McCreadie Wins Lucas Oil LM Dirt Series Tribute To Don & Billie Gibson

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – WHEATLAND, MO – Tim McCreadie took the lead on lap 30 from race-leader Jimmy Owens and then went on to win the 40-lap, Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson on Friday night at Lucas Oil Speedway. The event was co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil MLRA Series.

McCreadie’s second full-year of running the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour has been off to a fruitful start. He claimed his third win of the season in the Sweeteners Plus, Penske Racing Shocks, Pro Power Racing Engines, Longhorn Chassis No. 39; it was also McCreadie’s first ever win at Lucas Oil Speedway. Owens; who has eight career wins at the track; finished in second in his Ramirez Motorsports, E3 Spark Plugs, Boomtest Well Service, Durham Racing Engines, Rocket Chassis. Don O’Neal’s Clint Bowyer Dirt Motorsports, Peak Antifreeze and Coolant, Clements Racing Engines, Club 29 entry finished third, with Scott Bloomquist and Josh Richards completing the top-five.

Darrell Lanigan led the first 14 laps of the race until Owens charged to the lead. Owens then ran the top line as McCreadie came from the outside of row number five using the bottom groove and closed the gap on the leader. McCreadie then chased down Owens and passed him on lap 30 to take the top spot. McCreadie withstood two cautions late in the race to take his car to victory lane by several car lengths at the end.

“I want to thank the Labonte family for putting faith in me to drive their cars. A Longhorn Chassis won here last night with Earl [Pearson] and we brought home the win tonight. From where we started and as good as the track was, I thought it would be tougher than it was. The car rolled through the corners at the beginning of the race and I was passing cars low and high, it handled like a dream.”

“We showed a lot of speed tonight like last night. But when I got up there with Jimmy [Owens] I knew it would be tough to get by him. He runs so well here, if you can pass Owens here, then you have really done something special. This is my first win here and I will probably never get close to what he has done at this race track. To beat guys like Jimmy and [Don] O’Neal you must be near perfect to get it done. I just hope tomorrow night that we can run all 100 laps consistently, but you never know,” said the 43-year-old driver.

Owens was all smiles afterwards even though he suffered a rare defeat at Lucas Oil Speedway. “We have had so much success here that it’s hard to get down about getting beat tonight. He [McCreadie] was good, no doubt about it. For a guy to come from where he started, that says a lot about this race track tonight. It was a good hard race and I hope the fans enjoyed it. We just have the right set-up for this track and could run anywhere on it tonight.”

“I had some miscommunication with my crew, I was running high and I should have gone down low where McCreadie was running. Anyway, I thought I could get back around him, but he was strong tonight and he deserved the win. We had a good points night again and should get a good starting spot here tomorrow night for the big show.”

O’Neal charged late in the race to capture a third place finish. O’Neal started fifth and battled with Owens for the second spot towards the end of the race. “We had a good car tonight. The crew worked hard after last night, it was a good comeback as well. Tonight’s B-Mains were awesome and I figured the feature would be the same way and it definitely did not disappoint.”

Completing the top ten were Payton Looney, Earl Pearson Jr., Dennis Erb Jr., Mike Marlar, and Chris Simpson.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday, May 26th, 2017
Tribute to Don & Billie Gibson @ 25th Annual Show-Me 100
Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MOMiller Welders Fast Time Group A: Payton Looney / 15.558 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Darrell Lanigan / 15.703 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Payton Looney, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jack Sullivan, Randy Timms, Chase Junghans, Jonathan Rowan, Mason Zeigler, Jason Rauen, Tony Jackson, Jr., Wendell Wallace, Timothy Culp, Blonde Bomber Mitchell

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Dennis Erb, Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, John Duty, Billy Moyer, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Jeff Herzog, Scott Crigler, Boom Briggs, JC Wyman, Al Humphrey

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Don O’Neal, Shannon Babb, Justin Duty, Jon Mitchell, Jeremy Grady, BJ Robinson, Jesse Stovall, Dave Eckrich, Tim Manville, Tanner Mullens, Logan Martin

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Joey Moriarty, Jared Landers, Brantlee Gotschall, Austin Rettig, Mike Stadel, Bobby Pierce, Shannon Scott, Jim Shereck, Bob King, Jason Sivils

ASi Racewear Heat Race #5 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Chris Simpson, Gregg Satterlee, Terry Phillips, Garrett Alberson, Chandler Petty, Mason Oberkramer, Hudson O’Neal, Cole Wells Daniel Jessen

DirtOnDirt.com Heat Race #6 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Josh Richards, Steve Francis, Rodney Sanders, Chad Simpson, Jake O’Neil, Bryon Allison, Gavin Landers, Will Vaught, Evan Hubert, Cliff Morrow

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Mason Zeigler, John Duty, Randy Timms, Jason Rauen, Chase Junghans, Billy Moyer, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Timothy Culp, Jeff Herzog, Tony Jackson, Jr., JC Wyman, Boom Briggs, Blonde Bomber Mitchell, Jonathan Rowan, Wendell Wallace, Scott Crigler, Al Humphrey-DNS

Fast Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Austin Rettig, Jesse Stovall, Bobby Pierce, Brantlee Gotschall, Jeremy Grady, Tim Manville, Logan Martin, Jon Mitchell, Jim Shereck, Dave Eckrich, Tanner Mullens, Mike Stadel, BJ Robinson, Shannon Scott, Jason Sivils, Bob King-DNS

BadBoy Mowers B-Main #3 Finish (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Rodney Sanders, Chad Simpson, Terry Phillips, Jake O’Neil, Garrett Alberson, Mason Oberkramer, Chandler Petty, Hudson O’Neal, Cole Wells, Gavin Landers, Bryon Allison, Daniel Jessen, Will Vaught-DNS, Evan Hubert-DNS, Cliff Morrow-DNS

Feature Finish (40 Laps):

Entrants: 67
Lap Leaders: Darrell Lanigan (Laps 1 – 13); Jimmy Owens (Laps 14 – 29); Tim McCreadie (30 – 40)
Cautions: Mason Zeigler (Lap 32); Darrell Lanigan (Lap 33)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: n/a
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Wrisco Feature Winner: Tim McCreadie
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Rodney Sanders (Started: 24th; Finished: 13th; Advanced 11 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Josh Richards
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Gregg Satterlee
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Pro Power Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Phillip Snellen (Tim McCreadie
Fastest Lap of the Race: Darrell Lanigan (Lap #1 – 15.9852 seconds)
Safecraft Most Laps Led: Jimmy Owens (15 Laps)
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Payton Looney
Time of Race: 16 minutes 43 seconds

Saturday, May 27, 2017 Line-Ups:

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):

Fast Shafts B-Main #2 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):

Bad Boy Mowers B-Main #3 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):

Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 – presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com Feature Line Up: