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Daily Dirt 12/04/2024 22:49:20

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September 21
Knoxville Raceway,
Knoxville, IA
Sanction: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals) - $50,000
Information provided by: Kevin Kovac, series and track reports (last updated September 23, 10:48 am)
Rain can't keep Pierce from Knoxville's $50,000
Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals
  1. Bobby Pierce
  2. Brian Shirley
  3. Devin Moran
  4. Garrett Alberson
  5. Tim McCreadie
  6. Jonathan Davenport
  7. Ryan Gustin
  8. Chase Junghans
  9. Brandon Sheppard
  10. Chris Simpson
  11. Jimmy Owens
  12. Mike Marlar
  13. Drake Troutman
  14. Carson Ferguson
  15. Hudson O'Neal
  16. Max Blair
  17. Tyler Bruening
  18. Dillon McCowan
  19. Ricky Thornton Jr.
  20. Cory Lawler
  21. Daulton Wilson
  22. Garrett Smith
  23. Tyler Erb
  24. Blair Nothdurft
  25. Clay Harris
  26. Daniel Hilsabeck
  27. Chad Simpson
  28. Boom Briggs
  29. Ross Robinson
  30. Matt Furman
  31. Justin Zeitner
  32. Brenden Smith
presented by
Heath Lawson/heathlawsonphotos.com
Bobby Pierce celebrates atop his car at Knoxville Raceway.
What won the race: Regaining the lead from Hudson O'Neal on the 43rd lap, Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., led the rest of Saturday's rain-hampered 75-lapper at Knoxville Raceway to capture the 20th annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals. Friday's preliminary winner collected $50,000 and his 34th overall victory of the season in taking the checkers 1.178 seconds ahead of 15th-starting Brian Shirley in a race halted nearly a half hour by rain after 60 laps. O'Neal ended up fading, allowing Tim McCreadie to secure the Big River Steel Big Four playoff spot.
Key notes: Bobby Pierce notched his 20th career full-field Lucas Oil Series victory. ... Brian Shirley ran out of fuel but caught a break when officials allowed teams to add fuel during the lap-60 rain delay. .... Tim McCreadie finished fifth to get the final Big River Steel Big Four playoff spot over Hudson O'Neal, who led laps 35-42 but faded after a lap-56 restart. ... Ryan Gustin, who stopped to draw a lap-20 yellow, rallied to finish seventh.
On the move: Runner-up Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., started 15th.
Winner's sponsors: Pierce’s Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from Low Voltage Solutions, Megan's Mission Foundation, Rio Grande Waste Services, Hoker Trucking, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Oakwood Tire Center, Churchill Transport, Collins Brothers Towing, K1, Carnaghi Towing & Repair, Toyota of Danville, Floyd’s Waste Systems, PureMax Racing Oil, A Plus Vacuum, Leka Tree Service, Bert Transmissions by Budda, Ted Brown’s Quality Paint & Body Shop, VP Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Bilstein Shocks, Dirt Car Lift and Performance Bodies.
Points chase: After Knoxville (top four points reset for playoffs): 1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (5,770); 2. Devin Moran (5,770); 3. Jonathan Davenport (5,770); 4. Tim McCreadie (5,770); 5. Hudson O'Neal (5,060); 6. Garrett Alberson (4,925); 7. Mike Marlar (4,735); 8. Daulton Wilson (4,730); 9. Jimmy Owens (4,520); 10. Max Blair (4,450).
Current weather: Broken Clouds, 75°F
Car count: 40
Polesitter: Bobby Pierce
Consolation race winners: Tyler Bruening
Provisional starters: Brenden Smith, Cory Lawler
Next series race: September 27, Brownstown Speedway (Brownstown, IN) $10,000
Editor's note: Results and race details are unofficial.
From staff reports

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — In a season where he seems to be winning virtually everything, pole-starting Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., won a race that had slipped away from him a couple of times in capturing Saturday's 20th annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals.

The 27-year-old phenom notched his 34th victory of the season by dominating most of the 75-lap feature and waiting out a late rain delay at the half-mile oval to collect a $50,000 payday and his sixth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of the season.

The top-ranked Pierce, who led all the way except for Hudson O'Neal's lap 35-42 stint up front, carefully approached the final 15 laps after the rain delay to make sure his No. 32 was still fast on the half-mile, black-dirt oval known as the Sprint Car Capital of the World.

"You had to chase (the surface) and that's nerve-wracking to be the leader on track that's transitioning every lap," Pierce said. "So we got her done and I can't thank all these fans (enough) for sticking around."

Pierce took the checkers 1.178 seconds ahead of fellow Illinois driver Brian Shirley, who rallied from his 15th starting spot, while Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, finished third. Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., climbed eight positions to finish fourth and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., collected a fifth-place finish that secured a spot in the Big River Steel Big Four playoff over O'Neal, who faded in the second half of the race.

Pierce ran mostly unchallenged the first half of the race, and even when O'Neal went ahead after a restart, the winner remained confident.

"Hudson got by me, but it looked like he was struggling," Pierce said. "He was kind of laid over wasn't really getting off them corners and I could tell how I was eating them up through the corner and whenever you can be that close to somebody on this big of a track and be right here on them, you know you got a good car, probably better than theirs."

Going under O'Neal between turns one and two eight laps later, Pierce had one job the rest of the way: "Don't jump the cushion."

That's the mistake that cost him a chance at beating Jimmy Owens in 2018 a Knoxville, and Pierce's next best chance to win at the high-profile oval in 2022 ending when an engine expired just a few laps after taking the early lead.

Neither the cushion nor mechanical woes proved problematic, but a drizzling rain that picked up during a lap-60 caution period created some unease for Pierce as he waited out the rain delay in the infield.

"You know, that was kind of a weird deal there," Pierce said. "Typically when rain falls after halfway, they throw the checkered, but I guess they saw it was a little (rain) cell and they thought they'd get us back out there quickly — and they did. Hat's off to them for letting us complete the race and giving the fans a full 75 laps.

"I kind of knew on before the restart I was pulling away and with the rain, typically when it rains the track, even the slick spots get a little tacky for a while. The nerve-wracking part was more so the racetrack because they gave us like a quick maybe lap and a half to kind of feel the track out before they went and the top fell slimy. So that's where I was running before the caution and that was very nerve-wracking because I know (Shirley) was kind of running the middle and I didn't want to give him the middle and the top be slimy and him passing me."

Shirley didn't let Pierce run away, but never mounted a serious challenge in the final laps.

"It feels great to win this race, man," Pierce said. "I don't know how many times I've been here — maybe five or six times — and it's an awesome place. I know a lot of people have mixed (feelings) about it, but it's just such a unique track and everything about this place is very unique. It doesn't really race like anywhere else and it's a lot of fun out there. I'm just glad I had a really fast race car to be able to win tonight."

Shirley caught a break with the lap-60 caution as officials allowed drivers to add 10 gallons of fuel during the red flag. He needed it more than most as he'd apparently virtually run out of fuel, twice requiring pushes to get his car started before the rain forced him to the infield.

He believed he was having engine problems before later discovering the fuel issues, but he felt like he had a car capable of challenging Pierce.

"It's just a tough one to be so close, you know, to be racing against the best guys in the business," he said. "And not very often do you get a race car that could be that phenomenal. It just show hard work" pays off for the Bob Cullen Motorsports team.

Moran, who started third, fell back to as far as seventh just before the rain delay.

"That's the Knoxville we come to race for," he said. "They did a great job on the track with the weather and I'm kind of glad that they didn't (stop the race after 60 laps); they could've and it benefited me. So just glad to get out of here in one piece and ready to come back next year."

Besides the lap-60 caution, three other yellow flags appeared. Home-stater Ryan Gustin stopped to draw a lap-20 yellow (he rallied to finish seventh). Dillon McCowan shredded a tire for a lap-35 yellow. And on the 56th lap, three-time race winner Mike Marlar slowed with a flat right-rear tire.

Notes: Pierce has finished worse than second just once since Aug. 21. ... He has seven victories paying $50,000 or more in 2024. ... While three of the four playoff spots were secured before Knoxville, Hudson O'Neal had a 15-point edge on Tim McCreadie in the race for the final spot. O'Neal was in position to secure the spot most of the race, but that slipped away late. O'Neal got too high on the lap-56 restart and faded, eventually slowing while running 16th to draw a lap-61 yellow (he didn't have a flat tire). McCreadie, meanwhile, started fourth and never ran worse than seventh. ... Daulton Wilson was running fourth at the rain delay but faded and retired five laps later. ... In the B-main, Brenden Smith blew a right-front tire and hit the turn-three fence while leading, bending his car's chassis; he didn't have a backup car but took a single lap in the backup car of fellow provisional starter Cory Lawler.

20th annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals
Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Longhorn, $50,000
2. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., Longhorn, $25,000
3. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $10,000
4. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $8,750
5. Tim McCreadie (1), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $7,500
6. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $7,000
7. Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, Infinity, $6,500
8. Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., Rocket, $6,000
9. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., Longhorn, $5,500
10. Chris Simpson (32), Oxford, Iowa, Longhorn, $5,000
11. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Rocket, $4,500
12. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., Longhorn, $4,000
13. Drake Troutman (7), Hyndman, Pa., Longhorn, $3,500
14. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., Longhorn, $3,400
15. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Longhorn, $3,300
16. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., Longhorn, $3,200
17. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, Longhorn, $3,100
18. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., Longhorn, $3,000
19. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $3,000
20. Cory Lawler (93), Hanover, Pa., Rocket, $3,000
21. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., Longhorn, $3,000
22. Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., Rocket, $3,000
23. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, Rocket, $2,700
24. Blair Nothdurft (76), Renner, S.D., Rocket, $2,700
25. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., Rocket, $2,500
26. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, Capital, $2,500
27. Chad Simpson (25), Mount Vernon, Iowa, Longhorn, $2,500
28. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., Rocket, $2,500
29. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., Rocket, $2,500
30. Matt Furman (51), Iowa City, Iowa, Longhorn, $2,500
31. Justin Zeitner (62), Malvern, Iowa, Edge, $2,500
32. Brenden Smith (93), Dade City, Fla., Rocket, $2,500
Lap leaders: Pierce 1-34, 43-75; O'Neal 35-42
Entries: 40
Thursday’s preliminary feature winner: Davenport
Friday’s preliminary feature winner: Pierce
Consolation winner: Bruening

Feature lineup

(75 laps)

Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport
Row 2: Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie
Row 3: Hudson O’Neal, Max Blair
Row 4: Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Gustin
Row 5: Daulton Wilson, Dillon McCowan
Row 6: Garrett Smith, Garrett Alberson
Row 7: Daniel Hilsabeck, Tyler Erb
Row 8: Brian Shirley, Ross Robinson
Row 9: Carson Ferguson, Mike Marlar
Row 10: Chase Junghans, Chad Simpson
Row 11: Chris Simpson, Drake Troutman
Row 12: Ricky Thornton Jr., Boom Briggs
Row 13: Tyler Bruening, Justin Zeitner
Row 14: Jimmy Owens, Clay Harris
Row 15: Blair Nothdurft, Matt Furman
Row 16: Brenden Smith, Cory Lawler

B-main results

(15 laps; top six transfer)

Finish: Tyler Bruening, Justin Zeitner, Jimmy Owens, Clay Harris, Blair Nothdurft, Matt Furman, Dylan Sillman, Tim Lance, Cory Lawler, Junior Coover, Brenden Smith, Aaron Marrant, Johnathan Huston, Al Humphrey. Scratched: Dan Battaglia, Jeremy Petty.

B-main lineup

(15 laps; top six transfer)

Row 1: Tyler Bruening, Brenden Smith
Row 2: Jimmy Owens, Justin Zeitner
Row 3: Blair Nothdurft, Matt Furman
Row 4: Clay Harris, Aaron Marrant
Row 5: Dylan Sillman, Tim Lance
Row 6: Cory Lawler, Junior Coover
Row 7: Johnathan Huston, Al Humphrey
Row 8: Dan Battaglia, Jeremy Petty

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
11:30 a.m. - Memorabilia auction (Hall of Fame Museum)
1 p.m. - Pits open
1:45 p.m. - Outreach church service (Dyer Hudson Hall Barn)
2:30 p.m. - Suites open
2:45-5:45 p.m. - Tech and registration
3 p.m. - Grandstands open
3:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
4 p.m. - On-track activity begins
- Limited Late Model hot laps
- Knoxville Nationals B-main cars hot laps
- Limited Late Model group qualifying
Opening ceremonies
- Limited Late Model heats (8 laps)
Intermission
- Knoxville Nationals A-main cars hot laps
- Knoxville Nationals consolation (15 laps)
- Limited Late Model feature (22 laps)
Driver introductions
- 20th annual Knoxville Nationals (75 laps)

Feature lineup

Row 1: Pierce, Davenport
Row 2: Moran, McCreadie
Row 3: O'Neal, Blair
Row 4: Sheppard, Gustin
Row 5: Wilson, McCowan
Row 6: G. Smith, Alberson
Row 7: Hilsabeck, T. Erb
Row 8: Shirley, Robinson
Row 9: Ca. Ferguson, Marlar
Row 10: Junghans, Cha. Simpson
Row 11: Chr. Simpson, Troutman
Row 12: Thornton, Briggs
Row 13: Bruening, J. Zeitner
Row 14: Owens, Harris
Row 15: Nothdurft, Furman
Row 16: B. Smith, Lawler
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