Earl Pearson, Jr. and Jonathan Davenport both took home winner’s paychecks in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series action over the weekend.
Pearson, Jr. was the winner at 141 Speedway in Maribel, Wisconsin, while Davenport took top honors on Saturday night at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota.
On Friday night, Pearson, Jr. made the leap into the infield pond on Friday night, a tradition for first-time winners at 141 Speedway.
Pearson passed race-long leader Bobby Pierce on lap 44 and then sped on to win his second series event on the season.
Pierce led the first 43 laps of the 50-lap main event until Pearson made the pass for the lead coming off of turn four. Pearson then quickly pulled away to claim his 34th career LOLMDS victory.
Hudson O’Neal came home in third, with Jimmy Mars in fourth and Darrell Lanigan in fifth.
Pierce grabbed the lead at the start of the race and was looking for his third win of the season. Pierce fought off the challenges of the younger O’Neal early on until he started to pull away. After a caution on lap 26, Pierce had to contend with O’Neal and Josh Richards in a side-by-side battle for several laps.
Pearson then began making his move on the leaders as he took second from O’Neal and started to track Pierce down. On several occasions, Pearson pulled to the rear quarter-panel of Pierce’s car but was only able to muscle his way around him with six laps to go.
“We got into lapped traffic and I don’t know if I could have done anything with him (Pierce),” Pearson said. “We just rode around the bottom and you had to be patient. You just had to stay on those tires. He (Pierce) is one heck of a race-car driver. To run first and second tonight, this finish is for Carlton Lamm. I have a friend back home who is in pretty bad shape and this one’s for him as well.”
On Saturday night, Blairsville, Georgia’s Jonathan Davenport fended off a late race charge from Pierce to find victory lane in the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts North Star Nationals at Deer Creek Speedway.
Pierce settled for a runner-up finish for the second consecutive night, just 0.281 seconds behind the race winner. Chad Simpson finished in third, with Don O’Neal in fourth and Scott Bloomquist in fifth.
Jimmy Mars bolted to the lead at the start of the main event and led the first 20 laps of the race. A torrid battle between the top four drivers then ensued, with Simpson taking the point on lap 21. Simpson then led until Davenport put himself atop the scoring pylon as the new leader on lap 32.
Pierce began to make his late-race surge, taking over the second position and chasing down Davenport in heavy lapped traffic. Heading into turn four on the final lap Pierce threw a slide job in front of Davenport to momentarily take over the lead. As the two raced down the main straightaway to the checkers, Davenport powered his car to the inside of Pierce and beat the youngster to the finish by just a few inches.
In addition to his $12,000 first place prize money, Davenport pocketed an $1,000 bonus from NAPA Auto Parts.
“First off, thanks to Chad (Simpson), Jimmy (Mars) and Bobby (Pierce) for racing hard and clean out there. That was an awesome race. I knew he (Pierce) was coming for me at the end. The lapped cars were holding us up bad.”
“I felt like we had a little better car than to make it that close at the end,” Davenport added. “I was just trying to hit my marks out there. I went down the back straightaway and I saw my spotter and I knew the slider was coming. I made sure I entered the corner a little softer so that way I could turn back to the inside of him (Pierce). I saw him out of the corner of my eye, so I knew he was there. I was just hoping I could make it back to the line and not spin the tires. What a great night, this was a turnaround from last night. Thanks to the track crew for a great track tonight and thanks for the fans for coming out.”
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series was slated to race on Sunday night at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska.
But consistent, lingering precipitation throughout the afternoon forced race officials to postpone the event to Thursday, July 19.
For more information on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, visit LucasDirt.com.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
141 Speedway – Maribel, WI
Spring Shootout – May 18, 2018
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $12,800 |
| 2 | 1 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $6,300 |
| 3 | 3 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $4,200 |
| 4 | 9 | 28m | Jimmy Mars | Menomonie, WI | $2,750 |
| 5 | 11 | 14 | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $2,950 |
| 6 | 13 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $2,600 |
| 7 | 5 | 1R | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $2,500 |
| 8 | 4 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $2,100 |
| 9 | 14 | 97 | Cade Dillard | Robeline, LA | $1,200 |
| 10 | 6 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $2,000 |
| 11 | 19 | 28 | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $1,075 |
| 12 | 16 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $1,750 |
| 13 | 2 | 25Z | Mason Zeigler | Chalk Hill, PA | $1,125 |
| 14 | 10 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $1,800 |
| 15 | 8 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $1,700 |
| 16 | 17 | 2M | Allen Murray | San Antonio, TX | $1,000 |
| 17 | 20 | B1 | Brent Larson | Lake Elmo, MN | $1,000 |
| 18 | 21 | 74m | Mitch McGrath | Waukesha, WI | $1,000 |
| 19 | 12 | 3 | Brett Swedberg | Shawano, WI | $1,000 |
| 20 | 25 | 22 | Gregg Satterlee | Indiana, PA | $1,700 |
| 21 | 22 | D1 | Turk Letizia | Milwaukee, WI | $1,000 |
| 22 | 15 | 15A | Nick Anvelink | Bonduel, WI | $1,000 |
| 23 | 24 | 44 | Luke Goedert | Guttenberg, IA | $1,000 |
| 24 | 18 | 10 | Paul Parker | DePere, WI | $1,000 |
| 25 | 23 | 51M | Joey Moriarty | Phoenix, AZ | $1,000 |
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Deer Creek Speedway – Spring Valley, MN
NAPA Auto Parts North Star Nationals – May 19, 2018
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 5 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $13,900 |
| 2 | 6 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $6,200 |
| 3 | 1 | 25 | Chad Simpson | Mt. Vernon, IA | $3,500 |
| 4 | 16 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $3,550 |
| 5 | 8 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $3,050 |
| 6 | 12 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $2,500 |
| 7 | 2 | 28m | Jimmy Mars | Menomonie, WI | $1,500 |
| 8 | 3 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $2,100 |
| 9 | 7 | 14 | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $1,900 |
| 10 | 9 | 22 | Gregg Satterlee | Indiana, PA | $1,800 |
| 11 | 17 | 7w | Ricky Weiss | Headingley, MB | $1,075 |
| 12 | 4 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $1,950 |
| 13 | 20 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $1,725 |
| 14 | 13 | 28 | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $1,000 |
| 15 | 10 | 1R | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $2,000 |
| 16 | 21 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $1,000 |
| 17 | 22 | B1 | Brent Larson | Lake Elmo, MN | $1,000 |
| 18 | 14 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL | $1,800 |
| 19 | 11 | 37 | Scott Ward | Hayti, SD | $1,000 |
| 20 | 23 | 77 | Jordan Yaggy | Rochester, MN | $1,000 |
| 21 | 18 | 25Z | Mason Zeigler | Chalk Hill, PA | $1,000 |
| 22 | 19 | 20X | Rodney Sanders | Happy, TX | $1,000 |
| 23 | 24 | 04 | Tad Pospisil | Norfolk, NE | $1,000 |
| 24 | 15 | 2M | Allen Murray | San Antonio, TX | $1,000 |
