3 Night Coverage! Owens on Nt. 1 & Birkhofer on Nt. 2... but O'Neal Owns 8th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals at Knoxville

Knoxville, IA | Oct. 1, 2011 - Martinsville, Indiana’s Don O’Neal had not been to Knoxville Raceway since 2004 when he was injured here, but the wait was worth it. He captured the 8th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. The win was worth $40,000 for O’Neal. 19 year old Austin Hubbard led early in the 100-lap event. By the tenth lap, Brian Birkhofer trailed, followed by Scot Bloomquist, Darrell Lanigan and O’Neal. By lap 19, O’Neal had moved by Bloomquist and Birkhofer into the second position as a three-way battle developed for the lead involving O’Neal, Hubbard and Birkhofer. On lap 24, O’Neal shot around Hubbard for the lead.

FINAL A-Main RESULTS (started), 100 laps, Nt. 3:
1. 71, Don O’Neal, Martinsville, IN (8) 2. 15, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (12) 3. 15B, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA (1) 4. 11T, Tyler Reddick, Corning, CA (16) 5. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, IN (5) 6. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (14) 7. 19, Austin Hubbard, Laurel, DE (2) 8. Brady Smith (26) 9. 57J, Bub McCool, Vicksburg, MS (23) 10. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (3) 11. 3s, Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL (21) 12. 777, Jared Landers, Welcome, NC (15) 13. 5B, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (10) 14. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (17) 15. Ray Cook (33, prov.) 16. John Blankenship (25) 17. Brian Harris (28) 18. Frank Heckenast Jr. (30) 19. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (22) 20. Eric Wells (27) 21. Denny Eckrich (29) 22. 1, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (4) 23. 1V, Will Vaught, Crane, MO (6) 24. Earl Pearson Jr. (31, prov.) 25. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (18) 26. 18, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (7) 27. 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA (11) 28. 81, Scott James, Lawrenceburg, IN (9) 29. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (13) 30. 32, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (19) 31. Brad Neat (32, prov.) 32. 56, Andy Eckrich, Iowa City, IA (24) 33. 1m, Rob Moss, Iowa City, IA (20) DNS – 17M, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA. Lap Leaders: Hubbard 1-23, O’Neal 24-59, Owens 60-95, O’Neal 96-100. Hard-charger: Smith.
NIGHT 3 FULL STORY & RESULTS

NIGHT 2


Knoxville, IA | Sept. 30, 2011 - Brian Birkhofer, the 2007 over-all winner of this event, captured the Friday night Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals feature event and in so doing accrued the top points for preliminary racing action. The win in the 25-lap event placed Birkhofer on the pole for Saturday’s 100 lap Lucas Oil $40,000-to-win finale. Young Austin Hubbard will share that front row. “I gotta work on some things but I’m glad to get the biggest paycheck of the night,” Birkhofer said in victory lane. “I love winning in my home state.” Birkhofer is from Muscatine (Iowa).  FULL STORY & RESULTS

NIGHT 1


Knoxville, IA | Sept. 29, 2011 - “Newport Nightmare” Jimmy Owens of Newport, Indiana snatched the win in the opening night of the 8th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals Thursday night at the Knoxville Raceway. The win was Owens’ first at the famous half-mile oval and was worth $7,000. Darrell Lanigan led the 25-lap feature early from his starting spot outside of row one. By lap five, Owens was second, ahead of Steve Francis, Chad Simpson and Austin Hubbard. Francis’ solid run came to an end with seven laps in the books when he broke going down the front stretch in a battle with Owens for second.  FULL STORY & RESULTS