GREENWOOD, NE (September 18, 2020)Â – Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Leader Jimmy Owens continued his spectacular 2020 racing season by winning Friday Night’s preliminary 30-lap event at I-80 Speedway. Owens took the lead from Tim McCreadie on lap 27 and went on for his 11th series win of the season. Brandon Overton who led early in the race finished in third followed by Devin Moran and Darrell Lanigan.
Overton led for the first nine laps of the race before the only caution flag in two nights of feature racing changed the complexion of the race. On the restart McCreadie cleared Overton for the lead. McCreadie pulled away from both Overton and Owens as he encountered lapped traffic, allowing his two nearest pursuers to close the gap. Owens was finally able to track down McCreadie, taking the lead with three laps to go.
Owens made his way to Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 75th time in his career, setting himself up for a good starting spot in Saturday’s $30,000-to-win finale. “I was moving around quite a bit on the track and we were in the catbirds seat for once, running in second. Timmy was just a sitting duck up there; he didn’t know where to go. I was able to move around enough to get this Ramirez Rocket up front. This should give us a lot of momentum for tomorrow night. This win says a lot for our crew, they busted their tails all week to get ready to come out here. We had to work for three days straight to get everything ready to come out here. It’s like a 16-hour drive out here and everybody pulled together and here we are.”
McCreadie was more than satisfied with his second place finish. “It’s so hard to lead here. It’s such a big track and wide, the grooves come and go. Brandon’s out there leading away, I thought he wouldn’t change up much. On the restart it looked like that little bit of dust off of two cleaned up to where it wasn’t dirty any more. We were good for a while once we got the lead, I didn’t find the line on the track until I was passed. We work hard every night to try to get better. We took a stab at it tonight. I don’t know how we will run tomorrow, but the car’s pretty comfortable.”
Overton led the first seven laps of the race before yielding to McCreadie. He was seeking his 20th overall win of the season, but came home in third. “On the restart that top there in one and two and three and four started to clean up. There was a fine line there, then Jimmy moved up and got by me. He got me going into three and I just got up there too late. Our car was good, it was way better than last night. We should be locked into tomorrow night with a good starting spot.”
The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and is sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tommy Pope Construction, Boomtest Well Service, General Tire, Red Line Oil, Ohlins Shocks, Champion Spark Plugs, and Midwest Sheet Metal.
Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton, Jr., Ryan Gustin, Kyle Strickler, Josh Richards, and Brandon Sheppard.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Optima Batteries I-80 Nationals – Presented by General Tire
Friday, September 18th, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE
Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton / 14.529 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tim McCreadie / 14.554 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer):  1. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 2. 29V-Darrell Lanigan[5]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[8]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[4]; 6. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[7]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[9]; 9. 98J-Jason Rauen[2]; 10. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[11]
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer):  1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[3]; 7. 43-Jeremy Grady[9]; 8. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 9. 62-Justin Zeitner[7]; 10. 14J-Jake Neal[10]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 4. 1C-Chad Simpson[2]; 5. 8-Kyle Strickler[5]; 6. 777-Jared Landers[3]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[8]; 9. 29D-Spencer Diercks[9]; 10. 3C-Mike Collins[10]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[11]
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (Top 18 from Heat Points Transfer): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[6]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 44M-Chris Madden[7]; 6. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 7. 81E-Tanner English[8]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton[2]
Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 777-Jared Landers[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 62-Justin Zeitner[8]; 7. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 8. 98J-Jason Rauen[5]; 9. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[12]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 11. 10C-Junior Coover[13]; 12. (DNS) 25-Shane Clanton; 13. (DNS) 14J-Jake Neal
FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[1]; 2. 81E-Tanner English[5]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[3]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 5. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 6. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 8. 29D-Spencer Diercks[9]; 9. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 10. 43-Jeremy Grady[6]; 11. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 12. L88-Larry Clawson[12]
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (30 Laps):
| Pos | Start | Car # | Competitor | Hometown | Pay |
| 1 | 4 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $7,000 |
| 2 | 2 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $4,000 |
| 3 | 1 | 76 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | $3,000 |
| 4 | 3 | 9 | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $2,000 |
| 5 | 5 | 29V | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $1,500 |
| 6 | 9 | 20RT | Ricky Thornton Jr | Adel, IA | $1,000 |
| 7 | 7 | 19R | Ryan Gustin | Marshalltown, IA | $900 |
| 8 | 10 | 8 | Kyle Strickler | Mooresville, NC | $800 |
| 9 | 13 | 14 | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $700 |
| 10 | 6 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $600 |
| 11 | 22 | 81E | Tanner English | Benton, KY | $580 |
| 12 | 16 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $560 |
| 13 | 8 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $540 |
| 14 | 20 | 21M | Billy Moyer Sr | Batesville, AR | $520 |
| 15 | 24 | 44M | Chris Madden | Gray Court, SC | $500 |
| 16 | 11 | 18J | Chase Junghans | Manhattan, KS | $490 |
| 17 | 19 | 777 | Jared Landers | Winston-Salem, NC | $480 |
| 18 | 18 | 1C | Chad Simpson | Mt. Vernon, IA | $470 |
| 19 | 21 | 99JR | Frank Heckenast Jr | Frankfort, IL | $460 |
| 20 | 17 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $450 |
| 21 | 15 | 4 | Tad Pospisil | Norfolk, NE | $440 |
| 22 | 12 | 1T | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $430 |
| 23 | 23 | 2S | Stormy Scott | Las Cruces, NM | $410 |
| 24 | 14 | 32S | Chris Simpson | Oxford, IA | $400 |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 43
Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1 – 9); Tim McCreadie (Laps 10 – 26); Jimmy Owens (Laps 27 -30)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jimmy Owens
Margin of Victory: 0.947 seconds
Cautions: Tyler Erb (Lap 9)
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional:Â n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisionals:Â n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3:Â Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Brandon Overton
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Tanner English (Advanced 11 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jimmy Owens
Allstar Performance Most Laps Led: Tim McCreadie (17 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Tanner English
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Vic Hill Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jeff Strope
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Chris Madden (Lap #30 – 18.4846 seconds)
STEEL-IT Tough Break of the Race: Tyler Erb
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Brandon Overton
Time of Race: 12 minutes 28 seconds
I-80 Nationals Saturday Line Ups:
Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Line Up (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):
| Row | Inside | Outside | ||
| 1 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN | 99JR | Frank Heckenast Jr – Frankfort, IL |
| 2 | 1C | Chad Simpson – Mt. Vernon, IA | 2S | Stormy Scott – Las Cruces, NM |
| 3 | 04 | Tad Pospisil – Norfolk, NE | 16 | Tyler Bruening – Decorah, IA |
| 4 | 22H | Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA | 98J | Jason Rauen – Farley, IA |
| 5 | 98 | Ben Schaller – Omaha, NE | 29D | Spencer Diercks – Davenport, IA |
| 6 | 3C | Mike Collins – New Orleans, LA | 43 | Jeremy Grady – Story City, IA |
| 7 | 76B | Blair Nothdurft – Renner, SD | 6D | Dylan Schmer – Aurora, NE |
FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer):
| Row | Inside | Outside | ||
| 1 | 81E | Tanner English – Benton, KY | 1T | Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX |
| 2 | 777 | Jared Landers – Winston-Salem, NC | 21 | Billy Moyer Jr – Batesville, AR |
| 3 | 56 | Chris Spieker – Massena, IA | 62 | Justin Zeitner – Malvern, IA |
| 4 | 1 | Earl Pearson Jr – Jacksonville, FL | 53 | Andrew Kosiski – Lavista, NE |
| 5 | 26JR | Corey Zeitner – Omaha, NE | 14M | Reid Millard – Jefferson City, MO |
| 6 | L88 | Larry Clawson – Kansas City, MO | 14J | Jake Neal – Omaha, NE |
| 7 | 10C | Junior Coover – Norfolk, NE | 112 | Tyler Smith – Gibbon, NE |
Lucas Oil Feature Line Up (80 Laps):
| Row | Inside | Outside | ||
| 1 | 14 | Josh Richards – Shinnston, WV | 76 | Brandon Overton – Evans, GA |
| 2 | 20 | Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN | 39 | Tim McCreadie – Watertown, NY |
| 3 | 25 | Shane Clanton – Zebulon, GA | 8 | Kyle Strickler – Mooresville, NC |
| 4 | 9 | Devin Moran – Dresden, OH | 29V | Darrell Lanigan – Union, KY |
| 5 | 44M | Chris Madden – Gray Court, SC | 19R | Ryan Gustin – Marshalltown, IA |
| 6 | 20RT | Ricky Thornton Jr – Adel, IA | 1S | Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL |
| 7 | 32 | Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL | 32S | Chris Simpson – Oxford, IA |
| 8 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA | 18J | Chase Junghans – Manhattan, KS |
| 9 | 21M | Billy Moyer Sr – Batesville, AR | 40B | Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL |
*Results are unofficial until Close of Business on the Tuesday following Race Day*