TAMPA, Fla. - Mason Zeigler pulled a major upset by winning the finale of the 40th Annual Winternationals on Saturday Night at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla.
Zeigler passed race leader Scott Bloomquist on lap 23 and held off the Hall-of-Fame driver to capture the biggest win of his career in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event.
A packed grandstand stood on its collective feet as Bloomquist charged to the inside of Zeigler on the final lap, but his charge fell one car length short as the 23-year-old Pennsylvania driver crossed the line first.
Bloomquist finished second, followed by Dennis Erb, Jr., Gregg Satterlee and Darrell Lanigan.
“I just worked my tires so hard to get to the lead,” said Zeigler, who started fourth on the grid. “I didn’t think my right rear would survive the whole race, so I focused on slowing down once I got by him (Bloomquist).”
Zeigler held a steady pace over the field as Bloomquist and several other drivers were running two and three wide behind the leader for the first half of the 60 lap event.
“This week, we have been up at 7 am to work on the car every day. We let JD (Jonathan Davenport) drive the car one night this week just to see what was wrong. They found some things in the brakes and other parts of the car that needed addressed and they helped get us straightened out.”
Bloomquist complemented the young driver on his victory.
“He (Zeigler) drove a very good race,” he said. “I didn’t see him until he got alongside me on the outside and he just drove off from there. We were in rush mode all night long. We found a cracked transmission and I was working with the shocks and trying to decide what right rear to put on, it was pretty crazy.
“We started off pretty well. The car fired better than I thought it would. I tried to keep pace with him (Zeigler) and while doing that, also trying not to hurt the tires. We closed in on him in the last few laps and he left the door open just enough that I was able to get to his driver’s door, but couldn’t get any further. My hat’s off to him.”
Erb snuck by Satterlee at the end to get third.
“It was our best run of the week, no doubt,” said Erb. “We hadn’t seen those track conditions all week. My car was good the entire race. There was two and three wide racing for a long time tonight.”
Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Brandon Sheppard, Don O’Neal and Randy Weaver.
In preliminary action, Jonathan Davenport set the overall fast time (Group B) amongst the 35 entrants, with a lap of 15.012 seconds. Bloomquist set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 15.152 seconds. Bloomquist, McCreadie, Davenport and Zeigler won their respective heat races. Tim Dohm and Kyle Bronson won their respective B-Mains.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
East Bay Winternationals – Feb. 13, 2016
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN |
| 1 | 4 | 25Z | Mason Zeigler | Chalk Hill, PA |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN |
| 3 | 10 | 28e | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL |
| 4 | 7 | 22 | Gregg Satterlee | Rochester Mills, PA |
| 5 | 13 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY |
| 6 | 21 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN |
| 7 | 3 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY |
| 8 | 5 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL |
| 9 | 8 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN |
| 10 | 6 | 116 | Randy Weaver | Crossville, TN |
| 11 | 19 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL |
| 12 | 14 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL |
| 13 | 11 | 7w | Ricky Weiss | Headingley, MB |
| 14 | 22 | 15F | Steve Francis | Ashland, KY |
| 15 | 9 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR |
| 16 | 18 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | Brandon, FL |
| 17 | 20 | 28 | Eddie Carrier, Jr. | Salt Rock, WV |
| 18 | 23 | 4-Ds | Chad Hollenbeck | Montrose, PA |
| 19 | 12 | K | Freddie Carpenter | Parkersburg, WV |
| 20 | 2 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA |
| 21 | 15 | 11 | Josh Rice | Verona, KY |
| 22 | 24 | 10 | David Breazeale | Four Corners, MS |
| 23 | 25 | 92 | Nick Davis | Millsboro, DE |
| 24 | 16 | 16 | Justin Rattliff | Campbellsville, KY |
| 25 | 26 | 11R | James Rice | Verona, KY |
| 26 | 17 | 6T | Tim Dohm | Charleston, WV |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 35
Lap Leaders: Scott Bloomquist (Laps 1 – 22); Mason Zeigler (Laps 23 – 60)
Cautions: David Breazeale (Lap 18); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 21); Jared Landers (Lap 28)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Tim McCreadie (Lap #51 – 16.5645 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Mason Zeigler (38 Laps)
Time of Race: 25 minutes 27 seconds
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/2/370038/zeigler-zips-to-victory-lane-in-lolmds-east-bay-finale