and Hoffman trailing. Owens immediately began to pull away as Thornton and O’Neal moved around Hoffman to take fifth and sixth respectively.
Overton passed by Moyer to grab second on lap 7 but a caution for the slowing car of Morgan Bagley would slow the pace on lap 8. On the restart, McCreadie and Thornton got by Moyer for third and fourth respectively.
At the halfway mark, Owens appeared to have the race under control after he moved out to a relatively comfortable margin. At the same time, Overton and McCreadie fought for second behind the race leader. However, those two drivers would cut into the lead previously enjoyed by Owens as the No. 20 machine encountered slower traffic.
McCreadie got by Overton for second on lap 22 and briefly looked as if he might have something for Owens. Further back, O’Neal, Hoffman and Thornton battled positions 5-7. But in the end, it was Owens who would cruise under the checkered flag for the victory.
Although a non-points race, it was the first win on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2021 and the 76th of his career for the defending Comp Cams Topless 100 champion.
Feature Finish: 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Nick Hoffman, 4. Brandon Overton, 5. Ricky Thornton Jr., 6. Hudson O’Neal, 7. Tyler Erb, 8. Jonathan Davenport, 9. Billy Moyer Jr., 10. Josh Richards, 11. Cade Dillard, 12. Mike Marlar, 13. Scott Crigler, 14. Stormy Scott, 15. Timothy Culp, 16. Brian Rickman, 17. Wendell Wallace, 18. Kyle Bronson, 19. Billy Moyer Sr., 20. Kyle Beard, 21. Kylan Garner, 22. Terry Phillips, 23. Morgan Bagley, 24. Shane Clanton
