Tim McCreadie
Things looked pretty bleak for Tim McCreadie on lap 4 of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Truck Country 50 on Friday night at 300 Raceway. The driver who had entered the event on the Farley, IA track as the series points leader had just brought out a caution when he slowed because of damage to the right front of his Longhorn Chassis race car. The No. 39 machine then headed to the attention of its crew in the infield pit area.
As the Donald Bradsher-owned Paylor Motorsports team worked feverishly to repair their broken racer, the main event was set to take the green flag for a restart. McCreadie was facing a finish outside the top-20 if his car could not be repaired at all or a possible result well outside the top-10 if the field took the green flag and pinned him multiple laps behind before he could return to the track.
With Hudson O’Neal, who began the night second in the series standings, running within the top-5, the Watertown, NY driver’s 45-point lead in the standings appeared to be in peril. Eventually, the field did take the green flag with McCreadie still sitting in the hot pit. However, one driver’s misfortune proved to be good luck for the series leader.
Just after the green flag waved for the lap 4 restart, the car of Charlie McKenna crashed and was significantly damaged. With safety crews reporting to the scene to check on the driver(who was reported to be uninjured) and track officials having to remove the damaged car, the McCreadie crew was provided a reprieve as well as additional time for repairs.
Because a full lap had not yet been completed at the time of McKenna’s crash on the lap 4 restart, ‘T-mac’ did not fall a lap down. After cleanup was completed, the No. 39 returned to the track and joined the tail of the field just in time for the second restart of that particular lap.
With the race being played out on a track that had been heavily saturated throughout the week due to persistent rain, the racing surface proved to be taxing for the competitors. Ultimately, only eight cars would finish the 50-lap feature with McCreadie coming home sixth behind winner Mike Marlar.
And with O’Neal suffering troubles of his own late in the going, he fell to eighth in the final rundown. So on a night when it looked like McCreadie might lose his lead in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings, he actually extended his advantage to 65 points.
Mike Marlar(157) ultimately won the Lucas Oil race at 300 but Tim McCreadie(39) maintained the points lead
The perseverance of the McCreadie crew to continue working on their car after disaster had seemingly struck along with a little luck allowed the 47-year-old driver to remain atop the standings. While it’s still relatively early in the campaign, it is nights like this one that can often be looked at later as season savers.
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.
