Earl Pearson Jr. Uses Sunoco HCR Plus to Win the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship
Marcus Hook, PA (November 1, 2005)- Sunoco Race Fuels and the HCR Plus brand was instrumental in helping several drivers win championships in 2005. Earl Pearson Jr. and the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team won the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship this past weekend at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway. Pearson, a long time Sunoco Race Fuels driver, switched over to the new HCR Plus brand this year and was able to overcome some early season bad luck and put together an impressive season of results that propelled him to the 2005 national championship.
Earl and the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team was able to pass the series season long point leader Don O’Neal at the next to last race of the season at Dixie Speedway. Earl finished 2nd in that event combined with O’Neal’s 14th place finish Earl took over the series points lead with a 55 point advantage heading to the series final event at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway. In the final event Pearson and O’Neal would both feel the intense drama for the battle for the championship. Both drivers would start side by side in the second heat race of the evening. Pearson would suffer a flat tire that relegated him to a last place finish in the heat race while O’Neal would finish 3rd in the heat race earning a 12th starting position for the 50-lap feature event.
Earl would have to use a points provisional starting position and start the feature in the 22nd position. The feature would prove to be intense and action packed as O’Neal charged to the front and took the lead on lap 17. Pearson was up to 11th as all eyes were on both drivers to see who would come out on top for the championship. O’Neal suffered some bad luck as well as his right rear tire went flat. At this point it looked like Pearson could cruise to a solid finish and win the championship but a broken power steering line billowed smoke from under his hood with 10 laps to go. Earl struggled to hang onto the car without power steering but managed to finish 16th at the finish. With O’Neal’s 18th place finish Pearson won the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship by 65 points.
“It feels great to win this championship especially how far behind we were in points early in the season. I have to thank my car owners Carlton and Kemp Lamm, my crew and all my sponsors that have supported my racing program. Sunoco has been a big part of our championship this and last year as well. The new HCR Plus really helped our engines to run cooler and our engine builder Larry Wallace really gave us tremendous horsepower”, stated Earl. Pearson and the Dunn-Benson Ford team led the series last year with the most fast qualifier awards and again in 2005 Earl tied for the most fast time awards on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “I want to thank Don VanValkenburgh at Sunoco for his support of Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports. Sunoco is a big part of the reason we were able to put back to back championships together to have the confidence in their products to know we had the very best product on the market”, stated Carlton Lamm owner of Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports.
Sunoco would also like to congratulate Don O’Neal for a great season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. O’Neal a Sunoco Race Fuels driver led the series with 7 wins in 2005 and finished second in the final series points standings. The top four drivers in the final points standings on the Lucas Oil Late Model Series were all Sunoco Race Fuel drivers using the HCR Plus brand. Pearson, O’Neal, Moran and Matt Miller all represented the Sunoco Company tremendously on the series in 2005.
Sunoco’s newest fuel for dirt late models HCR Plus has proved to be the right fuel of choice for drivers in 2005. HCR Plus is specifically targeted for racing engines with a very high compression ratio that operate under sustained high speeds and loads. Sunoco Performance Products is the largest manufacturer of racing gasoline in the world Sunoco Race Fuels are designed to meet the quality and consistency needs of professional racers. In addition, Sunoco is involved with numerous racing sanctioning bodies, tracks and competitors to provide the latest in race gas technology. Sunoco's track-proven fuels are designed to provide exceptional power, performance, quality and consistency keeping you "Ahead of the Pack". To obtain more information, contact Sunoco at 1-800-RACE GAS (1-800-722-3427) or visit their web site at www.racegas.com.
Marcus Hook, PA (November 1, 2005)- Sunoco Race Fuels and the HCR Plus brand was instrumental in helping several drivers win championships in 2005. Earl Pearson Jr. and the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team won the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship this past weekend at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway. Pearson, a long time Sunoco Race Fuels driver, switched over to the new HCR Plus brand this year and was able to overcome some early season bad luck and put together an impressive season of results that propelled him to the 2005 national championship.
Earl and the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team was able to pass the series season long point leader Don O’Neal at the next to last race of the season at Dixie Speedway. Earl finished 2nd in that event combined with O’Neal’s 14th place finish Earl took over the series points lead with a 55 point advantage heading to the series final event at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway. In the final event Pearson and O’Neal would both feel the intense drama for the battle for the championship. Both drivers would start side by side in the second heat race of the evening. Pearson would suffer a flat tire that relegated him to a last place finish in the heat race while O’Neal would finish 3rd in the heat race earning a 12th starting position for the 50-lap feature event.
Earl would have to use a points provisional starting position and start the feature in the 22nd position. The feature would prove to be intense and action packed as O’Neal charged to the front and took the lead on lap 17. Pearson was up to 11th as all eyes were on both drivers to see who would come out on top for the championship. O’Neal suffered some bad luck as well as his right rear tire went flat. At this point it looked like Pearson could cruise to a solid finish and win the championship but a broken power steering line billowed smoke from under his hood with 10 laps to go. Earl struggled to hang onto the car without power steering but managed to finish 16th at the finish. With O’Neal’s 18th place finish Pearson won the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship by 65 points.
“It feels great to win this championship especially how far behind we were in points early in the season. I have to thank my car owners Carlton and Kemp Lamm, my crew and all my sponsors that have supported my racing program. Sunoco has been a big part of our championship this and last year as well. The new HCR Plus really helped our engines to run cooler and our engine builder Larry Wallace really gave us tremendous horsepower”, stated Earl. Pearson and the Dunn-Benson Ford team led the series last year with the most fast qualifier awards and again in 2005 Earl tied for the most fast time awards on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “I want to thank Don VanValkenburgh at Sunoco for his support of Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports. Sunoco is a big part of the reason we were able to put back to back championships together to have the confidence in their products to know we had the very best product on the market”, stated Carlton Lamm owner of Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports.
Sunoco would also like to congratulate Don O’Neal for a great season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. O’Neal a Sunoco Race Fuels driver led the series with 7 wins in 2005 and finished second in the final series points standings. The top four drivers in the final points standings on the Lucas Oil Late Model Series were all Sunoco Race Fuel drivers using the HCR Plus brand. Pearson, O’Neal, Moran and Matt Miller all represented the Sunoco Company tremendously on the series in 2005.
Sunoco’s newest fuel for dirt late models HCR Plus has proved to be the right fuel of choice for drivers in 2005. HCR Plus is specifically targeted for racing engines with a very high compression ratio that operate under sustained high speeds and loads. Sunoco Performance Products is the largest manufacturer of racing gasoline in the world Sunoco Race Fuels are designed to meet the quality and consistency needs of professional racers. In addition, Sunoco is involved with numerous racing sanctioning bodies, tracks and competitors to provide the latest in race gas technology. Sunoco's track-proven fuels are designed to provide exceptional power, performance, quality and consistency keeping you "Ahead of the Pack". To obtain more information, contact Sunoco at 1-800-RACE GAS (1-800-722-3427) or visit their web site at www.racegas.com.
