GREENWOOD, NE (September 19, 2020) – Tim McCreadie made a daring pass on race leader Jimmy Owens on lap 78 to win the Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals on Saturday Night at I-80 Speedway. McCreadie earned $30,000 for his sixth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt series win of the season.
Owens, the current LOLMDS Point Leader, finished in second followed by Ricky Thornton Jr., Josh Richards, and Kyle Strickler.
Richards grabbed the lead at the start of the event and led the first six laps until Brandon Overton wrestled the lead from him. Overton’s lead was short-lived as Richards charged back around him to regain the top spot. Richards held the point until third place starting Owens took over the lead of the race.
McCreadie got to second place, around Richards on lap 59. With Owens in front, two cautions came out on laps 64 and 70, which kept the field bunched up. With ten laps to go, the final restart saw Owens keep a steady pace ahead of McCreadie, but McCreadie suddenly bolted ahead of Owens as the duo were working lap 77. McCreadie held the lead until the checkered flag came out.
McCreadie’s 21st career LOLMDS win came over Owens by .872 seconds at the finish. “It’s hard to lead here. I began to diamond off one and two pretty good. My crew signaled to me that the 20 car was running hard through the middle in three. I had a little bit of run off of four and I figured if I am going to slide Jimmy Owens I had better clear him, because he doesn’t hit anybody on the track. My hat is off to the 20 team, they have been making us pay all year long. It’s an honor to run behind him for most of the year because he is a class act.”
Owens led laps 38 through 77, but finished second to McCreadie. Owens will still maintain a healthy point lead heading to Brownstown Speedway next weekend. “We put on a good show for the fans. With the cautions, it just let those guys catch up to us and gave Timmy a shot for the lead. He cleared me and he passed me good. The consistency we have had all year has been awesome. We have been very fortunate this year for sure.”
Thornton, who finished second in the Silver Dollar Nationals back in July at I-80, earned another podium finish on Saturday Night. “We were good. I was running around the top and I moved around a little bit. I really didn’t want that last yellow. As long as we keep running like this everybody will be excited.”
The winners Paylor Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Bilstein Shocks, VP Fuels, Sweeteners Plus, D&E Marine, and Racing for Heroes.
Completing the top ten were Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal, Kyle Bronson, Ryan Gustin, and Tyler Erb.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Optima Batteries I-80 Nationals – Presented by General Tire
Saturday, September 19th, 2020
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, NE
Tiger Rear Ends B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 1C-Chad Simpson[3]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 6. 98J-Jason Rauen[8]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 8. 98-Ben Schaller[9]; 9. 43-Jeremy Grady[12]; 10. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 11. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 12. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[13]; 13. 29D-Spencer Diercks[10]; 14. (DNS) 6D-Dylan Schmer
FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 777-Jared Landers[3]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 5. 62-Justin Zeitner[6]; 6. 81E-Tanner English[1]; 7. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 8. 14J-Jake Neal[12]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[10]; 10. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[9]; 12. 10C-Junior Coover[13]; 13. 56-Chris Spieker[5]; 14. (DNS) 112-Tyler Smith
Non-Qualifiers Race Finish (10 Laps, Winner Choice to Transfer): 1. 14J-Jake Neal[6]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 3. 62-Justin Zeitner[2]; 4. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[9]; 5. 98-Ben Schaller[5]; 6. 98J-Jason Rauen[3]; 7. 56-Chris Spieker[16]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[4]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[8]; 10. 10C-Junior Coover[14]; 11. 26JR-Corey Zeitner[12]; 12. 3C-Mike Collins[11]; 13. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[13]; 14. L88-Larry Clawson[10]; 15. 43-Jeremy Grady[7]; 16. (DNS) 29D-Spencer Diercks; 17. (DNS) 6D-Dylan Schmer; 18. (DNS) 112-Tyler Smith
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (80 Laps):
| Pos | Start | Car # | Competitor | Hometown | Pay |
| 1 | 4 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $30,700 |
| 2 | 3 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $18,900 |
| 3 | 11 | 20RT | Ricky Thornton Jr | Adel, IA | $10,000 |
| 4 | 1 | 14 | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $7,800 |
| 5 | 6 | 8 | Kyle Strickler | Mooresville, NC | $6,000 |
| 6 | 12 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $5,000 |
| 7 | 19 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $4,600 |
| 8 | 18 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $5,100 |
| 9 | 10 | 19R | Ryan Gustin | Marshalltown, IA | $4,200 |
| 10 | 22 | 1T | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $4,700 |
| 11 | 7 | 9 | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $4,600 |
| 12 | 14 | 32S | Chris Simpson | Oxford, IA | $3,800 |
| 13 | 21 | 1C | Chad Simpson | Mt. Vernon, IA | $3,700 |
| 14 | 26 | 1 | Earl Pearson Jr | Jacksonville, FL | $4,400 |
| 15 | 15 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $4,500 |
| 16 | 27 | 81E | Tanner English | Benton, KY | $4,100 |
| 17 | 5 | 25 | Shane Clanton | Zebulon, GA | $4,000 |
| 18 | 28 | 16 | Tyler Bruening | Decorah, IA | $3,900 |
| 19 | 30 | 04 | Tad Pospisil | Norfolk, NE | $3,100 |
| 20 | 20 | 777 | Jared Landers | Winston-Salem, NC | $3,000 |
| 21 | 2 | 76 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | $2,900 |
| 22 | 8 | 29V | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $2,800 |
| 23 | 16 | 18J | Chase Junghans | Manhattan, KS | $2,700 |
| 24 | 13 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $2,600 |
| 25 | 9 | 44M | Chris Madden | Gray Court, SC | $2,575 |
| 26 | 23 | 2S | Stormy Scott | Las Cruces, NM | $2,550 |
| 27 | 17 | 21M | Billy Moyer Sr | Batesville, AR | $2,525 |
| 28 | 31 | 98 | Ben Schaller | Omaha, NE | $2,500 |
| 29 | 29 | 14J | Jake Neal | Omaha, NE | $2,500 |
| 30 | 25 | 99JR | Frank Heckenast Jr | Frankfort, IL | $2,500 |
| 31 | 24 | 21 | Billy Moyer Jr | Batesville, AR | $3,200 |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 46
Lap Leaders: Josh Richards (Laps 1 – 5); Brandon Overton (Lap 6); Tim McCreadie (Laps 7 – 37); Jimmy Owens (Laps 38 – 77); Tim McCreadie (Laps 78 – 80)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Tim McCreadie
Margin of Victory: 0.872 seconds
Cautions: Billy Moyer Jr (Lap 10); Chris Simpson (Lap 50); Tyler Erb (Lap 61); Jared Landers (Lap 70)
Series Provisionals: Tanner English, Tyler Bruening
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Malvern Bank SLMR Provisionals: Tad Pospisil, Ben Schaller
Non-Qualifier Race Provisional: Jake Neal
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Hudson O’Neal (Advanced 12 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jimmy Owens
Allstar Performance Most Laps Led: Jimmy Owens (40 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Tanner English
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engine
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Philip Snellen
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Josh Richards (Lap #13 – 18.116 seconds)
STEEL-IT Tough Break of the Race: Jared Landers
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Josh Richards
Time of Race: 39 minutes 47 seconds