Jimmy Owens Takes Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Reopening Tour Opener At Golden Isles
Story By: LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – WAYNESVILLE, GA – Jimmy Owens picked up his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2020 on Tuesday Night at Golden Isles Speedway. The series returned to the race track for the first time since the Georgia-Florida Speedweeks back in February, 100 days ago.
The 40-lap main event had three different race leaders, Owens, Brandon Overton, and Josh Richards. Owens took the lead from Brandon Overton on lap 32 and then pulled away for his 65th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win. Mason Zeigler got by Overton on the final lap to finish second. Overton was third followed by Josh Richards and Devin Moran.
Overton was looking for a clean sweep of the night after setting the overall fast time amongst the 43 entrants on hand, then ran away to a heat race win, earning the outside front-row starting position alongside Richards in the process. Overton led the pack for the first eight laps of the race until Richards took the lead on lap 9.
A lap later Overton regained the top spot. One of the cars on the move was Tim McCreadie. McCreadie, who won the first race of the season at Golden Isles back in February, climbed to second after a terrific side-by-side battle with Richards for several laps. McCreadie finally cleared Richards by lap 23 and had his sights set on race leader, Overton. As McCreadie was battling 3-wide in traffic for the lead, he and a lap-car got together, with McCreadie suffering a cut right-rear tire, forcing the caution and him into the pits to change the tire.
When the race resumed Overton still held the point in the Wells Motorsports/Longhorn. Owens began his assault on the leaders and started to flex his muscles. He quickly moved to second around Richards on lap 28 and then with 9 laps remaining he was able to take the lead from Overton.
Overton fought back as the two drivers went door-to-door for the race lead. Owens was finally able to shake Overton and go on to become the sixth different winner in the nine events contested so far in 2020. In his last seven starts overall this season Owens has won six of those races.
The 48-year-old Tennessee native and 3-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion continued his recent hot streak of victories as he recorded his fourth career win at Golden Isles. “The car was a little bit freer than I wanted it to be. It had a push, so I had to rotate it a lot through the center of the turns a lot more than I wanted to. We made a couple of changes right before the feature and I felt like it really messed us up, but the car is still really, really good right now.”
Zeigler picked up one of the most exciting wins back in February at East Bay, and tonight came from 9th to pick up the runner-up spot in the JLE Industries/Rocket. “I really needed the top on that restart. Those two guys [Owens and Overton], went to slide them both, but they both went to the middle. Rubbing is racing sometimes. The car was good, I wish we could have started closer to the front and we are aiming for that tomorrow.”
Overton led the most laps during the race and held on for third in the end. “In the middle of the race I got into a lapped car and it never drove the same after that, it got really, really tight. All-in-all it has been so good all night and I didn’t want to touch much. These guys are the best in the business, Jimmy’s been really hot so congratulations to him.”
The winner’s Ramirez Motorsports Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and is sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tommy Pope Construction, Boomtest Well Service, General Tire, Ohlins, Champion, FK Rod Ends, Hypercoil Springs, and Red Line Oil.
Completing the top ten were Shane Clanton, Tyler Erb, Rick Eckert, Kyle Bronson, and Tanner English.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Optima Batteries Golden Isles Nationals – presented by Bilstein
Tuesday, May 19th, 2020
Golden Isles Speedway – Waynesville, GA
Lucas Oil Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Josh Richards / 15.006 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton / 14.779 seconds (overall)
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 111B-Max Blair[2]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[4]; 6. 5W-Mark Whitener[7]; 7. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 8. 1B-Ross Bailes[6]; 9. 1V-Vic Hill[9]; 10. 00-Russell Brown Jr[11]; 11. 8-Mike Benedum[10]
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[5]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 6. 50-Shanon Buckingham[4]; 7. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 8. 6S-Blake Spencer[10]; 9. 2W-Pearson Williams[7]; 10. 0R-Ryan Scott[11]; 11. 89-GR Smith[8]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[4]; 4. 111-Steven Roberts[3]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 6. 72-Michael Norris[6]; 7. 1G-Ryan King[7]; 8. KB0-Kerry King[8]; 9. F15-Jeremy Conaway[9]; 10. (DNS) 71-Hudson O’Neal; 11. (DNS) 91S-Blake Naylor
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 2. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 3. 7F-Jason Fitzgerald[5]; 4. 81E-Tanner English[7]; 5. 25DC-Donnie Chappell[4]; 6. 311-Ken Monahan[9]; 7. 14B-John Baker[10]; 8. 5T-John Tweed[8]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 10. (DNF) 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]
Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 5W-Mark Whitener[3]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[1]; 3. 50-Shanon Buckingham[4]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 5. 1B-Ross Bailes[7]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 7. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 8. 00-Russell Brown Jr[11]; 9. 0R-Ryan Scott[12]; 10. (DNS) 6S-Blake Spencer; 11. (DNS) 1V-Vic Hill; 12. (DNS) 2W-Pearson Williams; 13. (DNS) 8-Mike Benedum; 14. (DNS) 89-GR Smith
FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[3]; 3. 1G-Ryan King[5]; 4. 14B-John Baker[6]; 5. F15-Jeremy Conaway[9]; 6. 91S-Blake Naylor[13]; 7. 311-Ken Monahan[4]; 8. 2S-Stormy Scott[10]; 9. KB0-Kerry King[7]; 10. 71-Hudson O’Neal[11]; 11. (DNS) 5T-John Tweed; 12. (DNS) 25DC-Donnie Chappell; 13. (DNS) 40B-Kyle Bronson
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (40 Laps):
| Pos | Start | Car # | Competitor | Hometown | Pay |
| 1 | 4 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $7,000 |
| 2 | 9 | 25Z | Mason Zeigler | Chalk Hill, PA | $3,500 |
| 3 | 2 | 76 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | $2,500 |
| 4 | 1 | 14 | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $2,000 |
| 5 | 8 | 9 | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $1,500 |
| 6 | 10 | 25 | Shane Clanton | Zebulon, GA | $1,400 |
| 7 | 11 | 1T | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $1,300 |
| 8 | 13 | 0E | Rick Eckert | York, PA | $1,200 |
| 9 | 23 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $1,150 |
| 10 | 16 | 81E | Tanner English | Benton, KY | $1,100 |
| 11 | 18 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $1,050 |
| 12 | 3 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $1,000 |
| 13 | 21 | 50 | Shanon Buckingham | Morristown, TN | $975 |
| 14 | 7 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $950 |
| 15 | 17 | 5W | Mark Whitener | Middleburg, FL | $925 |
| 16 | 5 | 111B | Max Blair | Centerville, PA | $900 |
| 17 | 25 | 28E | Dennis Erb Jr | Carpentersville, IL | $175 |
| 18 | 28 | 89 | G.R. Smith | Statesville, NC | $150 |
| 19 | 14 | 111 | Steven Roberts | Sylvester, GA | $825 |
| 20 | 15 | 21 | Billy Moyer Jr | Batesville, AR | $800 |
| 21 | 6 | 16 | Tyler Bruening | Decorah, IA | $800 |
| 22 | 27 | 1 | Earl Pearson Jr | Jacksonville, FL | $100 |
| 23 | 12 | 7F | Jason Fitzgerald | Middleburg, FL | $800 |
| 24 | 26 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $100 |
| 25 | 20 | 72 | Michael Norris | Sarver, PA | $800 |
| 26 | 22 | 1G | Ryan King | Seymour, TN | $800 |
| 27 | 19 | 22F | Chris Ferguson | Mt. Holly, NC | $800 |
| 28 | 24 | 3S | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | $800 |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 43
Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1 – 8); Josh Richards (Lap 9); Brandon Overton (Laps 10 – 31); Jimmy Owens (Laps 32 – 40)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jimmy Owens
Margin of Victory: 2.054 seconds
Cautions: Brian Shirley (Lap 9); Tim McCreadie (Lap 23); Michael Norris (Lap 28); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 33)
Series Provisionals: Kyle Bronson; Brian Shirley
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: Dennis Erb Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr., G.R. Smith
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Jimmy Owens, Mason Zeigler, Brandon Overton
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Kyle Bronson (Advanced 14 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon Sheppard
Allstar Performance Most Laps Led: Brandon Overton (30 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: n/a
Engine Builder of the Race: Vic Hill Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Jeff Strope
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton (Lap #10 – 15.415 seconds)
Hot Rod Processing Tough Break of the Race: Tim McCreadie
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Josh Richards
Time of Race: 23 minutes 48 seconds
