Federated Raceway at I-55
Owens rallies from 12th at I-55, grabs $20,000
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Jimmy Owens takes the checkers for his $2,000 victory at I-55. (stlracingphotos.com)
Editor's note: NDRL officials on April 24 disqualified Jimmy Owens after one of his tires failed a lab test.
PEVELY, Mo. (April 13) — Jimmy Owens made a charge to the front in Friday’s first-ever National Dirt Racing League event in Paducah, Ky., but it fell one spot short. He made sure to take the final step on Saturday at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. | Video | Slideshow | Notebook
Taking the lead from Josh Richards on lap 46, Owens led the remainder of the Let’s Get Dirty 55 at the third-mile oval, pocketing $20,000 for his first Late Model victory at the high-banked oval just south of St. Louis.
Owens, who won in the modified division at I-55 in 1998, fought off a lap-51 challenge from Jimmy Mars, then kept runner-up Brian Birkhofer at bay in the late stages en route to victory at the high-banked third-mile oval near St. Louis.
“I know they kept working on the track all night ... and it was just a great track all night long,” said Owens, who used the low groove to slip past Richards just past the midpoint of the feature. “I let my crew and everybody down qualifying — we had a really good car qualifying, and I just messed it up. We were able to rally back through the heat races and everything. (Crew chief) Chris (Fox) put us a good set of tires on for the feature and we were able to bring it home.”
The 10th-starting Birkhofer, of Muscatine, Iowa, got within a half-straightaway with 10 laps remaining, but Owens split a pair of lapped cars on lap 67 and edged back away to win by more than three seconds.
Birkhofer finished ahead of Mars, his fellow MB Customs driver from Menomonie, Wis., who nearly pulled alongside the leading Owens shortly after the lap-49 restart for the flat tire of Richards
Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., who started outside the front row and led the first 22 laps, was fourth and cushion-banging Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., rounded out the top five finishers on a cool evening when 50 Late Models crowded the pits.
Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Friday’s NDRL winner in Paducah, led laps 23-45 but gave up the second spot a flat right-rear tire three laps after losing the lead to Owens. Pole-starting Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., faded to 14th.
Owens was able to make his No. 20 work on different parts of the racetrack whose smooth, even surface allowed drivers plenty of groove choices.
“Early in the night, the track was really, really crummy. I’d think ‘Man, I’ve gotta get up top, or get down on the bottom.’ Finally I got plumb down on the bottom,” Owens said. “All I was thinking was just stay down here. I’ve watched Earl (Pearson Jr.) do it a lot of times on the bottom. Once I got to the lead on the bottom, I really felt like my car was going to be better in the middle.
“And once we moved up, I don’t know if we pulled ‘em or not, but I felt more comfortable running in the middle than I was in the bottom.”
Owens indeed pulled away with about 20 laps remaining, but Birkhofer reeled him in over 10 circuits and was threatening to make a race of it while Owens faced traffic in the form of the low-running Eric Wells and high-running Austin Hubbard. But Owens split the slower cars to build a barrier against Birkhofer, whose chances of catching the winner were doomed.
"The harder I have to race (the car), the worse it gets. So when I can make my own line and make my laps, I was all right, but when I got up behind (lapped cars), they kind of either dirtied the track up or whatever, and I couldn’t make those lines anymore,” Birkhofer said. “And probably me trying to overdrive the car a little bit, too.
“Obviously the track got perfect for him. That track there, he’s dominated a lot of races in that condition. To be able to see him at the end of the race was all right for me. I’m not happy about getting beat, but I’m not one of those guys, I don’t have to win. I want to make money.”
Mars worked the middle groove against Owens after the lap-49 restart, threatening to pull alongside before the leader edged back away. Mars eventually fell back to third behind Birkhofer.
“He made sure he got wide there — he did what he was supposed to do,” Mars said. “Congratulations to him and we’ll keep digging and hopefully I can beat him one of these days, or take a win from him.”
“I thought we were right up in the hunt ... I don’t know. My car would go for a while, then slow down, and I’d slow down with it, then all of a sudden it’d pick back up and starting going again. I don’t have an answer. It felt good.
“The times I needed to push the issue a little bit more than what I was, and I’d actually slow back down there — like I overheated the tire or something. I don’t know. I was happy. We’ll just keep plugging away.”
The feature was slowed by three cautions, none for serious incidents. Scott Bloomquist slowed with an apparent broken axle on lap eight, Brian Shirley slowed in turn two on lap 38 and the final yellow flew for the flat tire of Richards with 26 laps remaining.
Notes: Owens drives a Mike Reece-owned Bloomquist Race Car with a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsorship from Reece Monument, Gantte Appraisals, Red Line Oil, FK Rod Ends and Sunoco Race Fuels. ... The victory was the third overall stateside for Owens in 2013. ... Last-row starter Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., whose car is owned by series founder John Kennedy, rallied from the last row up to fourth by lap 50, but he slipped back to eighth at the finish. ... Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., improved 10 positions in finishing 10th. ... Drivers failing to make the feature: Matt Zimmerly, Chris Parmer, Dane Dacus, Jason McBride, Caleb Ashby, Davey Johnson, Jeff Herzog, Bub McCool, Walker Arthur, Walker Arthur, Jack Sullivan, Chris Shelton, Mike Johnson, Billy Moyer Jr., Dewayne Kiefer, Donnie Moran, Mark Voigt, Jeff Provinzino, Craig Smith, Randy Weaver, Jerry Lierly, Scott Weber, Ron McQuerry, Vic Coffey, Chris Simpson. ... Former Southern All Star champion Mark Miner won I-55’s modified feature. ... Let’s Get Dirty artist Cody McCarver and his band played a concert above turns three and four Saturday afternoon. ... The first-year NDRL, founded by John Kennedy, will be dormant until Sept. 2 at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa.
Let’s Get Dirty 75: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Brian Birkhofer, (3) Jimmy Mars, (4) Billy Moyer, (5) Brandon Sheppard, (6) Dennis Erb Jr., (7) Bobby Pierce, (8) Tim Fuller, (9) Shane Clanton, (10) Don O’Neal, (11) Tim Manville, (12) Shannon Babb, (13) Josh Richards, (14) Eddie Carrier Jr., (15) John Blankenship, (16) Rodney Sanders, (17) Eric Wells, (18) Steve Francis, (19) Austin Hubbard, (20) Jason Feger, (21) Jared Landers, (22) Randy Korte, (23) Brian Shirley, (24) Scott Bloomquist. Fast qualifier (among 50 cars): Richards, 13.457 seconds. Heat race winners: Richards, Carrier, Mars, Feger, Erb, Moyer. Consolation winners: Landers, O'Neal. Provisional starters: Korte, Fuller.
