Las Vegas Motor Speedway
T-Mac outduels James, earns $3,000 in Vegas
By Chris Stepan
DirtonDirt.com correspondentLAS VEGAS, Nev. (Feb. 29) — It didn't take long for Tim McCreadie to hit the jackpot driving the Victory Circle Chassis house car. Roaring to the front from his eighth starting spot, the former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion from Watertown, N.Y., took control from Scott James after a back-and-forth duel and led the final eight laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. | Slideshow
McCreadie's 30-lap victory in the finale of the two-night Las Vegas Dirt Classic paid $3,000 as he drove the Chris Sivesind-prepared No. 75 to a win after Thursday night's third-place performance. McCreadie, who put the deal together to drive for Sivesind on Wednesday, becomes the second driver of a Victory Circle machine to get a major victory in 2008 in addition to fellow former WoO champion Billy Moyer, a six-time winner at Florida Speedweeks.
James, a Lawrenceburg, Ind., driver guesting in a car owned by Oregon's Rick Wyatt, settled for second for the second consecutive night while Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas, Calif., finished third. Steve Drake of San Luis Obispo, Calif., was fourth for his second straight top-five finish and polesitter Chris Shannon of Merced, Calif., rounded out the top five. Canadian invader Mike Balcaen of Winnipeg, Manitoba, rallied from his 20th starting spot to finish eighth.
Third-starting Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., who won Thursday's opener in the Jess Anderson-owned No. H2, barely lasted three laps as his car ended up against the turn-one concrete after an early battle with Hogge.
Shannon took the early lead but quickly faced challenges from James while the Mars-Hogge battle developed behind them in the early laps. After a lap-two caution, Hogge's monster slide job in turn three dropped Mars to fourth, but when Mars tried to answer in turn one on the next lap, they got together. Hogge was able to keep going while Mars was eliminated with right-front suspension damage. Mars' departure assured the end of his four-race winning streak at Las Vegas that started a year earlier.
On the restart, the fifth-running McCreadie jumped up on the high-side cushion and moved into third, then pulled past Shannon a few laps later to grab the second spot as the leading James pulled away. As the frontrunners entered traffic on lap 11, James and McCreadie began a battle of exciting slide jobs and lead-changing passes until A.J. Kirkpatrick's flat tire brought out a lap-22 caution.
On the restart, McCreadie went to the outside and blew past James to take command. A final caution for Nick Bartels' turn-two spin on lap 27 gave James a final shot at McCreadie, but he couldn't find a way past and ended up second. Eighteen of 24 starters were running at the finish, eight on the lead lap in the Leap Day event.
Finish: (1) Tim McCreadie, (2) Scott James,(3) Bobby Hogge IV, (4) Steve Drake, (5) Chris Shannon, (6) Zack Forster, (7) Alex Stanfod, (8) Mike Balcaen, (9) Rob Mayea, (10) Mark Carrell, (11) Greg Walters, (12) Andy Obertello, (13) Jess Anderson, (14) Billy Griffin, (15) Ron Bartels, (16) Ronnie Williams, (17) Darryn Waldo, (18) Chet Buckley, (19) Nick Bartels, (20) A.J. Kirkpatrick, (21) Ed Kosiski, (22) Jimmy Mars, (23) Delbert Smith, (24) Jeremy Shank. Fast quaifier (among 45 cars): James. Heat race winners: Mars, Drake, Hogge, Shannon, James. Dash winner: Shannon. Consolation winners: Kosiski, Kirkpatrick.
