McCreadie & Lanigan Bag $5,000 Victories On Second World 100 Preliminary Night At Eldora Speedway
Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y — Photo by Mike Ruefer
Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky. — Photo by Mike Ruefer
ROSSBURG, OH – Sept. 6, 2013 – Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., scored $5,000 triumphs in the Twin 25-lap features that highlighted Friday night’s second preliminary program of the 43rd annual DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned World 100 at Eldora Speedway.
Both World of Outlaws Late Model Series regulars took advantage of front-row starting spots to lead their respective headliners from flag-to-flag, but their roads to Victory Lane were far from easy.
McCreadie, 39, recorded his long-awaited first career dirt Late Model win at the high-banked, half-mile oval in the event reserved for the evening’s odd-number qualifiers. He grabbed the lead from the pole position at the initial green flag and was never headed in a caution-free race, but he barely outlasted the late-charging Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., who swiped the runner-up spot from Jeep VanWormer of Pinconning, Mich., on the final lap.
Lanigan, 43, raced off the outside pole to capture the feature for the even-number qualifiers after surviving mid-race challenges from John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., and Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., and outrunning fellow WoO LMS traveler Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., in the final circuits.
McCreadie credited his successful performance to an 11th-hour tire-compound decision he made with his Sweeteners Plus team. Going with soft rubber proved to be his ticket onto Eldora’s famed winner’s stage.
“We got lucky,” said McCreadie, who finished third in a preliminary A-Feature on Thursday night. “We were one of the last guys through tech (prior to lining up for the A-Main) and we waited and we waited – and (then) we saw that tiller get out there (to work on the track surface).
“After watching all those heat races 20s (Hoosier LM-20-compound tires) were way faster than 30s, so we just put a couple on and we held on. We were dying at the end, but with no yellows it was just nice to get out there in clean air and be by myself.”
McCreadie maintained a small advantage over Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., throughout the race’s middle stages, but over the last five tours his edge shrank. The battle for second between Francis, VanWormer and Satterlee was fierce, however, and might have prevented one driver from running down the leader.
Satterlee, 29, slid by VanWormer for second off turn two on the last lap and noticeably closed the gap on McCreadie’s Warrior car rounding turns three and four, but McCreadie was able to hang on to win by 0.776 of a second over the rising Keystone State driver.
“I know we got work to do for a hundred laps because we faded,” said McCreadie, whose career-best finish in six World 100 A-Main starts is a seventh, in 2005. “But we’re gonna be damn happy tonight.”
Satterlee’s second-place run was his best ever at Eldora. He has started the World 100 twice, finishing 17th in 2010 and 25th in ’11.
“We went with three hard tires and right before we went out they watered the racetrack,” said Satterlee, who started fourth but struggled for most of the distance. “We weren’t really where we expected to be for the first 20 laps or so, and then that middle came in and the track kind of got back to where it was. Then the car got to doing what we planned it to do.”
VanWormer, who won a preliminary A-Feature on Thursday night, settled for a third-place finish after starting second. His car’s right-rear corner was damaged when he clipped the outside wall off turn two on lap eight while battling for second with Francis.
Francis slipped to fourth at the finish and six-time World 100 champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., started and finished fifth.
Lanigan, meanwhile, was able to find the prime line around the famed track to keep his Rocket mount at the front of the pack in the nightcap. He secured his first victory at Eldora since the 2006 DIRTcar UMP Nationals.
“We had to move around a little bit and find a couple different grooves,” said Lanigan, who was threatened early by Blankenship and Landers but never let Clanton get close enough to make a serious bid for the lead during the race’s second half. “The car was really good on the bottom, but then we kind of started losing grip down there so I moved to the middle and actually the car got better there.
“Unbelievable car,” he added. “We’ve been working on this car – this is the same car we had at the Dream (where he was involved in a hard heat-race crash), so we had to fix it some. It’s unbelievable now.”
A winner of Eldora’s $100,000 Dream in 2003, Lanigan has never captured the World 100 in 19 career A-Main starts since 1990. His best finish is second, in 1999.
Clanton, who won Thursday night’s second A-Feature, slid past Blankenship and Landers in successive laps to reach second place following a lap-11 restart but ran about one second behind Lanigan for the remaining distance. The former World 100 and Dream winner’s bridesmaid run gave him the best combined finishes of all drivers who competed in the preliminary events.
Blankenship finished third after starting from the pole position. Three-time World 100 winner Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., advanced from the 14 th starting spot to finish fourth and 2006 World 100 champ Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., completed the top five.
Two caution flags slowed the second A-Feature. The first came on lap 11 when Duane Chamberlain of Richmond, Ind., blew a tire and was hit by Dustin Linville of Bryantsville, Ky. Later, on lap 16, Brad Neat of Dunnville, Ky., slowed entering turn one.
Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., was the fastest qualifier in Friday night’s multi-car time trials with a lap of 15.770 seconds. His circuit ended up being the fastest of the two nights of time trials.
With Saturday night’s six 15-lap Dream heat races aligned by each driver’s best lap time from the two rounds of qualifying, Feger’s overall fast time earned him a visit to the Eldora stage during Friday’s program to spin the inversion wheel. It stopped on ‘6,’ setting up a 36-car invert and leaving Feger with the sixth starting spot in a heat race that will transfer the top-three finishers to the World 100.
Among odd-number qualifiers, heat-race winners were Feger, Moyer, Satterlee, Francis, VanWormer and McCreadie. The B-Mains were captured by Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa, Jon Henry of Ada, Ohio, and Greg Johnson of Bedford, Ind.
Even-number qualifier heat wins went to Matt Miller of Whitehouse, Ohio, Clanton, Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., Lanigan and Blankenship, while the B-Mains were topped by Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., Ricky Weiss of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio.
The World 100 weekend will conclude on Saturday night (Sept. 7). The first heat is scheduled to get the green flag at 7 p.m.
Fans can obtain tickets information for the World 100 by going online to www.EldoraSpeedway.com or contacting the Eldora offices at 937-338-3815.
Fans who can’t make it to Eldora in person this weekend can still watch all the action live by purchasing the live Pay-Per-View video broadcast of all three nights of action that is available at www.EldoraSpeedway.com.
For more information on DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcar.com.
Odd-Number Qualifiers Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Gregg Satterlee, 3. Jeep VanWormer, 4. Steve Francis, 5. Billy Moyer, 6. Jason Feger, 7. Brian Birkhofer, 8. Dale McDowell, 9. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 10. Jimmy Owens, 11. R.J. Conley, 12. Tyler Reddick, 13. Eddie Carrier Jr., 14. Dennis Erb Jr., 15. Jonathan Davenport, 16. Chris Madden, 17. Bobby Pierce, 18. Brandon Sheppard, 19. Kent Robinson, 20. Chris Simpson, 21. Greg Johnson, 22. Chub Frank, 23. Ray Guss Jr., 24. Jon Henry
Even-Numbers Qualifiers Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Darrell Lanigan, 2. Shane Clanton, 3. John Blankenship, 4. Scott Bloomquist, 5. Earl Pearson Jr., 6. Jacob Hawkins, 7. Jared Landers, 8. Mike Marlar, 9. Matt Miller, 10. Terry Phillips, 11. Josh Richards, 12. Brian Shirley, 13. Ricky Weiss, 14. Mike Spatola, 15. Morgan Bagley, 16. Vic Hill, 17. Tim Lance, 18. Devin Moran, 19. Don O’Neal, 20. Brad Neat, 21. Duane Chamberlain, 22. Dustin Linville, 23. Casey Roberts, 24. Shannon Babb.
World 100 Preliminary Night No. 2 Time Trials Results (Unofficial):
1. 25-Jason Feger/Bloomington, IL 15.77
2. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 15.872
3. 58-Ray Guss Jr./Milan, IL 15.971
4. 25-Shane Clanton/Zebulon, GA 16.062
5. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.129
6. 20H-Jacob Hawkins/Fairmont, WV 16.141
7. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.154
8. 11-Brad Neat/Dunnville, KY 16.155
9. 55-Jeep VanWormer/Pinconning, MI 16.157
10. 71-Don O’Neal/Martinsville, IN 16.159
11. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.186
12. 23-John Blankenship/Williamson, WV 16.187
13. 99-Frankie Heckenast Jr./Frankfort, IL 16.207
14. 3s-Brian Shirley/Chatham, IL 16.221
15. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 16.237
16. 5-Jared Landers/Batesville, AR 16.242
17. 15-Jon Henry/Ada, OH 16.253
18. 7W-Ricky Weiss/Winnipeg, Manitoba 16.258
19. 11-Tyler Reddick/DuQuoin, IL 16.258
20. 5b-Mike Marlar/Winfield, TN 16.273
21. 49-Jonathan Davenport/Blairsville, GA 16.295
22. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.3
23. 32-Bobby Pierce/Oakwood, IL 16.301
24. 95J-Jerry Bowersock/Wapakoneta, OH 16.305
25. 13-J.R. Hotovy/Hartford, MI 16.331
26. 3-Matt Miller/Whitehouse, OH 16.367
27. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 16.375
28. 25z-Mason Zeigler/Chalk Hill, PA 16.389
29. 1-Jeff Babcock/Wayne, OH 16.397
30. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 16.4
31. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 16.402
32. 1v-Vic Hill/Mosheim, TN 16.406
33. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 16.448
34. 99M-Devin Moran/Dresden, OH 16.449
35. 28-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 16.468
36. 101-Casey Roberts/Toccoa, GA 16.469
37. 28-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 16.479
38. 19-Chad Smith/Miamisburg, OH 16.489
39. b5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 16.501
40. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 16.505
41. 20-Jimmy Owens/Newport, TN 16.529
42. 48-Tim Lance/Brimfield, IL 16.537
43. 14-Henry Cooper/Star, MS 16.554
44. b12-Kevin Weaver/Gibson City, IL 16.567
45. 17-Shannon Thornsberry/Martin, KY 16.573
46. 71c-R.J. Conley/Wheelersburg, OH 16.586
47. 18-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 16.586
48. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 16.593
49. 33-Tim Manville/St. Jacob, IL 16.599
50. 6-Dustin Neat/Dunnville, KY 16.601
51. 44-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 16.601
52. 1WC-Wayne Chinn/Bradford, OH 16.636
53. 97-Michael Chilton/Salvisa, KY 16.639
54. 23v-Ryan VanderVeen/Six Lakes, MI 16.669
55. 75-Terry Phillips/Springfield, MO 16.671
56. 49-Brian Ruhlman/Clarklake, MI 16.68
57. 116-Randy Weaver/Crossville, TN 16.709
58. 21-Jason Montgomery/Jackson, OH 16.718
59. 16-Justin Rattliff/Campbellsville, KY 16.719
60. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.73
61. d8-Dustin Linville/Bryantsville, KY 16.748
62. 32-Chris Simpson/Oxford, IA 16.766
63. 20c-Duane Chamberlain/Richmond, IN 16.769
64. 9t-Tim Isenberg/Marshfield, WI 16.793
65. 17-Brett Wyatt/Crossville, TN 16.801
66. 15b-Brian Birkhofer/Muscatine, IA 16.846
67. 21-Robby Hensley/Walton, KY 16.857
68. 91-Jeremy Nichols/Shelbyville, IL 16.87
69. 72-John Mason/Millersburg, OH 16.871
70. 15-Greg Johnson/Bedford, IN 16.916
71. 11d-Brian Diveley/Springfield, IL 17.043
72. 44-Chris Madden/Gray Court, SC 17.094
73. 11-Ryan Sutter/Ft. Recovery, OH 17.151
74. 46-Tim Rivers/Salem, IN 17.162
75. 81K-Randy Korte/Highland, IL 17.172
76. 48x-Steve Lance Jr./Cuba, IL 17.175
77. 4GH-Jeff Sloan/Charleston, MO 17.211
78. 0-Brad Dyer/Mohawk, TN 17.222
79. 48-Chad Ruhlman/Bemus Point, NY 17.235
80. 1DJ-Doug Drown/Wooster, OH 17.324
81. 18K-Brandon Kinzer/Allen, KY 17.273
82. 34-Ky Harper/Tiffin, OH 17.38
83. 89-Mike Spatola/Manhattan, IL 17.446
84. 93-Jay Johnson/W. Burlington, IA 17.463
85. 2-Justin Chance/Mansfield, OH 17.475
86. 2-Joe Ramey/Ironton, OH 17.503
87. 11-Jeff Watson/Campbellsville, KY 17.548
88. 15-Phil Ausra/Dowagiac, MI 17.632
89. 1N-Casey Noonan/Sylvania, OH 17.635
90. 360-Michael Asberry/Crossville, TN 17.647
91. 77-Steve Kester/Holland, OH 17.705
92. 7R-Kent Robinson/Bloomington, IN 17.762
93. 69-John Mayes Jr./Clyde, OH 17.779
94. 66-Jody Knowles/Tyrone, GA 17.804
95. 3-Brian Gray/Hamilton, OH 17.841
96. 28-Jeff Wolfenbarger/Clinton, TN 17.854
97. 58x-Gary Christian/Broken Bow, OK 17.873
98. 33-Don Gordon/Chatham, ONT 17.907
99. 25s-Jason Smith/Seymour, IN 18.088
100. 23b-Jay Brunson/Dubberly, IA 18.089
101. 88-Andrew Reaume/Blenheim, ONT 18.097
102. 81Jr-Jason Riggs/Harrisburg, IL 18.187
103. 36-Matt Irey/Mansfield, OH 18.188
104. 79-Shane
Unger/Versailles, OH 18.67
105. 98-Mason Combs/Springsboro, OH 18.876
106. 86-Scott Clifford/New Lothrop, MI 19.011
25-Chad Simpson/Mt. Vernon, IA N/T
31-Nick Latham/Winchester, OH N/T
45-Don Hammer/Clinton, IL N/T
1-Doug Zartler/New Lenox, IL N/T
03-Jim Gingery/Bucyrus, OH N/T
9i-Steve Isenberg/Marshfield, WI N/T
Odd-Number Qualifiers Heat 1 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Jason Feger, 2. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Dustin Neat, 5. J.R. Hotovy, 6. Joe Ramey, 7. Don Gordon, 8. Chris Simpson (DNS) Steve Isenberg
Odd-Number Qualifiers Heat 2 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Billy Moyer, 2. Eddie Carrier Jr., 3. Ray Guss Jr., 4. Wayne Chinn, 5. Brandon Sheppard, 6. Tim Isenberg, 7. Steve Lance Jr., 8. Phil Ausra, 9. Jay Brunson (DNS) Don Hammer
Odd-Number Qualifiers Heat 3 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Gregg Satterlee, 2. Brian Birkhofer, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. Jeff Babcock, 5. Ryan VanderVeen, 6. Jon Henry, 7. Jason Riggs, 8. Michael Asberry, 9. Brad Dyer (DNS) Nick Latham
Odd-Number Qualifiers Heat 4 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Steve Francis, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Tyler Reddick, 4. Kent Robinson, 5. Brandon Kinzer, 6. Brian Ruhlman, 7. Kevin Weaver, 8. Jeremy Nichols, 9. Shane Unger
Odd-Number Qualifiers Heat 5 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Jeep VanWormer, 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. R.J. Conley, 4. Greg Johnson, 5. Bub McCool, 6. Jason Montgomery, 7. Ky Harper, 8. Jody Knowles, 9. Scott Clifford
Odd-Number Qualifiers Heat 6 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Chub Frank, 4. Bobby Pierce, 5. Jimmy Mars, 6. Donnie Moran, 7. Jay Johnson, 8. Jeff Wolfenbarger (DNS) Scott James
Odd-Number Qualifiers B-Main 1 Finish (10 laps/top 2 transfer): 1. Chris Simpson, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Tim Rivers, 4. Dustin Neat, 5. Tim Isenberg, 6. Wayne Chinn, 7. Phil Ausra, 8. Jay Brunson, 9. Don Gordon, 10. Steve Lance Jr., 11. J.R. Hotovy
Odd-Number Qualifiers B-Main 2 Finish (10 laps/top 2 transfer): 1. Jon Henry, 2. Kent Robinson, 3. Ryan VanderVeen, 4. Brandon Kinzer, 5. Brian Ruhlman, 6. Jason Riggs, 7. Kevin Weaver, 8. Jeremy Nichols, 9. Brad Dyer, 10. Shane Unger, 11. Michael Asberry
Odd-Number Qualifiers B-Main 3 Finish (10 laps/top 2 transfer): 1. Greg Johnson, 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Jimmy Mars, 4. Donnie Moran, 5. Bub McCool, 6. Ky Harper, 7. Jay Johnson, 8. Jason Montgomery, 9. Jody Knowles, 10. Jeff Wolfenbarger, 11. Scott Clifford
Even-Number Qualifiers Heat 1 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Matt Miller, 2. Josh Richards, 3. Earl Pearson Jr., 4. Brian Shirley, 5. Duane Chamberlain, 6. Jason Smith, 7. Jeff Watson, 8. Chad Smith (DNS) Randy Korte, Henry Cooper
Even-Number Qualifiers Heat 2 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Jared Landers, 3. Scott Bloomquist, 4. Mason Zeigler, 5. Michael Chilton, 6. Brett Wyatt, 7. Casey Noonan, 8. Jeff Sloan, 9. Jim Gingery (DNS) Andrew Reaume
Even-Number Qualifiers Heat 3 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Jacob Hawkins, 2. Morgan Bagley, 3. Terry Phillips, 4. Ricky Weiss, 5. Tim Lance, 6. Steve Kester, 7. Robby Hensley, 8. Chad Ruhlman, 9. Matt Irey
Even-Number Qualifiers Heat 4 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Vic Hill, 3. Brad Neat, 4. Doug Drown, 5. Randy Weaver, 6. John Mason, 7. Shannon Thornsberry, 8. John Mayes Jr., 9. Mason Combs
Even-Number Qualifiers Heat 5 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. Darrell Lanigan, 2. Don O’Neal, 3. Shannon Babb, 4. Brian Diveley, 5. Devin Moran, 6. Mike Spatola, 7. Brian Gray, 8. Justin Rattliff (DNS) Chad Simpson
Even-Number Qualifiers Heat 6 Finish (8 laps/top 3 transfer): 1. John Blankenship, 2. Dustin Linville, 3. Casey Roberts, 4. Justin Chance, 5. Jerry Bowersock, 6. Gary Christian, 7. Tim Manville, 8. Ryan Sutter (DNS) Doug Zartler
Even-Number Qualifiers B-Main 1 Finish (10 laps/top 2 transfer): 1. Brian Shirley, 2. Duane Chamberlain, 3. Mason Zeigler, 4. Michael Chilton, 5. Brett Wyatt, 6. Jason Smith, 7. Jeff Sloan, 8. Casey Noonan, 9. Jeff Watson, 10. Jim Gingery
Even-Number Qualifiers B-Main 2 Finish (10 laps/top 2 transfer): 1. Ricky Weiss, 2. Tim Lance, 3. Steve Kester, 4. John Mason, 5. Randy Weaver, 6. Chad Ruhlman, 7. Robby Hensley, 8. Matt Irey, 9. Shannon Thornsberry, 10. John Mayes Jr., 11. Mason Combs, 12. Doug Drown.
Even-Number Qualifiers B-Main 3 Finish (10 laps/top 2 transfer): 1. Devin Moran, 2. Mike Spatola, 3. Tim Manville, 4. Brian Diveley, 5. Brian Gray, 6. Ryan Sutter, 7. Gary Christian, 8. Justin Rattliff, 9. Justin Chance, 10. Jerry Bowersock
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