Knoxville, IA (Saturday, October 2, 2010) - Billy Moyer became the first driver in the 7 year history of the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway to sweep all 3 nights of racing. Moyer who won Thursday and Friday nights preliminary features, then came back to take home the big prize on Saturday night.
The first event on the night was the 15 lap Late Model C-Main, with the top 6 going on to tag the back of the B-Main. John Duty and Rickey Frankel led the field to the drop of the green, with Frankel leading lap 1 over Duty and Kerry Hansen. Frankel would hold the top spot until lap 13, when Duty slipped by for the lead. Duty then led the final 2 laps to claim the win. Frankel held on for 2nd, Hansen was 3rd, Mike Fryer was 4th, Joel Callahan was 5th, with Darrel DeFrance claiming the final transfer spot into the B-Main.
Up next was the 15 lap IMCA Modified B-Main, with the top 8 moving into the A-Main. Ron Pope and Eric Dailey made up the front row for the event, with Dailey grabbing the lead on the drop of the green. Pope, who was running 4th, jumped the cushion in turn 2 on lap 2 and collected Rob Hughes. Hughes would make hard contact with the outside fence to end his night. On the restart Dailey moved back out into the lead, with JJ Wise and Greg Cox battling for second. The second yellow of the event would come out on lap 3 as Josh Gilman got sideways in turn 2, with Jeff Waterman spinning to avoid contact. On the restart Cox jumped to the outside of Dailey to take over the top spot. Cox then held it until the next caution came out on lap 10. Josh Foster, who was battling for the 8th and final transfer spot, slowed to a stop in turn 2 with troubles to end his night. Once again Cox would grab the lead on the restart and then went on to claim the win. Wise held on for 2nd, Jake Durbin was 3rd, Shawn Jerovetz started 15th and passed 11 cars to finish in 4th, Jerry Wilinski came from 12th to finish in 5th, Gilman finished 6th, Tyler VandeKamp came from 16th to finish in 7th, with Mike O'Lear holding on to take the final transfer spot into the A-Main.
Jake Sullivan and Rob Moss led the field to the green in the 20 lap Late Model B-Main, with the top 6 going to the A-Main. But it was fourth place starter Brad Neat who jumped out into the lead on lap 1 over Sullivan, Moss and Jimmy Mars. Neat would hold the top spot until lap 7, when Mars slipped by to take over the lead. But Neat would come back to grab the lead back on lap 8. Neat and Mars would battle for the top spot until lap 13, when Mars finally took the lead for good. Neat settled for 2nd, Sullivan was 3rd, Jason Rauen was 4th, Moss held on for 5th, with Chris Simpson claiming the final transfer spot.
The 25 lap IMCA Modified feature was up next, with Rich Smith and Michael Long leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Long would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Darin Duffy and Todd Shute. Long's lead only last for 1 lap, as Shute slipped under him to take over the top spot on lap 2. The first yellow would appear on lap 7, as Randy Havlik would slow to a stop in turn 2 with troubles. On the restart Shute again moved out into the lead over Duffy, Long, Ryan Ruter and Richie Gustin. The battle up front would come to a stop on lap 8, as Jake Durbin brought the red out. He would roll going into turn 3 to end his night. But he would climb from the car ok! Shute again jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Duffy and Gustin battling for 2nd. Shute started to pull away from the field, when smoke appeared from his machine on lap 14. Duffy was slowly gaining on Shute for the lead, when another caution came out on lap 21 for debris. When Shute slowed for the caution, heavy smoke emerged from his machine to end his run up front. On the restart Duffy would inherit the lead. But the yellow light would come back on, as Richie Gustin slipped in turn 2 and got into Jon Snyder, who came from 7th to 3rd. Snyder would make hard contact into the turn 1 wall to end his night. Another caution on the restart would slow the pace for the final time. This time Long, who was running 7th, tagged the wall in turn 3 to come to a stop. He would collect the car of Mark Elliott, who came from 13th to 8th at the time. Duffy moved back out into the lead on the restart and then pulled away over the final 4 laps to claim the win and the $2,000 top prize. Brian Mullen came from 9th to finish in 2nd, Smith held on for 3rd, Jeremy Mills started 11th and slipped past Gustin on the final lap to claim 4th. Gustin was 5th.
The final event of the night was the 100 lap Late Model feature, with Scott Bloomquist and Billy Moyer on the front row. Bloomquist would grab the lead on the drop of the green flag over Moyer, Earl Pearson Jr. and Tim McCreadie. But the first caution of the event would come out after the completion of lap 1, as Jason Utter spun in turn 1. On the restart Steve Francis, who was running 8th, spun in turn 2 and collected Brad Neat, Darren Miller and Jason Rauen. Bloomquist again moved out into the lead on the restart, with Moyer and Pearson Jr. battling it out for 2nd. The action was slowed again on lap 5, when Bub McCool came to a stop in 3 with troubles. Once again Bloomquist jumped out into the top spot on the restart, with Pearson Jr., Moyer, Darrell Lanigan, who started 8th, close behind. Bloomquist then held onto the lead until lap 7, when Brian Birkhofer slowed to a stop in turn 2 with a left rear flat. On the restart Bloomquist again grabbed the lead, with Moyer, Pearson Jr. and Lanigan battling it out for 2nd. Moyer would slip under Bloomquist on lap 12 to take over the top spot, as Lanigan followed him into 2nd. Moyer started to pull away from Lanigan, when he entered lapped traffic on lap 15 to allow Lanigan to gain on him. Lanigan, who was working the bottom, and Moyer, who was up top, ran laps 20-26 side-by-side. But a caution on lap 26 would slow the battle up front, as Utter came to a stop in turn 4.
Moyer moved back out front on the restart, with Josh Richards, who started 11th, taking over 2nd from Lanigan. Richards tried several times to get by Moyer for the lead. But there battle would be slowed on lap 37, as Kelly Boen, who was running 11th, spun in turn 1. On the restart Moyer again grabbed the lead over Richards, Bloomquist and Jimmy Owens, who started 15th. Richards again tried Moyer for the lead several times, but Moyer started to pull away. Moyer's advantage would be erased on lap 57, when Jimmy Mars, who started 25th and had worked his way to 8th, slowed in turn 1 with tire smoke. His right front nose piece was rubbing the tire to cause the heavy smoke. Once again Moyer jumped out into the lead on the restart, with Richards and Shannon Babb, who came from 21st, battling it out for 2nd. Moyer's lead over the battle for second would be erased on lap 67, as Rick Eckert slowed down the backstretch. Officials would put the red light on, as they decided to stop the cars on the front stretch to allow the teams to add fuel only. On the restart Moyer again grabbed the lead, with Babb holding off Richards for second. But the yellow light would come back on 1 lap later, as Dan Schlieper slowed to a stop in turn 2.
Again Moyer moved out into the lead on the restart, with Richards and Babb still battling for second. The action was slowed again on lap 70, as Matt Miller slowed in turn 1 with a left rear flat. Moyer jumped back out into the top spot on the restart, but was slowed for the final time on lap 71. Owens, who was running 8th, would slow to a stop in turn 1 with a left rear flat. On the restart Moyer again grabbed the lead and then pulled away over the final 29 laps to claim his first Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals. Moyer with his win both Thursday and Friday, worth $7,000 each night, and his win on Saturday, worth $40,000, took home $54,000 for his three nights. Richards won the battle for 2nd, Lanigan came back to finish in 3rd, Francis recovered from his lap 1 spin to finish in 4th, with the man on the move at the finish Will Vaught coming from 22nd to round out the top 5.
Notes from Knoxville: 52 Late Models returned on the final night to try for one of the 30 spots in the A-Main....The top 6 in the C-Main would move into the B-Main, as John VanDenBerg and John Anderson didn't return. VanDenBerg and Anderson where scheduled to start 13th and 14th in the B-Main....Mark Burgtorf made a last lap attempt to get past Chris Simpson for the final transfer spot into the A-Main, but would come up short....Babb on the final restarts would slip back to finish 6th in the A-Main....Mars recovered from his lap 57 yellow to come back to finish in 7th....Owens finished 11th after his lap 71 flat....Eckert came back to finish 15th after his lap 67 yellow....Scott Bloomquist who was running 4th at the time of the lap 57 caution, pulled into the pits to make changes. He crew looked to be changing both rear shocks and tires. They didn't get the work done in time to get Bloomquist out for the restart, so Bloomquist would go 1 lap down to finish in 19th....Ryan Newman was given a provisional and started 31st. He would pass 10 cars to take home a 21st place finish....The top 8 cars in the IMCA Modified B-Main would transfer into the A-Main, as a result of Chris Abelson and Jeff Jones not returning. Abelson and Jones were scheduled to start the A-Main in 11th and 12th....Jimmy Gustin started the B-Main in 8th and had worked his way up to 3rd by lap 8. But he would slow and pull into the pits with troubles on lap 9 to end his night....Eric Dailey, who was running 2nd, in the B-Main slowed on the lap 10 restart and pulled into the pits to end his night....J.D. Auringer started the A-Main in 12th and passed 5 cars to take home a 7th place finish....Josh Gilman came from 21st and passed 13 cars to finish in 9th....JJ Wise started 18th and passed 8 cars to finish in 10th....Bill Davis Jr. came from 16th to finish in 11th....Greg Cox won the B-Main and started 17th. He would pass 4 cars to finish in 13th....Shawn Jerovetz came from 20th to finish in 15th....Clayton Christensen has motor troubles in hot laps and had to scratch from his 14th place starting spot in the A-Main.
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