James Essex-Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Public Relations
Earl Pearson Jr. Prevails in “Indiana Icebreaker” at Brownstown Speedway for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
BROWNSTOWN, IN–Earl Pearson, Jr. of Jacksonville, FL passed race leader Darrell Lanigan on lap 61 of the 75 lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series main event on Saturday Night at the Brownstown Speedway and then went on to score his first series win of 2006 as the defending series champion captured the Ninth Annual “Indiana Icebreaker” sponsored by Jones Core. The win was Pearson’s third career on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and earned the 34 year old driver $10,000 as he came from the 10th starting spot to take the win aboard the Carlton and Kemp Lamm owned, Lucas Oil Products, Dunn-Benson Ford, K&N Engineering, Inc., Sunoco Race Fuels, All-Star Performance, Larry Wallace Racing Engines, MasterSbilt Ford Taurus. Lanigan of Union, KY would finish second after starting 14th in the Lanigan Autosports/GottaRace.com/Rocket Ford Taurus with Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN placing third in the Randall Eller/Independence Lumber/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo. Completing the top five were Greg Johnson of Bedford, IN in the John Hall/J&H Construction/Intimidator Grand Prix and Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, IA in the J&J Steel/Pro Power Engines/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo. A standing room only crowd was on hand as 68 cars were entered in the night’s events.
Heavy traffic started to play a role in the race for the first time as Lanigan would catch up to the tail of the pack by lap 33. At this time Pearson was finally able to wrestle second from O’Neal and set his sights on Lanigan. Pearson would eventually catch up to Lanigan by lap 38 with O’Neal still running in third with Horton now fourth as he had gotten by Johnson. With 30 laps to go it was still Lanigan and Pearson showing the way. Lanigan was about two to three car lengths ahead of Pearson as the two were still battling through some heavy traffic in front of them. Johnson then went by Horton to regain the fourth spot and he was catching up to O’Neal trying to make a race of it for the third position. Now with 20 laps remaining the crowd was on their feet as Pearson saw an opening on the inside of Lanigan and he made the pass on the 61st lap to take over the lead. Pearson was the fifth different driver to lead this race, but Lanigan was not through yet as he was not about to settle for second place. With ten laps to go Lanigan was all over Pearson for the lead as Pearson was encountering some traffic in front of him. With the roles reversed Pearson now had to fight to maintain the lead knowing one mistake and Lanigan would be by him. With five laps to go Lanigan was on the rear of Pearson’s racer, but Pearson was able to withstand Lanigan’s challenges and cross the finish in first to claim his first ever win at Brownstown Speedway. Lanigan came home a close second followed by O’Neal, Johnson and Birkhofer.
In victory lane Pearson thanked a multitude of people who have helped him get off to an excellent start in 2006. “My new crew chief Jason Fitzgerald, my car owners Carlton and Kemp Lamm and all the crew they’ve done a great job this year, we are really running well and it feels good to win here at Brownstown, probably one of the toughest tracks to ever win a race at.” “I caught Lanigan there in traffic and I knew if I could get a run on him and get to the inside I might have a shot at passing him and it worked out real well and we were able to get by him, I don’t know if I could have beat him without the lapped traffic, he had a real good car tonight.”
Completing the top ten were Doug Horton, Rick Eckert, 24th starting Scott James, Donnie Moran and Shannon Babb.
In preliminary action Steve Francis set a new Brownstown Speedway track record with a fast lap of 13.546 seconds to earn the Comp Cams fast time award among the 68 cars on hand. The PBM Performance Products heat races were won by Brian Birkhofer, Tim Dohm, Greg Johnson, Darren Miller, Rick Eckert and Don O’Neal. The Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno first B-Main went to Shannon Babb with the Penske Shocks second B-Main belonging to Corey Conley.
Race Summary
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Event #7
Brownstown Speedway-Brownstown, Indiana
Saturday Night, April 1, 2006
Comp Cams Fast Time: Steve Francis 13.546 seconds (New Track Record)
PBM Performance Products First Heat: (Top 3 advance): Brian Birkhofer, Steve Francis, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Mike Watson, Brady Smith, Brad Barrow, Bret Sievert, Damon Eller, C.J. Rayburn, Ryan Eads, Bryan Barber, Doug Ault
PBM Performance Products Second Heat: (Top 3 advance): Tim Dohm, Michael England, Darrell Lanigan, Shannon Babb, Dan Schlieper, Kevin Weaver, Billy Drake, Matt Miller, Tim Prince, Brian Wilhite, Justin Rattliff, Mike Marlar
PBM Performance Products Third Heat: (Top 3 advance): Greg Johnson, Doug Horton, Dennis Erb, Jr., Steve Casebolt, Rick Aukland, Jeep VanWormer, Scotty Earl, Steve Hillard, Jayme Zidar, Justin Robinson, Scott Wenell
PBM Performance Products Fourth Heat: (Top 3 advance): Darren Miller, Earl Pearson, Jr., Patrick Sheltra, Chad Kinder, Marty O’Neal, Brent Londeree, Rickey Riggle, Jeremy Masters, Shannon Reed, Scott James, John Mason
PBM Performance Products Fifth Heat: (Top 3 advance): Rick Eckert, Steve Barnett, Donnie Moran, Corey Conley, Johnny Wheeler, Mike Jewell, Duane Chamberlain, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jordan Bland, Gary Harden, Brad Erwin
PBM Performance Products Sixth Heat: (Top 3 advance): Don O’Neal, Jimmy Mars, Brad Neat, Freddy Smith, Tim Tungate, Justin Blackwell, Steve Godsey, Randy Riggle, Aaron Hatton, Kerry Hansen, Daniel Bohall
Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main: (Top 2 advance): Shannon Babb, Dan Schlieper, Rick Aukland, Billy Drake, Steve Casebolt, Steve Hillard, Bret Sievert, Jayme Zidar, C.J. Rayburn, Justin Robinson, Tim Prince, Damon Eller, Brian Wilhite, Scott Wenell, Jeep VanWormer, Mike Watson, Brady Smith, Roy Mitchell, Justin Rattliff, Scotty Earl, Ryan Eads, Kevin Weaver, Brad Barrow, Bryan Barber, Matt Miller
Penske Shocks Second B-Main: (Top 2 advance): Corey Conley, Tim Tungate, Freddy Smith, Johnny Wheeler, Justin Blackwell, John Mason, Marty O’Neal, Duane Chamberlain, Kerry Hansen, Frank Heckenast Jr., Steve Godsey, Gary Harden, Rickey Riggle, Jeremy Masters, Jordan Bland, Randy Riggle, Chad Kinder, Brent Londeree, Mike Jewell, Scott James, Shannon Reed, Daniel Bohall, Brad Erwin
Ninth Annual “Indiana Icebreaker” Feature: (75 Laps): Earl Pearson Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Don O’Neal, Greg Johnson, Brian Birkhofer, Doug Horton, Rick Eckert, Scott James, Donnie Moran, Shannon Babb, Corey Conley, Tim Dohm, Steve Francis, Darren Miller, Patrick Sheltra, Michael England, Eddie Carrier Jr, Tim Tungate, Steve Barnett, Dan Schlieper, Dennis Erb Jr., Shannon Reed, Brad Barrow, Brad Neat, Jimmy Mars, Matt Miller
Race Statistics
Entries: 68
Yellow Flags: 5
Red Flags: 0
Lap Leaders: Rick Eckert 1-6 Greg Johnson 7-23 Don O’Neal 24-26 Darrell Lanigan 27-60 Earl Pearson Jr. 61-75
All-Star Performance Performer of the Race: Scott James (Started 24th and finished 8th) advanced 16 positions
K&N Engineering Clean Pass of the Race: Earl Pearson Jr. for taking the lead from Darrell Lanigan
Hawk Brake Tough Break Award: Brady Smith
Quarter Master Move of the Race: Don O’Neal
Weld Racing Wheels Award: Tim Tungate
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Race: Doug Horton
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Matt Miller and Scott James
Bub Cummings and Denny Schwartz Icebreaker Winners
Bombers
Bub Cummings, Andrew Godsey, Jim Pfeiffer, John Mayer, Jacoby Hines, Cody Vanosdol, Greg Hicks, Josh Turner, Brian Smiley, Dean Wilkerson, Ron Pardue, Scott Jones, Jason Combs, Wes Tipton, Travis Prince, Mike Tuell, Timmy Glazer, Josh Hayes, Mike Klyn, Doug Klyn, Willie Sallee, Aaron Fields
MODIFIEDS
Denny Schwartz, Lee Hobbs, Chad Kinder, Aaron Ricketts, Joey Kramer, Jesse Cramer, Matt Boknecht, JD Francis, Clint Demoss, Al Flick, Adam Sasser, Kent Robinson, John Demoss, Tim Eddelman, Dave Porth, Earl Plessenger, Jared Bailey, Ray Humphrey, Gary Whittington, Brandon Short, Jeff Bland Jr, Dennis Boknecht, Todd Gilpin, Travis Shoulders