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Michael Despain
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (August 23) - The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series invaded Bluegrass Speedway on Saturday evening for the 8th Annual Bluegrass Classic in front of the SPEED TV cameras and Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN would live up to the hype of his "Newport Nightmare" nickname as he would pick up the $10,000 payday in the 60 lap, 30 mile chase. Other feature event winners included Joe David Humphrey of Loretto, KY in Street Stocks and Roger Cecil of Bardstown, KY in WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman.
Tim Tungate and Scott Bloomquist would pace the field at the drop of the green flag for the event, which would go caution-free and take just 19 minutes to complete, with Bloomquist rolling to the race lead, with Tungate, Jimmy Owens, Michael England, and Darren Miller giving chase. Miller would take fourth from England on lap 2, while Tungate challenged Bloomquist for the top spot. Bloomquist would begin to pull away a bit by lap 5, while Owens would begin to challenge Tungate for second on the same circuit. Owens would slip past Tungate on lap 8, with Miller now challenging Tungate for the third spot. Miller would take third from Tungate on lap 10, with Bloomquist maintaining a comfortable lead over Owens. Bloomquist would start the process of lapping slower traffic on lap 12. England would take fourth from Tungate on lap 14, with Earl Pearson, Jr. also moving into the top five on the same trip. Owens would close in on Bloomquist on lap 17, with Miller reeling in the front two during this same lap. Owens would take a look on Bloomquist in heavy traffic on lap 20, but Bloomquist would stave off this challenge from Owens. Pearson, Jr. would be in fourth after working past England on lap 21, while Owens dropped back a bit from Bloomquist to reset for another challenge for the lead. By lap 25, Owens would close back up on Bloomquist and would pull alongside Bloomquist on lap 28 and would make what would turn out to be the winning pass for the lead on lap 29. Owens would have a pair of lapped cars between himself and Bloomquist by lap 37 and by lap 40, Owens would have four lapped machines between himself and runner-up Bloomquist. Lap 44 would see Owens lap 11th place running Tim Tungate and have clear track in front of him, allowing Owens to really put some distance between and Bloomquist, as Bloomquist would battle to get around Tungate as the racing groove had become basically one lane by lap 50. Owens would continue to pull away in the final ten circuits and claim his third career Bluegrass Speedway feature victory aboard the Mike Reece owned, Reece Monument Company/Ganette Appraisals/Performance Rod and Custom/VP Racing Fuels/Red Line Oil/Wear Development/Mike's Mini Late Models/Alwee Trucking Company sponsored #20 Bloomquist Race Cars, Cornett Race Engines powered machine. Bloomquist would taek second, with Miller finishing third, while Pearson, Jr. and England completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Bart Hartman, Jeep Van Wormer, Jason Keltner, Brad Neat, and Steve Casebolt. In preliminary action, Darren Miller would be top qualifier among 48 entries representing nine states with a time of 15.660 seconds. Heat race winners would be Tungate, Owens, England, and Bloomquist. Vic Hill and John Gill would claim B-Main victories, while series provisionals went to Justin Rattliff and Scott James, while Johnny Wheeler would earn the track provisional.
SUMMARY-Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, Kentucky-August 23, 2008
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Super Late Models (48 entries)
PRC Top Qualifier- Darren Miller 15.660
Hawk Brake 1st Heat (Top 4 Advance)- Tim Tungate, Darren Miller, Aaron Hatton, Joey Kramer, Vic Hill, Jeff Watson, Brady Smith, Wayne Chinn, Dan Schlieper, Joey Tackett, Audie McWilliams, Larry Greer
Hawk Brake 2nd Heat (Top 4 Advance)- Jimmy Owens, Bart Hartman, Terry Casey, Jordan Bland, Dustin Neat, Scott James, Johnny Wheeler, Freddy Smith, Rick Corbin, Ed Behn, Scott Brewer (DNS-Dustin Linville)
AFCO Products 3rd Heat (Top 4 Advance)- Michael England, Jeep Van Wormer, Jason Keltner, Brad Neat, John Gill, Whitney McQueary, Damon Eller, David Webb, Bryant Woodcock, Steve Landrum, Jacob Webber (DNS- Eric Wells)
Tiger Rear Ends 4th Heat (Top 4 Advance)- Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson, Jr., Steve Casebolt, Mike Marlar, Billy Drake, Kevin Claycomb, Justin Rattliff, Scotty Earl, John Mason, Mike Jewell (DNS-Michael Chilton, Victor Lee)
1st B-Main (Top 3 Advance)- Vic Hill, Dustin Neat, Wayne Chinn, Brady Smith, Freddy Smith, Jeff Watson, Scott James, Dan Schlieper, Rick Corbin, Joey Tackett, Ed Behn, Larry Greer, Scott Brewer, Johnny Wheeler
2nd B-Main (Top 3 Advance)- John Gill, Billy Drake, Kevin Claycomb, Damon Eller, Whitney McQueary, Mike Jewell, Justin Rattliff, John Mason, Jacob Webber, Steve Landrum, Bryant Woodcock
Series Provisionals- Justin Rattliff, Scott James
Track Provisional- Johnny Wheeler
8th Annual Bluegrass Classic- Jimmy Owens, Scott Bloomquist, Darren Miller, Earl Pearson, Jr., Michael England, Bart Hartman, Jeep Van Wormer, Jason Keltner, Brad Neat, Steve Casebolt, Tim Tungate, Terry Casey, Billy Drake, John Gill, Jordan Bland, Joey Kramer, Dustin Neat, Scott James, Justin Rattliff, Wayne Chinn, Johnny Wheeler, Aaron Hatton, Vic Hill, Mike Marlar, Kevin Claycomb
Street Stocks (14 entries)
1st Heat- Joe David Humphrey, Roy Skaggs, Casey Bryan, Robbie Settles
2nd Heat- Brad Leake, Willie Edelen, Jason Bartley, Joe Walker
Feature- Joe David Humphrey, Brad Leake, Roy Skaggs, Robbie Settles, Terry Greenwell, Jason Priddy, Darrell Bivens, Juwanna Haycraft, Casey Bryan, Willie Edelen, Joe Walker, Jason Bartley (DNS-Ray Jones, Terry Bartley)
WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman (14 entries)
1st Heat- Roger Cecil, Eric Pollard, Sam Huffer, Daroyl Samples
2nd Heat- Rob Jones, Nathan Wells, Avral Thompson, Lois Campbell
Feature- Roger Cecil, Nathan Wells, Avral Thompson, Rob Jones, Eric Pollard, Sam Huffer, Elton Martin, Daroyl Samples, Lois Campbell, Paul Lewis, Jr., Joe Dunbar, Sam Mull, Grady Moore, Jr. (DNS- Matt Lewis)
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