Clanton Scores First Career Knoxville Win To Kick Off ’19 Late Model Knoxville Nationals

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – KNOXVILLE, IA – Shane Clanton came from the seventh starting spot to win Thursday night’s preliminary event at Knoxville Raceway.

For the 44-year-old Georgia native, it was his first-ever win at the historic venue. He also became the sixteenth different winner this season on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour.

Clanton was the fourth different leader of the 25-lap race. The A-Main was slowed by only one caution flag for Jonathan Davenport on lap four. Ricky Thornton Jr. led the first lap in the Chad Stapleton-owned Club 29 Race Car. His place atop the leader board was short-lived as outside front-row starter Devin Moran took the lead on lap number two.

Moran led until Tyler Erb took the lead away from him on lap five. Clanton charged from the inside of row number four and grabbed the lead away from Erb on lap fourteen.

Clanton pulled away from Erb and went on to pick up the preliminary night victory. Erb crossed the finish line in second, followed by a close finish between Darrell Lanigan and Ricky Weiss for third and fourth. Thornton was fifth.

Clanton; in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the first time in 2019; thanked his chassis builder Marshall Green for his set-up advice over the phone before the start of the race. “Our car has been good all night long. We just made the right adjustments. I was biding my time behind Terbo [Erb], and it looked like he was hurting his tires. I went to the middle and the car stuck, and we went by him, then that was all she wrote.”

“To win here at Knoxville is a dream come true,” Clanton added. “I have seen Donny Schatz win here so many times and I would like to start my own legacy here. This is a team effort, all the way to everybody with Marshall back at the shop. Penske Shocks and Keith Berner from Accu-Force tested with us earlier in the year and it has made a difference in our program. Thanks to Greg Bruening for letting me drive his race car. This is a big win for him as well because he’s from Iowa. It’s hard to beat what we had here tonight for a track. Hats off to all of the Knoxville crew for a great job.”

Erb led nine laps but came home in the runner-up spot. “There wasn’t a whole lot I could do in the last ten or fifteen laps, he [Clanton] had a better car. He could maneuver through a lot better than I could. My car felt really good. It’s the same kind of issue we have been having. The longer we go, the tires just get hot. We are going to work on it. It was a good run. This is my favorite racetrack that we come to.”

Lanigan edged out Weiss at the finish line to round out the podium. “The car got really good through the middle and the bottom. I would have liked to have seen a caution to see if we could have made a late-race charge. It’s just awesome to come out here and run well.”
The winner’s fourth career Lucas Oil victory came in the Greg Bruening-owned Capital Race Cars entry powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by: Bruening Rock Products, Skyline Materials, LTD, Bennett Explosives, Super K Express, Olson Explosives, Freeman Plumbing, M&S Concrete, and Truck Country.

Completing the top ten were Tyler Bruening, Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, Bobby Pierce, and Chris Simpson.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, Iowa

Miller Welders Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Shane Clanton / 17.932 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens / 18.087 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Shanon Buckingham, Brian Birkhofer, Shane Clanton, Jimmy Mars, Stormy Scott, Mike Mataragas, Jason Feger, Cody Laney, Reid Millard, Jared Landers-DNS

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Bobby Pierce, Jeremiah Hurst, Chris Simpson, Earl Pearson, Jr., Billy Moyer, Jr., Dave Eckrich, Corey Zeitner, JC Wyman, Tim Simpson

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Ricky Thornton Jr., Frank Heckenast, Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Spencer Diercks, Charlie McKenna, Scott Bloomquist, Dustin Nobbe, Jake Neal, Chase Junghans

Lucas Oil Products Penetrating Oil Heat Race #4 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Shannon Babb, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb ®, Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Billy Moyer, Jeremy Grady, Brian Harris, Jonathan Brauns

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #5 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Josh Richards, Tyler Bruening, Devin Moran ®, Chris Madden, Chad Simpson, Johnny Scott, Brent Larson, Mike Fryer, Junior Coover

Lucas Oil Products Penetrating Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb, Jr., Ricky Weiss, Don O’Neal, Kyle Bronson, Chad White, Nick Marolf, David Webster, Tim McCreadie-DNS

Lucas Oil Products Red “N” Tacky Spray Grease B-Main #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Stormy Scott, Earl Pearson, Jr., Billy Moyer, Jr., Jimmy Mars, Scott Bloomquist, Mike Mataragas, Spencer Diercks, Charlie McKenna, Jason Feger, Corey Zeitner, Cody Laney, Dave Eckrich, JC Wyman, Reid Millard, Jake Neal, Dustin Nobbe, Tim Simpson-DNS, Chase Junghans-DNS, Jared Landers-DNS

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Chad Simpson, Kyle Bronson, Hudson O’Neal, Don O’Neal, Chris Madden, Johnny Scott, Brent Larson, Brian Harris, Jeremy Grady, Nick Marolf, Jonathan Brauns, Mike Fryer, Chad White, David Webster, Billy Moyer, Junior Coover, Tim McCreadie-DNS

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (25 Laps):