McDowell & Owens Open Eldora Speedway’s World 100 Weekend With 25-lap Preliminary Feature Victories

 

Photos by Jim Denhamer

 

ROSSBURG, Ohio. – Sept. 4, 2014 – Experience ruled the night at Eldora Speedway on Thursday with former World 100 and Dirt Late Model Dream winners Dale McDowell and Jimmy Owens both claiming preliminary feature victories during the opening night of the 44th annual World 100.

Fresh off his Dream victory in June, McDowell, 48, of Chickamauga, Ga., claimed the first of Thursday’s two 25-lap A-Mains with a flag-to-flag performance in the caution-free race. Owens, 42, of Newport, Tenn., charged from the 14th starting spot in the second 25-lapper and overtook Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., on his way to victory.

McDowell and Owens, who both earned $5,000 paydays for their UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned victories, will look for even more Big E success as the historic track hosts another preliminary night on Friday and the $47,000-to-win World 100 finale on Saturday.

For Thursday’s action, the event’s 117 entries were split in half by time-trial results with the two groups then completing separate programs of heat races, B-Mains and A-Mains. Claiming the main event for odd-numbered qualifiers, McDowell held off a late charge by eighth-starting Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tenn. Polesitter Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., finished third with 12th-starting Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., rounding out the top five.

McDowell will look to become just the third driver to claim both the Dream and the World 100 in the same the season by parlaying his opening night success into a crown jewel victory in Saturday’s World 100 finale.

“I think the race car’s pretty good, hopefully,” said McDowell, who claimed his first World 100 victory in 2005. “There’s a lot of good racers here. There’s a lot of ingredients that has to go into having a good night. All these guys are professionals and it could be anyone’s night (on Saturday). We just hope we put all the pieces together to make it ours.”

In the feature for even-numbered qualifiers, Owens recovered from his poor qualifying effort to score an impressive victory over Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind. Early front-runners Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Madden both faded late in the race in finishing third and fourth respectively. Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., was fifth.

Jeff Babcock of Wayne, Ohio, led the opening five laps after starting from outside the front row, but he slipped to eighth at the finish of a race slowed by a single caution flag.

With each driver’s best qualifying lap from Thursday and Friday determine starting positions in Saturday’s World 100 heat races, Owens will not only look for another prelim victory on Friday but also a much better qualifying effort.

“We ran into some problems hot lapping and qualifying that put us behind the eight ball all night long. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get a better qualifying run in,” said Owens, whose two World 100 victories came in 2007 and 2011. “I think we’ve got the car to (win Saturday’s finale) if circumstances go our way and we get a good qualifying run in and get in through our heat.”

The World 100 weekend continues on Friday night with a second night of preliminary competition. Time trials will again split the field into two groups for heat races, B-Mains and 25-lap features that will pay $5,000 to win.

The blockbuster weekend concludes Saturday night with World 100 heat races B-Mains and the 100-lap, $47,000-to-win A-Main.

Hot laps are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Friday with time trials to follow. Racing will get under way at 8 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 or www.DirtonDirt.com.

Odd-Number Qualifiers Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Randy Weaver, 3. Gregg Satterlee, 4. Brian Birkhofer, 5. Jimmy Mars, 6. Brad Neat, 7. Cody Mahoney, 8. Darrell Lanigan, 9. Terry Phillips, 10. Tyler Reddick, 11. Brandon Sheppard, 12. Jason Feger, 13. Jonathan Davenport, 14. Eric Wells, 15. Devin Moran, 16. Chris Brown, 17. Matt Miller, 18. Ryan Gustin, 19. Wendell Wallace, 20. Curtis Roberts, 21. Austin Hubbard, 22. Mike Marlar, 23. Chase Junghans, 24. Rusty Schlenk.

Even-Number Qualifiers Feature Finish (25 laps): 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Kent Robinson, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Chris Madden, 5. Frank Heckenast Jr., 6. John Blankenship, 7. Billy Moyer Jr., 8. Jeff Babcock, 9. Brian Shirley, 10. Earl Pearson Jr., 11. Shane Clanton, 12. Chris Simpson, 13. Doug Drown, 14. Dustin Linville, 15. Mason Zeigler, 16. Steve Francis, 17. Dennis Erb Jr., 18. Eddie Carrier Jr., 19. Jason Hughes, 20. Greg Johnson, 21. Jerry Bowersock, 22. Bobby Pierce, 23. Brandon Overton, 24. Randy Korte.

Time Trials: 1. Brad Neat 15.667; 2. John Blankenship 15.669; 3. Randy Weaver 15.781; 4. Shane Clanton 15.824; 5. Darrell Lanigan, 15.844; 6. Brian Shirley, 15.869; 7. Jimmy Mars, 15.938; 8. Bobby Pierce, 15.956; 9. Mike Marlar, 15.985; 10. Jeff Babcock, 16.025; 11. Brian Birkhofer, 16.051; 12. Chris Madden, 16.052; 13. Tyler Reddick, 16.065; 14. Chris Simpson, 16.086; 15. Jason Feger, 16.086; 16.Tim McCreadie, 16.090; 17. Cody Mahoney, 16.094; 18. Kent Robinson, 16.107; 19. Brandon Sheppard, 16.120; 20. Steve Francis, 16.126; 21. Eddie Carrier Jr., 16.160; 22. Gregg Satterlee, 16.187; 23. Frank Heckenast Jr., 16.200; 24. Terry Phillips, 16.213; 25. Jason Hughes, 16.214; 26. Scott Bloomquist, 16.215; 27. Wayne Chinn, 16.218; 28. Don O’Neal, 16.226; 29. Dustin Linville, 16.227; 30. Chris Brown, 16.237; 31. Greg Johnson, 16.253; 32. Austin Hubbard, 16.254; 33. Billy Moyer 16.266; 34. Wendell Wallace 16.277; 35. Curtis Roberts 16.279; 36. Billy Moyer Jr. 16.279; 37. Scott James 16.293; 38. Tim Lance 16.295; 39. Randy Korte 16.303; 40. Jared Landers 16.322; 41. Mason Zeigler 16.327; 42. Vic Hill 16.334; 43. Brandon Overton 16.343; 44. Chase Junghans 16.360; 45. Jerry Bowersock 16.378; 46. Rusty Schlenk 16.383; 47. Doug Drown 16.411; 48. Matt Miller 16.415; 49. Earl Pearson Jr. 16.439; 50. R.J. Conley 16.456; 51. Jimmy Owens 16.457; 52. Rick Eckert 16.457; 53. Shannon Babb 16.460; 54. Jason Riggs 16.467; 55. Shannon 16.488; 56. Steve Casebolt 16.509; 57. Dennis Erb Jr. 16.519; 58. James Rice 16.520; 59. Rod Conley 16.545; 60. Casey Noonan 16.548; 61. Jacob Hawkins 16.576; 62. Mike Spatola 16.578; 63. Donald McIntosh 16.622; 64. Billy Ogle Jr. 16.622; 65. Brett Wyatt 16.632; 66. Delmas Conley 16.658; 67. Tanner English 16.667; 68. Jonathan Davenport 16.692; 69; Jeep Van Wormer 16.697; 70. Josh Adkins 16.709; 71. Duane Chamberlain 16.711; 72. David Breazeale 16.728; 73. Chad Ruhlman 16.745; 74. Devin Moran 16.748; 75. Aaron Scott 16.762; 76. Nick Latham 16.765; 77. Bub McCool 16.774; 78. Brandon Kinzer 16.784; 79. Dan Schlieper 16.792; 80. Morgan Bagley 16.800; 81. Steve Lance Jr. 16.828; 82. Brian Ruhlman 16.831; 83. Jay Johnson 16.851; 84. Don Hammer 16.897; 85. Walker Arthur 16.923; 86. Brian Diveley 16.931; 87. George Lee 17.004; 88. Timothy Culp 17.031; 89. Ryan Gustin 17.038; 90. Jim Shereck 17.055; 91. Ross Nicastri 17.061; 92. Mark Dotson 17.073; 93. McKay Wenger 17.081; 94. Terry Wolfenbarger 17.127; 95. Mack McCarter 17.287; 96. J.T. Conley 17.324; 97. Jason Welshan 17.329; 98. Curtis Deisenroth 17.349; 99. Charles LaPlant 17.403; 100. Rodney Melvin 17.408; 101. Brian Gray 17.509; 102. Jon Hodgkiss 17.530; 103. Tim Sabo 17.678; 104. Cecil Eunice 17.716; 105. Don Gordon 18.163; 106. Ron McQuerry 18.249; 107. Bryant Dickinson 18.523; 108. Ernie Cordier 18.530; 109. Rodney Hamblin 19.067; 110. Chris Nash 19.107. 111. Jon Henry 24.186; 112. Austin Smith. Time unavailable: Dale McDowell. No time: Scott Knepley, Scott Bowersock, Eric Wells, Andrew Gordon, Butch Kruckeberg.

Odd-Numbered Qualifiers Heat Race Results

Odd Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Brad Neat, Tyler Reddick, Curtis Roberts, Terry Phillips, Matt Miller, Casey Noonan, David Breazeale, Jon Henry, George Lee, Rodney Melvin.

Odd Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Jason Feger, Randy Weaver, Devin Moran, Ryan Gustin, Mike Spatola, R.J. Conley, Tim Lance, Brian Gray, Scott Bloomquist. Scott Knepley.

Odd Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Eric Wells, Cody Mahoney, Rick Eckert, Don O’Neal, Jared Landers, Ross Nicastri, Nick Latham, Donald McIntosh, Tim Sabo.

Odd Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Mars, Brandon Sheppard, Chris Brown, Jason Riggs, Brandon Kinzer, Vic Hill, Don Gordon, Delmas Conley. Scratched: Butch Kruckeberg, McKay Wenger.

Odd Heat No. 5 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Dale McDowell, Jonathan Davenport, Mike Marlar, Chase Junghans, Austin Hubbard, Steve Casebolt, Morgan Bagley, Don Hammer, Mack McCarter, Bryant Dickinson.

Odd Heat No. 6 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Brian Birkhofer, Rusty Schlenk, Wendell Wallace, Brian Ruhlman, Jason Welshan, James Rice, Josh Adkins, Rodney Hamblin.

Even-Numbered Qualifiers Heat Race Results

Even Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): John Blankenship, Earl Pearson Jr., Chris Simpson, Jacob Hawkins, Jason Hughes, Timothy Culp, Charles LaPlant, Scott James, Chad Ruhlman. Scratched: Austin Smith.

Even Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Shane Clanton, Jimmy Owens, Randy Korte, Wayne Chinn, Aaron Scott, Billy Ogle Jr, Jim Shereck, Jon Hodgkiss, Scott Bowersock.

Even Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Kent Robinson, Brian Shirley, Mason Zeigler, Dustin Linville, Shannon Babb, Bub McCool, Mark Dotson, Cecil Eunice, Brett Wyatt, Andrew Gordon.

Even Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Bobby Pierce, Steve Francis, Brandon Overton, Tanner English, Greg Johnson, Dan Schlieper, Terry Wolfenbarger, Shannon Thornsberry, Ron McQuerry.

Even Heat No. 5 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Jeff Babcock, Eddie Carrier Jr., Dennis Erb Jr., Jerry Bowersock, Billy Moyer, Jeep Van Wormer, Steve Lance Jr., J.T. Conley, Walker Arthur, Ernie Cordier.

Even Heat No. 6 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Chris Madden, Frank Heckenast Jr., Doug Drown, Billy Moyer Jr., Duane Chamberlain, Rod Conley, Jay Johnson, Brian Diveley, Chris Nash, Curtis Deisenroth.

Odd-Numbered Qualifiers B-Main Results

Odd B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Terry Phillips, Ryan Gustin, Matt Miller, Jared Landers, R.J. Conley, Don O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist, Rick Eckert, Donald McIntosh, Casey Noonan, Nick Latham, Jon Henry, Tim Lance, David Breazeale, Ross Nicastri, George Lee, Brian Gray. Scratched: Mike Spatola.

Odd B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Chase Junghans, Wendell Wallace, Austin Hubbard, Brandon Kinzer, Morgan Bagley, Vic Hill, Jason Riggs, Brian Ruhlman, Josh Adkins, Jason Welshan, Don Hammer, Mack McCarter, Don Gordon, Bryant Dickinson, James Rice, Steve Casebolt. Scratched: Delmas Conley, McKay Wenger, Rodney Hamblin.

Even-Numbered Qualifiers B-Main Results

Even B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Randy Korte, Jason Hughes, Dustin Linville, Jacob Hawkins, Timothy Culp, Bub McCool, Shannon Babb, Chad Ruhlman, Aaron Scott, Jim Schereck, Wayne Chinn, Billy Ogle Jr., Jon Hodgkiss, Brett Wyatt, Cecil Eunice, Charles LaPlant. Scratched: Scott Bowersock, Mark Dotson, Scott James.

Even B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer):

Jerry Bowersock, Greg Johnson, Billy Moyer Jr., Billy Moyer, Rod Conley, Tanner English, Duane Chamberlain, Jeep Van Wormer, Brian Diveley, Walker Arthur, Steve Lance Jr., Dan Schlieper, Terry Wolfenbarger, Jay Johnson, J.T. Conley, Shannon Thornsberry, Ron McQuerry, Chris Nash.

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