Jared Landers Thrills in First Knoxville Late Model Nationals Win!
by Bill Wright
Knoxville, IA, September 26, 2015 – Persistence paid off for Batesville, Arkansas’s Jared Landers Saturday night at the 12th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Landers drove a steady race, snatched the lead with eight circuits to go and captured one of the crown jewels in late model racing. He was paid $40,000 for a win that was his first ever at the Knoxville Raceway.
Friday prelim winner, Chad Simpson, shot out from the pole to lead early over Jimmy Owens and Scott Bloomquist in the 100-lapper. By lap three, Thursday’s winner, Jonathan Davenport was into the top three, and “Superman” took the point on lap five. Don O’Neal had early speed as well and moved into second by lap seven, but suffered a blown tire on lap 31.
Davenport cruised the first 43 laps, but went up in smoke on lap 44, handing the lead to Owens. Just after the halfway point, Landers moved by Bloomquist for second, while Josh Richards cracked the top five after starting nineteenth. On lap 65, Richards used the cushion to shoot around Landers for second. Landers fell back as far as fourth, but battled by Simpson for third on lap 76.
Meanwhile, up front, Richards drove by a strong running Owens on lap 79 for the lead. Landers also found his way by Owens for second on lap 88. With ten laps to go, you could throw a blanket over Richards and Landers in a battle out front. Landers made his winning move on lap 92, and held off Richards to win by one car length.
Owens completed the podium behind Landers and Richards, followed by Mike Marlar and Darrell Lanigan. Chad Simpson, Chris Simpson, Brandon Sheppard, hard-charger Frank Heckenast Jr. and Steve Francis completed the top ten.
Chris Spieker led from green to checker to win the C main. Jimmy Mars at one time was in the sixth and final transfer in the B main and came back to take that victory.
“On lap five, my seatbelts come undone,” said Landers in Victory Lane. “I was scared to death. I’d never had that happen. I was falling out of my seat and just slowing down. Luckily, we had a caution. The cushion in one and two, when I hit it right, was awesome! We couldn’t run it much, because we had some temperature issues. I thought I’d try it with 15 laps to go. I gave it all I got, and it worked out. This facility is great. This is one of my favorite race tracks! The crowd here is great, and they put such a great race on for us.”
“I guess I was protecting a little too much there at the end,” said Richards. “I just can’t thank the fans here enough. This is one awesome racetrack! I think we’ve been second fourth now. We just couldn’t pull it off.”
“We had a decent car,” said Owens. I couldn’t run the cushion as well as those guys could. We had a good car, we just came up a little short. The track was good. We were just a little tighter than we needed to be. It’s good to bring this car home with a third place finish.”
For more information on Knoxville Raceway, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Late Models Results
C main (started), 15 Laps, 4:42.8: 1. 56, Chris Spieker, Massena, IA (1); 2. 58E, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (3); 3. 74M, Mitch McGrath, Waukesha, WI (6); 4. 50, Denny Eckrich, Oxford, IA (2); 5. 3s, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (4); 6. 6w, RC Whitwell, Tucson, AZ (8); 7. 17s, Jim Shereck, St. Charles, MO (10) 8. 1m, Rob Moss, Iowa City, IA (9); 9. 22m, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (5) / 10. 0KB, Kerry King, Delmar, DE (13); 11. R21, Ray Sveeggen, Beresford, SD (12); 12. 3x, Skip Frey, Swisher, IA (7); 13. 54, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (11) DNS – 93, Jay Johnson, West Burlington, IA, 8, Sonny Findling, Kirksville, MO, 7D, Austin Theiss, Hockley, TX, 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA, 33G, Paul Glendenning, Mt. Ayr, IA, 62, Greg Cox, Kellogg, IA
B main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (5); 2. 14m, Morgan Bagley, Longview, TX (7); 3. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfurt, IL (2); 4. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (3); 5. 7w, Ricky Weiss, Headingley, MB, Can. (1); 6. 28, Eddie Carrier Jr., Salt Rock, WV (12) / 7. 18, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (8); 8. 19R, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (14); 9. 21B, Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL (9); 10. Denny Eckrich (20); 11. 40, Joel Callahan, Dubuque, IA (6); 12. 48, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (16); 13. 91P, Jason Papich, Nipomo, CA (10); 14. Charlie McKenna (24); 15. Mitch McGrath (19); 16. RC Whitwell (22); 17. 58, Ray Guss Jr., Milan, IL (11); 18. Rob Moss (23); 19. Dave Eckrich (18); 20. 29D, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (4); 21. 15K, Justin Kay, Wheatland, IA (13); 22. 31U, Jason Utter, Columbus Junction, IA (15); 23. Brian Shirley (21); 24. Chris Spieker (17) DNS – 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA, 6m, Wendell Wallace, Batesville, AR, 15D, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND, 21H, Brian Harris, Davenport, IA, Jim Shereck
A main, 100 Laps, NT: 1. 777, Jared Landers, Batesville, AR (7); 2. 1R, Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV (19); 3. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (2); 4. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (8); 5. 29, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (9); 6. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (1); 7. 32, Chris Simpson, Oxford, IA (15); 8. B5, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (21); 9. Frank Heckenast Jr. (27); 10. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (24); 11. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (16); 12. 25z, Mason Zeigler, Chalk Hill, PA (18); 13. 17m, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA (23); 14. 28E, Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, IL (13); 15. Ricky Weiss (29); 16. Morgan Bagley (26); 17. 1, Earl Pearson Jr., Jacksonville, FL (11); 18. Jason Feger (28); 19. Joel Callahan (32, pr.); 20. 18B, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (14); 21. 21BX, Chris Brown, Spring, TX (6); 22. 7R, Kent Robinson, Bloomington, IN (10); 23. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (3); 24. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (12); 25. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (17); 26. Eddie Carrier Jr. (30); 27. 5, Don O’Neal, Martinsville, IN (5); 28. 54w, Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH (22); 29. 6, Jonathan Davenport, Williamston, SC (4); 30. Jimmy Mars (25); 31. 58D, AJ Diemel, Elk Mound, WI (20); 32. Spencer Diercks (31, pr.). Lap Leaders: Chad Simpson 1-4, Davenport 5-43, Owens 44-78, Richards 79-91, Landers 92-100. Hard-charger: Heckenast Jr.
Category: Iowa, Knoxville Raceway
