Sheppard & Francis On Front Row For Buckeye Nationals

WAVERLY, OH (May 13, 2016) Brandon Sheppard and Steve Francis will make-up the front row for Saturday Night’s $50,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Buckeye Nationals at Atomic Speedway. There were 49 entrants on hand for the event.

Sheppard earned the pole by winning heat race number one after setting the Miller Welders overall fast time. Sheppard and Jonathan Davenport swapped the lead in the early going of the 12-lap heat race opener. Sheppard eventually pulled away for the win in the Best Performance Motorsports/Rocket Chassis. Davenport is looking for his third straight win at Atomic in LOLMDS competition and finished second, followed by veteran Dale McDowell who claimed the final transfer spot.

Chris Madden is making his first Atomic Speedway appearance since 2006 and captured heat race number two in the Crowder Trucking/Longhorn Chassis. Madden, who won the LOLMDS event last month at Boyd’s Speedway in Georgia, had a comfortable lead at the finish. The story of the race was 74-year-old Hall of Fame driver, Delmas Conley as he roared from the fifth starting spot to finish in the runner-up position. Josh Richards, a 4-time winner on the LOLMDS this year came home in third to gain the final transfer spot.

Hall of Famer and former LOLMDS National Champion Scott Bloomquist bolted from his fourth starting spot to easily handle heat number three in his Reece Monument Company/Crop Production Services/Sweet-Bloomquist entry. R.J. Conley became the second member of the Conley Clan to earn a starting spot in Saturday’s finale as he came home in second. Former LOLMDS champ Don O’Neal claimed third.

In heat number four, Steve Francis another Hall of Fame driver and LOLMDS regular took the lead at the start of the 12-lap race and went on for the win in the Optima Batteries/Black Diamond Chassis. A close battle for second between Earl Pearson Jr. and Eddie Carrier Jr. came down to the final lap as Pearson; a 4-time LOLMDS champion; edged out Carrier for the spot.

In the next to last heat race of the night, Jimmy Owens put on the show of the night as he claimed the win on the final lap. He edged by Tim Dohm for the win. Owens was behind the wheel of the R&W Racing/E3 Spark Plugs/Barry Wright Race Cars #20. Dohm finished second, followed by Rod Conley, who became the third member of the Wheelersburg, Ohio-based family racing team to make the feature as he wound up third.

The final heat of the night saw Darrell Lanigan fight off challenges from Devin Moran early in the race as he went on to score the win in the Clint Bowyer Racing/Georgia Boot/Club 29 Race Car. Dennis Erb Jr. came from sixth to finish second followed by Devin Gilpin, who qualified for his first LOLMDS event of the season placing third. Moran battled back after spinning out as he narrowly missed making the show as he was a car length behind Gilpin at the finish.

In preliminary action, Brandon Sheppard set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 49 entrants, with a lap of 14.047 seconds. Steve Francis set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 14.493 seconds. Brandon Sheppard, Chris Madden, Scott Bloomquist, Steve Francis, Jimmy Owens and Darrell Lanigan won their respective heat races.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, including the latest series standings, 2016 tour schedule, driver information, and more visit the official website at: www.lucasdirt.com.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Friday, May 13th, 2016
Buckeye Nationals
Atomic Speedway – Waverly, OH

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard / 14.047 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Steve Francis / 14.493 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Dale McDowell, Eric Wells, Gregg Satterlee, Greg Johnson, Nick Latham, Kirk Phillips

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Chris Madden, Delmas Conley, Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Steve Casebolt, Scott James, Jason DuPont, Kenneth Howell-DNS

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, RJ Conley, Don O’Neal, Jake O’Neil, Jackie Boggs, Brian Shirley, Greg Oliver, Freddie Carpenter, Jared Landers

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Steve Francis, Earl Pearson, Jr., Eddie Carrier, Jr., Mason Zeigler, Shannon Babb, Mike Benedum, Jason Montgomery, Daniel Williams

DirtOnDirt.com Heat Race #5 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Tim Dohm, Rod Conley, Kent Robinson, Mike Marlar, Billy Gullion, Kody Evans, Ben Adkins

ASi Racewear Heat Race #6 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Darrell Lanigan, Dennis Erb, Jr., Devin Gilpin, Devin Moran, Duane Chamberlain, Jeremy Hines, Chris Shannon, Colton Flinner

Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):
DRIVER INSIDE OUTSIDE DRIVER
Eric Wells 18E 39 Tim McCreadie
Jake O’Neil J0 22 Gregg Satterlee
Steve Casebolt C9 4b Jackie Boggs
Greg Johnson 88 15J Scott James
Brian Shirley 3s 31 Nick Latham
Jason DuPont NO7 9F Greg Oliver
Kirk Phillips 21K K Freddie Carpenter
Jared Landers 777 21hk Kenneth Howell
Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer):
DRIVER INSIDE OUTSIDE DRIVER
Mason Zeigler 25Z 7R Kent Robinson
Devin Moran 99m 18 Shannon Babb
Mike Marlar 157 20c Duane Chamberlain
Mike Benedum 1M 11g Billy Gullion
Jeremy Hines 5H 21m Jason Montgomery
Kody Evans 4G 9s Chris Shannon
Daniel Williams 12d B7 Ben Adkins
Colton Flinner 75
Feature Line Up (75 Laps):
DRIVER INSIDE OUTSIDE DRIVER
Brandon Sheppard B5 15F Steve Francis
Jimmy Owens 20 44 Chris Madden
Scott Bloomquist 0 15L Darrell Lanigan
Jonathan Davenport 6 1 Earl Pearson, Jr.
Tim Dohm 6t 71d Delmas Conley
RJ Conley 71c 28e Dennis Erb, Jr.
Dale McDowell 17m 28 Eddie Carrier, Jr.
Josh Richards 1R 71r Rod Conley