OSHKOSH, Wis. - Earl Pearson, Jr. survived a side-by-side battle with Dennis Erb, Jr. to win his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race of the season on Friday Night at Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway in Oshkosh, Wis.
Pearson’s win in the first series visit to the state of Wisconsin in nine years allows him to stay on top the series points standings. He captured the victory over Jimmy Mars, Erb, Devin Moran, and Jared Landers.
“This is the first-time we have ever been here,” said Pearson. “This is a really nice facility and race track. It looked like they had a heck of a crowd here tonight and I want to thank all of the fans for coming out tonight to support the series. I want to thank my crew and the track crew for all of their hard work.
“The track was just tremendous all night. Erb and I went door-to-door for what seemed liked forever. He ran me clean, and we gave each other plenty of room out there.”
Erb was looking to make a clean sweep of the night’s racing as he set overall fast time and won his heat to earn the outside-front-row for the 50 lap main event. Erb led the first 21 laps of the race until Pearson, who started third took the lead for the first time. The race was slowed by only one caution on lap 19 for debris.
Mars came on strong towards the end of the race. With his home state crowd on its feet, Mars bolted ahead of Erb on the final lap to grab second.
“Yeah, that was a pretty exciting finish,” Mars said. “We came up really well on the bottom. We were picking off cars every lap, but we just fell one more pass short for the win. I want to thank all these fans for coming out. It’s good to showcase these nice facilities we have here in Wisconsin. We don’t get too many big races like this around here anymore.”
“Our car started getting tight towards the end,” said Erb, who wound up third in the final rundown. “We had a really good car all night, and I thought if I got out in front it would be hard for them to catch me.”
Completing the top ten were Don O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Chad Simpson, Scott Bloomquist, and Jason Feger.
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Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway – Oshkosh, WI
Spring Shootout – May 15, 2015
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 2 | 7 | 28m | Jimmy Mars | Menomonie, WI |
| 3 | 2 | 28e | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL |
| 4 | 10 | 99m | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH |
| 5 | 14 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 7 | 5 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL |
| 8 | 15 | 25 | Chad Simpson | Mt. Vernon, IA |
| 9 | 9 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 10 | 11 | 25F | Jason Feger | Bloomington, IL |
| 11 | 16 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL |
| 12 | 4 | 32c | Chris Simpson | Oxford, IA |
| 13 | 17 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY |
| 14 | 19 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 15 | 6 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA |
| 16 | 12 | 28 | Eddie Carrier, Jr. | Salt Rock, WV |
| 17 | 18 | 15 | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 18 | 21 | 15A | Nick Anvelink | Bonduel, WI |
| 19 | 23 | 74 | Russ Scheffler | Pewaukee, WI |
| 20 | 13 | 3s | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL |
| 21 | 8 | 58d | AJ Diemel | Elk Mound, WI |
| 22 | 22 | 29x | Spencer Diercks | Davenport, IA |
| 23 | 20 | 10 | Paul Parker | DePere, WI |
| 24 | 24 | 1F | David Fieber | Chippewa Falls, WI |
