by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, October 1, 2011 – Martinsville, Indiana’s Don O’Neal had not been to Knoxville Raceway since 2004 when he was injured here, but the wait was worth it. He captured the 8th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. The win was worth $40,000 for O’Neal.
Nineteen year old Austin Hubbard led early in the 100-lap event. By the tenth lap, Brian Birkhofer trailed, followed by Scot Bloomquist, Darrell Lanigan and O’Neal. By lap 19, O’Neal had moved by Bloomquist and Birkhofer into the second position as a three-way battle developed for the lead involving O’Neal, Hubbard and Birkhofer. On lap 24, O’Neal shot around Hubbard for the lead.
With 24 laps in the books, the first of many cautions that plagued the event came out for Chris Simpson. Jimmy Mars entered the top five, and was third by the 27th circuit, up from 22nd. The lead trio of O’Neal, Hubbard and Mars separated themselves from the field at the halfway point.
Jimmy Owens asserted himself at that point and passed Mars and Hubbard to move into second on lap 54. Six laps later, he shot under O’Neal for the lead and pulled away from the field despite a number of caution flags.
Hubbard and O’Neal traded second a few times, before O’Neal snatched the spot with fifteen laps to go. Mars great night ended while running fourth on lap 88 when he stopped in turn one. When Brian Harris slowed on lap 92 while running seventh, and a caution for debris came out a lap later, the restarts became single-file.
At that point, Owens led O’Neal, Birkhofer, Steve Francis and Hubbard back to green. When Owens jumped the turn four cushion on lap 96, O’Neal pounced on the mistake and rode the cushion the last four laps to victory. Francis finished a late flurry to finish second, ahead of Birkhofer.
“I was in second there for awhile, and I don’t know how many times I did the same thing as Jimmy and jumped the cushion,” said O’Neal in Victory Lane in front of the large crowd. “He raced me clean. It got to where it was hard to steer on the right front. We haven’t been here since 2004. I think we’ll be back next year!”
“We had a heck of a battle there with Birkhofer for a lot of the race,” said Francis. “With the year we’ve had, this is great. We had a battery go bad on Thursday…it seems like everything has gone against us. A good payday helps. I want to thank all the fans for being here.”
“I was terrible from about lap 30 on,” said Birkhofer. “I’m lucky to be up here. These guys were animals on the cushion. If I was up there, I would have been out of the park. I’m here with the fortune of a lot of cautions.”
Fifteen year old Tyler Reddick drove from 16th to 4th, while Owens settled for fifth. Billy Moyer, Hubbard, Brady Smith, who passed 31 cars through the B and A, Bub McCool and Scott Bloomquist rounded out the top ten.
Kevin Sather won the non-stop 15-lap C main, while John Blankenship took the 20-lap B main.
Jon Snyder took the companion Modified feature. The win was worth $2,500 to the Ames, Iowa driver. Luke Wanninger led most of the way in the 25-lap event using the high side of the famous half-mile oval.
Only two cautions plagued the event. Mike Long bowed out of the event on lap four while running third, and Brian Mullen and Josh Gilman came together with 22 laps in the books. Prior to the caution, Wanninger was passed by Snyder after the two battled for several laps. Eric Dailey ran second, ahead of JD Auringer, Richie Gustin and Jacob Murray.
“Our car didn’t fall off,” said Snyder in Victory Lane. “It seemed like it drove in hard every lap, and everyone else was slowing down. This is big for us.”
Stay tuned to www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com for updates and exciting announcements concerning the 2012 race season!
8th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals Results
C main (started), 15 laps, 4:57.0: 1. 3, Kevin Sather, Ankeny, IA (2) 2. 51, Matt Furman, Columbus, OH (3) 3. 48, Tim Lance, Peoria, IL (4) 4. 93, Jay Johnson, West Burlington, IA (6) / 5. 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (1) 6. 56x, Chris Spieker, Massena, IA (5) 7. 99D, Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, IA (8) 8. 22, Jill George, Cedar Falls, IA (7) 9. 6, Al Humphrey, Giltner, NE (11) 10. 8, Mike Wallace, Carter Lake, IA (9) 11. 99, Scott Lewis, Brighton, CO (12) 12. 15c, Curt Schroeder, Ames, IA (15) 13. 7c, Chad Chenoweth, Huron, SD (14) 14. 44zo, Alonzo Grosse, Council Bluffs, IA (16) 15. 33G, Paul Glendenning, Mt. Ayr, IA (10) 16. 10, Junior Coover, Norfolk, NE (13) DNS – c9, Steve Casebolt, Richmond, IN, 15H, Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, IA, 31, Jason Utter, Columbus Junction, IA
B main (started), 20 laps, NT: 1. 23, John Blankenship, Morristown, TN (2) 2. 2, Brady Smith, Solon Springs, WI (15) 3. 18E, Eric Wells, Hazard, KY (1) 4. 27H, Brian Harris, Davenport, IA (9) 5. 50, Denny Eckrich, Oxford, IA (5) 6. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfurt, IL (8) / 7. 7R, Kent Robinson, Bloomington, IN (3) 8. 53, Ray Cook, Brasstown, NC (17) 9. Kevin Sather (21) 10. 21B, Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL (13) 11. Matt Furman (22) 12. 5M, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (16) 13. 25H, Kerry Hansen, Spencer, WI (12) 14. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (19) 15. Jay Johnson (24) 16. 41, Brad Neat, Trinity, NC (4) 17. 33, Nick Marolf, Moscow, IA (6) 18. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (7) 19. 5, John Duty, Happy Valley, OR (18) 20. 22M, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (20) 21. Tim Lance (23) 22. 44, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (11) 23. 58, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (14) 24. S9, Dan Schlieper, Sullivan, WI (10)
A main (started), 100 laps, NT: 1. 71, Don O’Neal, Martinsville, IN (8) 2. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (12) 3. 15B, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA (1) 4. 11T, Tyler Reddick, Corning, CA (16) 5. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, IN (5) 6. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (14) 7. 19, Austin Hubbard, Laurel, DE (2) 8. Brady Smith (26) 9. 57J, Bub McCool, Vicksburg, MS (23) 10. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (3) 11. 3s, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (21) 12. 777, Jared Landers, Welcome, NC (15) 13. 5B, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (10) 14. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (17) 15. Ray Cook (33, prov.) 16. John Blankenship (25) 17. Brian Harris (28) 18. Frank Heckenast Jr. (30) 19. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (22) 20. Eric Wells (27) 21. Denny Eckrich (29) 22. 1, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (4) 23. 1V, Will Vaught, Crane, MO (6) 24. Earl Pearson Jr. (31, prov.) 25. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (18) 26. 18, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (7) 27. 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA (11) 28. 81, Scott James, Lawrenceburg, IN (9) 29. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (13) 30. 32, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (19) 31. Brad Neat (32, prov.) 32. 56, Andy Eckrich, Iowa City, IA (24) 33. 1m, Rob Moss, Iowa City, IA (20) DNS – 17M, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA. Lap Leaders: Hubbard 1-23, O’Neal 24-59, Owens 60-95, O’Neal 96-100. Hard-charger: Smith.
Modifieds Results
Heat one, 8 laps, NT: 1. 69x, Jon Snyder, Ames, IA; 2. 00J, JD Auringer, Evansdale, IA; 3. 70, Jerry King, Waterloo, IA; 4. 9B, Brandon Blochlinger, Concordia, KS ; 5. 10M, Jeremy Mills, Garner IA; 6. 1cc, Clayton Christensen, Spencer, IA; 7. 71w, Jeff Waterman, Quincy, IL; 8. 51, Tyler VandeKamp, Knoxville, IA; 9. 41, Rob Hughes, Humboldt IA; 10. 99M, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown IA
Heat two, 8 laps, 2:56.8: 1. 83J, Josh Gilman, Earlham, IA; 2. 19G, Richie Gustin, Gilman, IA; 3. 27M, Mark Schulte, Delhi, IA; 4. 57V, Mike Van Genderen, Newton, IA; 5. 19D, Darren Duffy, Hazleton, IA; 6. 1x, Chris Abelson, Sioux City, IA; 7. 5, Todd Shute, Des Moines, IA; 8. 62, Greg Cox, Altoona, IA; 9. 68, JJ Wise, Manly, IA
Heat three, 8 laps, 2:54.7: 1. 18L, Mike Long, Keokuk, IA; 2. 1+, Bill Davis Jr., Des Moines, IA; 3. 54, Benji LaCrosse, Green Bay, WI; 4. 48J, Jacob Murray, Hartford, IA; 5. 12, Mark Elliott, Webster City, IA; 6. 72, Brian Mullen, Seymour, WI; 7. 61, Bruce Hanford, Davenport, IA; 8. 46, Toby VandeKamp, Knoxville, IA; 9. 60, Kurt Krauskopf, Decorah, IA
Heat four, 8 laps, 2:53.7: 1. 20, Luke Wanninger, Jefferson, IA; 2. 77R, Josh Foster, Fort Madison, IA; 3. 7, Eric Dailey, Armstrong, IA; 4. 3Z, Randy Havlik, Madrid, IA; 5. 95, Dylan Smith, Osceola, NE; 6. 96, Larry Herring, Lone Tree, IA; 7. 33, Brandon Rothzen, Media, IL; 8. 10K, Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup, IA; 9. 9, Jerry Wilinski, Seymour WI
B main one, 15 laps, NT: 1. Todd Shute 2. Brian Mullen 3. Mark Elliott 4. Brandon Rothzen / 5. Tyler VandeKamp 6. Ryan Gustin 7. Clayton Christensen 8. Toby VandeKamp DNS – Jeremy Mills, Rob Hughes, Kurt Krauskopf
B main two, 15 laps, NT: 1. Chris Abelson 2. Dylan Smith 3. Darren Duffy 4. Ronn Lauritzen / 5. Jeff Waterman 6. Jerry Wilinski 7. Larry Herring 8. Bruce Hanford DNS – Greg Cox, JJ Wise
A main (started), 25 laps, NT: 1. Jon Snyder (7) 2. Eric Dailey (6) 3. JD Auringer (4) 4. Richie Gustin (8) 5. Jacob Murray (15) 6. Josh Foster (12) 7. Chris Abelson (18) 8. Bill Davis Jr. (11) 9. Randy Havlik (16) 10. Dylan Smith (20) 11. Mark Elliott (21) 12. Luke Wanninger (1) 13. Mark Schulte (9) 14. Ronn Lauritzen (24) 15. Mike Van Genderen (14) 16. Josh Gilman (5) 17. Brian Mullen (19) 18. Benji LaCrosse (10) 19. Darren Duffy (22) 20. Todd Shute (17) 21. Jerry King (2) 22. Brandon Blochlinger (13) 23. Brandon Rothzen (23) 24. Mike Long (3). Lap Leaders: Wanninger 1-21, Snyder 22-25.