BATESVILLE, AR (August 21, 2011)- Not even a one day delay could slow down Scott Bloomquist as he claimed the win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned, 19th Annual COMP Cams Topless 100 at Batesville Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. It was his fourth event title.
Mother Nature abruptly halted the 100-lap event, after 12 laps of the feature on Saturday night. The race resumed on a steamy Sunday afternoon at the 3/8-mile oval. Before the green ever waved, bad luck struck fifth place runner, Dale McDowell. His left front tire rolled away from his #17 Clint Bowyer Motorsports Rocket. He ducked into the hot pit to get the tire reattached, but had to join the tail of the field.
As the action finally resumed Scott Bloomquist led the field back to the green flag with Jimmy Owens, Shannon Babb, Jared Landers, and Bub McCool in tow. Bloomquist quickly extended his advantage to five car lengths as Owens tried to keep pace. The caution flag was displayed on lap 15 as fourth place runner, Babb, spun out in turn three. The top five after the restart consisted of Bloomquist, Owens, Landers, McCool, and Steve Francis.
By lap 36 Landers had made his way around Owens and was alongside Bloomquist for the lead, but Bloomquist soon motored away from Landers and the remainder of the field. Over the next several laps Bloomquist built a straightaway lead over the pack, as the top five running order remained the same.
A series of cautions had little effect on the running order amongst the leaders until Bub McCool relinquished the fifth position on lap 74 as his right rear tire went down in turn one to bring out the final caution of the event. Bloomquist continued to maintain a sizeable lead, the battle for the second spot began again to intensify, and Jimmy Owens used lapped traffic to his advantage to move past Landers for the second spot in turn two on lap 89. Over the course of the next six laps, drama began to build as Owens erased Bloomquist’ straightaway lead as he trailed the leader by only one car length at the flag stand with five laps to go.
Despite his best efforts, Owens was unable to overtake Bloomquist. The Mooresburg, Tennessee driver piloted his #0 Hawkeye Trucking/Bloomquist/Roush Yates Racing Engine Super Late Model to his fourth COMP Cams Topless 100 triumph. LOLMDS point’s leader, Jimmy Owens crossed the finish line in second in his #20 Reece Monuments/Bloomquist/Cornett entry. Defending champion, Jared Landers, rounded out the podium in his #777 Rocket/ECR Racing Engine Super Late Model. Rounding out the top five were Steve Francis and Tyler Reddick. Positions six through ten consisted of John Blankenship, Earl Pearson Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Steve Casebolt, and Wendell Wallace.
With Bloomquist’s tenth tour triumph of the 2011 season, Jimmy Owens saw his lead in the LOLMDS standings trimmed to 140 points heading into the next weekend’s events at Volunteer Speedway (Bulls Gap, Tennessee) on Thursday, August 25th; Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana on Friday, August 26th; and Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY on Saturday, August 27th.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com or call the series’ office at (951) 532-2503.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesRace Summary Sunday, August 21st, 2011 19thAnnual COMP Cams Topless 100Batesville Motor Speedway – Batesville, AR
Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Tyler Reddick / 13.869 seconds (Group A and Overall) Don O’Neal / 14.121 seconds (Group B)
Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Eric Wells, Jared Landers, Tyler Reddick, Jon Kirby, Stacy Taylor, Earl Pearson Jr., Curtiss Cook, Shane Harris, Jon Mitchell, Chris Brown
Wiles Driveshafts Second Heat (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Jack Sullivan, Steve Casebolt, Ray Cook, Eric Turner, Dewaine Hottinger, Austin Rettig, Neil Baggett, Kelly Hanvey
Sweet Manufacturing Third Heat (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Jeremy Payne, Billy Moyer, BJ Robinson, Kent Robinson, Jesse Stovall, Morgan Bagley, Chad Dupont, Leon Henderson HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Don O’Neal, Bub McCool, Steve Francis, Dan Schlieper, Jonathan Davenport, Frank Heckenast Jr., RC Whitwell, Brad Neat, Brandon Smith
Wiles Driveshafts Fifth Heat (12 Laps – Top 3 Advance): Shannon Babb, John Blankenship, Billy Moyer Jr., Jeff Floyd, Chris Wall, Chase Washington, Will Vaught, Henry Cooper, David Breazeale
Sweet Manufacturing Sixth Heat (12 Laps – Top 3 Advance): Wendell Wallace, Dale McDowell, Terry Phillips, Dane Dacus, Robbie Stuart, Andrew McKay, Brian Shirley, Kyle Beard, Jay Brunson
Top 6 Redraw for Feature Lineup: Don O’Neal, Shannon Babb, Eric Wells, Scott Bloomquist, Wendell Wallace, Jimmy Owens
Positions 7 – 12 Redraw for Feature Lineup: Jeremy Payne, Dale McDowell, John Blankenship, Jared Landers, Jack Sullivan, Bub McCool
JRi Shocks First B-Main (15 Laps- Top 2 Advance): Ray Cook, Jesse Stovall, BJ Robinson, Morgan Bagley, Jon Mitchell, Austin Rettig, Jon Kirby, Chad Dupont, Kelly Hanvey, Dewaine Hottinger, Curtiss Cook, Kent Robinson, Eric Turner, Shane Harris, Earl Pearson Jr., Stacy Taylor, Neil Baggett-DNS, Leon Henderson-DNS, Chris Brown-DNS Wrisco Aluminum Second B-Main (15 Laps- Top 2 Advance): Jonathan Davenport, Robbie Stuart, RC Whitwell, Dane Dacus, Brandon Smith, Jay Brunson, Jeff Floyd, Frank Heckenast Jr., Henry Cooper, Dan Schlieper, Andrew McKay, Kyle Beard, Brad Neat, Chase Washington, Chris Wall-DNS, Will Vaught-DNS, Brian Shirley-DNS, David Breazeale-DNS
19th Annual COMP Cams Topless 100 Feature Finish – 100 Laps: Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Jared Landers, Steve Francis, Tyler Reddick, John Blankenship, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Steve Casebolt, Wendell Wallace, Jack Sullivan, Eric Wells, Dale McDowell, Bub McCool, Brad Neat, Robbie Stuart, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Billy Moyer, Jr., Jesse Stovall, Jeremy Payne, Shannon Babb, Billy Moyer, Terry Phillips, Ray Cook, Don O’Neal
19th Annual COMP Cams Topless 100 Feature Finish – 100 Laps
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 4 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 2 | 6 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 3 | 10 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 4 | 14 | 15 | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 5 | 13 | 11t | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA |
| 6 | 9 | 23 | John Blankenship | Williamson, WV |
| 7 | 23 | 44 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 8 | 20 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA |
| 9 | 15 | c9 | Steve Casebolt | Richmond, IN |
| 10 | 5 | 88 | Wendell Wallace | Batesville, AR |
| 11 | 11 | 1s | Jack Sullivan | Greenbrier, AR |
| 12 | 3 | 18e | Eric Wells | Hazard, KY |
| 13 | 8 | 17m | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga, GA |
| 14 | 12 | 57J | Bub McCool | Vicksburg, MS |
| 15 | 24 | 41n | Brad Neat | Dunnville, KY |
| 16 | 22 | 6r | Robbie Stuart | DeRidder, LA |
| 17 | 25 | 99jr | Frank Heckenast, Jr. | Frankfort, IL |
| 18 | 16 | 21JR | Billy Moyer, Jr. | Batesville, AR |
| 19 | 21 | 00S | Jesse Stovall | Galena, MO |
| 20 | 7 | 74 | Jeremy Payne | Springfield, MO |
| 21 | 2 | 18 | Shannon Babb | Mowequa, IL |
| 22 | 17 | 21 | Billy Moyer | Batesville, AR |
| 23 | 18 | 75 | Terry Phillips | Springfield, MO |
| 24 | 19 | 53 | Ray Cook | Brasstown, NC |
| 25 | 1 | 71 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 55
Lap Leaders: Shannon Babb (Laps 1 – 3); Scott Bloomquist (Laps 4 – 100)
Caution Flags: Don O’Neal (Lap 2); Don O’Neal (Lap 7); Ray Cook (Lap 12); Shannon Babb (Lap 15); Terry Phillips (Lap 17); Billy Moyer (Lap 21); Jeremy Payne (Lap 57); Billy Moyer Jr., (Lap 73); Bub McCool (Lap 74)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Earl Pearson Jr., Brad Neat
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: Frank Heckenast Jr.
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Earl Pearson Jr. (Started 23rd; Finished 7th; Advanced 16 positions)
Allstar Performer of the Race: Jared Landers
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Jimmy Owens
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: Jared Landers
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Roush Yates Race Engines
Janowski Insurance Feature Winner: Scott Bloomquist
Outerwears Challenger of the Race: Jonathan Davenport
Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award: Ray Cook
DirtonDirt.com Crew Chief of the Race: Tommy Hicks (Scott Bloomquist)
Time of Race: 46 minutes 17 seconds
Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | POINTS |
| 1 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | 4830 |
| 2 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | 4690 |
| 3 | 71 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | 4195 |
| 4 | 15 | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY | 3995 |
| 5 | 44 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | 3900 |
| 6 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR | 3765 |
| 7 | 23 | John Blankenship | Williamson, WV | 3685 |
| 8 | 41n | Brad Neat | Dunnville, KY | 3675 |
| 9 | 53 | Ray Cook | Brasstown, NC | 3635 |
| 10 | 11t | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | 3500 |
| 11 | 57J | Bub McCool | Vicksburg, MS | 3485 |
| 12 | 17m | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga, GA | 3230 |
| 13 | 18e | Eric Wells | Hazard, KY | 3135 |
| 14 | 99jr | Frank Heckenast, Jr. | Frankfort, IL | 2975 |