BROWNSTOWN, IN (April 9, 2011) – Scott Bloomquist passed Steve Francis on lap eight and went on to lead the rest of the way in capturing the 14th Annual Indiana Icebreaker for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series on Saturday Night at Brownstown Speedway. Bloomquist, who won his 500th career feature race last September at Brownstown, earned $10,000 for the win. Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN finished second as he held off 18th starting Earl Pearson Jr. for the runner-up spot. Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, IA finished fourth followed by 15th place starter, Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN. In victory lane Bloomquist gave thanks and to his pit crew and the track preparers at Brownstown, after the event was held despite nearly two inches of rain which fell earlier in the day. “The car was superb out there tonight, you could run anywhere, we went with the Chevrolet powered Roush-Yates engine tonight and it didn’t miss a beat, this was a brand new car, we’ve always enjoyed coming up here to race, and with all the rain they had I didn’t know how it would turn out, but it was racy all night, we had a good race there with Francis for a while, and I was hoping there wouldn’t be any cautions the way we were running, we handled traffic pretty well, and everybody gave each other plenty of room,” said Bloomquist. Bub McCool started on the pole and led the first two laps until Steve Francis took over the point. Francis held the lead for five circuits, until Bloomquist, who started third grabbed the lead using the inside line of the race track. Francis ran second just ahead of Mike Marlar for several laps until Marlar took second on lap 18. O’Neal then charged to the front passing both Francis and Marlar as he grabbed the second slot on lap 20. Bloomquist had built a sizable lead over O’Neal and Marlar. With twenty laps to go, he was firmly in command of the race. Bloomquist then started to pick-up heavy traffic, allowing both O’Neal and Earl Pearson Jr., who was on the move after starting on the outside of the ninth row. O’Neal and Pearson had quite a battle for second for the remainder of the race. O’Neal was able to edge Pearson at the finish line for second place. Completing the top ten were Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN; Bub McCool of Vicksburg, MS; Brad Neat of Dunnville, KY; Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA; and Chris Wall of Springfield, LA. In preliminary action Rohn Moon was the red Buck Cigars Fast Qualifier with a lap of 14.264 seconds among the 49 entrants. Heat race winners were Bub McCool, Scott Bloomquist, Steve Francis, and Don O’Neal. The B-Mains were taken by John Blankenship and Earl Pearson Jr. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be in action on April 29th at Bedford Speedway in Bedford, PA and on Saturday Night, April 30th at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, PA. Both events will pay $10,000 to win. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Saturday Night, April 9th, 2011 14th Annual “Indiana Icebreaker” Brownstown Speedway – Brownstown, IN Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Rohn Moon / 14.264 seconds (Group A and Overall) Shannon Babb / 14.451seconds (Group B) Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Bub McCool, Mike Marlar, Scott James, Eric Wells, John Blankenship, Tim Isenberg, Dan Schlieper, Joe Janowski, Brian Gray, Rohn Moon, Jeep VanWormer, Matt Miller, Brian Wilhite-DNS Wiles Driveshafts Second Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Brad Neat, Jimmy Owens, Steve Casebolt, Justin Rattliff, Kent Robinson, Frank Heckenast Jr., Sammy Stile, Chris Streeval, Keaton Streeval, Josh McGuire Sweet Manufacturing Third Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Steve Francis, Shannon Babb, Brian Birkhofer, Ray Cook, Dennis Erb Jr., Kevin Claycomb, Tyler Reddick, Chris Brown, Chad Stapleton, Michael Chilton, Tim Rivers, Alan Magner HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Don O’Neal, Dale McDowell, Jared Landers, Dustin Neat, Earl Pearson Jr., Greg Johnson, Dillan White, Jeremy Hines, Jason Smith, Greg Kendall, James Griffith, Steve Godsey JRi Shocks First B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): John Blankenship, Joe Janowski, Kent Robinson, Dan Schlieper, Steve Casebolt, Frank Heckenast Jr., Sammy Stile, Justin Rattliff, Rohn Moon, Keaton Streeval, Chris Streeval, Jeep VanWormer, Brian Gray, Tim Isenberg, Matt Miller-DNS, Josh McGuire-DNS Wrisco Aluminum Second B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Earl Pearson Jr., Dennis Erb Jr., Greg Johnson, Chad Stapleton, Jeremy Hines, Kevin Claycomb, Chris Brown, Tyler Reddick, Tim Rivers, Michael Chilton, Greg Kendall, Jason Smith, Alan Magner, Brian WIlhite, Steve Godsey, Dillan White, James Griffith 14th Annual “Indiana Icebreaker” Feature Finish (50 Laps): Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, Earl Pearson, Jr., Brian Birkhofer, Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Bub McCool, Brad Neat, Dale McDowell, Chris Wall, Ray Cook, Dennis Erb, Jr., Steve Francis, Shannon Babb, John Blankenship, Jared Landers, Scott James, Tim Isenberg, Steve Casebolt, Dillan White, Greg Johnson, Dan Schlieper, Tyler Reddick, Eric Wells, Joe Janowski, Kent Robinson, Dustin Neat
Feature Finish – 50 Laps
FINISH START CAR # DRIVER NAME HOMETOWN
1 3 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
2 4 71 Don O’Neal Martinsville, IN
3 18 44 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
4 10 15bx Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA
5 15 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
6 5 36 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
7 1 57J Bub McCool Vicksburg, MS
8 11 41n Brad Neat Dunnville, KY
9 8 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA
10 7 71w Chris Wall Springfield, LA
11 14 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC
12 20 28e Dennis Erb, Jr. Carpentersville, IL
13 2 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
14 6 18 Shannon Babb Mowequa, IL
15 17 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
16 12 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
17 9 81 Scott James Lawrenceburg, IN
18 25 9t Tim Isenberg Marshfield, WI
19 24 c9 Steve Casebolt Richmond, IN
20 27 54W Dillan White Crofton, KY
21 22 49 Greg Johnson Bedford, IN
22 23 s9 Dan Schlieper Sullivan, WI
23 26 11t Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
24 13 18e Eric Wells Hazard, KY
25 19 6J Joe Janowski Carmel, IN
26 21 7R Kent Robinson Bloomington, IN
27 16 25n Dustin Neat Dunnville, KY
Race Statistics Entrants: 49 Lap Leaders: Bub McCool (Laps 1-2); Steve Francis (Laps 3-7); Laps (8-50) Scott Bloomquist Caution Flags: Lap 7 (Tyler Reddick); Lap 17 (Steve Casebolt) Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Steve Casebolt; Dan Schlieper Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: Tim Isenberg; Tyler Reddick PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Earl Pearson Jr. (Started 18th; Finished 3rd; Advanced 15 positions) Allstar Performer of the Race: Earl Pearson Jr. K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Jimmy Owens Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: Bub McCool COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Race Engines Outerwears Challenger of the Race: Earl Pearson Jr. Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award: Steve Francis DirtonDirt.com Crew Chief of the Race: Jason Fitzgerald (Earl Pearson Jr.) Time of Race: 33 minutes 19 seconds
Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:
POS CAR # DRIVER NAME HOMETOWN POINTS
1 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN 690
2 71 Don O’Neal Martinsville, IN 680
3 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN 660
4 44 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL 605
4 28e Dennis Erb, Jr. Carpentersville, IL 605
6 36 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN 595
7 41n Brad Neat Dunnville, KY 565
8 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA 545
9 57J Bub McCool Vicksburg, MS 530
10 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY 505
11 71w Chris Wall Springfield, LA 490
11 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR 490
13 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC 480
13 11t Tyler Reddick Corning, CA 480
15 99jr Frank Heckenast, Jr. Frankfort, IL 470
16 9t Tim Isenberg Marshfield, WI 465
17 s9 Dan Schlieper Sullivan, WI 460
18 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV 450
19 18e Eric Wells Hazard, KY 445
20 c9 Steve Casebolt Richmond, IN 425