ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 8) — Taking the lead for good on lap 17, Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., outran Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., to win Friday night’s first 25-lap preliminary feature during Dream XXIV.
Pearson watched race leaders Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., and Davenport fired sliders back and forth before joining the fray himself just beyond the halfway mark. Sliding from third to first as he dove into turn three, Pearson blew by O’Neal and grabbed the lead from Davenport. He then paced the field the remaining distance for a $10,000 victory.
Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., rallied from 17th to finish third, while O’Neal slipped to fourth after leading the first 13 laps. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., completed the top five in a race that ended just after 2 a.m. EST after the evening program was delayed nearly four hours by pesky rain storms working their way across western Ohio.
“I know it’s late, but I’m sure them fans just seen one hell of a race,” said Pearson. “Don (O’Neal) and Jonathan (Davenport) were battling it out up there and they got bottled up in turn two. I just got a run and went in there and slid them. Me and Jonathan traded positions there a couple times. But we drove each other clean. I’m sure these fans will see one heck of a show tomorrow.”
After finishing second to Davenport in a preliminary makeup feature on Friday afternoon after Davenport swept into the lead on the opening lap, O’Neal, the polesitter, made sure Davenport didn’t lead the first lap of the first feature of Friday’s second session.
The 2011 Dream winner pulled ahead of Davenport on the opening circuit and began to ease away. The race was slowed by two cautions before lap 10, but each time O’Neal was able to pull away on the restart. Davenport, the 2015 Dream winner, finally reeled in the leader as the drivers approached the halfway mark. He slid ahead as they exited off turn four, but O’Neal countered to go back ahead.
Davenport finally wrestled the lead away on lap 14, but O’Neal again answered. Contact between the two in turns one and two pinched Davenport up the track, while forcing O’Neal into the outside fence on the back straight and allowed the third-running Pearson to close the gap.
“I caught Don and we starting sliding each other back and forth,” said Davenport. “That last time I guess he thought he had me cleared and I thought he was gonna let me go so at the last second I backed off and just barely caught his quarterpanel. I hate it for him. He had a really good car too. And then I didn’t know Earl has closed back up on us like that. I made a mistake going in (turn) three. I went back to the top where I should have slid in through the bottom and kinda cut that corner off.”
With a huge run down the backstretch, Pearson dove under O’Neal entering turn three and slid ahead of Davenport. Pearson and Davenport then traded sliders again before Pearson finally took the lead for good. Afterwards, a pumped up Pearson was already looking ahead to Saturday. He finished the day tied with Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., at the top of the point standings that are used to set the lineups for Saturday’s eight heat races.
“It was a good points night for us,” Pearson said. “All day was good for us. I can’t say enough for the guys. It’s a dream come true to be up on this stage here at Eldora. I’m sure it’s about 2:30 in the morning, but we’re ready to get after it.”
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ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 8) — Friday afternoon’s Dream XXIV preliminary feature slipped right through Chris Madden’s fingers. Forced to retire early after leading all but four laps of the matinee, the Gray Court, S.C., driver wasn’t going to let that happen again on Friday night.
Starting on the pole of the even feature, Madden dominated all 25 laps, holding more than a straightaway lead over runner-up Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., at the checkered flag. Scoring his first-ever victory at the famed Eldora Speedway, Madden earned a $10,000 payday.
“We had that first race won and it’s nobody’s fault but my own,” Madden said. “I was driving over my head a little bit there and just got too high on the racetrack and got the nose dragging into the cushion and ripped the nose off.
“I’ve been trying to get a win here forever. It’s awesome to get a win here. I love this place.”
Pulling ahead of fellow front-row starter Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba, to take an early lead, Madden set a blistering pace over the field. As second-running Weiss attempted to fight back challenges from Clanton, Madden worked his way through lapped traffic, stretching his lead in the final laps.
“I just knew I needed to hit the lapped traffic at the right spots on the racetrack to be able to clear those guys,” Madden said. “This place you can gain a lot of ground and you can use a lot of ground. I just wanted to make sure I hit my marks right. Everything went our way.”
Moving into third in the early running, Clanton overtook Weiss just past the halfway mark, finishing second to Madden. Fifth-starting Bobby Pierce finished third, with Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., advancing from the 10th starting spot to finish fourth. Weiss slipped back to round out the top five.
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Scott Bloomquist didn’t participate in Friday night’s hot laps. Then he never appeared in line for his spot late in time trials.
When Bloomquist’s crew loaded up his machine and closed the door of the team’s trailer by the end of qualifying, it was clear the Hall of Fame driver wasn’t competing in the evening’s program after finishing third in his afternoon feature. He wasn’t around in the pits, however, to explain his absence nor did his crew shed light on the situation.
Speculation immediately ran wild about Bloomquist’s status — not surprising considering his high profile that always makes him the center of attention (and especially at Eldora) — but the only immediate information was provided by his longtime sponsor Gerald Newton of Arizona Sport Shirts. Around midnight Newton provided an official statement on Bloomquist’s behalf, saying that Bloomquist had called him from the emergency room of the nearby hospital in Greenville, Ohio, where he had gone after he “fell on slick rig steps on his left side” and injured his left rotator cuff. According to Newton, Bloomquist was still being treated in the ER as of 11:48 p.m. and “should be released to possibly race Saturday.”
LATE MODELS – Qualifying 1. 7R-Kent Robinson, 15.265; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens, 15.432; 3. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr., 15.475; 4. 5N-Dustin Nobbe, 15.493; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 15.528; 6. 157-Mike Marlar, 15.533; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb, 15.548; 8. 44-Chris Madden, 15.552; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 15.570; 10. 28M-Jimmy Mars, 15.595; 11. 12-Jason Jameson, 15.602; 12. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 15.613; 13. OK-Freddie Carpenter, 15.615; 14. 1G-Devin Gilpin, 15.625; 15. 4G-Kody Evans, 15.642; 16. 18X-Michael Page, 15.651; 17. 17M-Dale McDowell, 15.652; 18. 1R-Josh Richards, 15.664; 19. 39-Tim McCreadie, 15.676; 20. 25C-Shane Clanton, 15.690; 21. 25-Jason Feger, 15.736; 22. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 15.737; 23. 99jr-Frank Heckenast jr, 15.747; 24. 18J-Chase Junghans, 15.761; 25. 5-Don O’Neal, 15.769; 26. 7-Ricky Weiss, 15.777; 27. 15H-Jon Henry, 15.780; 28. 111-Steven Roberts, 15.804; 29. 1GK-Ryan King, 15.818; 30. 1L-Jared Landers, 15.823; 31. 28-Dennis Jr Erb, 15.827; 32. 22S-Gregg Satterlee, 15.830; 33. 84-Austin Smith, 15.840; 34. B1-Brent Larson, 15.855; 35. 33M-Tim Manville, 15.859; 36. C9-Steve Casebolt, 15.861; 37. 56-Jonathan Rowan, 15.861; 38. 76-Andy Haus, 15.863; 39. 77B-Adam Bowman, 15.870; 40. 1V-Vic Hill, 15.906; 41. 32S-Chris Simpson, 15.914; 42. 1S-Brandon Sheppard, 15.926; 43. 81-Aaron Ridley, 15.928; 44. 71R-Rod Conley, 15.963; 45. 21-Billy Moyer, 15.980; 46. 9-Devin Moran, 15.995; 47. 21JR-Billy Jr. Moyer, 16.003; 48. 33-Jesse James Lay, 16.007; 49. 50-Shanon Buckingham, 16.010; 50. 3-Matt Miller, 16.034; 51. 51-Joey Moriarty, 16.036; 52. 6F-Ryan Fenech, 16.099; 53. 20C-Duane Chamberlain, 16.102; 54. 55-Jeep VanWormer, 16.119; 55. 2H-Nick Hoffman, 16.123; 56. 16B-Tyler Bruening, 16.166; 57. 173-Shad Badder, 16.170; 58. 14G-Joe Godsey, 16.171; 59. 1N-Casey Noonan, 16.195; 60. 4F-Alex Ferree, 16.196; 61. 31-Nick Latham, 16.244; 62. 6S-Blake Spencer, 16.346; 63. 97-Michael Chilton, 16.355; 64. 14-Darrell Lanigan, 16.401; 65. 8-Rob Anderzack, 16.510; 66. C8-Timmy Culp, 16.594; 67. 95J-Jerry Bowersock, 16.683; 68. 31AUS-Paul Stubber, 16.697; 69. 75F-Colton Flinner, 16.706; 70. 14R-Jeff Roth, 16.707; 71. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 16.726; 72. 4B-Jackie Boggs, 16.969; 73. 5D-Bryant Dickinson, 17.509; 74. 4C-Ernie Cordier, 18.013; 75. 399-Ben Nicastri, 99.991; 76. 17E-Lance Elson, 99.992; 77. O-Scott Bloomquist, 99.993; 78. 116-Brandon Overton, 99.994
Heat #1 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 5-Don O’Neal[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 3. 50-Shanon Buckingham[7]; 4. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 5. 17M-Dale McDowell[2]; 6. 84-Austin Smith[5]; 7. 173-Shad Badder[8]; 8. 5D-Bryant Dickinson[10]; 9. 8-Rob Anderzack[9]; 10. 7R-Kent Robinson[4]
Heat #2 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 7-Ricky Weiss[1]; 2. 1R-Josh Richards[2]; 3. B1-Brent Larson[5]; 4. 3-Matt Miller[7]; 5. 28M-Jimmy Mars[3]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 7. C8-Timmy Culp[9]; 8. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 9. 14G-Joe Godsey[8]; 10. 4C-Ernie Cordier[10]
Heat #3 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 15H-Jon Henry[1]; 2. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[4]; 3. 12-Jason Jameson[3]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 5. 33M-Tim Manville[5]; 6. 51-Joey Moriarty[7]; 7. 81-Aaron Ridley[6]; 8. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[9]; 9. 1N-Casey Noonan[8]; 10. 399-Ben Nicastri[10]
Heat #4 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[2]; 2. 4F-Alex Ferree[8]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 4. 6F-Ryan Fenech[7]; 5. 71R-Rod Conley[6]; 6. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[4]; 7. C9-Steve Casebolt[5]; 8. 111-Steven Roberts[1]; 9. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[9]; 10. 17E-Lance Elson[10]
Heat #5 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 1GK-Ryan King[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer[6]; 5. OK-Freddie Carpenter[3]; 6. 75F-Colton Flinner[9]; 7. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[7]; 8. 56-Jonathan Rowan[5]; 9. 31-Nick Latham[8]; 10. O-Scott Bloomquist[10]
Heat #6 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 32P-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 1L-Jared Landers[1]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 4. 1G-Devin Gilpin[3]; 5. 55-Jeep VanWormer[7]; 6. 9-Devin Moran[6]; 7. 76-Andy Haus[5]; 8. 14R-Jeff Roth[9]; 9. 6S-Blake Spencer[8]; 10. 116-Brandon Overton[10]
Heat #7 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 99jr-Frank Heckenast jr[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Jr Erb[1]; 3. 4G-Kody Evans[3]; 4. 21JR-Billy Jr. Moyer[6]; 5. 97-Michael Chilton[8]; 6. 18B-Shannon Babb[4]; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[9]; 8. 77B-Adam Bowman[5]; 9. 2H-Nick Hoffman[7]
Heat #8 – (10)Laps – Top 5 Transfer 1. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[1]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[4]; 3. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 4. 18X-Michael Page[9]; 5. 14-Darrell Lanigan[8]; 6. 33-Jesse James Lay[6]; 7. 16B-Tyler Bruening[5]; 8. 1V-Vic Hill[3]; 9. 4B-Jackie Boggs[7]
B-Feature 1 – (12)Laps – Top 4 Transfer 1. 18B-Shannon Babb[4]; 2. 51-Joey Moriarty[2]; 3. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[7]; 4. 84-Austin Smith[1]; 5. 77B-Adam Bowman[12]; 6. 2H-Nick Hoffman[16]; 7. 8-Rob Anderzack[13]; 8. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[10]; 9. 75F-Colton Flinner[3]; 10. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[8]; 11. 31-Nick Latham[15]; 12. 173-Shad Badder[5]; 13. 399-Ben Nicastri[18]; 14. 81-Aaron Ridley[6]; 15. 1N-Casey Noonan[14]; 16. 7R-Kent Robinson[17]; 17. 56-Jonathan Rowan[11]; 18. 5D-Bryant Dickinson[9]; 19. O-Scott Bloomquist[19]
B-Feature 2 – (12)Laps – Top 4 Transfer 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[2]; 3. 9-Devin Moran[3]; 4. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 5. 76-Andy Haus[7]; 6. C8-Timmy Culp[5]; 7. C9-Steve Casebolt[6]; 8. 33-Jesse James Lay[4]; 9. 111-Steven Roberts[10]; 10. 16B-Tyler Bruening[8]; 11. 14G-Joe Godsey[13]; 12. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[14]; 13. 14R-Jeff Roth[11]; 14. 4C-Ernie Cordier[17]; 15. 1V-Vic Hill[12]; 16. 6S-Blake Spencer[15]; 17. 4B-Jackie Boggs[16]; 18. 17E-Lance Elson[18]; 19. 116-Brandon Overton[19]
A-Feature 1 – (25)Laps 1. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr.[7]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell[17]; 4. 5-Don O’Neal[2]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[14]; 6. 99jr-Frank Heckenast jr[4]; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb[21]; 8. 32S-Chris Simpson[13]; 9. 25-Jason Feger[6]; 10. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 11. 50-Shanon Buckingham[9]; 12. 20C-Duane Chamberlain[23]; 13. 28-Dennis Jr Erb[8]; 14. 12-Jason Jameson[10]; 15. 97-Michael Chilton[20]; 16. 21-Billy Moyer[15]; 17. 21JR-Billy Jr. Moyer[16]; 18. 51-Joey Moriarty[22]; 19. 33M-Tim Manville[18]; 20. 84-Austin Smith[24]; 21. OK-Freddie Carpenter[19]; 22. 4G-Kody Evans[12]; 23. 1GK-Ryan King[5]; 24. 15H-Jon Henry[3]
A-Feature 2 – (25)Laps 1. 44-Chris Madden[1]; 2. 25C-Shane Clanton[6]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[10]; 4. 7-Ricky Weiss[2]; 5. 3-Matt Miller[13]; 6. 22S-Gregg Satterlee[7]; 7. B1-Brent Larson[9]; 8. 157-Mike Marlar[11]; 9. 28M-Jimmy Mars[17]; 10. 18X-Michael Page[16]; 11. 20-Jimmy Owens[21]; 12. 1G-Devin Gilpin[15]; 13. 1L-Jared Landers[3]; 14. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[24]; 15. 14-Darrell Lanigan[20]; 16. 9-Devin Moran[23]; 17. 4F-Alex Ferree[4]; 18. 71R-Rod Conley[18]; 19. 18J-Chase Junghans[12]; 20. 55-Jeep VanWormer[19]; 21. 6F-Ryan Fenech[14]; 22. 5N-Dustin Nobbe[22]; 23. 1R-Josh Richards[8]; DQ. 32P-Bobby Pierce[5]
Courtesy Jim DenHamer
Points following Friday night’s racing are posted below. Heat Race lineups for Saturday night will be posted here once they are made official at the track on Saturday morning.
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