Tim McCreadie(39) and Josh Richards will be among those racing this weekend
The temperatures will no doubt surpass the 90-degree mark but that won’t slow the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series down with that tour is set to continue a very busy stretch this weekend as the drivers and teams who regularly compete on the series look to run in three races in the Carolinas and Tennessee. Features slated for Thursday night at Fayetteville(NC) Motor Speedway on Thursday, Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC on Friday and Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN on Saturday evening will complete a stretch in which the competitors on this national series will have run seven races over the course of eight days in four states.
After competing in a four-race stretch from June 30th-July 3rd the drivers and teams will use Independence Day to travel as they journey from the Midwest to the southeastern corner of the country. Thursday’s event in Fayetteville will dole out $10,000 to its winner while the Friday night features in Gaffney and Maryville will reward their victors with $12,000 paychecks.
Jonathan Davenport enters the weekend as the Lucas Oil points leader
While it may not yet be mimicking the three-way battle that went down to the wire last season on the LOLMDS, the series points race has tightened a bit in recent weeks. Jonathan Davenport leads the standings by 190 markers over Josh Richards with Scott Bloomquist trailing the leader by 225 points from third. Earl Pearson, Jr., Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’Neal, Don O’Neal, Jimmy Owens and Darrell Lanigan round out the top-10.
Scott Bloomquist has four LOLMDS wins so far in 2018
Davenport also comes into the southeastern weekend with the most series wins having tallied six victories so far in 2018 with Bloomquist scoring four checkered flags of his own over the course of this campaign. Don O’Neal picked up consecutive wins in Ohio taking the winner’s trophies from Mansfield Motor Speedway and Sharon Speedway on July 1st and 2nd respectively while Gregg Satterlee also scored a win in the Buckeye State. And more, the O’Neal family has earned three of the last five LOLMDS wins with Don’s son Hudson picking up a $20,000 payout back on June 16th at Magnolia(MS) Motor Speedway.
Don O’Neal won back-to-back races in Ohio
With three consecutive races coming up in this part of the country at this time of year, it’s almost a certainty that the weather will be hot. But considering how the action has played out most of the year on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, it’s also highly likely that the competition will be hot as well.
