Both Battle From Mid-Pack to Nail-Biting Finishes
Story By: BRENDAN CAPERIA / WOO LATE MODEL SERIES MEDIA
Photos By: RICK SCHWALIE /RACERSGUIDE.COM
ROSSBURG, Ohio - September 9, 2016 – Bobby Pierce and Earl Pearson Jr. captured back-to-back checkered flags under the Friday night lights, each winning their 25-lap feature events on the second preliminary day of the World 100 weekend at Eldora Speedway. The 105 competitors were split into two feature groups – odd and even. On the line: $10,000 for the two drivers who outshined the field.
The first feature was an instant classic – multiple barn-burners merging into one giant shootout in the closing laps of the race. Menomonie, Wisc. driver Jimmy Mars started on the outside of the first row but roared down the backstretch into the lead within the first lap. While Mars built more than a one-second advantage over the 24-car field, Martinsville, Ind. driver Don O’Neal battled toward the front from 11th position.
O’Neal, who was the fast-timer earlier in the night, split Ade, Ohio native Jon Henry and Chickamauga, Ga. wheelman Dale McDowell for a three-way drag race to challenge Mars. Six laps into the feature, O’Neal wedged his car underneath Henry for the runner-up spot.
A caution on lap nine regrouped the field and diminished Mars’ lead. Mars chose to start on the outside of red-hot O’Neal. Mars got the better jump but even so, the top five became a mad dash for the lead. Devin Moran highlighted the list of drivers battling for the top spot. The Dresden, Ohio driver wheeled his car underneath the rest and into the second spot. The closest he got to Mars: 0.097 seconds behind with nine laps remaining.
Three laps later, O’Neal joined Mars and Moran. The three waged war for the final laps of the feature. While all eyes were fixed on the three-wide spectacle out front, in the bottom corner was Pierce charging to the top spot. Unlike the top three, he was unchallenged in his pursuit from 10th position. Using that extra momentum, the Oakwood, Ill. young-gun ultimately catapulted his No. 32P Allgayer Inc./ Champion Spark Plugs Bob Pierce racecar to a 0.693 advantage at the checkers.
“Hey, after last night we need all the points we can get,” said Pierce, who did not make one of Thursday’s twin-features because of mechanical failure. “I just have to give a big hand to my crew and everyone who works on my car. I think they won the race for me with the choices they made before the feature. This is just awesome being in victory lane at Eldora.”
The victory was Pierce’s 18th of the season. Moran finished runner-up, while Mars rounded-out the podium.
Though the first feature set a high standard for the following 25-lapper, the second feature of the night did not disappoint. Former World 100-winner Jonathan Davenport wasted no time, soaring on the top cushion into the top spot; he started third. However, he could not keep the spot for long. Making contact with the wall on lap 11, Davenport lost the spot to Kyle Bronson, who initially led the 24-car field into the green flag.
Coincidentally, Bronson had the same Kryptonite as Davenport. Losing grip on the top of the track, Bronson continued to make contact with the wall. The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series Defending Champion Shane Clanton saw this as an opportunity to take the lead. Clanton solidified the lead, but Bronson’s battered car forced a caution on the final lap. The crowd gave Bronson a standing ovation while his car was towed off the famed half-mile. A green-white-caution gave those behind Clanton hope.
But all Pearson needed was a fast car. The Dunn, N.C. driver had the strong No. 1P Freeport Recycling Center/ MDI Environmental Systems Black Diamond car to capitalize on Clanton’s fading machine. Clanton chose the top on the restart and fell victim to the wall. Pearson won the coveted World 100 in 2006.
“We’ve had a pretty good car all weekend,” Pearson said. “I want to thank all these fans for staying out here. It was one heck of a race right before ours, but we put on a good show at the end. I’m pretty surprised Clanton took the top on that restart, but it definitely worked out for me. Ten years ago we were standing right here on this stage. We’re looking to do that again tomorrow night.”
Clanton had enough gusto to finish second on the night, and third place went to Darrell Lanigan. All three drivers on the podium of the second feature won a heat race earlier in the night.
Clanton was the first to record a sub-16 second lap time in hot laps; he was the only one to do it in the field. In qualifying, history was made as O’Neal and his son Hudson became the first father-son duo to finish one-two in World 100 qualifying. O’Neal not only recorded the night’s fast-time, but he also did it coming off his first feature win since January 15.
DIRTcar UMP Late Models Statistical Report; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, Ohio
Qualifying
1.5-Don O’Neal, 15.727; 2.71H-Hudson O’neal, 15.779; 3.1-Josh Richards, 15.852; 4.3-Matt Miller, 16.033; 5.6m-Wendell Wallace, 16.072; 6.44M-Chris Madden, 16.073; 7.32-Chris Simpson, 16.075; 8.14-Steve Francis, 16.088; 9.1H-Jason Hiett, 16.093; 10.11A-Austin Smith, 16.095; 11.32P-Bobby Pierce, 16.114; 12.0-Jake O’Neil, 16.131; 13.99M-Devin Moran, 16.138; 14.101-Casey Roberts, 16.139; 15.39-Tim McCreadie, 16.172; 16.C9-Steve Casebolt, 16.183; 17.21-Billy Moyer, 16.194; 18.7W-Ricky Weiss, 16.202; 19.21H-Robby Hensley, 16.216; 20.18-Shannon Babb, 16.220; 21.R1-Riley Hickman, 16.232; 22.D8-Dustin Linville, 16.236; 23.4-Cody Mahoney, 16.249; 24.1P-Earl Pearson Jr., 16.254; 25.20C-Duane Chamberlain, 16.260; 26.15L-Darrell Lanigan, 16.264; 27.28M-Jimmy Mars, 16.265; 28.25S-Chad Simpson, 16.275; 29.15H-Jon Henry, 16.284; 30.25C-Shane Clanton, 16.300; 31.28C-Tyler Carpenter, 16.312; 32.22-Chris Ferguson, 16.321; 33.77A-Dylan Ames, 16.324; 34.55-Jeep VanWormer, 16.331; 35.17M-Dale McDowell, 16.332; 36.6-Jonathan Davenport, 16.341; 37.F5-Garrett Alberson, 16.342; 38.2NH-Nick Hoffman, 16.358; 39.15J-Scott James, 16.380; 40.40B-Kyle Bronson, 16.385; 41.99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. , 16.389; 42.1G-Devin Gilpin, 16.404; 43.21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. , 16.446; 44.88-Andrew Reaume, 16.464; 45.c8-Timothy Culp, 16.492; 46.51-Joey Moriarty, 16.494; 47.4B-Jackie Boggs, 16.501; 48.91-Tyler Erb, 16.502; 49.89-Mike Spatola, 16.520; 50.11-Josh Rice, 16.530; 51.77-Gavin Landers, 16.533; 52.31-Nick Latham, 16.545; 53.16-Jason Jameson, 16.583; 54.71C-RJ Conley, 16.597; 55.17D-Zack Dohm, 16.600; 56.14M-Morgan Bagley, 16.601; 57.25-Jason Feger, 16.602; 58.50-Shanon Buckingham, 16.635; 59.72-Mike Norris, 16.660; 60.1N-Casey Noonan, 16.669; 61.11G-Gordy Gundaker, 16.672; 62.25Z-Mason Zeigler, 16.681; 63.10-Alex Ferree, 16.725; 64.28-Dennis Erb Jr. , 16.768; 65.212-Josh Putnam, 16.800; 66.12-Devin Friese, 16.806; 67.91s-Rusty Schlenk, 16.835; 68.4BG-Bob Gardner, 16.837; 69.49-Brian Ruhlman, 16.838; 70.1GK-Ryan King, 16.861; 71.8V-Craig Vosbergen, 16.872; 72.7R-Kent Robinson, 16.874; 73.1JH-Jared Hawkins, 16.883; 74.71-Delmas Conley, 16.912; 75.93-Jay Johnson, 16.917; 76.5N-Dustin Nobbe, 16.943; 77.23w-Brad Wade, 16.962; 78.2c-Joey Coulter, 16.978; 79.18x-Michael Page, 17.028; 80.48L-Tim Lance, 17.033; 81.39T-Rob Toland, 17.169; 82.93b-Donald Bradsher, 17.234; 83.14z-Zachary McMillan, 17.255; 84.95J-Jerry Bowersock, 17.260; 85.17-Lamar Haygood, 17.285; 86.33-Jesse James Lay, 17.288; 87.1V-Vic Hill, 17.391; 88.6w-Mark Whitener, 17.427; 89.77B-Adam Bowman, 17.432; 90.69-Jonny Huck, 17.470; 91.3K-Tanner Kellick, 17.502; 92.TK0-Tom Krankel, 17.510; 93.4G-Kody Evans, 17.540; 94.4x-Kevin Reeve, 17.639; 95.1m-Mike Mataragas, 17.669; 96.3G-Brian Gray, 17.932; 97.8JR-Samuel Tolley, 17.936; 98.281-Kyle Pierce, 17.988; 99.79-Shane Unger, 18.004; 100.34-Chase Porter, 18.034; 101.8-Rob Anderzack, 18.116; 102.P3-Jeff Robertson, 18.198; 103.9G-Larry Greer, 18.203; 104.5*-Bryant Dickinson, 18.328; 105.6s-Blake Spencer, 18.350; 106.240-Doug Drown, 99.991; 107.9R-Curtis Roberts, 99.992;
Heat 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 32P-Bobby Pierce[3] ; 2. 28C-Tyler Carpenter[1] ; 3. 5-Don O’Neal[4] ; 4. 39T-Rob Toland[9] ; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [5] ; 6. R1-Riley Hickman[2] ; 7. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[7] ; 8. 8V-Craig Vosbergen[8] ; 9. 77-Gavin Landers[6] ; 10. 8-Rob Anderzack[11] ; 11. 3K-Tanner Kellick[10]
Heat 2 – (10 Laps)
1. 22-Chris Ferguson[1] ; 2. D8-Dustin Linville[2] ; 3. 31-Nick Latham[6] ; 4. 7R-Kent Robinson[8] ; 5. 71H-Hudson O’neal[4] ; 6. 1G-Devin Gilpin[5] ; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[7] ; 8. 0-Jake O’Neil[3] ; 9. TK0-Tom Krankel[10] ; 10. 93b-Donald Bradsher[9] ; 11. P3-Jeff Robertson[11]
Heat 3 – (10 Laps)
1. 99M-Devin Moran[3] ; 2. 1-Josh Richards[4] ; 3. 4-Cody Mahoney[2] ; 4. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. [5] ; 5. 10-Alex Ferree[7] ; 6. 16-Jason Jameson[6] ; 7. 14z-Zachary McMillan[9] ; 8. 77A-Dylan Ames[1] ; 9. 9G-Larry Greer[11] ; 10. 4G-Kody Evans[10] ; 11. 1JH-Jared Hawkins[8]
Heat 4 – (10 Laps)
1. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[2] ; 2. 55-Jeep VanWormer[1] ; 3. 71C-RJ Conley[6] ; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [7] ; 5. 101-Casey Roberts[3] ; 6. 3-Matt Miller[4] ; 7. 88-Andrew Reaume[5] ; 8. 71-Delmas Conley[8] ; 9. 4x-Kevin Reeve[10] ; 10. 5*-Bryant Dickinson[11] ; 11. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[9]
Heat 5 – (10 Laps)
1. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[2] ; 2. 17M-Dale McDowell[1] ; 3. 17D-Zack Dohm[6] ; 4. 6m-Wendell Wallace[4] ; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[3] ; 6. c8-Timothy Culp[5] ; 7. 212-Josh Putnam[7] ; 8. 1m-Mike Mataragas[10] ; 9. 93-Jay Johnson[8] ; 10. 6s-Blake Spencer[11] ; 11. 17-Lamar Haygood[9]
Heat 6 – (10 Laps)
1. 15L-Darrell Lanigan[2] ; 2. 6-Jonathan Davenport[1] ; 3. 44M-Chris Madden[4] ; 4. C9-Steve Casebolt[3] ; 5. 51-Joey Moriarty[5] ; 6. 14M-Morgan Bagley[6] ; 7. 240-Doug Drown[11] ; 8. 33-Jesse James Lay[9] ; 9. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[8] ; 10. 3G-Brian Gray[10] ; 11. 12-Devin Friese[7]
Heat 7 – (10 Laps)
1. 21-Billy Moyer[3] ; 2. 28M-Jimmy Mars[2] ; 3. 9R-Curtis Roberts[11] ; 4. 1V-Vic Hill[9] ; 5. F5-Garrett Alberson[1] ; 6. 32-Chris Simpson[4] ; 7. 4B-Jackie Boggs[5] ; 8. 25-Jason Feger[6] ; 9. 91s-Rusty Schlenk[7] ; 10. 23w-Brad Wade[8] ; 11. 8JR-Samuel Tolley[10]
Heat 8 – (10 Laps)
1. 14-Steve Francis[4] ; 2. 91-Tyler Erb[5] ; 3. 2NH-Nick Hoffman[1] ; 4. 7W-Ricky Weiss[3] ; 5. 6w-Mark Whitener[9] ; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[2] ; 7. 50-Shanon Buckingham[6] ; 8. 4BG-Bob Gardner[7] ; 9. 2c-Joey Coulter[8] ; 10. 281-Kyle Pierce[10]
Heat 9 – (10 Laps)
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman[7] ; 2. 15H-Jon Henry[2] ; 3. 18x-Michael Page[8] ; 4. 15J-Scott James[1] ; 5. 72-Mike Norris[6] ; 6. 1H-Jason Hiett[4] ; 7. 21H-Robby Hensley[3] ; 8. 89-Mike Spatola[5] ; 9. 77B-Adam Bowman[9] ; 10. 79-Shane Unger[10]
Heat 10 – (10 Laps)
1. 25C-Shane Clanton[2] ; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1] ; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[3] ; 4. 11A-Austin Smith[4] ; 5. 11-Josh Rice[5] ; 6. 48L-Tim Lance[8] ; 7. 1GK-Ryan King[7] ; 8. 1N-Casey Noonan[6] ; 9. 69-Jonny Huck[9] ; 10. 34-Chase Porter[10]
Even B-Feature 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 71H-Hudson O’neal[1] ; 2. 3-Matt Miller[4] ; 3. 25S-Chad Simpson[5] ; 4. 240-Doug Drown[7] ; 5. 71-Delmas Conley[9] ; 6. 51-Joey Moriarty[2] ; 7. 1GK-Ryan King[8] ; 8. 4BG-Bob Gardner[10] ; 9. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[12] ; 10. TK0-Tom Krankel[11] ; 11. 11-Josh Rice[3] ; 12. 69-Jonny Huck[13] ; 13. 5*-Bryant Dickinson[14] ; 14. P3-Jeff Robertson[16] ; 15. 281-Kyle Pierce[15] ; 16. 12-Devin Friese[17] ; 17. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[6]
Even B-Feature 2 – (12 Laps)
1. 14M-Morgan Bagley[4] ; 2. 50-Shanon Buckingham[7] ; 3. 6w-Mark Whitener[2] ; 4. 101-Casey Roberts[1] ; 5. 48L-Tim Lance[5] ; 6. 0-Jake O’Neil[8] ; 7. 1N-Casey Noonan[10] ; 8. 4x-Kevin Reeve[11] ; 9. 2c-Joey Coulter[12] ; 10. 88-Andrew Reaume[6] ; 11. 93b-Donald Bradsher[13] ; 12. 3G-Brian Gray[14] ; 13. 34-Chase Porter[15] ; 14. 1G-Devin Gilpin[3] ; 15. 33-Jesse James Lay[9] ; 16. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[16]
Odd B-Feature 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 39-Tim McCreadie[2] ; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [1] ; 3. 72-Mike Norris[3] ; 4. 32-Chris Simpson[5] ; 5. 16-Jason Jameson[4] ; 6. 25-Jason Feger[10] ; 7. 212-Josh Putnam[7] ; 8. 77A-Dylan Ames[9] ; 9. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[6] ; 10. 93-Jay Johnson[12] ; 11. 17-Lamar Haygood[17] ; 12. 3K-Tanner Kellick[16] ; 13. 77-Gavin Landers[11] ; 14. 23w-Brad Wade[15] ; 15. 4G-Kody Evans[14] ; 16. 77B-Adam Bowman[13] ; 17. 21H-Robby Hensley[8]
Odd B-Feature 2 – (12 Laps)
1. 10-Alex Ferree[1] ; 2. R1-Riley Hickman[3] ; 3. c8-Timothy Culp[4] ; 4. F5-Garrett Alberson[2] ; 5. 1H-Jason Hiett[5] ; 6. 1m-Mike Mataragas[9] ; 7. 89-Mike Spatola[10] ; 8. 1JH-Jared Hawkins[16] ; 9. 4B-Jackie Boggs[7] ; 10. 6s-Blake Spencer[14] ; 11. 14z-Zachary McMillan[6] ; 12. 79-Shane Unger[15] ; 13. 8-Rob Anderzack[13] ; 14. 91s-Rusty Schlenk[12] ; 15. 9G-Larry Greer[11] ; 16. 8V-Craig Vosbergen[8] ; 17. 8JR-Samuel Tolley[17]
Twin 25 Feature 1 (Even) – (25 Laps)
1. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[9] ; 2. 25C-Shane Clanton[6] ; 3. 15L-Darrell Lanigan[8] ; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [17] ; 5. 14-Steve Francis[7] ; 6. 18-Shannon Babb[15] ; 7. 3-Matt Miller[23] ; 8. 55-Jeep VanWormer[4] ; 9. 91-Tyler Erb[2] ; 10. 7R-Kent Robinson[16] ; 11. 71C-RJ Conley[12] ; 12. 2NH-Nick Hoffman[14] ; 13. 6-Jonathan Davenport[3] ; 14. 44M-Chris Madden[13] ; 15. C9-Steve Casebolt[18] ; 16. 31-Nick Latham[11] ; 17. 11A-Austin Smith[20] ; 18. 14M-Morgan Bagley[22] ; 19. 22-Chris Ferguson[10] ; 20. 50-Shanon Buckingham[24] ; 21. 7W-Ricky Weiss[19] ; 22. 71H-Hudson O’neal[21] ; 23. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1] ; 24. D8-Dustin Linville[5]
Twin 25 Feature 2 (Odd) – (25 Laps)
1. 32P-Bobby Pierce[10] ; 2. 99M-Devin Moran[9] ; 3. 28M-Jimmy Mars[2] ; 4. 5-Don O’Neal[11] ; 5. 17M-Dale McDowell[3] ; 6. 39-Tim McCreadie[21] ; 7. 1-Josh Richards[4] ; 8. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[8] ; 9. 6m-Wendell Wallace[18] ; 10. 28C-Tyler Carpenter[5] ; 11. 15H-Jon Henry[1] ; 12. 4-Cody Mahoney[12] ; 13. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [23] ; 14. 21-Billy Moyer[7] ; 15. 9R-Curtis Roberts[14] ; 16. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr. [17] ; 17. R1-Riley Hickman[24] ; 18. 17D-Zack Dohm[13] ; 19. 10-Alex Ferree[22] ; 20. 18x-Michael Page[15] ; 21. 1V-Vic Hill[19] ; 22. 49-Brian Ruhlman[6] ; 23. 39T-Rob Toland[16] ; 24. 15J-Scott James[20]
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts and NAPA Auto Parts; in addition to contingency sponsors, including: ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, Henry’s Exhaust Systems, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mike’s Racing Heads, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD, Pole Position Raceway, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, Racing Electronics and TNT Rescue.
