Fifty-three drivers returned on Sunday for what would be the one and only night of the originally scheduled three nights of action for the 6th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway and the first big decision to be made was in regard to the format to be used to run the abbreviated event. Officials went with a modified version of the standard qualifying night format as drivers took one lap of time trials with fast timer Shannon Babb collecting 200 points with points then awarded in two point increments on down the list of fifty-three. The top six qualifiers were inverted in each of five heat races where race winners were awarded 100 points with second receiving 97, third 94 and so on. Following qualifying and the heat races the top twenty cars in points were locked into the A-Main with the starting grid to be lined straight up by points. Frankly, for a one night show this is a pretty darn good system that some traveling series just might want to adopt as it rewards the fast qualifiers, but it also encourages some good racing during the heats with the invert.
After running third in his heat Shannon Babb tallied the highest point total putting him on the pole for the $40,000-to-win one-hundred-lap finale alongside Rick Eckert. Eckert held the lead by a nose as the field thundered by for lap one, but when Babb found the cushion to his liking he picked up the advantage on lap two. Babb was on the fly with former event champion Brady Smith trying to match the pace before the first caution of the event waved for another former winner Brian Shirley on lap ten. On the restart Scott Bloomquist emerged from the middle of a three-wide battle to pick up the chase on Babb only to have Shirley stop on the track once again on lap thirteen.
This restart saw Smith regain the second spot as Babb flew away from the field, but when the leader entered lapped traffic both Smith and Bloomquist were able to close ground. On lap thirty-one Bloomquist eased by Smith in traffic and tried to keep the leader in sight until the caution waved on lap thirty-nine for the #29H of Jeremiah Hurst who had parked near the guardrail. During this caution five drivers who had been running mid-pack ducked into the work area to check on tires and adjust setups to see if they could make changes to help them get to the front, but one driver who did not come in was Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart. Fresh off his win at the Kansas Speedway, Stewart made a quick helicopter trip north and was able to run four fast hot laps along with NASCAR teammate Ryan Newman in between the C-Main and the B-Main. His quickest lap of 18.763 on the freshly reworked surface was nearly a full second under the quick time set by Babb earlier in the night, but on his final hot lap the engine let loose down the back straightaway. During the B-Main and the forty-minute break that followed Stewart’s crew made the engine change completing it just in time for “Smoke” to start in row fourteen and, at the lap thirty-nine caution, he was just about to enter the top ten.
The green flag returned for just one lap as Steve Francis stopped on the track and on the next restart Babb was once again looking dominant. Bloomquist stayed within striking distance though and when lapped traffic came into play, the race was on. Bloomquist showed his nose to Babb a couple of times only to have Shannon pull away again until lap sixty-five when Bloomquist powered his way to front using the middle groove in turn four. While the lead duo went at it, both Billy Moyer and Jimmy Mars were on the move and soon made it a four-car battle for the lead bringing the chilled crowd to the edge of their seats. On lap seventy-five the top seven cars were all on the same straightaway on the big half-mile and four laps later it was three-wide for the lead going into turn three with Moyer down low, Bloomquist in the middle and Mars pounding the cushion. Mars stumbled a bit and dropped back while Bloomquist fought off Moyer down the frontstretch. The battle continued between the two Late Model legends for the next two laps before the caution waved for Mars after his motor expired in turn three.
Tim McCreadie (39) and Jimmy Mars (28) made late charges to the front. Mars challenged for the lead before breaking while defending chmpion McCreadie finished third - Barry Johnson photo
Defending champion of this event Tim McCreadie was now in the mix after starting twentieth and as the field bunched up ready for the final nineteen laps it looked like we were setup for a classic battle for the lead. Scott Bloomquist had a different scenario in mind though as he took off and ran away from his contenders quickly opening up a sizeable lead over Moyer and McCreadie. The race to watch over the closing laps became the heated duel between Brian Birkhofer and Tony Stewart for the sixth spot. Stewart rode the cushion on the restart to blow past Babb and Chad Simpson and had a run on Birkhofer coming down the frontstretch only to have the door shut on him. The two made contact but somehow stayed out of the guardrail and the battle was now on. Stewart would have the momentum coming off of turn four and would then try to dive low on Birky into one. Tony was able to grab the spot on a pair of occasions only to have Birkhofer come storming back down the backstretch and into turn three. With just a few laps remaining Stewart had the nose of his car so far up under the rear end of Birkhofer’s down the front stretch that they looked like they were one and from there Birkhofer would ease away from Stewart.
Tony Stewart (14) and Brian Birkhofer kept the crowd on the edge of their seats during the final 19 laps with a thrlling battle for sixth - Barry Johnson photo
Bloomquist would take the checkers well ahead of Moyer with McCreadie third and Brady Smith fourth. Josh Richards was never a factor for the lead, but ran a steady race to finish fifth ahead of Birkhofer and Stewart who exchanged some “love taps” after the event before heading to the pits. Babb faded to eight with Chad Simpson and Earl Pearson Jr. completing the top ten.
Late Model Nationals Notes……Pearson was the only one of the five drivers who pitted on lap thirty-nine that finished in the top ten……Darrell Lanigan qualified twelfth quick but was forced to the B-Main when he tagged the fence on lap two of the first heat race. Lanigan would win the “B” to start 21st in the “A” where he finished 13th……
Brady Smith (2) and Darrell Lanigan (29) in action during the first lap of the first heat race prior to Lanigan tagging the outside guardrail - Barry Johnson photo
Tommy Elston saw his opportunity to qualify for the feature hampered as he was racing Chad Simpson for second on the final lap of the second heat race. As the lapped car of Ed Sanger came into play there was contact going into turn one that sent both Sanger and Elston for a spin. After qualifying 23rd the second place heat race points would have put Elston on the pole of the B-Main, one point out of qualifying for the feature. Instead he started the “B” in tenth and finished 14th…….
Tommy Elston (15R) paced the second heat race before Brian Birkhofer swept by on the outside - Barry Johnson photo
Despite having the third quickest time in qualifying, and the 196 points that went with it, Scott Bloomquist was forced to start from the back of the third heat since he did not make his qualifying attempt in the correct order. His third quick time came as the final car out to time. Bloomquist finished seventh in the third heat, but still had enough points to start the feature from the sixth position……Terry Casey was running a strong second in the third heat before shucking the driveline and ending his night……With hot laps and qualifying taking place in bright sunshine the track locked down for heats four and five as drivers ran in single-file procession around the bottom groove. A fifty-five minute break to rework the track was worth every second as the racing in the “C”, “B” and “A” was fast and multi-grooved with a ton of action!……Boone McLaughlin popped a motor in the early laps of the C-Main and Rich Bell found the now higher inside berm hazardous as it nearly took the nose off of his car in turn four while he was battling Jill George for the final transfer position. Jill would then hold off Dan Shelliam to finish fourth and move on to the B-Main……Along with the winner Lanigan, Brad Neat, Scott James, Denny Eckrich, Vic Coffey and Jeremiah Hurst would transfer out of the B-Main. Andy Eckrich was challenging in seventh when he spun in turn two with five laps remaining.
Jeremiah Hurst (29H), shown here racing with Wyoming driver Eddie Kirchoff, collected the sixth and final transfer spot out of the B-Main - Barry Johnson photo
I have been battling bronchitis all week and probably wouldn’t have made the trip up to Knoxville by myself, but a ride offered up by Bill and Pam Vantiger saved the day for me. Thank you very much for putting up with me for the evening!!! Bill and Pam and their daughter Megan operate the Finish Line Restaurant and Pam’s Cakes and Bakery on the east edge of New London and you can find their ad on the homepage of PositivelyRacing.com. During this offseason make it a point to pull of the Highway 34 by-pass when you are around New London and stop in to the Finish Line for some great home-style cooking from very friendly people in a racing atmosphere. I hope to see you there! And, if you are lucky enough to get Kaitlynn as your waitress, ask her all about her trip to Knoxville, Daytona, Memphis and all of the other tracks that she has toured so far.
A nephew playing football in town, my wife’s class reunion and a wedding will likely keep me away from racing this coming weekend, but hopefully you will have a chance to catch one of several interesting shows including Oskaloosa, Tipton, Webster City, Granite City and Oktoberfest up in La Crosse. Also, make sure that you have “Shiverfest” marked on your “to do” list for October 24th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson!
Support the sport, be Positive!
No comments:
Post a Comment