ROSSBURG, OH – June 6, 2019 – The 25th running of the Dirt Late Model Dream started out with everything the Dirt Late Model world was hoping for on a Thursday night – clear skies, warm weather and a record car-count not seen in 7 years. The only thing left on the list was some incredible racing from the industry’s best competitors. And boy, did they ever deliver on that.
92 of the best DIRTcar Late Model drivers in the world packed the pit area and put on a show the Eldora Speedway crowd would not soon forget, starting with Darrell Lanigan’s incredible last-lap pass for the win over Jonathan Davenport in Group A’s Feature. Fellow World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series regular Ricky Weiss also put the moves on his competition, driving around World of Outlaws veteran Chris Madden and Thursday’s fast qualifier Jacob Hawkins to pick up his very first win at Eldora in the Group B Feature.
Group B Competition:
The story of Ricky Weiss’ drive to victory in Thursday’s Group B Feature was not as dramatic as Lanigan’s, but just as exciting to watch.
Weiss laid down a lap of 16.041 in qualifying, only good enough for 15th in Group B. However, with the lineup procedure for the Heat races, Weiss started on the pole in Heat 4 and won, setting himself up for a fourth-place redraw effort. And did he ever make the most of it…
Right from the drop of the green, the Turk Enterprises, Sweet-Bloomquist chassis #7 was a rocket ship. He made the move underneath Chris Madden on a crossover move out of turn four to take the runner-up spot on lap 4 and wrestled the lead from Jacob Hawkins by lap 10.
From that point onward, it was smooth sailing for Weiss. Nobody was able to even come near the black-and-orange #7, as he led the final 16 laps to claim his very first Feature win at “The Big E.”
“From the second we pulled in, my crew unloaded the car, and we’ve all been pretty confident on that car and that program,” Weiss said. “This is one of our favorite tracks, and we knew, coming in, that we’d be something to contend with.”
As expected, Weiss and the crew had a lot of Scott Bloomquist’s teachings in the back of their heads on Thursday night, and were especially proud to pick up the victory for his brand.
“This was just an awesome race for the Bloomquist cars. It just goes to show how strong we really are,” Weiss said.
Meanwhile, Chris Madden got the bounce-back finish he needed on Thursday, fighting for the runner-up spot with Jacob Hawkins early and finally running off with the spot on lap 13. He held that spot and looked very strong the rest of the way – a much-needed boost of confidence after experiencing some mechanical misfortunes in previous weeks’ competition.
Eldora Speedway
June 6th, 2019
Qualifying – Group B (2 Laps) : 1. Jacob Hawkins (15.582); 2. Ross Bailes (15.681); 3. Chris Madden (15.760); 4. Shannon Babb (15.877); 5. Josh Richards (15.881); 6. Devin Moran (15.911); 7. Donald McIntosh (15.919); 8. Mike Marlar (15.931); 9. Shane Clanton (15.944); 10. Tyler Erb (15.962); 11. Jake Timm (15.976); 12. Brandon Sheppard; 13. Jimmy Owens (16.021); 14. Jimmy Mars (16.040); 15. Ricky Weiss (16.040); 16. Dale McDowell (16.045); 17. Shanon Buckingham (16.080); 18. Kent Robinson (16.081); 19. Chase Junghans (16.089); 20. Don O’Neal (16.135); 21. Ricky Thornton Jr (16.142); 22. Ashton Winger (16.152); 23. John Henderson (16.167); 24. Jesse Stovall (16.170); 25. Forrest Trent (16.199); 26. Anthony Sanders (16.203); 27. Scott Bloomquist (16.230); 28. Tyler Bruening (16.240); 29. Joey Moriarty (16.242); 30. Jonathan Henry (16.295); 31. Duane Chamberlain (16.306); 32. Brent Larson (16.310); 33. Robby Hensley (16.326); 34. Kyle Strickler (16.380); 35. Steve Casebolt (16.382); 36. Stormy Scott (16.425); 37. Rod Conley (16.579); 38. Tim Lance (16.620); 39. Joe Godsey (16.643); 40. Blake Spencer (16.696); 41. Bryant Dickinson (16.974); 42. Rob Anderzack (17.180); 43. Josh Robertson (17.298); 44. Colton Flinner (–); 45. RJ Conley (–);
Heat 1 – Group B (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer ) : 1. Jimmy Owens; 2. Jacob Hawkins; 3. Shane Clanton; 4. Shanon Buckingham; 5. Ricky Thornton Jr; 6. Josh Richards; 7. Forrest Trent; 8. Joey Moriarty; 9. Robby Hensley; 10. Rod Conley; 11. Bryant Dickinson;
Heat 2 – Group B (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer) : 1. Tyler Erb; 2. Jimmy Mars; 3. Jonathan Henry; 4. Kent Robinson; 5. Ross Bailes; 6. Kyle Strickler; 7. Ashton Winger; 8. Devin Moran; 9. Tim Lance; 10. Anthony Sanders;
Heat 3 – Group B (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer) : 1. Ricky Weiss; 2. Chris Madden; 3. Chase Junghans; 4. Donald McIntosh; 5. Scott Bloomquist; 6. Jake Timm; 7. Steve Casebolt; 8. John Henderson; 9. Joe Godsey; 10. Duane Chamberlain; 11. Josh Robertson;
Heat 4 – Group B (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer) : 1. Dale McDowell; 2. Shannon Babb; 3. Mike Marlar; 4. Brandon Sheppard; 5. Don O’Neal; 6. Brent Larson; 7. Tyler Bruening; 8. Jesse Stovall; 9. Colton Flinner; 10. Blake Spencer;
B Feature 1 – Group B (12 Laps – Top 2 Transfer) : 1. Josh Richards; 2. Kyle Strickler; 3. Joey Moriarty; 4. Devin Moran; 5. Rod Conley; 6. Ashton Winger; 7. Robby Hensley; 8. Tim Lance; 9. Anthony Sanders; 10. Bryant Dickinson; 11. Forrest Trent
B Feature 2 – Group B (12 Laps – Top 2 Transfer) : 1. Tyler Bruening; 2. Brent Larson; 3. Jake Timm; 4. Steve Casebolt; 5. Stormy Scott; 6. Jesse Stovall; 7. Duane Chamberlain; 8. Colton Flinner; 9. John Henderson; 10. Blake Spencer; 11. Joe Godsey; 12. Josh Robertson;
Group B Feature
1. Ricky Weiss – $10,000
2. Chris Madden
3. Jacob Hawkins
4. Dale McDowell
5. Jimmy Owens
6. Shane Clanton
7. Jimmy Mars
8. Tyler Erb
9. Mike Marlar
10. Brandon Sheppard
11. Shannon Babb
12. Kent Robinson
13. Donald McIntosh
14. Chase Junghans
15. Jonathan Henry
16. Shanon Buckingham
17. Ross Bailes
18. Kyle Strickler
19. Scott Bloomquist
20. Brent Larson
21. Ricky Thornton Jr
22. Tyler Bruening
23. Don O’Neal
24. Josh Richards