KILGORE, TX (March 31, 2012)- Jared Landers of Batesville, AR regained the lead on the final lap and held off Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN for the win on Saturday Night at LoneStar Speedway. Landers earned $10,000 for the victory in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series High Banks Havoc for his first series win of the season.
For the third consecutive race Owens finished second. Steve Francis of Ashland, KY made a tremendous charge through the field to finish a close third after he started 14th on the grid. He was followed by Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA and Duke Whiseant of Texarkana, AR.
Landers held off Owens for the lead nearly the entire 50-lap race, but with two laps to go a two-lap shootout took place. The only caution of the race came out for seventh-place running Don O’Neal, who stopped in turn four with a flat tire. When the race went green again Owens dove in front of Landers in turn three to take over the lead, the pair came across the start-finish line nearly dead even with Owens holding a slight advantage. As the two raced the final lap, Landers was able to maneuver his car by Owens to beat him to the checkered flag.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the third time in his career, the 2011 series rookie of the year was just glad the race was over. “I didn’t know there were two laps to go when the caution came out, then I went too slowly in the turn and I knew Jimmy was going to be right there. Because we battled the whole race, I never got any distance over him at all. He’s a heck of a racer and to beat him says a lot about this team,” said Landers.
“He (Owens) passed me there in three and I dove down low and got under him on the last lap, I wanted the win, I was either going to win or wreck is how I looked at it. Jimmy races clean and I raced him clean, I think we may have finally got a handle on this Barry Wright Race Car,” said Landers, whose Clint Bowyer Motorsports Toyota Camry is powered by a Roush-Yates Engines and sponsored by Crawford Supply, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, Cometic Gasket, Georgia Boot and Mark Martin Automotive.
Completing the top ten were John Blankenship of Williamson, WV; Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL; Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; B.J. Robinson of Shreveport, LA; and Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC.
In preliminary action Jared Landers was the Red Buck Cigar Fast Qualifier among the 28 entrants with a lap of 14.540 seconds. Heat race winners were Jimmy Owens, John Blankenship, Landers, and Jonathan Davenport. Jeff Chanler and Jon Mitchell won B-Mains.
The next Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event will take place on Friday and Saturday, April 13th and 14th at Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, VA. The Commonwealth 100 will pay $25,000 to win. For more information, go to www.vamotorspeedway.com.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Saturday Night, March 31, 2012 High Banks Havoc Lonestar Speedway – Kilgore, TX
Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Tyler Reddick / 14.585 seconds (Group A and Overall) Jared Landers / 14.540 seconds (Group B)
Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Tyler Reddick, Earl Pearson, Jr., Ray Cook, Jeff Chanler, Timothy Culp, Morgan Bagley-DNS
U. S. Steel Second Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): John Blankenship, Duke Whiseant, Scott Bloomquist, Eric Wells, Klint Byars, Jason Ingalls, Austin Hubbard-DNS
Simpson Performance Products Third Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Jared Landers, Don O’Neal, Chris Wall, Steve Francis, Jon Mitchell, Rickey Ingalls, Jim Bryant
HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Jonathan Davenport, BJ Robinson, Dennis Erb, Jr., Wendell Wallace, Rob Litton, Jay Brunson, Jason Cliburn
JRi Shocks First B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Jeff Chanler, Timothy Culp, Morgan Bagley, Jason Ingalls, Klint Byars, Austin Hubbard-DNS
PAC Racing Springs Second B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Jon Mitchell, Rob Litton, Rickey Ingalls, Jim Bryant, Jay Brunson-DNS, Jason Cliburn-DNS
Feature Finish – 50 Laps:
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 2 | 1 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 3 | 14 | 15 | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 4 | 4 | 15d | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA |
| 5 | 7 | A1 | Duke Whiseant | Texarkana, AR |
| 6 | 3 | 187th | John Blankenship | Williamson, WV |
| 7 | 9 | 44 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 8 | 11 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 9 | 8 | F5 | BJ Robinson | Shreveport, LA |
| 10 | 13 | 53 | Ray Cook | Brasstown, NC |
| 11 | 15 | 18e | Eric Wells | Hazard, KY |
| 12 | 10 | 71w | Chris Wall | Springfield, LA |
| 13 | 6 | 71 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 14 | 20 | 6x | Rob Litton | Alexandria, LA |
| 15 | 5 | 11T | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA |
| 16 | 18 | 5m | Jon Mitchell | Texarkana, TX |
| 17 | 21 | 14m | Morgan Bagley | Tyler, TX |
| 18 | 12 | 28e | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL |
| 19 | 19 | C8 | Timothy Culp | West Monroe, LA |
| 20 | 22 | 96 | Rickey Ingalls | Hallville, TX |
| 21 | 16 | 6m | Wendell Wallace | Batesville, AR |
| 22 | 24 | 5b | Klint Byars | Calhoun City, MS |
| 23 | 17 | 11c | Jeff Chanler | Minden, LA |
| 24 | 23 | 11h | Austin Hubbard | Seaford, DE |
Race Statistics Entrants: 28 Lap Leaders: Jared Landers (Laps 1 – 48); Jimmy Owens (Lap 49); Jared Landers (Lap 50) Caution Flags: Don O’Neal (Lap 48) Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisional: Austin Hubbard Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: none Red Buck Cigars Fast Time Provisional: Klint Byars Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Steve Francis (Started 14th; Finished 3rd; Advanced 11 positions) Allstar Performer of the Race: Steve Francis Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens ASi Racewear Challenge Finisher: Jared Landers Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: Jonathan Davenport COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Racing Engines Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Barry Wright Race Cars Sweet Mfg Crew Chief of the Race: Brian Leonburg (Jared Landers) Time of Race: 15 minutes 25 seconds