Eldora Speedway

Pearson tops Eldora's Dream XVIII qualifying

June 9, 2012, 12:53 am

By Kevin Kovac

UMP DIRTcar Racing

Earl Pearson Jr. heads for fast time honors at Eldora. (jmsprophoto.com)

ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 8) — Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., kicked off the 18th Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Commercial Mowers in fine fashion on Friday night, topping the 98-car field with the fastest lap in time trials at Eldora Speedway. | Complete Dream XVIII coverage

The 40-year-old standout ripped off a lap of 15.476 seconds to start the second round of qualifying, vaulting him past first-round fast qualifier Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind.

Pearson’s time held up for the remainder of the session, putting him in the spotlight on opening night of the prestigious $100,000-to-win DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned event.

“I was worried about O’Neal when he put that first lap down,” said Pearson, who timed second to O’Neal in the first round of qualifying. “I figured he’d come out that second lap and beat that, so we’re happy to end up with fast time.”

Pearson was also smiling after spinning a ‘3’ on the invert wheel, providing him the best possible starting position in his heat race on Saturday night. He will take the green flag from inside row two in the first of six 15-lap preliminaries, each of which transfers three drivers to the 100-lap Dream main event.

A former World 100 winner who drives a Longhorn Chassis for NASCAR veteran Bobby Labonte, Pearson will attempt to start the seventh Dream 100 of his career. He owns a top finish of fifth (2005) in the race that offers the dirt Late Model division’s richest first-place prize.

O’Neal, 47, was unable to better his first-round time of 15.592 seconds, but he still ended qualifying with his MasterSbilt No. 71 second overall. He will start third in Saturday’s second heat race as he bids to become the first driver in Dream history to win the event in consecutive years.

The ‘3’ invert was perfect for the drivers who timed 13-18 in qualifying, handing each a pole position start in a heat. Saturday’s polesitters will include former Dream winners Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., who hit the wall on his second qualifying lap but was fast enough with his first circuit to rank 14th; Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who made a hasty switch to his backup car for qualifying after hitting the turn-two wall during hot laps; Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill.; and Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky.

Friday’s top 60 qualifiers locked themselves into heat-race starting spots. Drivers timing below that threshold were for the first time split into three 20-lap Qualifying Features that paid $1,000 to win, offered full DIRTcar UMP points and provided racers an opportunity to better their starting positions in Saturday’s heat races.

Duane Chamberlain of Richmond, Ind., Jeff Babcock of Wayne, Ohio, and sprint car veteran Shane Cottle of Kokomo, Ind., emerged victorious in the Qualifying Features. Each will start 11th in a heat on Saturday evening.

The driver who gained the most from the new Qualifying Features format was 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and current Nationwide Series regular Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., who started last (11th) in the second race after failing to record a time because he jumped the turn-two berm and ripped off his car’s nosepiece during his first lap. He charged forward to finish third, moving him further up in the heat lineup.

Saturday’s racing program, which begins at 7 p.m., includes six heat races, C- and B-features and the new ‘scramble’ races prior to the $100,000 Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Commercial Mowers.

Heat race lineups

15 laps; top three advance
First heat
Row 1: Jimmy Owens, Klint Byars
Row 2: Earl Pearson Jr., Jared Landers
Row 3: Chub Frank, Chris Madden
Row 4: Ky Harper, Mike Marlar
Row 5: Clint Smith, Jesse Stovall
Row 6: Duane Chamberlain, Ronnie DeHaven Jr.
Row 7: Chad Smith, B.J. Robinson
Row 8: Greg Kindle, Don Gordon
Row 9: Will Vaught
Second heat
Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Scott Bloomquist
Row 2: Don O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Billy Moyer, Duke Whiseant
Row 4: Curtis Roberts, Terry Casey
Row 5: Greg Johnson, Doug Drown
Row 6: Jeff Babcock, Austin Dillon
Row 7: Mike Spatola, Bill Lewis
Row 8: Mark Voight, Dustin Neat
Row 9: Jason Riggs
Third heat
Row 1: Tim McCreadie, Steve Shaver
Row 2: Eddie Carrier Jr., Jason Feger
Row 3: Steve Casebolt, John Blankenship
Row 4: Terry Phillips, Curt Spalding
Row 5: Justin Coulter, Michael Kloos
Row 6: Shane Cottle, Tony Knowles
Row 7: Mark Dodson, Scott Bowersock
Row 8: James Rice, Dillon Wood
Fourth heat
Row 1: Darrell Lanigan, Jeep Van Wormer
Row 2: Chris Ferguson, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 3: Ray Cook, Scott James
Row 4: Tyler Reddick, Jon Henry
Row 5: Chris Wall, Donnie Moran
Row 6: Scott Creel, Casey Noonan
Row 7: Justin Chance, Wayne Chinn
Row 8: Matt Irey, Shannan Thronsberry
Fifth heat
Row 1: Shannon Babb, Shane Clanton
Row 2: Josh Richards, Brian Birkhofer
Row 3: R.J. Conley, Ryan VanderVeen
Row 4: Steve Francis, Bub McCool
Row 5: Jacob Hawkins, Andrew Reaume
Row 6: Devin Moran, Dennis Franklin
Row 7: Tim Lance, Cody Scott
Row 8: Jay Johnson, Jacob Grizzle
Sixth heat
Row 1: Eric Wells, Brian Shirley
Row 2: Brad Neat, Kent Robinson
Row 3: Dale McDowell, Matt Miller
Row 4: Jimmy Mars, Jerry Bowersock
Row 5: Jackie Boggs, Jared Hawkins
Row 6: John Lobb, Tim Rivers
Row 7: Leon Henderson, Tracy Pearson Jr.
Row 8: Kevin Colston, Jay Sessoms