TOYOTA OF KNOXVILLE 75 8/21/09

[Mountain Man]

OWENS OUTDUELS BLOOMQUIST
FOR TOYOTA OF KNOXVILLE 75 WIN

TAZEWELL, TN (August 21, 2009) - The top two drivers in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series thrilled the partisan crowd on Friday Night at Tazewell Speedway as Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN outran Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN in winning the Toyota of Knoxville 75. Owens passed Bloomquist in traffic on lap 21 and then held off the current series point's leader down the stretch to score his third series win of the season. Bloomquist finished second as he now holds a 215 point lead over Owens with eight races remaining. Don O'Neal of Martinsville, IN finished third followed by Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA and 14th starting Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC.

Shanon Buckingham and Bloomquist started on the front row for the 75 lap main event as Bloomquist jumped to the point at the drop of the green flag. An early caution for Shon Flanary would bunch the field up for the first restart of the race as Bloomquist was on the point followed by Owens, who had started third, Buckingham, PRC Fast Qualifier John Blankenship and 4-time track champion, Rick Rogers.

The race went green for five laps until a three car accident in turn two halted the action. Bloomquist would again lead the field on the restart, but two green flags would end with a caution for a slowing Chad Ogle, who was leaking fluid on the race track. Bloomquist and Owens then sprinted away on the restart with Blankenship holding down third followed by Buckingham and Rogers.

The two frontrunning cars of Bloomquist and Owens then entered traffic with 15 laps scored and when Bloomquist got boxed in behind a slower car Owens made the move for the lead coming off of turn number two going by Bloomquist on the top groove to take over the lead on lap 21.

Owens was in front for two laps when Steve Casebolt's flat tire slowed his pace and allowed Bloomquist to restart on his tail. Owens and Bloomquist again showed their strength and a green flag stretch of five laps would already result in the duo entering more traffic as they picked up the back of the pack.

By lap 32 there were four cars in front of Owens as he was hanging on for the lead as Bloomquist was putting on a charge again for the lead. Blankenship was still running by himself in third as Buckingham got shuffled back to eighth on lap 34 after fourth from the start of the race.

Owens kept Bloomquist at arm's length, holding a three to four car length lead at the halfway mark of the race. Blankenship was now getting pressure for the first time in the race for his position as O'Neal was up from his eighth starting spot to challenge Blankenship for third.

The sixth caution of race for Eric Jacobsen on lap 54 would bunch the field up again and on the restart O'Neal was finally able to pass Blankenship for third after several laps of trying. With 60 laps complete it was still the high flying show between Owens and Bloomquist as they were still setting a quick pace around the high-banked oval.

The seventh and last caution of the race would come out for Blankenship who slowed with a flat tire with eleven laps remaining in the race. The final restart of the race would have the capacity crowd on their feet as Owens and Bloomquist would battle it out to the finish.

Owens shot to a three-car length advantage over Bloomquist with five laps to go. Bloomquist kept trying a lower groove off of turn one to try and slice Owens' lead, but Owens hit his marks in the closing laps as he went on to score the win over his chassis builder.

In the Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the third time in 2009 Owens as he always does thanked a multitude of supporters including his car owner, Mike Reece, who hails from Tazewell and was on hand to watch his driver win. "I glad that we can win here in front of Mike and all the great fans we have, Scott and I had a real good race out there, it seemed like we got into traffic quite a bit which happens a lot here, but we got a timely yellow when we needed it, the lapped cars did a great job of letting us by, it's tough out there on this track with traffic, but our car was just really good on the restarts," said the 37-year old driver as he recorded his 12th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win.

The Mike Reece owned winning Bloomquist Race Cars Ford Fusion is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Gantte Appraisals, PRC, Ohlins Shocks, VP Racing Fuels, Red Line Oil, Hoosier Tires, Byrd's Radiator and C&C Trucking.

Bloomquist had his third straight second place finish to keep his points lead over Owens which stands at 215 points with eight races remaining on the schedule. Bloomquist in his Miller Brothers Coal/Sweet Mfg/Bloomquist Races Monte Carlo SS still is winless on the Lucas Oil Series tour in 2009. O'Neal claimed third in the Racing United Marketing/Superior Cleaning/MasterSbilt Race Cars followed by McDowell in the Clint Bowyer Racing/Dollar General/Warrior Impala SS and Ray Cook in the D&R Racing/Hicks and Ingle General Contracting/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo SS.

Completing the top ten were PBM/Erson cams Hard Charger of the Race, Billy Ogle Jr. of Knoxville, TN, Rick Rogers of Knoxville, TN, Shanon Buckingham of Morristown, TN, Brad Neat of Dunnville, KY and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday Night, August 21st, 2009
Toyota Knoxville 75
Tazewell Speedway - Tazewell, TN

PRC Fast Time: John Blankenship/ 11.116 seconds

Hawk Brake First Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Shanon Buckingham, John Blankenship, Vic Hill, Bryan Hendrix, Tommy Kerr, Billy Ogle Jr., Eric Jacobsen, Justin Rattliff, Brian Smith, Jeff Wolfenbarger

Hawk Brake Second Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Rick Rogers, Don O'Neal, Chad Ogle, Ray Cook, David Breazeale, Steve Casebolt, Marty Calloway, Shon Flanary

AFCO Racing Products Third Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson Jr., Dale McDowell, Brad Neat, Steve Smith, Brent Dixon, Freddy Smith, Michael Smith, Michael Walker, Dan Schlieper

Mason Racin' Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main (12 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Eric Jacobsen, Freddy Smith, Steve Casebolt, Shon Flanary, Marty Calloway, Justin rattliff, Brian Smith, Michael Walker, Michael Smith, Dan Schlieper, Jeff Wolfenbarger-DNS

Toyota Knoxville 75 Feature Finish:

Finish (Start) Car Number Driver Name
1. (3) #20 Jimmy Owens
2. (2) #0 Scott Bloomquist
3. (8) #71 Don O'Neal
4. (9) #17M Dale McDowell
5. (14) #53 Ray Cook
6. (16) #201 Billy Ogle Jr.
7. (5) #44x Rick Rogers
8. (1) #50 Shanon Buckingham
9. (12) #41N Brad Neat
10. (6) #44 Earl Pearson Jr.
11. (17) #54 David Breazeale
12. (21) #c9 Steve Casebolt
13. (19) #5 Eric Jacobsen
14. (10) #5H Bryan Hendrix
15. (4) #23 John Blankenship
16. (22) #98 Shon Flanary
17. (18) #1D Brent Dixon
18. (13) #4t Tommy Kerr
19. (15) #3 Steve Smith
20. (20) #00 Freddy Smith
21. (7) #1v Vic Hill
22. (11) #10 Chad Ogle
23. (24) #64 Michael Walker
24. (23) #s9 Dan Schlieper

Race Statistics
Entrants: 29
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-20 (Scott Bloomquist); Laps 21-100 (Jimmy Owens)
Caution Flags: Lap 1 ( Tommy Kerr and Shon Flanary); Lap 6 (Michael Walker and Shon Flanary); Lap 8 (Chad Ogle); Lap 22 (Steve Casebolt); Lap 38 (Eric Jacobsen); Lap 54 (Eric Jacobsen); Lap 64 (John Blankenship)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Dan Schlieper, Michael Walker
Emergency Provisional: none
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Billy Ogle Jr.
Allstar Performance Performer of the Race: Dale McDowell
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Don O'Neal
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: David Breazeale
Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Time of the Race: 54 minutes 07 seconds

Donnie Petty of Tazewell set fast time in Modified Street with a lap of 13.678 seconds and would line up beside Jody Horton for the twenty lap feature. On the second circuit Horton would take the lead from Petty. The first caution came for a wild wreck on the front stretch as Leonard Bray tagged the outside wall and flipped, eventually ending up on his top in turn one. After a few tense moments Bray would emerge under his own power. After the field was reset Petty would pull pitside with mecahnical troubles. Horton would hold on to the lead over Brad Davis and Greg Estes until lap eight when he would spin in turn four giving the lead over to Davis in the Petty's Wrecker Service, West Haven Speed Equipment, Bill Curl Racing Engines powered Camaro. Davis would easily hold off Estes and lead the remainder of the race. Davis's win was protested and after having his motor inspected was found to be legal. Greg Estes was disqaualified as he refused to have his motor further inspected.

Modified Street Finishing Order

1.88 Brad Davis
2.33 Warren McMahan
3.5 Sue Curl
4.24 Allen Holt
5.4 Clyde Overholt
6.21 Dustin McMurray
7.26 Anthony Morgan
8.69 Nick Barnard
9.20 Scottie Atkins
10.7 Dixon Greenwood
11.56 Tony Horton
12.7 Dustin Shaver
13.10M Bradley Llewellyn
14.56J Jody Horton
15.P21 donnie Petty
16.17 Leonard Bray
17.1 Robbie Buchanan
18.9 Darrell Saylor
DQ 31 Greg Estes


For the first time ever on the high banks of Tazewell Speedway the Classic Cars were showcased. These cars are powered by modified four cylinder engines and have bodies modeled after the coupes and sedans of the 1930's. Thirteen cars signed in with Drew Kennedy posting fast time. In the feature Logan Dukes of Knoxville in the Carolina Furniture, Carway Auto Sales, Shields Electronics, American Race Tire sponsored Ford Coupe would record the first Classic Car win at The Taz.

Classic Car Finishing Order

1.6 Logan Dukes
2.51 Matt McCarter
3.4 Tom Conway
4.17 Robbie Sands
5.60 Bubby Bohannon
6.57X Adam Hicks
7.34 Phillip Shockley
8.83 Jay Eubanks
9.5 Phillip Sands
10.57 Drew Kennedy
11.8 Joe Hotrod Keck
12.7 Bart Baxter
13.007 Matt Shockley



In the Pure Street Feature Jonathan Miracle picked up his third win in four weeks in the Thomas Noah Racing Monte Carlo.

Pure Street

1.41 Jonathan Miracle
2.56 Jordan Horton
3.15 jason long
4.2 Steve Smith
5.17 Josh Brock
6.11 Kevin Smith
7.29 Eddie Stewart
8.66 Daniel Reece
9.J35 Josh Chesney
10.48 Charles Barnett
11.10 Daniel Carpenter
12..12 Michael Daniels
13.16 Will Carey
14.1 Brian Carpenter
15.10 Tony Sthingy
16.D2 Gary Dobbs
17.c9 Cecil Stewart

www.tazewellspeedway.net/index.html