Monday, June 7, 2010

Cook Survives to Claim the "Show-Me 100"

Wheatland, MO (Saturday, May 29, 2010) - Saturday was night two of the 18th Annual DART "Show-Me 100" at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. This event was co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil MLRA.

After the manufacturing race and three B-Mains the field was set for the 100 lap event in front of a standing room only crowd. Jimmy Owens and Earl Pearson Jr. would lead the field to the drop of the green flag, with Owens grabbing the lead on lap 1. Owens set a fast pace, as he entered lapped traffic by lap 6. The big advantage Owens had built up over the first 9 laps came to an abrupt end on lap 10. Brian Birkhofer got sideways in turn 4 and collected Chris Wall, who took a light roll to bring out the red. Owens who was getting ready to put them a lap down had nowhere to go and was collected up in the wreck, sending him to the rear of the field.

Don O'Neal would inherit the lead on the restart, but was slowed on lap 11 when Owens came to a stop with a flat. Once again O'Neal moved out into the lead on the restart only to be slowed 1 lap later, as Shannon Babb came to a stop with a flat. Steve Casebolt also took advantage of the caution to head into the pits for fresh rubber. O'Neal again grabbed the lead on the restart and started to pull away from the field when another caution came out on lap 21. Dale McDowell, who was running 5th, slowed with a flat to bring the caution back out.

On the restart O'Neal jumped back out into the lead for a couple of green flag laps, as another caution came out on lap 23. Brad Neat would come to a stop with a flat tire. Chris Wall would return to the feature after his lap 10 roll. A few more green flag laps would be run, before the caution came back out on lap 27. This time it was 6th place runner Scott Bloomquist who slowed to a stop with a flat tire. On the next lap Eric Jacobsen would spin in turn 2 to bring the caution back out. Billy Moyer would give up his 5th place spot to head to the pits.

O'Neal continued to lead the field on the restarts, with Terry Phillips and Ray Cook, who started 11th, moving pass Earl Pearson Jr. to battle for the second spot. O'Neal had built up an eight car advantage over the battle for second, when the caution came back out on lap 38. Chris Simpson rolled to a stop on the backstretch.

Once again O'Neal grabbed the top spot on the restart, with Phillips trying to hold off Cook and Billy Moyer Jr., who started 12th. O'Neal again built up a good lead, only to be slowed on lap 50 when Jacobsen spun in turn 2. Again O'Neal moved out front on the restart, but now had Cook stalking him in his tracks. As the battle for the lead heated up, Pearson Jr., who was running 4th, slowed to a stop on lap 52 with a flat to bring the caution back out.

On the next lap, lap 53, Jared Landers would spin in turn 4 to bring the caution out again. O'Neal would survive another restart on lap 56, when Owens got into the turn 4 wall hard to end his night. But another caution would appear on lap 58, as Will Vaught spun in turn 3. On the restart O'Neal jumped out front, with Cook close behind in second. O'Neal, was working the bottom of the speedway, as Cook, was running the top. Cook would work the top to perfection as he slipped past O'Neal on lap 62 to take over the top spot.

Just as Cook and O'Neal waged a battle for the lead, the caution would come back out on lap 65. Jesse Stovall would spin in turn 4. On the restart Cook moved out into the lead, with O'Neal and Casebolt, who pitted on lap 12, battling it out for second. Casebolt would jump to the outside of O'Neal on lap 70 to grab the second spot, and then set his sights on Cook for the lead. As Cook worked the high groove, Casebolt would work the bottom. On lap 73, Casebolt would slip under Cook to grab the top spot and then started to pull away from the field.

A caution on lap 82 would bring the field back to Casebolt's back bumper. This time John Blankenship, who started 29th and was up to 6th, came to a stop with a flat. On the restart Casebolt jumped out into the lead and was starting to pull away again. But disaster would strike Casebolt on lap 89, as he lost the drive shaft going down the front stretch to end his great run.

Cook would inherit the lead on the restart, with O'Neal battling him for the lead. Jimmy Mars would spin in turn 4 on lap 91 to bring the caution out again. On the restart Cook again worked to hold off O'Neal, but the final caution would appear on lap 92. Landers would come to a stop in turn 4.

On the final restart Cook moved back out into the lead and then fended off O'Neal to claim the $30,000 "Show-Me 100". Phillips came home in 3rd, Eric Wells started 27th and passed 23 cars to finish in 4th, Dennis Erb Jr. passed 19 cars after starting in 24th to round out the top 5.

Up next was the 20 lap Modified feature, with Jesse Stovall and Steve Martin on the front row. Martin would get the jump on the drop of the green flag to lead lap 1, with Stovall and Tim Setzer battling for second. Martin held the top spot until lap 10, when he pulled in with a flat tire. Stovall would inherit the lead and then pulled away from the field to pick up his 6th straight win at the track. Setzer came home 2nd, Johnny Fennewald was 3rd, Terry Kirk was 4th, with Chance Bishop coming from 17th to round out the top 5.

Lucas Notes: 73 Late Models and 31 Modifieds took part in the two-day show......Billy Moyer Jr. showed everybody that he was ready to battle with the top drivers in the country. He started the 100 lap event in 12th and had battled his way into the top 3 by the midway portion. But he would slip on the final restarts to finish in 6th....Bloomquist recovered from his flat on lap 27 to work his way back to 7th....Dan Schlieper started 14th and finished in 8th....Brad Neat came back to finish 9th after his lap 23 flat....Mike Marlar started 19th and passed 9 cars to finish in 10th....Blankenship came back from his lap 82 flat to finish in 11th....Al Purkey took an MLRA provisional and started 26th. He would pass 12 cars to take home a 14th place finish....Wall returned to the feature on lap 24, after his lap 10 roll. He would survive to take home a 19th place finish......Jon Sheets started the Modified feature in 13th and passed 7 cars to finish in 6th....Jody Tillman came from 12th to finish in 7th....Josh Greggs started 20th and passed 10 cars to finish in 10th....Kyle Covert came from 18th to finish in 11th....Justin Rexwinkle started 19th and finished in 12th....Jerry Lankton came from 21st to finish in 15th.

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