Jimmy Owens Joins WoO LM’s For First In Flight 100 Prelim & Wins

Story By: KAYLA MAY / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – FAYETTEVILLE, NC – Jimmy Owens joined the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series at Fayetteville Motor Speedway for the preliminary night of the First in Flight 100. Owens claimed the PFC Breaks Fast Time Award (and set a new track record of 15.839 around the 4/10-mile), drew the pole position and claimed a $2,001 victory during the Big C Dash for Cash.

“I’m afraid tomorrow night that you’re not going to want to start up front. It’s going to be kind of crazy,” said Owens. “The car has been flawless all night… It was a pleasure to win this race for the Lamm’s. We got to race with them a lot these past few years so we really hate for the loss.”

The Big C Dash for Cash was in honor of the late Carlton Lamm, co-owner of the No. 1 Dunn-Benson Motorsports team and former owner of Fayetteville Motor Speedway.

“There’s one thing that would have made tonight better and that’s if Big C was still here,” said Jeff Strope, crew guy for Owens. “In 2009, we traveled to nearly all of the races with Earl Pearson and [the Dunn-Benson] team. We all became really close with Big C that year. He was a great guy.”

Owens victory in the dash will place him on the pole for Saturday’s inaugural First in Flight 100 $25,001-to-win finale.

“It’s going to be really interesting towards the end of the race [tomorrow],” said Owens. “Tonight, the tire wear has been awesome and the track has been awesome. It’s the best I’ve ever seen this place since I’ve been coming here. If we can have this again tomorrow, you all are going to see one heck of a race.”

The defending World of Outlaws Champion Brandon Sheppard will start on the outside of the pole for the 100-lap event. Starting in the second row will be a pair of 2018 Rookie of the Year contenders, Chris Ferguson and David Breazeale. The third row will consist of Brandon Overton and Devin Moran. Morgan Bagley and Rick Eckert will complete the fourth row of the feature event.

Eckert started in second for the dash and charged to an early lead over Owens. Unfortunately, on the third lap, Eckert’s water pump broke and he was sidelined from the remainder of the 10-lap dash. Bagley also suffered from mechanical woes as the gears in his steering box broke on lap 8.

The top-four finishers from each heat race on Friday has secured a position in Saturday’s First in Flight 100. Additional drivers will try to claim their position in the big-money race by transferring out of two Last Chance Showdowns on Saturday. Fayetteville Motor Speedway will also host a non-qualifiers feature ($2,000-to-win) on Saturday prior to the $25,001-too-win finale.

The ticket office at Fayetteville Motor Speedway will open at noon and grandstand gates opening at 3 PM on Saturday, May 12.

Abbreviated Results

The Bic C Dash for Cash (10 laps): 1. 20- Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 1- Brandon Sheppard[4]; 3. 22- Chris Ferguson[6]; 4. 54- David Breazeale[7]; 5. 116- Brandon Overton[8]; 6. 9- Devin Moran[3]; 7. 14m- Morgan Bagley[5]; 8. 7- Rick Eckert[2]

Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 9-Devin Moran, 15.946; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 15.976; 3. 54-David Breazeale, 15.996; 4. 116-Brandon Overton, 16.015; 5. 1p-Bobby Pierce, 16.043; 6. 22x-G.R. Smith, 16.112; 7. 16-Ben Watkins, 16.146; 8. 18c-Chase Junghans, 16.165; 9. 32-Dustin Mitchell, 16.202; 10. 25-Shane Clanton, 16.211; 11. C8-Timothy Culp, 16.322; 12. 93-Donald Bradsher, 16.362; 13. 281-Kyle Pierce, 16.421; 14. 89-Justin Williams, 16.434; 15. 72-Jason Covert, 16.448; 16. 6-Blake Spencer, 16.619; 17. 12-Zach Cox, 16.797

Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 20-Jimmy Owens, 15.839; 2. 44r-Brent Robinson, 16; 3. B1-Brent Larson, 16.003; 4. 1M-Willie Milliken, 16.021; 5. 22-Chris Ferguson, 16.075; 6. 7-Rick Eckert, 16.155; 7. 79-Ross Bailes, 16.194; 8. 14m-Morgan Bagley, 16.216; 9. 91-Tyler Erb, 16.223; 10. 157-Mike Marlar, 16.316; 11. 44-Chris Madden, 16.412; 12. OO-Jeff Smith, 16.558; 13. 421-Anthony Sanders, 16.823; 14. 2-Dennis Franklin, 17.163; 15. 79r-Roger Lucas, 17.192; 16. 22a-Dale Arnold, 17.811; 17. 72m-Mike Parker, 18.101

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer: 1. 9-Devin Moran [1]; 2. 54-David Breazeale [2]; 3. 16-Ben Watkins [4]; 4. 1p-Bobby Pierce [3]; 5. 32-Dustin Mitchell [5]; 6. C8-Timothy Culp [6]; 7. 72-Jason Covert [8]; 8. 12-Zach Cox [9]; 9. 281-Kyle Pierce [7]

Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer: 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1]; 2. 116-Brandon Overton [2]; 3. 22x-G.R. Smith [3]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton [5]; 5. 93-Donald Bradsher [6]; 6. 18c-Chase Junghans [4]; 7. 89-Justin Williams [7]; 8. 6-Blake Spencer [8]

Heat #3 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer: 1. 20-Jimmy Owens [1]; 2. 22-Chris Ferguson [3]; 3. 91-Tyler Erb [5]; 4. 79-Ross Bailes [4]; 5. 44-Chris Madden [6]; 6. B1-Brent Larson [2]; 7. 421-Anthony Sanders [7]; 8. 79r-Roger Lucas [8]; 9. 72m-Mike Parker [9]

Heat #4 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer: 1. 7-Rick Eckert [3]; 2. 14m-Morgan Bagley [4]; 3. 44r-Brent Robinson [1]; 4. 2-Dennis Franklin [7]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar [5]; 6. OO-Jeff Smith [6]; 7. 1M-Willie Milliken [2]; 8. 22a-Dale Arnold [8]