Locust Grove, AR (August 20, 2021) – Jimmy Owens, reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, picked up his first series win of 2021 on Friday Night at Batesville Motor Speedway. Owens claimed the 30-lap preliminary night feature to kick off the 29th Annual COMP Cams Topless 100 – presented by Nutrien Ag Solutions.
Owens took the lead at the drop of the green flag and led the entire distance for his 76th career series victory. The event was co-sanctioned with the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series – presented by Lucas Oil.
Tim McCreadie came from the fifth starting spot to take second with Nick Hoffman, Brandon Overton, and Ricky Thornton Jr. rounding out the top five finishers.
In a race slowed by only one caution flag, the 49-year-old Tennessee native raced through traffic at a consistent rate to keep McCreadie at bay. McCreadie and Overton closed slightly on Owens in traffic, but neither could get close enough to challenge for the top spot.
Overton, the Sunoco North-South 100 winner a week ago at Florence Speedway, ran as high as second before crossing the finish line in fourth with left front suspension damage. Nick Hoffman started fourth but faded several positions in the early part of the race before recovering to claim the final podium spot.
Owens has climbed to sixth in the championship points standings, after leaving Florida Speedweeks in 15th, looks forward to defending his COMP Cams Topless 100 title tomorrow night. “This was 30 laps tonight, there wasn’t any sense in taking it easy until the end of the race. The car was good. It’s been good all night long. I want to thank the guys for busting their tails. It’s been a long road to get back up here. The car was flawless tonight, maybe we can carry it into tomorrow.”
“This definitely is a boost of morale for the guys,” Owens added. “It makes it a lot better when you go from one race to the next. It was Becky Ramirez’s birthday a few days ago. This one’s for her.”
McCreadie will enter tomorrow night’s $40,000-to-win event with a good starting spot as well after coming in second Friday Night. “The car wasn’t the greatest at the beginning, but that’s what you’re hoping for at the end to get a little better as the race goes on. We will see if we can make it better for tomorrow night. We had a little luck on our side to run second tonight. We have run second this year in a lot of big races. This is a tough series to be in. We have been the most consistent here lately.”
Hoffman’s comeback during the race netted him a third-place finish. “The race car has been really good. Talking to Scott about this weekend I just felt like this place would fit my driving style. We drive a lot alike. He has won a lot of races here. At the beginning I kind of faded a little bit. A lot of it was me just not being aggressive enough at the beginning and then I got rolling at the end. We were really good.”
The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Boomtest Well Service, Tim Short Auto Group, Reece Monument Company, Red Line Oil, Ohlins Shocks, Sybesma Graphics, Sunoco Race Fuels, and Georgia Arms.
Completing the top ten were Hudson O’Neal, Tyler Erb, Jonathan Davenport, Billy Moyer Jr., and Josh Richards.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Topless 100 Prelim
Friday, August 20, 2021
Batesville Motor Speedway – Locust Grove, AR
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jimmy Owens / 14.734 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport / 14.932 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 12C-Scott Crigler[3]; 4. 90-Brian Rickman[6]; 5. 11H-Spencer Hughes[4]; 6. 4A-Michael Arnold[5]; 7. 6R-Robbie Stuart[7]; 8. 27-Rayce McCord[8]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 48-Wendell Wallace[6]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[5]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[7]; 8. (DNF) 1R-BJ Robinson[8]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[2]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 4. 18-Shannon Babb[5]; 5. R5-Hunter Rasdon[4]; 6. 21XXX-Neil Baggett[6]; 7. (DNS) J8-Jadon Frame; 8. (DNS) 26R-Cole Farmer
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 4. 45-Kylan Garner[7]; 5. 92M-Chad Mallett[5]; 6. 18P-Brayden Proctor[6]; 7. 86R-Rick Rickman[4]; 8. 26H-Dustin Holmes[8]
Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0H-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[4]; 4. 75-Terry Phillips[3]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 6. 997-Travis Ashley[7]; 7. 5A-Austin Vincent[6]; 8. 13N-Derrick Nichols[8]
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 3. C8-Timothy Culp[2]; 4. 14M-Morgan Bagley[5]; 5. 91-Chris Jones[7]; 6. 36-Logan Martin[6]; 7. 503-Jason Miles[4]
LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 48-Wendell Wallace[2]; 2. 90-Brian Rickman[1]; 3. 86-Kyle Beard[5]; 4. 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 5. 11H-Spencer Hughes[4]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 7. R5-Hunter Rasdon[6]; 8. 4A-Michael Arnold[7]; 9. 21XXX-Neil Baggett[9]; 10. 1R-BJ Robinson[13]; 11. J8-Jadon Frame[14]; 12. 78S-Steve Stultz[11]; 13. 6R-Robbie Stuart[10]; 14. 27-Rayce McCord[12]; 15. (DNS) 26R-Cole Farmer
UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 45-Kylan Garner[1]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[2]; 3. 14M-Morgan Bagley[3]; 4. 86R-Rick Rickman[10]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 6. 91-Chris Jones[6]; 7. 36-Logan Martin[9]; 8. 18P-Brayden Proctor[7]; 9. 5A-Austin Vincent[11]; 10. 92M-Chad Mallett[4]; 11. 503-Jason Miles[12]; 12. 13N-Derrick Nichols[14]; 13. 26H-Dustin Holmes[13]; 14. 997-Travis Ashley[8]
COMP Cams Topless 100 – FRIDAY (30 Laps): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 3. 0H-Nick Hoffman[4]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[10]; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[12]; 8. 49-Jonathan Davenport[8]; 9. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 10. 14-Josh Richards[11]; 11. 97-Cade Dillard[14]; 12. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 13. 12C-Scott Crigler[13]; 14. 2S-Stormy Scott[17]; 15. C8-Timothy Culp[18]; 16. 90-Brian Rickman[21]; 17. 48-Wendell Wallace[19]; 18. 40B-Kyle Bronson[15]; 19. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[9]; 20. 86-Kyle Beard[23]; 21. 45-Kylan Garner[20]; 22. 75-Terry Phillips[22]; 23. 14M-Morgan Bagley[24]; 24. 25-Shane Clanton[16]