Lake City, FL (February 5, 2022) – Putting aside a frustrating start to the 2022 season, four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, Jimmy Owens rebounded on Saturday Night. Celebrating a birthday just two days ago, the 50-year-old Tennessee native earned a hard fought $15,000 victory in the General Tire Winter Nationals Presented by Line-X Saturday night event at All-Tech Raceway.
Owens becomes the fifth different winner in the first seven races of the season. Owens grabbed the lead on lap 43 and pulled away for his 78th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph.
Tim McCreadie, the reigning series champion, finished second followed by Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, and Brandon Sheppard.
The 50-lap event started off with Tyler Erb grabbing the early lead until Moran took over the lead on lap eight. However, the race could not build momentum as there were five cautions in the first 11 laps of the race; but from then on, the race stayed green until the end.
In the first 15 laps there were three different leaders with Erb, Moran, and McCreadie. McCreadie and Moran would battle through heavy traffic as the last 39 laps of the race went caution-free. It looked as though McCreadie and Moran were going to settle it amongst themselves until Owens made the high-side work in traffic. The veteran racer would first get by Moran for second and then McCreadie for the lead on lap 43 to pull away for a 2.841 second advantage at the finish. McCreadie held off Davenport at the end of the race to finish second to Owens.
Owens, who was the fourth different leader of the race, dedicated his win to his car owner Leon Ramirez. “It was just a tricky track tonight, there were a lot of grooves in different areas. You just had to slide in the right spot. The car was working good, I was able to keep up with the guys especially when we got to lapped traffic. With a track like this you are just a sitting duck out there, all the guys can move around. It was fun racing up front for a change. The work’s been hard. This win is for Leon Ramirez and his family. They are doing good, and we hope to see them soon. It’s always awesome to come down here and get a win. This is one of our better tracks in Florida.”
McCreadie, who finished 11th on Thursday Night at All-Tech, was able to bring his car home in second two nights later. “The other night we were really bad. We ran a different set-up today and found one thing that seemed to help. After hot laps I didn’t know what to tell the crew. I don’t get around here like I want to. They put their heads together and every decision they made is why I ran up front.”
Davenport, who ran third on Thursday Night despite a battery issue towards the end of the race, ended up on the podium for the second straight race. “We were just lucky to be there at the end. We had that scare when Bruening and Erb got together. I think I hit Bruening and that tire at the same time when I slid by there. Our car was pretty good, we fell back early. I just got in the wrong line. I picked up a huge push on one of those restarts and I almost got into the wall. We battled back and ran down Jimmy and Timmy there at one time, but they got through lapped traffic a little better than we did.”
The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tim Short Auto Group, Boomtest Well Service, Georgia Arms, Red Line Oil, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, and Midwest Sheet Metal.
Completing the top ten were Ricky Thornton Jr., Ashton Winger, Joseph Joiner, Tyler Erb, and Shane Clanton.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
General Tire Winter Nationals Presented by LINE-X
Saturday, February 5, 2022
All-Tech Raceway – Lake City, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Devin Moran / 16.645 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Sheppard / 17.281 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[2]; 4. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 5. 16D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 6. 157-Mike Marlar[8]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[9]; 8. 48-Colton Flinner[5]; 9. C02-Ryan Markham[6]; 10. 1Z-Logan Zarin[10]; 11. 3-Brennon Willard[11]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 5. 89-Ashton Winger[1]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 7. 1ST-Johnny Scott[9]; 8. 2S-Stormy Scott[10]; 9. 30-Todd Cooney[8]; 10. 11-Spencer Hughes[5]; 11. 10-Garrett Smith[11]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 3. 58W-Mark Whitener[4]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 5. 0J-Jake O'Neil[8]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton[6]; 7. 76-Brandon Overton[7]; 8. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 9. 14JR-Trey Mills[11]; 10. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 11. 111V-Max Blair[5]
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 4. 71-Hudson O'Neal[6]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[3]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 7. 10J-Joseph Joiner[9]; 8. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[8]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 10. 11K-Austin Kirkpatrick[10]; 11. 503-Jason Miles[11]
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 16D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 89-Ashton Winger[2]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 4. 1ST-Johnny Scott[6]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[8]; 6. 48-Colton Flinner[7]; 7. 11-Spencer Hughes[12]; 8. 10-Garrett Smith[14]; 9. 30-Todd Cooney[10]; 10. C02-Ryan Markham[9]; 11. 3-Brennon Willard[13]; 12. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 13. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 14. (DNS) 1Z-Logan Zarin
UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0J-Jake O'Neil[1]; 2. 10J-Joseph Joiner[6]; 3. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 4. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 5. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 6. 19R-Ryan Gustin[10]; 7. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone[2]; 9. 66C-Matt Cosner[11]; 10. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[8]; 11. 503-Jason Miles[14]; 12. 14JR-Trey Mills[9]; 13. 11K-Austin Kirkpatrick[12]; 14. (DNS) 111V-Max Blair
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps): |
