We will be providing live updates from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and NeSmith Crate Late Model Series season openers at the Golden Isles Speedway in Waynesville, GA on Saturday evening February 8, 2014.
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Classes in action:
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series(50 Lap Feature for $10,000-to-win)
NeSmith Crate Late Model(30 Lap Feature for $2,500-to-win)
Time: Drivers meeting is set for 4:30pm with Hot Laps to commence soon afterwards.
4:30- Drivers meeting underway.
Weather:
The forecast calls for rain early in the day but ending by afternoon.
1:40- It’s very nice right now. Partly cloudy and warming up.
Photos: I often post pictures on my @TennesseeRacer Twitter account if you would like to take a look.
General Information:
Expect a much different track tonight. Lots of excavation going on.
One racer told me- “They’re doing more agricultural work out there than I was expecting.”
Classes Competing:
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series:
Drivers here- 34 cars.
Group 1:
Steve Francis, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jason Riggs, Devin Moran, Dennis Franklin, Jared Landers, Tim McCreadie, Kenny Pettyjohn, Mike Benedum.
Group 2:
Scott Bloomquist, Brady Smith, Russell Brown, Jr , Chad Hollenbeck, Dennis Erb, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Don O’Neal, Jason Papich.
Group 3:
Steve Shaver, Ray Cook, Randy Weaver, Albert Cosnahan, Brian Shirley, Chris Madden, Ricky Weiss, Gregg Satterlee, Vic Coffey.
Group 4:
Jonathan Davenport, Billy Moyer, Jr., Eddie Carrier, Jr., Jason Hughes, Mike Stadel, Jason Fitzgerald, Jimmy Owens, John Blankenship.
5:00- Hot laps about to commence.
Hot laps Group 1- Steve Francis fastest with a 16.442.
Hot laps Group 2- Brandon Sheppard fastest with a 16.014.
Hot laps Group 3- Chris Madden fastest with a 15.812.
Hot laps Group 4- Jonathan Davenport fastest with a 15.689.
Group A Qualifying: Top-4 were Pearson, Franklin, Francis and Sheppard.
Pearson’s time was 15.191.
Group B Qualifying: Top-4 were Madden, Moyer, Carrier and Weaver.
Madden’s time was 15.020.(fastest overall)
Heat Race Lineups:
Heat 1
Pearson…Francis, McCreadie… Landers, Moran…Bloomquist, Papich…Benedum, Riggs
Heat 2
Franklin… Sheppard, O’Neal… Pettyjohn, Erb…Smith, Hollenbeck…Brown
Heat 3
Madden…Carrier, Davenport… Cook, Blankenship.. Owens, Shaver…Shirley, Fitzgerald
Heat 4
Moyer.. Weaver, Satterlee…Weiss, Hughes…Coffey, Cosnahan…Stadel
6:30- Heat 1 on track. Top-4 from each heat transfer.
Heat 1 finish: Francis, Pearson, Landers and Bloomquist.
Heat 2 finish: Sheppard, Franklin, Erb and O’Neal.
Heat 3 finish: Carrier, Davenport, Cook and Madden. Madden led early but fell back after going very high in turn 3.
Big wreck at start of heat 4. Coffey, Stadel, Hughes involved with significant damage.
Heat 4 finish: Moyer, Satterlee, Weaver and Stadel.
7:55- First last chance race about to start. Top-3 transfer.
B-main 1 finish- McCreadie, Pettyjohn and Smith.
B-main 2 finish- Blankenship, Owens and Shirley.
Feature Lineup:
Francis…Carrier
Sheppard… Moyer
Pearson…Davenport
Franklin…Satterlee
Landers…Cook
Erb.. Weaver
Bloomquist.. Madden
O’Neal… Stadel
McCreadie.. Blankenship
Pettyjohn…Owens
Smith…Shirley
Weiss…Hughes
8:25- Lucas Oil feature rolling onto the track.
8:35- Four wide!
8:38- Green flag!
Lap 1- Caution for Davenport. Looks like he’s done.
Lap 5- Caution for spin by Franklin.
Lap 5- Big pileup on the restart. Blankenship, Weaver and Landers among those involved. Satterlee pulls off with smoke under the hood. Weaver is out. O’Neal to the hot pit.
Francis leads Carrier, Sheppard, Pearson and Satterlee.
Lap 17- Caution for Blankenship stopped on track.
Good racing up front as leaders battled traffic.
Francis leads Carrier, Sheppard, Erb, Pearson, Bloomquist.
Lap 34- Caution for stopped car.
Francis still leads but Sheppard has been applying pressure. Carrier, Erb, Bloomquist, Pearson, Cook, Shirley
Lap 34- Caution for Erb stopped on track after restart. Looks like he will continue at rear of the pack.
Finish- Francis pulled away in the end for the win followed by Carrier, Pearson, Bloomquist, Sheppard, Cook, Shirley, Landers, O’Neal, Smith, Owens.
NeSmith Crate Late Models Series:
Drivers here- 36 cars
Group 1: Jeremy Faircloth, Ronald Dunn, Jason Fitzgerald, Montana Dudley, Mack McCarter, Tait Davenport, Jak Kicklightwer, Chase Washington, David Earl Gentry, Braden Mitchell, Josh Adkins, Kitt Sealy.
Group 2: Chris Noah, Marcus Minga, Mark Whitener, Robert Diekemper, Joey Coulter, Ben Faircloth, Stacey Roberts, Chris Cantrell, Steven Roberts, Chase Edge, Cecil Eunice, Cody Martin.
Group 3: Will Herrington, Todd Neiheiser, Paul Jorgensen, Donald Bradsher, Brian Hester, Jacob Anderson, Walker Arthur, Ray Cook, Brent Barrett, Hunter Carter, Ronnie Johnson, Michael Blount.
Top-4 in hot laps were Walker Arthur, Jason Fitzgerald, Mack McCarter and Joey Coulter.
Arthur’s time was a 16.732.
6:05- Qualifying about to begin. Top-10 will be locked into the feature via time-trials.
Top-10 in qualifying were Coulter, Arthur, J Faircloth, McCarter, Adkins, Washington, S Roberts, Whitener, Diekemper and Noah.
Coulter’s time was 16.848.
7:10- Heats about to start. Top-5 transfer.
Heat 1 finish: R Cook, Eunice, Sealy, Stacey Roberts and Davenport.
Heat 2 finish: Fitzgerald, B Faircloth, Edge, Ronnie Johnson and Gentry.
9:15- Feature rolling out.
Interviews were long after Lucas race. Just about ready to roll at 9:35.
9:40- green flag
Lap 5- Caution. Arthur had a commanding lead over Coulter, Faircloth and McCarter.
On the restart, Coulter spins to set off big chain reaction crash further back. Johnson, Whitener, Washington were among those involved.
Lap 10- Caution for spin involving Johnson and another car.
Arthur continues to lead Faircloth and McCarter.
Lap 20- Caution. Arthur has been dominant so far. Faircloth and McCarter follow.
Lap 24- Caution for Faircloth. Arthur leads McCarter, Adkins
Arthur wins but McCarter made it close at the end. Edge was 3rd followed by Whitener and Adkins. Ronnie Johnson was 11th.
