News Director 
Story By: LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – BATAVIA, OH – Celebrate family, Independence, and Freedom with four days of racing action at three facilities. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will visit Florence Speedway on Thursday, June 30th, Portsmouth Raceway Park on Friday, July 1st, and Muskingum County Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, July 2nd and 3rd.
On Thursday, June 30th, race teams will vie for a $15,000 top prize in the postponed 36th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial at Florence Speedway in Union, KY. The pit gate will open at 3:00 PM ET on Thursday, with the main and back gates opening at 5:30 PM ET. Hot laps begin at 6:30 PM ET with time trials to follow. In addition to the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Modifieds will compete for $1,500-to-win.
With five back-to-back winners in the event’s history, a local fan favorite, Josh Rice hopes to up that number to six. Tickets are available online at https://florence.getmytix.net/tickets or by calling the track office at (859) 493-0034.
On Friday, July 1st, Portsmouth Raceway Park will host the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the annual Independence 50 presented by Able Air with a complete program of: Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and a 50-lap, $12,000-to-win main event. The Modifieds and Limited Late Models will serve as support divisions on Friday at the Portsmouth, OH track. The pit gate will open at 2:00 PM at Portsmouth Raceway Park. The general admission gates will open at 4:00 PM, with on-track action beginning at 7:00 PM.
The Elite Munitions Freedom 60 will be the largest weekend in Muskingum County Speedway history with two days of action from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, on Saturday and Sunday in Zanesville, OH. Saturday’s program will feature three – 20 lap qualifying features paying $3,000 each to the winner, that will line up Sunday’s B-Mains and 60-lap, $30,000-to-win A-Main event.
The pit gate opens at 2:00 PM ET with the general admission gates opening at 4:00 PM ET and on-track action beginning at 7:00 PM ET on both days. In addition to the edge of your seat action produced by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Saturday will also feature Open Wheel Modifieds, Sport Mods, and Mod Lites. Modifieds, Mod Lites, and Four-Cylinders will serve as support classes on Sunday. Muskingum County Speedway will also have the largest display of fireworks the area has to offer on Sunday. Advanced tickets may be purchased at: https://www.myracepass.com/events/383907/tickets/
The Championship points battle is really heating up as the reigning series champion, Tim McCreadie has been slowly chipping away at Brandon Sheppard’s point lead over the last few weeks. With only 10 points separating third and fourth, Tyler Erb and Ricky Thornton Jr, Earl Pearson Jr isn’t far behind in fifth.
Ashton Winger currently leads the battle for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Year with Garrett Alberson just 60 points behind.
