PORT ROYAL, PA (August 27, 2022) –  Earl Pearson Jr. raced to the top position on lap 10 and held on for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win since July of 2020. Pearson held off Ricky Thornton Jr. to take the richest dirt late model race in the history of Port Royal Speedway, earning a $50,000 payday in the Rumble by the River main event.

Thornton took home $20,000 for second place, as the defending Dirt Track World Champion finished just .612 seconds behind the 4-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion. Gregg Satterlee came from the 12th starting spot to finish third, with Jonathan Davenport and Daulton Wilson rounding out the top five drivers.

Thornton took the lead at the start of the race as Pearson, who started fourth, started making his move early and had climbed to second by lap five. Pearson then outdueled Thornton in the race for the lead to grab the top position on lap 10.

Pearson looked to be in control until Thornton started to close the gap with less than 10 laps to go. The green flag stretch of racing reached 44 consecutive laps before a caution with six to go would set-up a shootout between the two Lucas Oil regulars.

When the race restarted, Thornton made every effort to get by Pearson, but the 50-year-old Florida native was able to hold off the defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year to take the victory.

Pearson, in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 40th time in his career, dedicated his win to his father who passed away last year. “It’s awful emotional for me, I lost my dad last year and this is for him and my mom and everybody up in Heaven looking down on me today. There’s no doubt they have been a huge part of everything I have done. This is for all of my family and friends back home and everybody that’s pulling for us. What a heck of a show that was. Thornton ran me awful clean, he got into me a little bit down there in four, but hey that was a heck of a race and I done all I could.”

“I didn’t know if I needed a caution or not,” Pearson added. “I have run good here several times. I like the big tracks and it paid off tonight. I absolutely had to change my line. I knew I had to go in low and let it drift up because he [Thornton] is a master of the slide jobs so if I didn’t block the line, I knew what he was going to do. He done a heck of a job. We were fast here in the spring and had speed last night. I love this place, it’s a beautiful place to come to. You can race all over it. They done a heck of a job with the racetrack last night after the rain. They do a heck of a job here.”

Thornton, who sits third in the championship points standings, had tracked down Pearson before the only caution of the race. “I really didn’t want that yellow. I felt like I could move around pretty good before that. I tried a Hail-Mary kind of slider, and I knew I wasn’t going to clear him. I wasn’t going to run him over. Earl raced all of us clean, so I made sure I left him a lane. We just didn’t have enough. I felt good in one and two and I could move around. He was kind of committed to the bottom. Overall, I mean it was a brand-new car for this weekend and we had a couple of good runs; we are excited for the rest of the year.”

Satterlee, who captured the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Port Royal in April and came into the race with nine overall wins at eight different tracks, charged from the outside of row number six to round out the podium. “We did nothing different there in the last part of the race. There were less cars in front of us and that allowed us to maneuver a little a bit more and we could race better. We had a good car tonight. We are happy to come up through there to get third. I was disappointed with myself in that heat race. I just needed to get a better starting spot.”

The winner’s Jason Papich-owned, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Tegeler Wrecker and Crane, Papich Construction, Etchberger Trucking, E3 Spark Plugs, Bilstein Shocks, Midwest Sheet Metal, Sunoco Race Fuels, Sierra Pacific Materials, C&D contractors and Developers Bonding, Duvall Electric, Millard Family Chapels, Remi Realty.

Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Chris Ferguson, Brandon Sheppard, and Hudson O’Neal.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Rumble by the River
Saturday, August 27th, 2022
Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 15K-Dale Hollidge[4]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[3]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[6]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[5]; 7. 21M-Chad Myers[8]; 8. 11J-Jason Schmidt[9]; 9. 22R-Russell Erwin[7]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[5]; 4. 2JW-Justin Weaver[6]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 7. B2-Brian Booze[8]; 8. 25K-Kody Lyter[9]; 9. (DNS) 32J-Shaun Jones

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 72-Michael Norris[2]; 4. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[9]; 6. 94-Jason Miller[7]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]; 8. 06-Mike Lupfer[5]; 9. 3-Tim Wilson[8]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[4]; 5. 9M-Hayes Mattern[7]; 6. 32-Travis Stickley[5]; 7. 05-Roy Deese Jr[8]; 8. (DNS) 27-Jim Yoder

Wrisco Industries Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 4-Gary Stuhler[2]; 3. 0E-Rick Eckert[3]; 4. 2J-Jeff Rine[5]; 5. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[4]; 6. 10G-Garrett Smith[6]; 7. (DNS) 10M-Jared Miley; 8. (DNS) 15C-Jason Covert

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 22-Gregg Satterlee[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 86-Austin Berry[5]; 5. 72T-Tyler Emory[6]; 6. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[7]; 7. (DNS) 18*-Dylan Cecce; 8. (DNS) 112-Brandon Little

FAST Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 2. 2JW-Justin Weaver[2]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 4. 11-Spencer Hughes[6]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[5]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler[8]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[7]; 8. 94-Jason Miller[9]; 9. 2D-Dan Stone[4]; 10. 21M-Chad Myers[10]; 11. 06-Mike Lupfer[15]; 12. 1Z-Logan Zarin[12]; 13. 22R-Russell Erwin[16]; 14. 3-Tim Wilson[17]; 15. B2-Brian Booze[11]; 16. 25K-Kody Lyter[14]; 17. 11J-Jason Schmidt[13]; 18. (DNS) 32J-Shaun Jones

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. D19-Dillan Stake[1]; 2. 9M-Hayes Mattern[4]; 3. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[5]; 4. 10G-Garrett Smith[8]; 5. 2J-Jeff Rine[2]; 6. 72T-Tyler Emory[6]; 7. 32-Travis Stickley[7]; 8. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[9]; 9. 18*-Dylan Cecce[14]; 10. (DNS) 86-Austin Berry; 11. (DNS) 05-Roy Deese Jr; 12. (DNS) 27-Jim Yoder; 13. (DNS) 10M-Jared Miley; 14. (DNS) 15C-Jason Covert; 15. (DNS) 112-Brandon Little

Rumble by the River Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race Statistics
Entrants: 51
Lap Leaders: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 1-9); Earl Pearson, Jr. (Laps 10-50)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Earl Pearson, Jr.
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: Earl Pearson, Jr.
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Earl Pearson, Jr.
Margin of Victory: 0.612 seconds
Stop-Tech Cautions: Tyler Erb (Lap 44)
Series Provisionals: Spencer Hughes; Ross Robinson
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisionals: Colton Flinner
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Earl Pearson, Jr., Ricky Thornton, Jr., Gregg Satterlee
Penske Shocks Top 5: Earl Pearson, Jr., Ricky Thornton, Jr., Gregg Satterlee, Jonathan Davenport, Daulton Wilson
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Colton Flinner (Advanced 10 Positions)
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Earl Pearson, Jr. (41 Laps)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadie
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Earl Pearson, Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Daulton Wilson
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Lap 1 – 20.852 seconds)
DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Russell Erwin
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Tim Douglas (Earl Pearson, Jr.)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Kyle Strickler (18.7876 seconds)
Time of Race: 21 minutes 54 seconds

Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:

Sheppard and Davenport Score Feature Wins at Port Royal

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 26, 2022) – Brandon Sheppard and Jonathan Davenport went to Lucas Oil Victory Lane on Friday night in the preliminary night twin 25 lap features at the Port Royal Speedway.

Sheppard led all the way to win the first 25 lap main event, while Davenport had to chase down Chris Ferguson to take the lead on lap 17 for the victory.

In the first preliminary feature, Sheppard pulled away from Earl Pearson Jr. and Jimmy Owens after a late race caution for the win. Mike Marlar came home in fourth, with Michael Norris completing the top five.

Sheppard took advantage of his pole starting spot, bolting to the lead at the start of the race. Owens then followed Sheppard until lap 17 when Pearson, using the top line, got by him for second. The two 4-time series champions then battled to the finish with Pearson edging out Owens. Sheppard’s margin of victory was 1.230 seconds at the finish.

The winner’s Mark Richards Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ace Metal Works, Sunoco Race fuels, Sallack Well Service, Keyser Manufacturing, Gunter’s Honey, Petroff Towing, and Rocket Pre-Owned Motors.

Completing the top ten in the first feature were Gary Stuhler, Ross Robinson, Daulton Wilson, Rick Eckert, and Dale Hollidge. 

“It’s good to get back to Victory Lane. The track was awesome tonight. The track crew did a great job getting the track ready after the rain. You could race all over it tonight. I am sure tomorrow night it will slick off and put on a good show for these fans. I want to thank my crew for all the hard work they do on the car. This should get us a good starting spot tomorrow night for the heat races.”

Pearson, who capitalized on a solid run at Port Royal Speedway in April, came home in second. “Our car was good tonight. We could run that top good. I thought maybe on that last restart I had something for him [Sheppard]. The top three put on a heck of a show for these fans. Jimmy and I went back and forth for a long time there. The track was smooth and racy. I am sure it will be drier tomorrow night. I think we have a car capable of winning this race on Saturday night.”

Owens, who stayed in the top three the entire race, rounded out the podium in the first 25-lapper. “We had a good car. It was very maneuverable. I thought I could stay with Brandon there for a while longer, but he got away from us and then we had that caution and Earl, and I were racing hard. It was a good race and hopefully it will put us in a good position for the heat races.”

Davenport would continue his hot streak but had to earn the win as Ferguson led the first 16 laps of the second 25 lapper before yielding the lead to Davenport in traffic. When the checkers flew, Davenport had opened a 4.337 second advantage.

Davenport, who started third, led Ferguson, Gregg Satterlee, Kyle Strickler, and Hudson O’Neal to the finish line for his sixth straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory and the 65th of his career. 

“That was the key to get through lapped traffic. I knew it would slime up there a little bit once we got to traffic. The top was pretty dominant there. Finally, there was a couple of drivers that got in his way. Then we started dicing through there. I got a good run off the bottom of two there one time and that was the only time I could do that. He come back on me one time and he turned down across and I tried not to hit him, so I got broke loose and I had to try and slide him all the way across hos nose. I was trying to run him as clean as I could.”

Ferguson, the 2022 Show-Me 100 winner, appeared to have the car to end Davenport’s long win streak but fell short at the end. “I just needed to be a little better on the cushion. We were just a little too tight to be up there running where we were. I was having to drive the car really hard. I did what I could to keep him behind me as long as I could, but he was just a little bit better up there than us.”

Satterlee, who entered the weekend as one of the Pennsylvania hopefuls, came from seventh to round out the podium. “It’s definitely a step in the right direction. We kind of started off on the wrong foot tonight. I didn’t qualify very well and I kind of put us behind going forward for the rest of the evening. We were able to make up some ground in the heat race and we made some really good changes for the feature. Our car was good it was really balanced well. We were just getting better and better as the race wore on.”

The winner’s Lance and Darla Landers, Double L Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions, Spartan Mowers, ASC Warranty, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Midwest Sheet Metal, Mark Martin Automotive, and Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas.

Completing the top ten in second feature were Tim McCreadie, Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson, Tyler Erb, and Colton Flinner.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 
Race Summary 
Rumble by the River – Night 1
Friday, August 26th, 2022
Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, PA

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard / 18.293 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Chris Ferguson / 18.623 seconds

Entrants: 51
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Tim McCreadie
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Hudson O’Neal (18.3809 seconds)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 15K-Dale Hollidge[3]; 4. 72-Michael Norris[4]; 5. 15C-Jason Covert[5]; 6. 10M-Jared Miley[6]; 7. 2JW-Justin Weaver[7]; 8. 27-Jim Yoder[9]; 9. 21M-Chad Myers[8]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 2. 4-Gary Stuhler[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 5. 119-Bryan Bernheisel[5]; 6. 72T-Tyler Emory[6]; 7. 94-Jason Miller[7]; 8. 11J-Jason Schmidt[8]; 9. (DNS) 11-Spencer Hughes

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 3. 0E-Rick Eckert[3]; 4. 06-Mike Lupfer[4]; 5. 86-Austin Berry[6]; 6. 32J-Shaun Jones[7]; 7. 18*-Dylan Cecce[5]; 8. 05-Roy Deese Jr[8]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, All Transfer): 1. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 22-Gregg Satterlee[5]; 4. 71-Hudson O'Neal[6]; 5. 66C-Matt Cosner[3]; 6. 9M-Hayes Mattern[7]; 7. 2D-Dan Stone[4]; 8. B2-Brian Booze[8]; 9. 25K-Kody Lyter[9]

Wrisco Industries Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 3. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 4. D19-Dillan Stake[5]; 5. 10G-Garrett Smith[3]; 6. 0G-Deshawn Gingerich[8]; 7. 22R-Russell Erwin[7]; 8. 3-Tim Wilson[6]

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 3. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[2]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 5. 32-Travis Stickley[6]; 6. 2J-Jeff Rine[3]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[7]; 8. 112-Brandon Little[8]

Rumble by the River Feature #1 Finish (25 Laps):

Race Statistics Feature #1
Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1-25)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Brandon Sheppard
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a
Margin of Victory: 1.230 seconds
Stop-Tech Cautions: Jason Covert (Lap 5); Debris (Lap 15)
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Brandon Sheppard, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jimmy Owens
Penske Shocks Top 5: Brandon Sheppard, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Michael Norris
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Dylan Cecce (Advanced 9 Positions)
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard (25 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Ross Robinson
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard (Lap 1– 18.826 seconds)
DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Spencer Hughes
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Danny White (Brandon Sheppard)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Time of Race: 14 minutes 47 seconds

Rumble by the River Feature #2 Finish (25 Laps):

Race Statistics Feature #2
Lap Leaders: Chris Ferguson (Laps 1-16); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 17-25)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jonathan Davenport
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a
Margin of Victory: 4.337 seconds
Stop-Tech Cautions: n/a
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Jonathan Davenport, Chris Ferguson, Gregg Satterlee
Penske Shocks Top 5: Jonathan Davenport, Chris Ferguson, Gregg Satterlee, Kyle Strickler, Hudson O’Neal
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Hudson O’Neal (Advanced 5 Positions)
Hot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Chris Ferguson (16 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Garrett Alberson
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Chris Ferguson (Lap 1 – 19.372 seconds)
DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Tim McCreadie
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jason Durham (Jonathan Davenport)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Time of Race: 9 minutes 47 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat 1 | 8 Laps | Top 3 transfer to A Feature | Line-ups