For the second night in a row, Dennis Erb, Jr. took runner-up honors. McCreadie finished third. He was followed by Earl Pearson Jr. and Rod Conley rounding out the top five.
Jackie Boggs darted from his fourth starting spot and electrified the home-track crowd by taking the lead on the first lap. Boggs then started to pull away from the field and expanded his lead to over a straightaway before misfortune struck Boggs, his night ending on lap 12, as the front nosepiece of his car folded under after he and a lap-car made contact.
With Boggs out of the race, Erb took over the point. A terrific battle ensued between Erb, McCreadie, and Davenport. A tight race for the lead would cover several laps. Erb held the lead until McCreadie went to the front on lap 30. Davenport began to track down McCreadie, and finally got by him for the top spot with 19 laps remaining.
“If all of you didn’t like that then you need to go have your head checked,” said the defending LOLMDS National Champion. “They made me work for this one! I don’t know why these tires didn’t fire-off. It kind of got me worried. I didn’t have any traction. I didn’t want to run the top early on like I had to because I didn’t want to blister my tires.”
“Jackie [Boggs] got off to a good start. We were three-wide on that first lap. I think he went with a little softer tire. I am not sure he could have run that pace the whole race, but we will never know. I can’t thank Kevin Rumley enough. He has turned this whole program around in the last few weeks; also thanks to the Labonte’s and Longhorn Chassis for building such a great race car. Thanks to Lee Roy Rumley. He is not with us again here tonight, and a special thanks to my dad, who showed up tonight for all of his support.”
Erb also picked up some valuable championship points as well. “We had another good car tonight. This is probably the closest up front that we have started here. In the past, it seems like I was always getting the hard charger of the race. I thought we were finally going to get a win here; maybe in October,” said the driver of the Vomac Truck Sales/McBride Mack/Black Diamond Chassis.
McCreadie was also looking for his first LOLMDS win of the season. He brought his Sweeteners Plus/Longhorn home in third. “That was a great race for the fans; it was a fun race to drive. Our car was good up against the cushion for a while. After breaking last night it feels good to get a podium finish.”
Completing the top ten were Steve Francis, Devin Moran, Jimmy Owens, R.J. Conley, and Don O’Neal.
In preliminary action, Jonathan Davenport set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 35 entrants, with a lap of 14.733 seconds. Darrell Lanigan set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 14.829 seconds. Jonathan Davenport, Earl Pearson Jr., Tim McCreadie, and Jackie Boggs won their respective heat races. Ben Adkins and Delmas Conley won their respective B-Mains.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday, September 3rd, 2016
Pepsi 60 River Days Rumble
Portsmouth Raceway Park – Portsmouth, OH
Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport / 14.733 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Darrell Lanigan / 14.829 seconds
Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Dennis Erb, Jr., Mark Frazier, Devin Gilpin, Ben Adkins, Colton Flinner, Larry Ferrell, Nick Bocook, Kenneth Howell-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Rod Conley, Scott Bloomquist, Jared Hawkins, Kenny Christy, RJ Conley, Darran Kattine, Dennis Little
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Darrell Lanigan, Don O’Neal, Audie Swartz, Kyle Hardy, Josh Bocook, David Gibson II, Michael Conley, Jr.-DNS
QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jackie Boggs, Devin Moran, Steve Francis, Shannon Thornsberry, Delmas Conley, Charlie Jude, Roger Stacy, Danial Kattine
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Ben Adkins, Kenny Christy, RJ Conley, Darran Kattine, Jared Hawkins, Dennis Little, Colton Flinner-DNS, Larry Ferrell-DNS, Nick Bocook-DNS, Kenneth Howell-DNS
Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Delmas Conley, Audie Swartz, Kyle Hardy, Charlie Jude, Josh Bocook, Roger Stacy, David Gibson II, Danial Kattine, Michael Conley, Jr.-DNS
Feature Finish (60 Laps):
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 1 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Mount Airy, NC | $13,100 |
| 2 | 5 | 28E | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $6,200 |
| 3 | 2 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $4,200 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $3,550 |
| 5 | 11 | 71R | Rod Conley | Wheelersburg, OH | $2,250 |
| 6 | 8 | 15F | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY | $2,500 |
| 7 | 12 | 99m | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $1,500 |
| 8 | 6 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $2,100 |
| 9 | 21 | 71c | RJ Conley | Wheelersburg, OH | $1,200 |
| 10 | 14 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $1,900 |
| 11 | 9 | 9F | Mark Frazier | Chillicothe, OH | $1,075 |
| 12 | 10 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $1,750 |
| 13 | 15 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $1,925 |
| 14 | 17 | B7 | Ben Adkins | West Portsmouth, OH | $1,000 |
| 15 | 13 | 1G | Devin Gilpin | Columbus, IN | $1,000 |
| 16 | 16 | 17T | Shannon Thornsberry | Martin, KY | $1,000 |
| 17 | 7 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $1,700 |
| 18 | 20 | 1A | Audie Swartz | Minford, OH | $1,000 |
| 19 | 4 | 4B | Jackie Boggs | Grayson, KY | $1,000 |
| 20 | 24 | 1B | Nick Bocook | Wheelersburg, OH | $1,000 |
| 21 | 18 | 71d | Delmas Conley | Wheelersburg, OH | $1,000 |
| 22 | 22 | 21* | Kyle Hardy | Stephens City, VA | $1,000 |
| 23 | 23 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | $1,100 |
| 24 | 19 | c7 | Kenny Christy | Vanceburg, KY | $1,000 |
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Race Statistics
Entrants: 35
Lap Leaders: Jackie Boggs (Laps 1 – 11); Dennis Erb Jr. (Laps 12 – 28); Tim McCreadie (Laps 29 – 41); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 42 – 60)
Cautions: Colton Flinner, Delmas Conley, Kyle Hardy (Lap 2); Jackie Boggs (Lap 11); Audie Swartz (Lap 13); Scott Bloomquist (Lap 22); Brandon Sheppard (Lap 23); Brandon Sheppard (Lap 23 restart); Shannon Thornsberry (Lap 46)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Colton Flinner
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Miller Welders Fast Time Provisional: Nick Bocook
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Rod Conley (Started: 21st; Finished: 9th; Advanced 12 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jonathan Davenport
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Pro Power Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Heather Lyne (Dennis Erb Jr.)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Jackie Boggs (Lap #4 – 15.3787 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Jonathan Davenport
PFC Brakes Tough Brake Award: Colton Flinner
Time of Race: 34 minutes 43 seconds
Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | POINTS | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | 6790 | $298,500 |
| 2 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Mount Airy, NC | 6335 | $232,450 |
| 3 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | 6035 | $112,450 |
| 4 | 28E | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | 5950 | $96,200 |
| 5 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | 5945 | $98,975 |
| 6 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | 5815 | $98,700 |
| 7 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR | 5660 | $114,275 |
| 8 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | 5625 | $89,425 |
| 9 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | 5555 | $93,725 |
| 10 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | 5485 | $121,625 |
| 11 | 15F | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY | 5075 | $58,450 |
| 12 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | 4080 | $27,825 |
*Points are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day*