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James Essex
BULLS GAP, Tenn. (March 6) - Taking the lead on lap 36, Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC raced to the win on Saturday Night at Volunteer Speedway. Cook outdueled Chris Madden of Gaffney, SC in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned Spring Thaw 60. Cook, along with car owners Danny Dishman and Ronald Ivey earned $10,000 for their first Lucas Oil Series win of 2010. Trailing Cook and Madden to the checkers were Skip Arp of Georgetown, TN; Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, WI; and Steve Casebolt of Richmond, IN. Event Images
Arp and Madden earned front row starting spots by virtue of their heat race victories. Madden sprinted out to the early lead over Arp and Casebolt. Madden quickly opened up a three-car length advantage over Arp, who was running his first event of the season. The battle for third was close with Casebolt, holding off Cook, who had started fifth. Madden started to pick-up the tail end of the field by lap 11, allowing the trailing cars of Arp, Casebolt, Cook, and Schlieper to close ground on him. The race for first was heating up as Cook went by Casebolt for third on lap 17 and then he tracked down Arp a lap later, going side-by-side with the veteran.
The first caution of the race came out with 20 laps complete as Mike Marlar came to a halt on the frontstretch to bring out the yellow. On lap 20 Cook had made his way around Arp to take over the second spot, lining up there for the restart. Madden continued to show his strength on the restart, bolting out to a two-car length lead over Cook. A caution slowed the action on lap 22 for John Blankenship. The restart again saw Madden on the point followed by Cook, Arp, Casebolt and Schlieper.
On this restart Cook was able to stay close to Madden as the two were running two different lines around the high-banked oval. Cook kept the pressure on Madden as two again picked up the tail end of the field with 30 laps in the record books. The halfway mark showed the top seven cars all on the same straightaway. Cook dove low in the corners and took a peek at Madden several times leading up to his pass on lap 36 which put him in the lead for good.
Cook and Madden would still have lapped traffic to contend with as they were having trouble getting by the cars on the tail of the lead lap. Cook changed his lines several times in closing the door on Madden as the duo fought a spirited and clean race for the lead. Madden tried the high line on the track in an attempt to overhaul Cook. Madden tried lap after lap in the final ten laps, but every time Cook thwarted Madden's moves as he held him off to take his sixth career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win and his first ever at Bulls Gap. The win also moved Cook into a first-place tie in the Lucas Oil Championship Points standings with reigning series champion, Scott Bloomquist, who finished sixth.
In the Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the first time in 2010, Cook thanked a multitude of people. "It's great to get our first win here at Bulls Gap, my car owners are from Tennessee, John King from Fairway Ford is here, thanks to him and Tader Masters for such a great race car, he (Madden) fired well on the restart, I think our right front tire was better than his, our car was better on the long runs," said the 38-year old Cook, who is coming off the best year of his racing career in 2009 when he won 12 feature events including a career-high purse in winning the Hillbilly 100.
"As far as the points are concerned we are taking them week-to-week, you never know what could happen tomorrow you might fall out of a race and drop back in points, we've got an awesome race team, car, engine, tires, shocks, I mean the whole thing is just clicking right now, I'm just real fortunate just to be able to drive the car. It's fun when you are running this well , you just have to enjoy it while you can, cause it could change the next race, thanks to the fans for coming out tonight, the show was well run and we're glad to be in victory lane."
Cook's D&R Racing Team #53 MasterSbilt Race Cars Monte Carlo SS is powered by Race Engine Design motor and sponsored by Hicks & Ingle Co General Contracting, PRC, A+ Moving and Storage, American Racer Tires, Wyatt Builders, Integra Racing Shocks, Star Grafix, PPM, VP Race Fuels, K&N Filters, Real Racing Wheels, B&M Concrete and Fairway Ford.
Madden took second in his Xtreme Custom and Cycles/Cornett Engines/Bloomquist Race Cars Monte Carlo SS with Arp finishing third in his Stanley Best Heating and Air/Vic Hill Racing Engines/GRT. Completing the top five were Schlieper in his Rockstar Energy Drink/Pro Power Racing Engines/Bloomquist Race Cars Ford Fusion and Casebolt in the Bob Harris/Dixie Chopper/Rocket GTO.
Rounding out the top ten were Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN; Stacy Boles of Clinton, TN; Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA; and Eric Wells of Hazard, KY.
To find out more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log on to www.lucasdirt.com or call the series office at (951) 532-2503.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, March 6th, 2010
"Spring Thaw 60"
Volunteer Speedway - Bulls Gap, TN
Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Jimmy Owens / 12.522 seconds
Wiles Driveshaft's First Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advance): Skip Arp, Ray Cook, Dale McDowell, Chris Wall, Clint Smith, Brad neat, Bub McCool, tim Rivers, Eric Jacobsen, Dennis Erb Jr, David Crabtree
AFCO Racing Products Second Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advances): Steve Casebolt, Will Vaught, Randy Weaver, Rick Rogers, Tyler Reddick, Shanon Buckingham, Shon Flanary, Jason Feger, Tim Isenberg, Michael Walker
Allstar Performance Third Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advance): Chris Madden, Dan Schlieper, Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Mike Marlar, Kerry Jones, Don O'Neal, Steve Smith, Justin Rattliff, Michael Smith, Mark Douglas
Wrisco Aluminum Fourth Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advance): Stacy Boles, Eric Wells, Tommy Kerr, John Blankenship, Earl Pearson Jr., Mark Vineyard, Vic Hill, Scott Sexton, Mike Collins, Chad Ogle, Jordan Bland
Hawk Brake First B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Transfers): Clint Smith, Brad Neat, Bub McCool, Tyler Reddick, Shon Flanary, Tim Isenberg, Eric Jacobsen, Jason Feger, Dennis Erb Jr., Michael Walker, Shanon Buckingham, Tim Rivers-DNS, David Crabtree-DNS
Performance Rod and Custom (PRC) Second B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Transfers): Earl Pearson Jr., Mike Marlar, Kerry Jones, Vic hill, Justin Rattliff, Mike Collins, Chad Ogle, mark Vineyard, Mark Douglas, Don O'Neal, Michael Smith, Steve Smith, Scott Sexton, Jordan Bland-DNS
Spring Thaw 60 Feature Finish (60 Laps): Ray Cook, Chris Madden, Skip Arp, Dan Schlieper, Steve Casebolt, Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Stacy Boles, Dale McDowell, Eric Wells, Randy Weaver, Chris Wall, Tommy Kerr, Will Vaught, Don O'Neal, Rick Rogers, Earl Pearson Jr., Clint Smith, Mike Marlar, Brad Neat, Eric Jacobsen, Bub McCool, Kerry Jones, John Blankenship, Michael Walker
1 5 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC
2 2 44m Chris Madden Gaffney, NC
3 1 31 Skip Arp Georgetown, TN
4 6 s9 Dan Schlieper Sullivan, WI
5 3 c9 Steve Casebolt Richmond, IN
6 10 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
7 14 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
8 4 11b Stacy Boles Clinton, TN
9 9 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA
10 8 18e Eric Wells Hazard, KY
11 11 116 Randy Weaver Crossville, TN
12 13 71w Chris Wall Holden, LA
13 12 4T Tommy Kerr Maryville, TN
14 7 1 Will Vaught Crane, MO
15 23 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
16 15 44x Rick Rogers Knoxville, TN
17 18 44 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
18 17 44c Clint Smith Senoia, GA
19 20 157 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
20 19 41n Brad Neat Dunnville, KY
21 24 5 Eric Jacobsen Seacliffe Beach, CA
22 21 57j Bub McCool Vicksburg, MS
23 22 6 Kerry Jones Bristol. TN
24 16 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
25 25 64 Michael Walker Franklin, TN
Race Statistics
Entrants: 43
Lap Leaders: Chris Madden (Laps 1-35); Ray Cook (Laps 36-60)
Caution Flags: Lap 20 (Mike Marlar); Lap 22 (John Blankenship)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Don O'Neal, Eric Jacobsen
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: Michael Walker
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Don O'Neal (Started 23rd; Finished 15th; Advanced 8 positions)
Ohlin's Shocks Performer of the Race: Ray Cook
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Ray Cook
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: none
Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Race Engine Design
Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award: Jimmy Owens
DirtonDirt.com Crew Chief of the Race: Chris Fox (Jimmy Owens)
E3 Spark Plugs TV Challenge All stars: n/a
Time of Race: 22 minutes, 13 seconds
Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings:
1. #0 Scott Bloomquist - Mooresburg, TN
1. #53 Ray Cook - Brasstown, NC
3. #s9 Dan Schlieper - Sullivan, WI
4. #71 Don O'Neal - Martinsville, IN
5. #20 Jimmy Owens - Newport, TN
6. #c9 Steve Casebolt - Richmond, IN
7. #71w Chris Wall - Holden, LA
7. #44 Earl Pearson Jr. - Jacksonville, FL
9. #17m Dale McDowell - Chickamauga, GA
10. #18e Eric Wells - Hazard, KY
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