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Amidst
the fireworks, Shane Clanton stand victorious after winning the
annual Dirt Late Model Dream
at Eldora Speedwat Saturday night. CNO
Photo by Nancy Lane-Feldner, Split Second Sports
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Clanton gets
Dirt Late Model Dream Win
Ferris Commercial Mowers Sponsored Victory Worth $100,000
ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 9) – He had just captured Saturday’s Dirt Late
Model Dream presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers at Eldora Speedway in
a flawless run, when the question was asked near the end of his press
conference – “which win is your favorite, tonight’s Dirt Late Model
Dream or the World 100 in 2008?”
Shane Clanton started on the outside pole and the Fayetteville, GA
veteran never relinquished the lead throughout the 100-lap event, en
route to the $100,000 payday. The win over a field of 98
cars at the two-day event put Clanton in exclusive company. He became
the fifth driver to win both the Dream and the World at the famed
high-banked, .500 mile speedway joining; Scott Bloomquist, Donnie
Moran, Billy Moyer and Jimmy Owens.
So, which win is his favorite?
“If I said right now I’d say the World because I passed Jimmy Owens for
the win. He’s pretty good around this place,” he said.
Clanton wasn’t too bad himself. He raced to lead from the pole and was
seldom challenged. John Blankenship peeked underneath Clanton in the
second turn with 43 laps complete, but that was as close as Clanton
came to surrendering the lead. At times he led by a straightaway and
was on cruise control with eight laps to go holding a 3.7-second
advantage over the runner-up Blankenship. He won by 3.149 seconds.
Blankenship, who earned $20,000, was followed by Darrell Lanigan, Steve
Francis and Dennis Erb Jr. Clint Smith, Eddie Carrier Jr., Brian
Birkhofer, Moyer and Chris Madden rounded out the top 10.
“That’s nice and I’ll definitely take it. But $100,000 would’ve been
better,” the driver from Williamson, W.Va., said. “It’s a bad race to
come up short in. The car was awesome, but Clanton’s was a little
better,” said Blankenship, whose best finish prior to Saturday’s race
was 8th in 2010. “Kudos to him he ran a great race. I would’ve liked to
get up there with him and mixed it up more.”
Clanton never gave him a chance. Running in clean air Clanton clicked
off the laps in rapid fashion. Three cautions bunched up the field for
the new double-file restarts, but no one had anything for Clanton.
Scott Bloomquist, who finished 21st, appeared to take the lead after 23
laps were complete but race officials ruled he jumped the restart.
“Scott fired 10 car lengths before we were supposed to,” Clanton said.
“(Race officials) were telling the whole time the race leader’s got the
race in control. It was my job to start the race, not Scott’s. I wasn’t
gonna let him just go and fire with him.”
Clanton survived restarts after 44 laps and 66 laps were complete. He
followed the back of the pack the final five laps with no need to
chance getting taken out in traffic.
“I said just stay as far ahead as you can if you hear somebody then you
can go. I never heard nobody so I just rode right there behind them,”
said Clanton, who also at times checked Eldora’s big video board in
turn 2 to how close Blankenship or anyone else was behind him.
“I was just driving, made my laps and wanted the end of the race to
hurry up and get there,” Clanton said.
“That’s a dream come true. To win it is special, to win the World also,
prestige can’t get no bigger than these two races. I had a shot to win
in 2010 and a part failure cost us a shot to win then. Everything held
together tonight and we came out victorious.”
Madden of Gaffney, S.C., won the B-Main and Doug Drown of Wooster,
Ohio, won the C-Main.
Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., won the B-Scramble and Chris Wall of
Holden, La., won the C-Scramble. Both awarded $1,000 to the winner and
full UMP DIRTcar points to the field.
Klint Byars, Bloomquist, Steve Shaver, Jeep Van Wormer, Clanton and
Brian Shirley all earned heat wins.
In other notes from the Dream:
Owens, the 2009 Dream winner, failed to make the feature to snap his
streak at eight straight. That leaves Scott Bloomquist with the most
consecutive Dream feature appearances at nine, including his 2012
appearance.
In the sixth heat, 1997 Dream winner Jimmy Mars took a wild ride down
the front stretch. Mars was driving on the outside and Dale McDowell on
the inside when the two made contact just past the flag stand. Mars’
car climbed the wall before going airborne into the first turn. His
late model did three barrel rolls before coming to a rest on its tires.
Mars was not injured.
“I’m alright. I’m disappointed. We had a good car,” he said. “I don’t
know. I had one groove and Dale had five. I ran alongside him and you
see what I got.”
“My apologies go out to Jimmy,” McDowell said. “We don’t have radios in
these things so I had no idea he was there until it was too late.”
With the support of the Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group and
its Ferris brand, the commercial mower industry leader, the event
posted awards of nearly $210,000.
Eldora Speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 30, with the Chevy
Performance FASTRAK Clash. The FASTRAK Pro Late Models, UMP DIRTcar
Modifieds and Eldora Stocks will all be in action and a fireworks
display will also highlight the night’s action. For event information,
campsites and to purchase race tickets for the Chevy Performance
FASTRAK Clash, and other Eldora events including the 29th annual Kings
Royal Weekend on July 13-14, visit www.EldoraSpeedway.com 24 hours a
day or call the speedway office (937) 338-3815.
UMP DIRTcar Late Model
QUALIFYING FEATURE 1 - 1. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [1]; 2. 31-Scott Creel
[3]; 3. 17D-Ronnie Dehaven [8]; 4. 1N-Casey Noonan [2]; 5. 19-Chad
Smith [4]; 6. 2-Justin Chance [13]; 7. F5-B J Robinson [7]; 8.
1WC-Wayne Chinn [5]; 9. 44-Greg Kendall [9]; 10. 36-Matt Irey [10]; 11.
33-Don Gordon [11]; 12. 17-Shannon Thornsberry [DNS]; 13. 1V-Will
Vaught [DNS];
QUALIFYING FEATURE 2 - 1. 1B-Jeff Babcock [4]; 2. 99M-Devin Moran [2];
3. 3D-Austin Dillon [13]; 4. 37-Dennis Franklin [3]; 5. 89-Mike Spatola
[5]; 6. 48-Tim Lance [1]; 7. 26L-Bill Lewis [6]; 8. 92-Cody Scott [10];
9. 30-Mark Voigt [9]; 10. 93-Jay Johnson [8]; 11. 25N-Dustin Neat [7];
12. 99G-Jacob Grizzle [DNS]; 13. 81JR-Jason Riggs [DNS];
QUALIFYING FEATURE 3 - 1. 31C-Shane Cottle [2]; 2. 28L-John Lobb [7];
3. 26K-Tony Knowles [3]; 4. 46-Tim Rivers [1]; 5. 32-Mark Dodson [5];
6. 10-Leon Henderson [6]; 7. 33B-Scott Bowersock [8]; 8. 16-Tracy
Pearson [9]; 9. 11B-James Rice [4]; 10. 38-Kevin Colston [10]; 11.
1W-Dillon Wood [DNS]; 12. 00S-Jesse Stovall [DNS];
HEAT 1 - 1. 5KB-Klint Byers [2]; 2. 44M-Clint Smith [9]; 3. 1*-Chub
Frank [5]; 4. 44CM-Chris Madden [6]; 5. 00S-Jesse Stovall [10]; 6. F5-B
J Robinson [14]; 7. 17D-Ronnie Dehaven [12]; 8. 5-Jared Landers [4]; 9.
20-Jimmy Owens [1]; 10. 44P-Earl Pearson, Jr [3]; 11. 34-Ky Harper [7];
12. 19-Chad Smith [13]; 13. 44-Greg Kendall [15]; 14. 20C-Duane
Chamberlain [11]; 15. 5B-Mike Marlar [8]; 16. 33-Don Gordon [16]; 17.
1V-Will Vaught [DNS];
HEAT 2 - 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist [2]; 2. 21-Billy Moyer [5]; 3. 71-Don
Oneal [3]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard [4]; 5. 24H-Greg Johnson [9]; 6.
3D-Austin Dillon [12]; 7. 79-Doug Drown [10]; 8. 9R-Curtis Roberts [7];
9. 89-Mike Spatola [13]; 10. 30-Mark Voigt [15]; 11. 81JR-Jason Riggs
[17]; 12. 25N-Dustin Neat [16]; 13. 42-Terry Casey [8]; 14. 1B-Jeff
Babcock [11]; 15. 26L-Bill Lewis [14]; 16. 15-Jonathon Davenport [1];
17. A1-Duke Whiseant [6];
HEAT 3 - 1. 6-Steve Shaver [2]; 2. 23-John Blankenship [6]; 3. 75-Terry
Phillips [7]; 4. 25F-Jason Feger [4]; 5. 39-Tim Mccreadie [1]; 6.
26K-Tony Knowles [12]; 7. C9-Steve Casebolt [5]; 8. 11B-James Rice
[15]; 9. 31C-Shane Cottle [11]; 10. 555-Justin Coulter [9]; 11.
111-Curt Spalding [8]; 12. 6K-Michael Kloos [10]; 13. 28C-Eddie Carrier
Jr [3]; 14. 32-Mark Dodson [13]; 15. 33B-Scott Bowersock [DNS]; 16.
1W-Dillon Wood [DNS];
HEAT 4 - 1. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [2]; 2. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr [4]; 3.
29-Darrell Lanigan [1]; 4. 81-Scott James [6]; 5. 11-Tyler Reddick [7];
6. 53-Ray Cook [5]; 7. 15H-Jon Henry [8]; 8. 99-Donnie Moran [10]; 9.
71W-Chris Wall [9]; 10. 31-Scott Creel [11]; 11. 36-Matt Irey [15]; 12.
1WC-Wayne Chinn [14]; 13. 22-Chris Ferguson [3]; 14. 2-Justin Chance
[13]; 15. 1N-Casey Noonan [DNS]; 16. 17-Shannon Thornsberry [DNS];
HEAT 5 - 1. 25C-Shane Clanton [2]; 2. 15B-Brian Birkhofer [4]; 3.
15F-Steve Francis [7]; 4. 18-Shannon Babb [1]; 5. 25R-Josh Richards
[3]; 6. 71C-R J Conley [5]; 7. 57J-Bub Mccool [8]; 8. 99M-Devin Moran
[11]; 9. 48-Tim Lance [13]; 10. 88-Andrew Reaume [10]; 11. 20H-Jacob
Hawkins [9]; 12. 37-Dennis Franklin [12]; 13. 93-Jay Johnson [15]; 14.
92-Cody Scott [14]; 15. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen [DNS]; 16. 99G-Jacob
Grizzle [DNS];
HEAT 6 - 1. 3S-Brian Shirley [2]; 2. 17M-Dale Mcdowell [5]; 3. 3-Matt
Miller [6]; 4. 7R-Kent Robinson [4]; 5. 41-Brad Neat [3]; 6. 18W-Eric
Wells [1]; 7. B4-Jackie Boggs [9]; 8. 10-Leon Henderson [13]; 9.
20J-Jerry Bowersock [8]; 10. 28L-John Lobb [11]; 11. 46-Tim Rivers
[12]; 12. 37H-Jared Hawkins [10]; 13. 28-Jimmy Mars [7]; 14. 38-Kevin
Colston [15]; 15. 16-Tracy Pearson [14]; 16. 00-Jay Sessoms [DNS];
C FEATURE - 1. 79-Doug Drown [2]; 2. C9-Steve Casebolt [3]; 3. 57J-Bub
Mccool [5]; 4. 9R-Curtis Roberts [8]; 5. 15H-Jon Henry [4]; 6.
99-Donnie Moran [10]; 7. 71W-Chris Wall [16]; 8. 89-Mike Spatola [14];
9. 11B-James Rice [9]; 10. 17D-Ronnie Dehaven [1]; 11. 20J-Jerry
Bowersock [18]; 12. 48-Tim Lance [17]; 13. 34-Ky Harper [25]; 14.
88-Andrew Reaume [23]; 15. 31C-Shane Cottle [15]; 16. 99M-Devin Moran
[11]; 17. 46-Tim Rivers [27]; 18. 30-Mark Voigt [20]; 19. 28L-John Lobb
[24]; 20. 81JR-Jason Riggs [28]; 21. B4-Jackie Boggs [6]; 22. 36-Matt
Irey [26]; 23. 555-Justin Coulter [21]; 24. 44P-Earl Pearson, Jr [19];
25. 5-Jared Landers [DNS]; 26. 10-Leon Henderson [DNS]; 27. 20-Jimmy
Owens [DNS]; 28. 31-Scott Creel [DNS];
B FEATURES - 1. 44CM-Chris Madden [1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard [2]; 3.
25F-Jason Feger [3]; 4. 81-Scott James [4]; 5. 11-Tyler Reddick [10];
6. 18-Shannon Babb [5]; 7. 25R-Josh Richards [11]; 8. 41-Brad Neat
[12]; 9. 53-Ray Cook [16]; 10. 26K-Tony Knowles [15]; 11. 57J-Bub
Mccool [21]; 12. 18W-Eric Wells [18]; 13. 3D-Austin Dillon [14]; 14.
71C-R J Conley [17]; 15. 9R-Curtis Roberts [22]; 16. 15H-Jon Henry
[23]; 17. F5-B J Robinson [13]; 18. 79-Doug Drown [19]; 19. 99-Donnie
Moran [24]; 20. 7R-Kent Robinson [6]; 21. 24H-Greg Johnson [8]; 22.
39-Tim Mccreadie [9]; 23. 00S-Jesse Stovall [7]; 24. C9-Steve Casebolt
[20];
A FEATURE - 1. 25C-Shane Clanton [2]; 2. 23-John Blankenship [9]; 3.
29-Darrell Lanigan [16]; 4. 15F-Steve Francis [17]; 5. 28E-Dennis Erb
Jr [10]; 6. 44M-Clint Smith [7]; 7. 28C-Eddie Carrier Jr [26]; 8.
15B-Brian Birkhofer [11]; 9. 21-Billy Moyer [8]; 10. 44CM-Chris Madden
[19]; 11. 3-Matt Miller [18]; 12. 17M-Dale Mcdowell [12]; 13. 11-Tyler
Reddick [23]; 14. 44P-Earl Pearson, Jr [25]; 15. 75-Terry Phillips
[15]; 16. 71-Don Oneal [14]; 17. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [3]; 18. 5KB-Klint
Byers [6]; 19. 1-Brandon Sheppard [20]; 20. 3S-Brian Shirley [1]; 21.
0-Scott Bloomquist [5]; 22. 6-Steve Shaver [4]; 23. 18-Shannon Babb
[24]; 24. 81-Scott James [22]; 25. 1*-Chub Frank [13]; 26. 25F-Jason
Feger [21].
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