9/27/2012
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Billy Moyer Best in Opening Night of Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals
KNOXVILLE, IA (September 27, 2012) – Billy Moyer of Batesville, AR swept to the win on the opening night of the 9th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Thursday Night at Knoxville Raceway. The Hall-of-Famer took the lead on lap eight and pulled away for a convincing $7,000 victory, his 16th win overall this season.
Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, IL, who was looking for his first-ever win at the historic track finished second, followed by Steve Francis of Ashland, KY; Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, IA; and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, WI.
Tyler Reddick of Corning, CA took the lead at the start of the 25-lap main event with Iowa native, Denny Eckrich of Tiffin, IA running in the second position. Reddick held the lead until lap six when Babb took over the top spot. Babb then yielded the lead to Moyer on lap eight after the two ran side-by-side for a couple of circuits.
Moyer, who started third then pulled away in the final 15 circuits to record his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season. “Growing up in Des Moines, I came down here quite a bit to watch my dad race sprint cars, and then I moved away to Arkansas, but this place has always been special to me and my family, we have a lot of sponsors from this area, so it’s always nice to win here, it’s such a great facility,” said the 54-year-old.
“The track was great all night long, those heat races were something else, we started alongside Shannon in the feature and we had a good race, once I got up to him and was able to get around him, the car just handled terrific, even through traffic we were good and it’s nice to have Shannon finish second, so it was a clean sweep for the Moyer Victory Circle cars. They do such a nice job with track here it’s a combination of the layout of the track and the work they do to it, you can come from anywhere and win here, two years ago we were fortunate to sweep all three nights, I don’t know if I can do it again.”
Moyer’s Clements Racing Engines powered Chevrolet is sponsored by Banner Valley Hauling, L&D Trucking, Watters Auto Land, Cooley Transport, Sunoco, Henderson Motorsports, Car City, Midwest Sheet Metal, McCarthy’s One Hour Heating.
Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; Brady Smith of Solon Springs, WI; Brian Shirley of Chatham, IL; Denny Eckrich of Tiffin, IA; and Reddick.
In preliminary action, Scott Bloomquist set the Red Buck Fast Time amongst the 80 entrants, with a lap of 17.277 seconds. Brian Birkhofer, Jesse Stovall, Jimmy Mars, Billy Moyer, and Tyler Reddick won their respective Heat Races. Earl Pearson Jr. won the D-main; Frank Heckenast Jr. won the C-Main, and Brady Smith won the B-Main.
We will resume the 9th Annual Lucas Oil “Late Model Knoxville Nationals” at Knoxville Raceway tomorrow night in Knoxville, IA. The event will include Red Buck Time Trials, Heats, Last Chance Races, and another 25-Lap, $7,000-to-win A-Main! On Saturday, the weekend will be capped off with Last Chance Races and the 100-Lap, $40,000-to-win Main Event!
For more information, log onto www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and be sure to follow the series at www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and www.twitter.com/#!/lucasdirt.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Thursday Night, September 27th, 2012
9th Annual Lucas Oil “Late Model Knoxville Nationals”
Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Brian Birkhofer, Matt Furman, Scott Bloomquist, Terry Casey, Jason Feger, Donnie Moran, Jimmy Owens, Don O'Neal, Jared Landers, Bobby Pierce, Rick Wendling, Mike Wallace, Darrel DeFrance, Earl Pearson, Jr., Scott Lewis, Jill George
U. S. Steel Second Heat (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Jesse Stovall, Austin Hubbard, John Blankenship, Shannon Babb, Brady Smith, Tim Lance, Jonathan Davenport, Billy Moyer, Jr., Lance Matthees, Rich Bell, Charlie McKenna, John Mason, Curt Schroeder, Alonzo Grosse, Nick Marolf, Andy Eckrich-DNS
Simpson Performance Products Third Heat (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Jimmy Mars, Bub McCool, Morgan Bagley, Steve Francis, Chris Simpson, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb, Jr., John Anderson, Chris Spieker, Mike Spatola, Walker Arthur, Ray Moore, Jeff Larson, Dustin Walker, Jay Johnson, Tyler Bruening
HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Billy Moyer, Brian Shirley, Ray Guss, Jr., Kent Robinson, Ryan Unzicker, Rob Moss, Jason Rauen, Chase Junghaus, Steve Lance, Jake Meier, Kevin Sather, Junior Coover, Chad Simpson, Jason Utter, Tim McCreadie, Will Vaught
Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Tyler Reddick, Denny Eckrich, Tim Isenberg, Mike Fryer, Mark Burgtorf, Terry Phillips, Mike Marlar, JR Hotovy, Dave Eckrich, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Duane Treadwell, Brian Diede, Skip Frey, John Duty, Paul Glendenning, Chad Chenoweth
JRi Shocks B-Main (15 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Brady Smith, Jason Feger, Chris Simpson, Terry Phillips, Donnie Moran, Eric Wells, Jimmy Owens, Mark Burgtorf, Tim McCreadie, Frank Heckenast, Jr., Don O'Neal, Jason Rauen, Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport, John Anderson, Billy Moyer, Jr., Jared Landers, Dennis Erb, Jr., JR Hotovy, Tim Lance, Chase Junghaus, Mike Marlar, Ryan Unzicker, Rob Moss
PAC Racing Springs C-Main (15 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Frank Heckenast Jr., Jared Landers, Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie, Will Vaught, Mike Spatola, Charlie McKenna, Rich Bell, Jeff Larson, Lance Matthees, Jake Meier, Dave Eckrich, Brian Diede, Steve Lance, John Mason, Junior Coover, Chris Spieker, Rick Wendling, Mike Wallace, Duane Treadwell, Kevin Sather, Walker Arthur-DNS, Ray Moore-DNS, Earl Pearson, Jr.-DNS
JRi Shocks First D-Main (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer): Earl Pearson Jr., Will Vaught, Tim McCreadie, Jeff Larson, John Duty, Darrel DeFrance, Tyler Bruening, Jay Johnson, Curt Schroeder, Chad Chenoweth, Dustin Walker, Alonzo Grosse, Paul Glendenning, Jill George, Skip Frey, Scott Lewis, Chad Simpson, Jason Utter, Nick Marolf, Andy Eckrich
Feature Finish – 25 Laps: 1. 21-Billy Moyer Sr; 2. 18-Shannon Babb; 3. 15-Steve Francis; 4. 15B-Brian Birkhofer; 5. 28M-Jimmy Mars; 6. 0-Scott Bloomquist; 7. 2-Brady Smith; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley; 9. 50-Denny Eckrich; 10. 11T-Tyler Reddick; 11. 57J-Bub McCool; 12. 7R-Kent Robinson; 13. 42C-Terry Casey; 14. 25F-Jason Feger; 15. 14M-Morgan Bagley; 16. 23-John Blankenship; 17. 75-Terry Phillips; 18. 9T-Tim Isenberg; 19. 58X-Ray Guss Jr; 20. 11H-Austin Hubbard; 21. 5M-Mike Fryer; 22. 6S-Jesse Stovall; 23. 51-Matt Furman; 24. 32X-Chris Simpson
Race Statistics
Entrants: 80
Lap Leaders: Tyler Reddick (Laps 1 – 5); Shannon Babb (Laps 6 – 7); Billy Moyer (Laps 8 – 25)
Caution Flags: Austin Hubbard (Lap 6)
Time of Race: 11 minutes 45 seconds
Submitted By: Jeremy Shields