Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – GREENWOOD, NE – On Friday night, there were five heat races in each round of the unique format at I-80 Speedway’s Imperial Tile 9th annual Silver Dollar Nationals.
In the first round, heat one was won by four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion Earl Pearson Jr. who led all the way to pick up the win. Cody Laney finished in the second spot with Corey Zeitner and sixth-place starter Kyle Bronson trailing at the checkers.
In heat two, Tim McCreadie used a restart after a caution flag to take the lead from Allen Hopp as he came from the fourth starting spot to take the victory in the twelve-lap race. Hopp came home in second followed by sixth-place starting Tyler Bruening and Jimmy Owens, who came from seventh.
In heat three, it was all Team Zero, as teammates Chris Madden and Scott Bloomquist finished one-two in the twlve-lap race. Madden won in his first appearance at I-80 Speedway. Mike Marlar came from the 8th starting spot to secure the third-place finish just ahead of fourth-place finisher Devin Moran who started ninth.
In heat four, current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point leader Jonathan Davenport went uncontested for the victory. Mason Zeigler was the big mover of the heat after coming from seventh to finish in second behind Davenport. Brandon Sheppard snared the third spot with Nick Deal in his Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series debut rounding out the top four.
The final heat in round one saw a terrific race between Nebraska native Bill Leighton Jr., Tyler Erb, and Bobby Pierce. Leighton led Erb and Pierce to the line. Leighton went back-and-forth several times in the race for the lead and scored his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series heat win in front of the home crowd. Josh Leonard finished fourth.
The first heat in round two went to three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion Jimmy Owens, who came from the fourth starting position. Bobby Pierce came from seventh to finish in second, with Brandon Sheppard and Dennis Erb Jr. finishing third and fourth.
The second heat in round two was taken by Hall-of-Famer Billy Moyer over Hudson O’Neal. O’Neal stayed close to Moyer for most of the race, finishing one-car length behind at the checkers. Tyler Bruening came from fifth to take third with Nick Deal finishing fourth.
The third heat saw Devin Moran fade to fifth at one point early in the race but recover to capture the victory over Josh Richards, Chad Simpson, and Scott Bloomquist.
The fourth heat went to Mason Zeigler. The 2018 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie-of-The Year continues his impressive runs this weekend by grabbing the win after starting in fourth. Billy Moyer Jr. led for most of the race before yielding to Zeigler. Moyer Jr. was second with Michael Norris and seventh-place starter Tim McCreadie rounding out the top four.
The final heat of the night went to Ricky Weiss as the defending Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 winner cruised to the win by leading every lap. Shanon Buckingham and Tyler Erb had a terrific battle for the runner-up spot with Buckingham taking the spot. Erb was third with Corey Zeitner finishing in fourth.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday, July 19, 2019
Imperial Tire 9th annual Silver Dollar Nationals
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, Nebr.
Round 1:
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish: Earl Pearson, Jr., Cody Laney, Corey Zeitner, Kyle Bronson, Michael Norris, Dennis Erb, Jr., JC Wyman, Andrew Kosiski, Rece Vaught, Stormy Scott
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish: Tim McCreadie, Allan Hopp, Tyler Bruening, Jimmy Owens, Chad Simpson, Shanon Buckingham, Billy Moyer, Jr., Ben Schaller, Blair Nothdurft, Jake Timm
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish: Chris Madden, Scott Bloomquist, Mike Marlar, Devin Moran ®, Terry Phillips, Hudson O’Neal, Jeremy Grady, Chase Junghans, Scott Ward, Ben Sukup
Lucas Oil Products Penetrating Oil Heat Race #4 Finish: Jonathan Davenport, Mason Zeigler, Brandon Sheppard, Nick Deal, Chris Simpson, Dale McDowell, Tad Pospisil, Billy Moyer, Robbie Andersen, Junior Coover
Arizona Sports Shirts Heat Race #5 Finish: Bill Leighton, Jr., Tyler Erb ®, Bobby Pierce, Josh Leonard, Shannon Babb, Josh Richards, Ricky Weiss, Dave Eckrich, Al Humphrey
Round 2:
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish: Jimmy Owens, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb, Jr., Dale McDowell, Chris Madden, Chase Junghans, JC Wyman, Allan Hopp, Al Humphrey
FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish: Billy Moyer, Hudson O’Neal, Tyler Bruening, Nick Deal, Bill Leighton, Jr., Earl Pearson, Jr., Shannon Babb, Stormy Scott, Terry Phillips, Blair Nothdurft
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish: Devin Moran ®, Josh Richards, Chad Simpson, Scott Bloomquist, Kyle Bronson, Josh Leonard, Tad Pospisil, Cody Laney, Robbie Andersen, Jake Timm
Lucas Oil Products Penetrating Oil Heat Race #4 Finish: Mason Zeigler, Billy Moyer, Jr., Michael Norris, Tim McCreadie, Mike Marlar, Dave Eckrich, Andrew Kosiski, Ben Sukup, Junior Coover
Arizona Sports Shirts Heat Race #5 Finish: Ricky Weiss, Shanon Buckingham, Tyler Erb ®, Corey Zeitner, Chris Simpson, Jonathan Davenport, Scott Ward, Ben Schaller, Jeremy Grady, Rece Vaught
Lucas Oil Products Red “N” Tacky Spray Grease B-Main #1 Line Up (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer):
DRIVER
|
INSIDE
|
OUTSIDE
|
DRIVER
|
Nick Deal
|
55d
|
14
|
Josh Richards
|
Kyle Bronson
|
40B
|
21
|
Billy Moyer
|
Cody Laney
|
32B
|
17m
|
Dale McDowell
|
Allan Hopp
|
80
|
04
|
Tad Pospisil
|
Dave Eckrich
|
58
|
18J
|
Chase Junghans
|
Jeremy Grady
|
43
|
98
|
Ben Schaller
|
Ben Sukup
|
101
|
20V
|
Rece Vaught
|
Al Humphrey
|
6H
|
49T
|
Jake Timm
|
FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Line Up (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer):
DRIVER
|
INSIDE
|
OUTSIDE
|
DRIVER
|
Shanon Buckingham
|
50
|
7w
|
Ricky Weiss
|
Billy Moyer, Jr.
|
21JR
|
1J
|
Josh Leonard
|
Dennis Erb, Jr.
|
28
|
32s
|
Chris Simpson
|
Shannon Babb
|
18
|
75
|
Terry Phillips
|
Andrew Kosiski
|
53
|
4W
|
JC Wyman
|
Scott Ward
|
37
|
2s
|
Stormy Scott
|
Robbie Andersen
|
82
|
76
|
Blair Nothdurft
|
Junior Coover
|
10C
|
DRIVER
|
INSIDE
|
OUTSIDE
|
DRIVER
|
Mason Zeigler
|
25Z
|
39
|
Tim McCreadie
|
Devin Moran ®
|
1M
|
20
|
Jimmy Owens
|
Tyler Erb ®
|
1T
|
32P
|
Bobby Pierce
|
Tyler Bruening
|
16T
|
1S
|
Brandon Sheppard
|
Scott Bloomquist
|
0
|
24x
|
Bill Leighton, Jr.
|
Earl Pearson, Jr.
|
1
|
49
|
Jonathan Davenport
|
Corey Zeitner
|
19
|
0m
|
Chris Madden
|
Michael Norris
|
5
|
1c
|
Chad Simpson
|
Mike Marlar
|
157
|
71
|
Hudson O’Neal
|
B-Main Transfer
|
19th
|
20th
|
B-Main Transfer
|
B-Main Transfer
|
21st
|
22nd
|
B-Main Transfer
|
B-Main Transfer
|
23rd
|
24th
|
B-Main Transfer
|
B-Main Transfer
|
25th
|
26th
|
B-Main Transfer
|
LOLMDS Provisional
|
27th
|
28th
|
LOLMDS Provisional
|
I-80 Provisional
|
29th
|
30th
|
I-80 Provisional
|
S&S Showdown – 1st Place
|
31st
|
32nd
|
S&S Showdown – 2nd Place
|
S&S Showdown – 3rd Place
|
33rd
|