|
Brian Birkhofer Wins Third Annual SuperClean Diamond
Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway Winning $30,000
WHEATLAND, MO (May 9) - For the second time in three years, Brian Birkhofer
was the winner of the SuperClean Diamond Nationals on Saturday Night at
Lucas Oil Speedway. Birkhofer took the lead on the fifth lap and never
looked back in taking the $30,000 first place prize money. The event was
co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and O'Reilly MLRA Late
Model Series. Dale McDowell, who went to a backup car and started 29th,
managed to finish second followed by 27th starting Billy Moyer finishing
third. Jimmy Mars who started 12th finished fourth and Steve Casebolt
crossed the line in fifth place.
Defending race winner Shannon Babb and David Breazeale started on the front
row of the 75-lap event with Babb taking the lead on the opening lap. The
race began with two green flag laps until a multi-car wreck in turn four
eliminated Terry Casey and James Ward who were among the victims as their
nights came to an end with only two laps in the books.
On the restart Babb held the top spot with Birkhofer running in second after
he had started in third. Brad Neat and Breazeale would go two-wide for
third with Casebolt running fifth. Birkhofer then challenged Babb for the
lead, overhauling him on lap five to take away the top spot. The two
crossed the start-finish line side-by-side for lap six with Birkhofer
officially scored the race leader.
Neat then made a move coming off of turn two on Babb, but the two made
contact with Babb suffering left front suspension damage. He also brushed
the backstretch wall as Babb lost several spots in the running order.
Babb brought out the second caution of race as he stopped on the track with
eight laps in the books. On the restart, Birkhofer lead the field to the
green with Neat in second followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Casebolt, and
Wendell Wallace who made his first appearance in the top five.
Birkhofer was now setting a blistering pace as he started to pick up the
tail end of the field by lap 12; starting to put lapped cars between himself
and Neat. Will Vaught moved into the top five, dislodging Wallace from the
fifth spot.
Birkhofer continued to build his lead in traffic over Neat and Pearson. By
the 20th circuit he had several lapped cars as a cushion from Pearson who
was starting to give Neat a battle for second. With 25 laps scored, it was
still Birkhofer holding a good size lead over Neat, Pearson, Casebolt and
Vaught.
The top five remained the same until Mars closed the gap on the
frontrunners, nabbing the fifth spot by lap 29 just as caution came out for
a stopped Wallace in turn number four. On the Delaware double-file restart,
Birkhofer held the lead with Pearson and Neat racing side-by-side for two
laps with; Neat finally relinquishing the second position to Pearson.
Birkhofer built a huge lead on the restart, opening up a several-car-length
lead as the cars neared the half-way mark of the event. A four-car battle
ensued for second between Pearson, Neat, Casebolt, and Mars. Mars moved by
Casebolt to take fourth as he was on the move a lap later passing Neat for
third.
With 30 laps to go, Birkhofer was on cruise control dominating the race as
he built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead over the field. With 51
laps complete Scott James, who was the last car on the lead lap suffered a
flat tire bringing out caution number four. The action was short this time;
with only two more green flag laps before the fifth and final caution for
Will Vaught, who did a 360 in the middle of the backstretch after receiving
contact from another car, ending his night.
On the final restart, Birkhofer made quick work of the final 17 laps as he
quickly established a significant lead over Mars who took the second spot on
the restart with Casebolt, McDowell and Moyer in the hunt for a top five
finish.
Both McDowell and Moyer had gone to backup cars for the race and towards the
end they were hoping for a caution so they could have had a chance at
Birkhofer. Mars held onto second place until McDowell overtook him with
less than five laps remaining in the race. Moyer then took his turn,
passing Mars for the third position a lap later.
Birkhofer then went on to pick-up his second SuperClean Diamond Nationals in
three years as he went on for a convincing win becoming the ninth different
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series winner in eleven races this season.
In the Sunoco Race Fuels Road to Wheatland Victory Lane, Birkhofer was in
victory for the third time in his career at Lucas Oil Speedway backing up
his Diamond Nationals win in 2007. "I don't know what is about this place,
but we've won a lot of money here, I want to thank Forrest Lucas, all the
Lucas Oil officials and everyone involved here, it's great place to race and
I'm just tickled to death to win this race again," said the 37-year old as
the fans gathered in victory lane.
"Hats off to the track crew, after the rain yesterday they did a good job,
there was a soft spot in one, they tried their best to work on it and it
turned out to be a good race, the MB Custom Chassis and the Pro Power Engine
is just performing flawlessly right now, we are looking forward to having a
really good year."
Birkhofer, the defending Dirt Track World Championship winner has
sponsorship from J&J Steel, Daufeldt Transport, Etchenberger Trucking, S&S
Concrete, 34Raceway.com, Port City Racing, Asi Racewear, Integra Racing
Shocks, McDonald's of the Quad Cities, Baileigh Industrial, Hoosier Racing
Tires and VP Racing Fuels.
McDowell was pleased with his performance after going to a back-up Warrior
Car. "I really needed a yellow there at the end, our luck hopefully is
changing for the better, this is our first time here, what a great facility,
the Lucas Oil Series is so tough when you have people like Bloomquist and
Moyer taking provisionals, you know its tough, we look forward to coming
back here in July," said the driver of the Clint Bowyer
Racing/Chevrolet/Warrior Impala SS.
Moyer went to a back-up Moyer Victory Circle Car and was happy to finish
third. "The car ran really well early on and then got even better as the
race wore on, just like Dale said we both need a caution, but I don't think
either of us had anything for Brian, he was that strong tonight, so
congratulations to him for a great run," said the driver of the Banner
Valley Hauling/Clements Racing Engines #21.
Mars was fourth in the Deppe Enterprises/Pro Power Engines/MB Custom Malibu
with Casebolt having a solid finish placing fifth in his Dixie
Chopper/Cornett Racing Engines/Rocket GTO.
Completing the top ten were Earl Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Scott James,
Brian Shirley and Brad Neat.
In preliminary action Will Vaught set fast time among the 76 entrants on
hand for the event. Heat race winners were Shannon Babb, Brian Birkhofer,
Brad Neat, David Breazeale, Steve Casebolt and Terry Casey. The B-mains
went to Dale McDowell and Bart Hartman.
The next Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events will take place on Friday
Night, May 15th and the Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY and
Saturday Night, May 16th at La Salle Speedway in La Salle, IL. Both shows
will pay $10,000 to win.
To find out more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log on to
www.lucasdirt.com or call the series office at (951) 532-2503.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, May 9, 2009
Lucas Oil Speedway - Wheatland, MO
PRC Fast Time: Will Vaught/14.905 seconds
Hawk Brake First Heat (15 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Shannon Babb, Will Vaught,
John Blankenship, Ray Moore, Chad Mahder, John Mason, Jeep VanWormer, Rylan
Long, Larry Clawson, Jeremy Kelley, Davey Johnson, Josh McGuire, Scott
Bloomquist - DNS
Hawk Brake Second Heat (15 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Brian Birkhofer, Matt
Miller, James Ward, Dale McDowell, John Anderson, Billy Moyer, Rickey
Frankel, Don O'Neal, David Turner, Aaron Seabaugh, Jason Sivils, Todd
Morrow, Brent Kreke - DNS
AFCO Racing Products Third Heat (15 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Brad Neat, Kevin
Cole, Eric Jacobsen, Terry Phillips, Clint Smith, Chris Simpson, Chad
Simpson, Ricky Weiss, Justin Wells, Matt Johnson, Tyler Reddick, Wesley
Briggs, Zachary Goulden
Tiger Rear Ends Fourth Heat (15 Laps-Top 3 Advance): David Breazeale,
Wendell Wallace, Ray Cook, Alan Vaughn, Jack Sullivan, Al Purkey, Bill Frye,
Eric Turner, PJ Haskins, Mike Collins, Steve Rushin, Kelly Boen - DNS, Joe
Kosiski - DNS
AFCO Racing Products Fifth Heat (15 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Steve Casebolt,
Earl Pearson, Jr., Freddy Smith, Brian Shirley, Bart Hartman, Scott James,
Brandon McCormick, Bill Koons, Jason Bodenhamer, Brett Wood, Jeremy Payne,
Larry Jones
AFCO Racing Products Sixth Heat (15 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Terry Casey, Jimmy
Mars, Jimmy Owens, Dan Schlieper, Denny Woodworth, Tony Jackson, Jr., Shawn
Harker, Andrew McKay, Shad Badder, Jeremy Grady, Daniel Eckhoff, Michael
Walker
Mason Racin' Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main (15 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Dale
McDowell, Ray Moore, Chad Mahder, Clint Smith, John Anderson, Chris Simpson,
Billy Moyer, Chad Simpson, Terry Phillips, Jeep VanWormer, Don O'Neal, David
Turner, John Mason, Tyler Reddick, Rickey Frankel, Jeremy Kelley, Rylan
Long, Larry Clawson, Matt Johnson, Aaron Seabaugh, Wesley Briggs, Jason
Sivils, Josh McGuire, Justin Wells, Scott Bloomquist, Zachary Goulden, Ricky
Weiss - DNS, Davey Johnson - DNS, Todd Morrow - DNS, Brent Kreke - DNS
Wiles Drive Shafts Second B-Main (15 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Bart Hartman,
Brian Shirley, Alan Vaughn, Denny Woodworth, Jack Sullivan, Al Purkey, Dan
Schlieper, Bill Frye, Brandon McCormick, Tony Jackson, Jr., Michael Walker,
Shawn Harker, Bill Koons, Mike Collins, Eric Turner, Scott James, Jason
Bodenhamer, Jeremy Grady, Andrew McKay, Shad Badder, Brett Wood, PJ Haskins,
Larry Jones, Jeremy Payne, Daniel Eckhoff, Steve Rushin - DNS, Kelly Boen -
DNS, Joe Kosiski - DNS
33rd Annual Dart Winternationals Night 6 Feature Finish (75 Laps): Brian
Birkhofer, Dale McDowell, Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars, Steve Casebolt, Earl
Pearson, Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Scott James, Brian Shirley, Brad Neat, John
Blankenship, Jimmy Owens, Bart Hartman, Kevin Cole, Eric Jacobsen, Freddy
Smith, Eric Turner, Ray Cook, Ray Moore, David Breazeale, Will Vaught, Alan
Vaughn, Matt Miller, Wendell Wallace, Chad Mahder, Al Purkey
Finish (Start) Car Number Driver Name
-
(3) 15B Brian Birkhofer
-
(19) 17m Dale McDowell
-
(27) 21 Billy Moyer
-
(12) 28m Jimmy Mars
-
(4) c9 Steve Casebolt
-
(10) 44 Earl Pearson, Jr.
-
(25) 0 Scott Bloomquist
-
(29) 83 Scott James
-
(22) 3s Brian Shirley
-
(5) 41N Brad Neat
-
(13) 23 John Blankenship
-
(18) 20 Jimmy Owens
-
(20) 75 Bart Hartman
-
(11) 81c Kevin Cole
-
(17) 5 Eric Jacobsen
-
(16) 00 Freddy Smith
-
(28) 99T Eric Turner
-
(14) 53 Ray Cook
-
(21) 93 Ray Moore
-
(2) 54 David Breazeale
-
(7) 1v Will Vaught
-
(24) 22 Alan Vaughn
-
(9) 7 Matt Miller
-
(8) 88 Wendell Wallace
-
(23) 55c Chad Mahder
-
(26) 33 Al Purkey
-
(1) 18 Shannon Babb
-
(15) w3 James Ward
-
(6) 42T Terry Casey
Race Statistics
Entries: 76
Caution Flags: 5
Lap Leaders: Shannon Babb (1-5); Brian Birkhofer (5-75)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer
O'Reilly MLRA Series Provisionals: Al Purkey, Eric Turner
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Billy Moyer (Started 27th and
finished 3rd - advanced 24 positions)
Allstar Performance Performer of the Race: Dale McDowell
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Jimmy Mars
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: John Blankenship
Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Pro Power Racing Engines
Time of the Race: 44 minutes
2009 Lucas Oil Championship
Points Standings
Scott
Bloomquist (Mooresburg, TN) 1245
Billy Moyer
(Batesville, AR) 1185
Earl
Pearson, Jr. (Jacksonville, FL) 1185
Dale
McDowell (Chickmauga, GA) 1135
Scott James
(Lawrenceburg, IN) 1105
Jimmy Owens
(Newport, TN) 1100
Ray Cook (Brasstown,
NC) 1070
Steve
Casebolt (Richmond, IN) 1065
Josh McGuire
(Grayson, KY) 980
Don O'Neal
(Martinsville, IN) 955
2009 Quarter Master Rookie of the
Year Points Standings
Jeep
VanWormer (Pinconnig, MI) 935
John
Blankenship (Williamson, WV) 855
David
Breazeale (Four Corners, MS) 815
Michael
Walker (Franklin, TN) 620
 |
