SITKA, KY (July 5, 2014)- Jimmy Owens roared from his 17th starting spot to win the “Hatfield and McCoy Feuding 50” on Saturday Night at 201 Speedway. Owens, the 3-time and reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion survived a 3-wide battle for the lead with five laps to go for his 49th career series win.
Don O’Neal, the current LOLMDS points leader finished second, followed by Eddie Carrier, Jr. who came home third despite leading 45 of the 50 lap feature. John Blankenship was fourth followed by Jackie Boggs.
“I messed up qualifying,” said Owens, who closed to within ten points of O’Neal in the race for the 2014 title. “We came out in the B-main and felt a whole lot better. Starting where we did, we gambled on tires. The track came to us. We started picking off cars every lap and I thought I was going to have to settle for third behind Eddie and O’Neal. Then after that last caution, we went into turn one and were three wide and I was fortunate to come out ahead.”
“I want to thank my car owner, Mike Reece, Reece Monument Company, Sunoco, and everybody else with our team. It was a good win for us.”
Carrier held the point from the start and looked like the car to beat. O’Neal slowly closed the gap on Carrier as the laps wound down. O’Neal was turning laps two tenths of a second faster than the leader when the caution came out on lap 44. On the restart Carrier, O’Neal, and Owens went three-wide into turn one as Owens came out ahead.
“I didn’t want to see that last caution flag for sure,” said O’Neal. “I was ‘diamonding’ off the corners and catching him [Carrier]. When that caution came out, it hurt the momentum we had built up.”
Carrier was disappointed with his third place finish after having led the most laps. “I felt like we had the car to win tonight. I feel bad for all my family and friends that were here tonight. I badly wanted to win tonight, but we came up short. We now know we had a car capable of running up front,” said the driver of the Optima Batteries, Rocket Ford.
Completing the top ten were Tim Dohm, Earl Pearson Jr., Steve Francis, Mike Marlar, and Zack Dohm.
In preliminary action, Tim Dohm set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 34 entrants, with a lap of 13.780 seconds. Earl Pearson Jr. set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 13.995 seconds. Tim Dohm, Don O’Neal, Eddie Carrier Jr., and Mike Marlar won their respective heat races. Jimmy Owens and Shannon Thornsberry won their respective B-Mains.
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Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wednesday Night, July 5, 2014
“Hatfield & McCoy Feuding 50”
201 Speedway – Sitka, KY
Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Tim Dohm / 13.780 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Earl Pearson Jr. / 13.995 seconds
Fast Shafts Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tim Dohm, Steve Francis, John Blankenship, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jimmy Owens, Zack Dohm, Brandon Kinzer, Steve Stollings, Michael Howard
Eibach Springs Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Don O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist, Jason Hughes, Tommy Bailey, Dustin Linville, Victor Lee, Daniel Williams, Craig Vosbergen, Roger Stacy
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Eddie Carrier, Jr., Earl Pearson, Jr., Rod Conley, Jared Landers, Rick Eckert, Jason Papich, Anthony Adams, Brandon Mason, Brandon Fouts-DNS
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Jackie Boggs, Kenneth Howell, Stephen Breeding, Paul Davis, Shannon Thornsberry, Tyler King, Josh Hall
JRi Shocks B-Main #1 (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer) Finish: Jimmy Owens, Zack Dohm, Brandon Kinzer, Victor Lee, Craig Vosbergen, Michael Howard, Daniel Williams, Steve Stollings, Roger Stacy, Dustin Linville
CV Products B-Main #2 (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer) Finish: Shannon Thornsberry, Rick Eckert, Jason Papich, Anthony Adams, Paul Davis, Josh Hall, Brandon Mason, Tyler King, Brandon Fouts-DNS
Feature Finish (50 Laps):
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 17 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 2 | 3 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 3 | 2 | 28 | Eddie Carrier, Jr. | Salt Rock, WV |
| 4 | 9 | 23 | John Blankenship | Williamson, WV |
| 5 | 8 | 4b | Jackie Boggs | Grayson, KY |
| 6 | 1 | 6T | Tim Dohm | Charleston, WV |
| 7 | 6 | 44 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 8 | 5 | 15 | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 9 | 4 | 157 | Mike Marlar | Winfield, TN |
| 10 | 19 | 17d | Zack Dohm | Charleston, WV |
| 11 | 14 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 12 | 7 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 13 | 10 | 71R | Rod Conley | Wheelersburg, OH |
| 14 | 16 | 5b | Stephen Breeding | Isom, KY |
| 15 | 22 | 91p | Jason Papich | Nipomo, CA |
| 16 | 18 | 17T | Shannon Thornsberry | Martin, KY |
| 17 | 20 | 1 | Rick Eckert | York, PA |
| 18 | 11 | 12 | Jason Hughes | Watts, OK |
| 19 | 13 | 28e | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL |
| 20 | 21 | 18k | Brandon Kinzer | Allen, KY |
| 21 | 24 | 8 | Craig Vosbergen | Perth, W. Australia |
| 22 | 15 | 88b | Tommy Bailey | Corbin, KY |
| 23 | 12 | 21h | Kenneth Howell | Lovely, KY |
| 24 | 23 | 26 | Josh Hall | Prestonsburg, KY |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 34
Lap Leaders: Eddie Carrier Jr. (Laps 1 – 45); Jimmy Owens (Laps 46 – 50)
Cautions: Kenneth Howell (Lap 1); Josh Hall (Lap 32); Scott Bloomquist (Lap 34); Kenneth Howell (Lap 44)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: n/a
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Miller Welders Fast Time Provisionals: Josh Hall, Craig Vosbergen
Wrisco Feature Winner: Jimmy Owens
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Started: 17th; Finished: 1st; Advanced 16 Positions)
Keyser Mfg Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Don O’Neal
Allstar Performer of the Race: Eddie Carrier Jr.
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Dunn Benson Ford Rookie of the Race: Jason Papich
Midwest Sheet Metal Highest Finishing Rookie: Jason Papich
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Club 29 Race Cars
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Chris Fox (Jimmy Owens)
HAWK Performance Fastest Lap of the Race: Eddie Carrier Jr. (Lap #2 – 15.186 seconds)
Time of Race: 23 minutes 44 seconds