Wheatland, MO (May 28, 2021) – Josh Richards came from the sixth starting spot to dominate Friday Night’s Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson at Lucas Oil Speedway. Richards took the lead on lap six and went on for his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and the 33rd of his career. The race was co-sanctioned with the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association.

Several cautions closed gap between Richards and the field behind him, but each time Richards pulled away. He ultimately went unchallenged for the victory. Shane Clanton started alongside Richards in row number three and finished second to the West Virginia native. 

Chris Ferguson failed to turn a lap in time trials but recovered nicely from a rough start to finish third after starting in 23rd. Brandon Sheppard made a late-race charge for fourth and Kyle Bronson rounded out the top five.

Brian Shirley led the first five laps until Richards passed him for the top spot. While Richards was pulling away, an entertaining battle for second was going on between Shirley and Scott Bloomquist. As Shirley and Bloomquist were racing hard for second Clanton was able to slip by both of them by the 27th circuit, right before a caution flag came out for Hudson O’Neal and Chase Junghans.  

Sheppard made a daring move on the restart to climb to third place. Coming from inside of row 12, Ferguson was able to get by several drivers in the late going as he crossed the finish line in third.  

“This team deserves to be up front,” said the 2017 LOLMDS [Richards] Champion in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “We feel like we have been off the last couple of years from where I really want to be. I feel like if we can get some momentum, we can build on this. I was a little concerned with those late yellows, I feel like the right rear tire kind of greased-up a little on that long run. I was a little conservative on the corner entry, but after a couple of laps I could widen out my line.”

Clanton claimed second at the checkers. “I really needed the longer runs more than I needed those cautions. Those cautions at the end really hurt me. Overall, it was a good night, and it should put us in a good-starting spot tomorrow night.”

Ferguson ended his night on a high note after a tough start to begin the evening. “We changed rear ends after practice. We didn’t get to qualify so we had to battle all night. We had a good hot-rod tonight. We just needed a couple of more laps.”

The winner’s Clint Bowyer Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by iRacing, Rush Truck Centers, Big River Steel, Integra Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Ford Performance, and Cometic Gasket.

Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Jimmy Owens, and Earl Pearson Jr.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson
Friday, May 28th, 2021
Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton Jr. / 14.931 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Scott Bloomquist / 15.371 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 6. 15D-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 8. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 9. 7JR-Ryan Johnson[8]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 6. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 7. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[7]; 9. (DNS) 7J-Jay Fields; 10. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[10]; 6. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[7]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[8]; 10. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 25S-Chad Simpson[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[9]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 8. 11R-Justin Reed[7]; 9. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 10. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall

Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 71-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[8]; 9. 44W-David Webster[9]; 10. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 5. 91P-Jason Papich[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 5. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 7. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[10]; 9. 7J-Jay Fields[12]; 10. (DNS) 15D-Justin Duty; 11. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney; 12. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson; 13. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 8. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[8]; 9. 11R-Justin Reed[10]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[9]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 12. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 13. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp; 14. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall

MyRacePass B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 91P-Jason Papich[4]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 11. 44W-David Webster[11]; 12. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 13. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (40 Laps): 

Race Statistics
Entrants: 58
Lap Leaders: Brian Shirley (Laps 1 – 5); Josh Richards (Laps 6 – 40)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Josh Richards
Arizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Josh Richards
Margin of Victory
Stop Tech Brakes Cautions: Ryan Gustin (Lap 20); Hudson O’Neal, Chase Junghans (Lap 27); Rick Eckert (Lap 35)
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Josh Richards, Shane Clanton, Chris Ferguson
Penske Shocks Top 5: Josh Richards, Shane Clanton, Chris Ferguson, Brandon Sheppard, Kyle Bronson
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Chris Ferguson (Advanced 20 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadie
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Josh Richards (35 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Josh Richards
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Josh Richards (Lap 21 – 16.690 seconds)
Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Chase Junghans
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Brian Leonberg (Josh Richards)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis 
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brian Shirley (14.690 seconds)
Time of Race: 26 minutes 16 seconds


Wheatland, MO (May 28, 2021) – Tim McCreadie took the lead on the first lap and blazed his way to win the Cowboy Classic on Friday Night at Lucas Oil Speedway. The current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Point Leader charged from his third spot at the drop of the green, taking the lead from polesitter Brandon Sheppard. He went on to lead all 45 laps to win the 8th Annual Cowboy Classic. The event, originally scheduled for Thursday Night, was co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association.

Hudson O’Neal came from his sixth starting spot to finish second. He was 1.22 seconds behind McCreadie at the finish. Bobby Pierce finished in third followed by Sheppard and Josh Richards. 

Sheppard challenged McCreadie early on until Pierce picked up the pace to move into second on lap nine. Pierce then closed the gap on McCreadie. He briefly managed to get within a car length of McCreadie. There was only one early caution on lap 7.

While the differential between McCreadie and Pierce stayed consistent for several laps. Pierce saw O’Neal close the margin on him and take over the second spot on lap 31. O’Neal was able to make up some ground on McCreadie once he got to second, but lapped traffic kept O’Neal at bay in the waning laps.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time this year and for the 24th time in his career, McCreadie was very grateful to get the win, “I mean you are always worried about being boxed in at this place when you are going through traffic. When you see Pierce and Hudson on the board, those two don’t take laps off. I knew the best shot I had was to not wait around in traffic. I got beat a month ago by JD by being a little too cautious at the end of the race. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. This is an amazing weekend out here for Memorial Day and to have our car all dressed up by being Patriotic. If you see anybody from the military give them a thanks.”

O’Neal came home in second. “The car felt pretty good out there this evening. By the time I got to second everybody was pretty much spread out. Not that I was any faster than Timmy, but I would have liked a chance to clear out the lap traffic and take a shot on him at the end. It took me about 15 laps to really get going.”  

Former Show-Me 100 winner, Bobby Pierce, took third. “Now that we got third, we can push it a little harder in the race tonight. It was really a good Show-Me Point Race for us in this first one. So, we can take some more chances in the second feature. I really wanted to win that one. I was closing in on T-Mac for a while. He moved back down and pulled away from me, after that I tried some things and the next thing I knew, Hudson was underneath me and there was nothing I could do.”  

The winner’s Donald and Gena Bradsher-owned Paylor Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, New Point Lighting and Design, D&E Marine, Raci8ng for Heroes, and The Aesthetic Haus.

Completing the top ten were Ryan Gustin, Jimmy Owens, Frank Heckenast Jr., Stormy Scott, and Scott Bloomquist.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Cowboy Classic
Friday, May 28th, 2021 (Thursday, May 27th, Make-Up Event)
Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard / 15.678 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Frank Heckenast Jr. / 16.478 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist[3]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 50-Kaeden Cornell[5]; 6. 15D-Justin Duty[8]; 7. 18J-Chase Junghans[7]; 8. 6H-Al Humphrey[9]; 9. 7J-Jay Fields[10]; 10. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 14-Josh Richards[4]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 5. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[6]; 6. 91P-Jason Papich[5]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[10]; 10. 44W-David Webster[8]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[3]; 5. 00S-Jesse Stovall[5]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[7]; 7. 59-Garrett Alberson[8]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[9]; 9. 11R-Justin Reed[6]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 12C-Scott Crigler[2]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 7. 94-Austin Rettig[7]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[8]; 9. 43-Jeremy Grady[9]; 10. 7JR-Ryan Johnson[10]

Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 18B-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[4]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[5]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb[6]; 7. 36-Logan Martin[7]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[9]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[10]

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O'Neal[3]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 5. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[7]; 7. 7W-Cole Wells[6]; 8. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 9. 23-Cody Holtkamp[8]

LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 3. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 4. 50-Kaeden Cornell[3]; 5. 15D-Justin Duty[5]; 6. 91P-Jason Papich[6]; 7. 18J-Chase Junghans[7]; 8. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 9. 1X-Aaron Marrant[10]; 10. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 11. 7J-Jay Fields[11]; 12. 6H-Al Humphrey[9]; 13. 44W-David Webster[14]; 14. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 2. 49T-Jake Timm[1]; 3. 00S-Jesse Stovall[3]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[7]; 5. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[4]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[5]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 94-Austin Rettig[8]; 9. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 10. 11R-Justin Reed[11]; 11. 43-Jeremy Grady[12]; 12. 55-Chris Kratzer[9]; 13. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson

MyRacePass B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 5. 36-Logan Martin[7]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 7. 7W-Cole Wells[8]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 9. 99L-Scott Lewis[10]; 10. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 11. 14M-Reid Millard[13]; 12. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 13. 23-Cody Holtkamp[12]

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (45 Laps): 

Race Statistics
Entrants: 58
Lap Leaders: Tim McCreadie (Laps 1 – 45)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Tim McCreadie
Arizona Sport Shirts CJC – Presented by DirtOnDirt Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Tim McCreadie
Margin of Victory: 1.225
Stop Tech Brakes Cautions: Earl Pearson Jr. (Lap 7)
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’Neal, Bobby Pierce
Penske Shocks Top 5: Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’Neal, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Josh Richards
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Advanced 15 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadie
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Tim McCreadie (45 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: (Lap 1 – 16.285 seconds)
Fast Shafts Tough Break of the Race: Earl Pearson Jr.
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Philip Snellen (Tim McCreadie)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Tim McCreadie (14.707 seconds)
Time of Race: 15 minutes 7 seconds