Tim McCreadie Makes Late Race Pass For Lucas Oil LM Dirt Win At I-80 & $30K Payday

Story By: LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – GREENWOOD, NE – Tim McCreadie made a daring pass on race leader Jimmy Owens on lap 78 to win the Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals on Saturday Night at I-80 Speedway. McCreadie earned $30,000 for his sixth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt series win of the season.

Owens, the current LOLMDS Point Leader, finished in second followed by Ricky Thornton Jr., Josh Richards, and Kyle Strickler.

Richards grabbed the lead at the start of the event and led the first six laps until Brandon Overton wrestled the lead from him. Overton’s lead was short-lived as Richards charged back around him to regain the top spot. Richards held the point until third place starting Owens took over the lead of the race.

McCreadie got to second place, around Richards on lap 59. With Owens in front, two cautions came out on laps 64 and 70, which kept the field bunched up. With ten laps to go, the final restart saw Owens keep a steady pace ahead of McCreadie, but McCreadie suddenly bolted ahead of Owens as the duo were working lap 77. McCreadie held the lead until the checkered flag came out.

McCreadie’s 21st career LOLMDS win came over Owens by .872 seconds at the finish. “It’s hard to lead here. I began to diamond off one and two pretty good. My crew signaled to me that the 20 car was running hard through the middle in three. I had a little bit of run off of four and I figured if I am going to slide Jimmy Owens I had better clear him, because he doesn’t hit anybody on the track. My hat is off to the 20 team, they have been making us pay all year long. It’s an honor to run behind him for most of the year because he is a class act.”

Owens led laps 38 through 77, but finished second to McCreadie. Owens will still maintain a healthy point lead heading to Brownstown Speedway next weekend. “We put on a good show for the fans. With the cautions, it just let those guys catch up to us and gave Timmy a shot for the lead. He cleared me and he passed me good. The consistency we have had all year has been awesome. We have been very fortunate this year for sure.”

Thornton, who finished second in the Silver Dollar Nationals back in July at I-80, earned another podium finish on Saturday Night. “We were good. I was running around the top and I moved around a little bit. I really didn’t want that last yellow. As long as we keep running like this everybody will be excited.”

The winners Paylor Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Sweeteners Plus, D&E Marine, and Racing for Heroes.

Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Kyle Bronson, Ryan Gustin, and Tyler Erb.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Optima Batteries I-80 Nationals – Presented by General Tire
Saturday, September 19th, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE

Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 1C-Chad Simpson[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 6. 98J-Jason Rauen[8]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 9. 43-Jeremy Grady[12]; 10. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 11. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 12. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[13]; 13. 29D-Spencer Diercks[10]; 14. (DNS) 6D-Dylan Schmer

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 777-Jared Landers[3]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 5. 62-Justin Zeitner[6]; 6. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 8. 14J-Jake Neal[12]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 10. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[9]; 12. 10C-Junior Coover[13]; 13. 56-Chris Spieker[5]; 14. (DNS) 112-Tyler Smith

Non-Qualifiers Race Finish (10 Laps, Winner Choice to Transfer): 1. 14J-Jake Neal[6]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 3. 62-Justin Zeitner[2]; 4. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 5. 98-Ben Schaller[5]; 6. 98J-Jason Rauen[3]; 7. 56-Chris Spieker[16]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[4]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[8]; 10. 10C-Junior Coover[14]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[12]; 12. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 13. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[13]; 14. L88-Larry Clawson[10]; 15. 43-Jeremy Grady[7]; 16. (DNS) 29D-Spencer Diercks; 17. (DNS) 6D-Dylan Schmer; 18. (DNS) 112-Tyler Smith

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (80 Laps):

Pos
Start
Car #
Competitor
Hometown
Pay
1
4
39
Tim McCreadie
Watertown, NY
$30,700
2
3
20
Jimmy Owens
Newport, TN
$18,900
3
11
20RT
Ricky Thornton Jr
Adel, IA
$10,000
4
1
14
Josh Richards
Shinnston, WV
$7,800
5
6
8
Kyle Strickler
Mooresville, NC
$6,000
6
12
1S
Brandon Sheppard
New Berlin, IL
$5,000
7
19
71
Hudson O’Neal
Martinsville, IN
$4,600
8
18
40B
Kyle Bronson
Brandon, FL
$5,100
9
10
19R
Ryan Gustin
Marshalltown, IA
$4,200
10
22
1T
Tyler Erb
New Waverly, TX
$4,700
11
7
9
Devin Moran
Dresden, OH
$4,600
12
14
32S
Chris Simpson
Oxford, IA
$3,800
13
21
1C
Chad Simpson
Mt. Vernon, IA
$3,700
14
26
1
Earl Pearson Jr
Jacksonville, FL
$4,400
15
15
49
Jonathan Davenport
Blairsville, GA
$4,500
16
27
81E
Tanner English
Benton, KY
$4,100
17
5
25
Shane Clanton
Zebulon, GA
$4,000
18
28
16
Tyler Bruening
Decorah, IA
$3,900
19
30
04
Tad Pospisil
Norfolk, NE
$3,100
20
20
777
Jared Landers
Winston-Salem, NC
$3,000
21
2
76
Brandon Overton
Evans, GA
$2,900
22
8
29V
Darrell Lanigan
Union, KY
$2,800
23
16
18J
Chase Junghans
Manhattan, KS
$2,700
24
13
32
Bobby Pierce
Oakwood, IL
$2,600
25
9
44M
Chris Madden
Gray Court, SC
$2,575
26
23
2S
Stormy Scott
Las Cruces, NM
$2,550
27
17
21M
Billy Moyer Sr
Batesville, AR
$2,525
28
31
98
Ben Schaller
Omaha, NE
$2,500
29
29
14J
Jake Neal
Omaha, NE
$2,500
30
25
99JR
Frank Heckenast Jr
Frankfort, IL
$2,500
31
24
21
Billy Moyer Jr
Batesville, AR
$3,200

Race Statistics
Entrants
: 46
Lap Leaders: Josh Richards (Laps 1 – 5); Brandon Overton (Lap 6); Tim McCreadie (Laps 7 – 37); Jimmy Owens (Laps 38 – 77); Tim McCreadie (Laps 78 – 80)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Tim McCreadie
Margin of Victory: 0.872 seconds
Cautions: Billy Moyer Jr (Lap 10); Chris Simpson (Lap 50); Tyler Erb (Lap 61); Jared Landers (Lap 70)
Series Provisionals: Tanner English, Tyler Bruening
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Malvern Bank SLMR Provisionals: Tad Pospisil, Ben Schaller
Non-Qualifier Race Provisional: Jake Neal
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race
: Hudson O’Neal (Advanced 12 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jimmy Owens
Allstar Performance Most Laps Led: Jimmy Owens (40 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Tanner English
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engine
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Philip Snellen
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Josh Richards (Lap #13 – 18.116 seconds)
STEEL-IT Tough Break of the Race: Jared Landers
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Josh Richards
Time of Race: 39 minutes 47 seconds