Kyle Bronson Strikes Gold In Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series East Bay Finale

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – TAMPA, FL – Kyle Bronson raced to the biggest victory of his career on Saturday night during the finale of the Wrisco Industries Winternationals – presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Bronson lives only a short distance from the race track and managed to defend his home turf valiantly. He took the lead on lap 55 and then held off Jonathan Davenport for the win, in front of a capacity grandstand.

Bronson marked his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win, after charging from the tenth starting spot. The $12,000 payday was the richest in the 27-year-old’s career-to-date. Bronson was the sixth different leader of the highly entertaining race.

The first three spots were swept by Longhorn Chassis drivers as Bronson, Davenport, and Brandon Overton drove to podium finishes. Josh Richards and Earl Pearson Jr completed the top five in the action-packed finale.

Davenport and Billy Moyer Jr.; a pair of Crop Production Services sponsored entries; started on the front row with Davenport grabbing the early lead. Moyer Jr. gained the top spot from Davenport on the fourth lap. Scott Bloomquist became the third leader of the race on lap ten. Bloomquist held the top spot until Richards took charge on lap 27. A caution with 20 laps to go bunched the field up and that allowed Overton to zoom into the lead on lap 42. Bronson began to make his move on the field as he quickly closed in on Overton. After a lap 53 caution then restart, Bronson took just two laps to gain the lead, driving around Overton coming off turn number two.

Bronson had to withstand one more caution with 57 laps complete to seal the deal. Davenport closed the gap on Bronson in the final laps but fell just short at the checkers. Bronson went to Victory Lane in the Longhorn by Weaver, Durham-powered entry sponsored by Brandon Ford, Brandon Collision, Racecar Engineering, and Dream Team Technologies.

“I got up to second and I thought how quickly I was catching him [Overton]. I was going for the win and I threw tire conservation out the window. Everybody has a lot of laps here now. It’s great to win in front this big crowd. It has been a long-time-coming. This is only our second win ever in a super late model. I want to dedicate this to Bo Hammond, who passed away last week. He taught me a lot about these cars, without him I don’t know where I would be. Thanks to Randy Weaver for all he has done for our team.”

Davenport, who was seeking his third win of 2018, knew a good-points night was helpful in the battle for this year’s championship. “It was a very good point night. Congratulations to Kyle on the win, he drove a heck of a race. I wasn’t going to do anything crazy there at the end. The car really came to life after that last caution. I got underneath him going into three and four, but I couldn’t quite get there.”

Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist, Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, Darrell Lanigan, and Gregg Satterlee.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Wrisco Industries Winternationals – presented by E3 Spark Plugs
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport / 14.489 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Billy Moyer Jr. / 14.361 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Nick Davis, Darrell Lanigan, Chub Frank, Mike Benedum, Blake Spencer, Corey Conley-DNS

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Josh Richards, Devin Moran, Morgan Bagley, Brent Larson, Doug Drown, Jeff Mathews, Matt Cosner, Bob Gardner, Drake Meeks-DNS
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Earl Pearson, Jr., Tyler Erb, Dustin Mitchell, Rusty Schlenk, Joey Moriarty, Travis Stemler, Shane Tankersley, Coleby Frye

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Billy Moyer, Jr., Dennis Erb, Jr., Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens, Mason Zeigler, Tim McCreadie, Shanon Buckingham, Allen Murray, Bob Geiger

Wrisco Industries Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Kyle Bronson, Ryan King, Jonathan Rowan, Brian Shirley, Trey Beene III, Bobby Pierce, Chase Junghans, Jesse Stovall-DNS

E3 Spark Plugs Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Michael Maresca, Jason Jameson, Don O’Neal, Boom Briggs, Freddie Carpenter, Tyler Millwood, Graig Wolford

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Joey Moriarty, Doug Drown, Mike Benedum, Brent Larson, Chub Frank, Travis Stemler, Nick Davis, Jeff Mathews, Bob Gardner, Shane Tankersley, Blake Spencer, Rusty Schlenk, Coleby Frye-DNS, Matt Cosner-DNS, Corey Conley-DNS, Drake Meeks-DNS

Fast Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Don O’Neal, Boom Briggs, Trey Beene III, Shanon Buckingham, Freddie Carpenter, Craig Wolford, Bob Geiger, Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Rowan, Allen Murray, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Mason Zeigler, Chase Junghans-DNS, Jesse Stovall-DNS, Tyler Millwood-DNS

DirtOnDirt.com Strawberry Dash Finish (8 Laps): Mike Benedum, Doug Drown, Trey Beene, Brent Larson, Nick Davis, Craig Wolford, Travis Stemler, Jeff Mathews, Bob Geiger, Freddie Carpenter, Bob Gardner, Chub Frank, Mason Zeigler

Feature Finish (60 Laps):

FINISH	START	CAR #	DRIVER NAME	HOMETOWN	EARNINGS
1	10	40B	Kyle Bronson	Brandon, FL	$12,000
2	1	49	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville, GA	$5,500
3	14	116	Brandon Overton	Evans, GA	$3,500
4	3	1R	Josh Richards	Shinnston, WV	$3,850
5	5	1	Earl Pearson, Jr.	Jacksonville, FL	$3,050
6	6	0	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg, TN	$2,600
7	9	9	Devin Moran	Dresden, OH	$1,500
8	7	1s	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin, IL	$1,300
9	19	14	Darrell Lanigan	Union, KY	$1,900
10	4	22	Gregg Satterlee	Indiana, PA	$1,800
11	21	51M	Joey Moriarty	Phoenix, AZ	$1,075
12	16	1G	Ryan King	Seymour, TN	$1,050
13	13	71	Hudson O’Neal	Martinsville, IN	$1,725
14	24	99B	Boom Briggs	Bear Lake, PA	$1,700
15	20	20	Jimmy Owens	Newport, TN	$1,800
16	8	28	Dennis Erb, Jr.	Carpentersville, IL	$1,700
17	12	7MM	Michael Maresca	Hannawa Fallls, NY	$1,000
18	25	32	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood, IL	$1,700
19	2	21JR	Billy Moyer, Jr.	Batesville, AR	$1,100
20	26	25B	Mike Benedum	Salem, WV	$1,000
21	11	91	Tyler Erb	New Waverly, TX	$1,000
22	15	14m	Morgan Bagley	Gladewater, TX	$1,000
23	22	5	Don O’Neal	Martinsville, IN	$1,800
24	23	39	Tim McCreadie	Watertown, NY	$1,700
25	17	d8	Dustin Mitchell	Selma, NC	$1,000
26	18	12J	Jason Jameson	Lawrenceburg, IN	$1,000