COOK SCORES HEART POUNDING 18TH ANNUAL DART 'SHOW ME 100' AT LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY

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James Essex
WHEATLAND, Mo. (May 29) - Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC etched his name in the DART Show Me 100 history book for the second time, as he claimed the 18th edition of the event on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO in front of a capacity crowd in what could only be described as possibly one of the greatest races ever.  Show Me 100 Images

Jimmy Owens and Earl Pearson Jr. brought the field to the green flag for the 100-lap affair, which was co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) and the Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA). Owens took the lead at the onset of the event with Pearson Jr., Terry Phillips, Don O'Neal, and Dale McDowell in tow. By the third circuit O'Neal had cracked the top three as Owens began to motor away from the field.

Lap 5 found Jimmy Owens catching the tail of the field as Chad Simpson went down a lap on the sixth circuit. Owens' commanding run would come to an abrupt halt exiting turn four on the tenth circuit as Brian Birkhofer got sideways causing Chris Wall to flip in front of the leader. Owens, with nowhere to go, was caught up in the incident and had to go to the tail of the field. Wall would be unhurt in the incident and would rejoin the event fourteen laps later to a standing ovation from the crowd.

With Owens tailback, Don O'Neal inherited the lead with Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer, Terry Phillips, and Dale McDowell making up the top five in the running order. On the ensuing restart O'Neal and Pearson Jr. began to battle for the lead before the caution waved again on lap 12 as Shannon Babb rolled to a stop with a flat tire. During the caution, Steve Casebolt also headed pit-side, and both drivers rejoined the tail of the field.

With the green flag displayed once again, the action at the front of the pack saw O'Neal motor away from the pack with Pearson Jr. and Moyer continuing to host a spirited battled for the second spot. Caution would fly again on lap 21 as Dale McDowell relinquished the fifth spot with a flat tire. He too would head pit-side for fresh rubber before rejoining the field.

At the time of the caution the top five running order consisted of Don O'Neal, Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer, Ray Cook, and Terry Phillips. As the race resumed Billy Moyer moved past Earl Pearson Jr. for the second spot as the duo began to swap positions lap after lap.

Lap 27 would see the yellow flag in the air again as Scott Bloomquist relinquished the sixth spot with a flat tire. It would mark the first of two trips to the pit area during the course of the feature for the Mooresburg, Tennessee driver. With Bloomquist on the tail of the field the race continued as O'Neal jumped to a comfortable lead over Pearson Jr., Phillips, and eleventh starting Ray Cook.

The race would endure a ten lap green flag run with O'Neal still at the point as Phillips and Cook shuffled Pearson Jr. from second to fourth exiting turn two on lap 32. Two laps later, Billy Moyer Jr. shuffled Pearson Jr. back another spot.

On lap 38, the caution would wave for Chris Simpson, who rolled to a stop on the backstretch, which erased O'Neal's eight-car length lead. At the time of the caution Phillips, Cook, Moyer Jr, and Earl Pearson Jr followed O'Neal.

The restart saw Moyer Jr. and Cook beginning to race side-by-side for the third spot before Cook mounted a charge toward the front of the pack that saw him dispose of Moyer Jr. and Phillips to race his way to second by the race's midway point. The next ten laps saw the race slow on various times by the caution flag before it endured another long green flag run. Cook stalked O'Neal through lapped traffic for several laps before slipping passed him on the high side to take the lead as the field completed the 62nd circuit.

With Cook at the point, O'Neal continued to apply pressure, as 22nd starting Steve Casebolt joined the fray in the third spot. Another driver on the move was 29th starting, John Blankenship, who was up to the fourth spot by lap 65. While Cook maintained the lead, O'Neal and Casebolt waged war for the second spot with disaster nearly striking as they completed lap 67 as the pair briefly made contact sending Casebolt into the front stretch wall. Casebolt would recover after losing several car lengths to O'Neal. Three laps later he would race passed O'Neal for the lead and set his sights on race leader, Ray Cook.

By lap 73 Cook and Casebolt were battling side-by-side for the lead and Casebolt, became the fourth different leader of the race. Casebolt quickly extended his lead and would finally be slowed by a caution for John Blankenship, who rolled to a stop with a flat on lap 82.

The ensuing restart saw Casebolt drive away from the field once again, and appeared to be on his way to a comfortable win before bad luck struck on lap 89, when he lost his driveshaft, bringing his night to a disappointing early end. With Casebolt in the pits, Ray Cook inherited the lead and fought off a late race challenge from Don O'Neal to claim the $30,000 payday in the 18th Annual DART Show Me 100 Presented by Lucas Oil. Don O'Neal, Terry Phillips, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb Jr., Billy Moyer Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Dan Schlieper, Brad Neat, and Mike Marlar rounded out the top ten finishers.

Earlier in the evening Martinsville, Indiana's Don O'Neal topped the Manufacturer's Dash For Cash taking the win over Brian Birkhofer and Billy Moyer.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, May 29th, 2010
18th Annual DART Show-Me 100 Presented by Lucas Oil
Lucas Oil Speedway - Wheatland, MO

Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Jimmy Owens / 16.037 seconds

Wiles Driveshaft's First Heat (20 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Jesse Stovall, Jared Landers, Mike Marlar, Tim Isenberg, Brad Looney, Chris Smyser, Al Purkey, Stacy Taylor, Ed Mueller, Dave Eckrich, Joe Kosiski, Michael Walker

AFCO Racing Products Second Heat (20 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Terry Phillips, Jimmy Mars, Will Vaught, Keith Foss, Steve Casebolt, Ray Moore, Jay Johnson, Evan Hubert, Austin Dillon, Justin Asplin, Rylan Long, Bill Koons

Allstar Performance Third Heat (20 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Don O'Neal, Ray Cook, Brad Neat, Jeremy Payne, Jack Sullivan, John Blankenship, Jason Hughes, Chris Brown, Mike Collins, Dewaine Hottinger, Zac Simmons, Chris Spieker

SuperFlow Fourth Heat (20 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Earl Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Dan Schlieper, Eric Wells, Josh McGuire, Brandon Kinzer, Chris Simpson, Kyle Beard, Gary Christian, Shane Harris, Andrew Kosiski, Chris Hall

Wiles Driveshaft's Fifth Heat (20 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Dale McDowell, Eric Jacobsen, Wendell Wallace, Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Wall, Jason Feger, John Anderson, Bub McCool, JD Hubert, Jon Kirby, John Mason, Larry Jones

AFCO Racing Products Sixth Heat (20 Laps-Top 3 Advance): Billy Moyer, Billy Moyer Jr., Shannon Babb, Brian Birkhofer, Eric Turner, Chad Simpson, David Turner, Raymond Merrill, Tyler Reddick, Alan Vaughn, Austin Rettig, PJ Haskins

Comp Cams Race of Champions Presented by Quarter Master (12 Laps): Wendell Wallace, Scott Bloomquist, Brian Birkhofer, Ray Cook, Terry Phillips, Billy Moyer

Manufacturers' Dash for Cash (10 Laps): Don O'Neal, Brian Birkhofer, Billy Moyer, John Blankenship, Al Purkey, Jack Sullivan, Jared Landers, Dennis Erb Jr., Terry Phillips, Ray Cook, Brandon Kinzer

Hawk Brake First B-Main (20 Laps- Top 2 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Steve Casebolt, Tim Isenberg, Keith Foss, Al Purkey, Ray Moore, Dave Eckrich, Stacy Taylor, Bill Koons, Justin Asplin, Austin Dillon, Evan Hubert, Brad Looney, Jay Johnson, Chris Smyser, Rylan Long, Ed Mueller-DNS, Joe Kosiski-DNS, Michael Walker-DNS

Performance Rod and Custom (PRC) Second B-Main (20 Laps- Top 2 Transfer): Chris Simpson, Josh McGuire, Jack Sullivan, John Blankenship, Dewaine Hottinger, Chris Brown, Kyle Beard, Mike Collins, Gary Christian, Shane Harris, Eric Wells, Jason Hughes, Brandon Kinzer, Jeremy Payne, Zac Simmons, Chris Spieker, Andrew Kosiski-DNS, Chris Hall-DNS

Hawk Brake Third B-Main (20 Laps- Top 2 Transfer): Brian Birkhofer, Dennis Erb Jr., Eric Turner, Jason Feger, Chad Simpson, Tyler Reddick, John Mason, Bub McCool, JD Hubert, Alan Vaughn, Larry Jones, Austin Rettig, Jon Kirby, Chris Wall, John Anderson-DNS, David Turner-DNS, Raymond Merrill-DNS, PJ Haskins-DNS

18th Annual Show Me 100
A-Main
1 11 53 Ray Cook Brasstown, NC $30,000
2 5 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
3 3 75 Terry Phillips Springfield, MO
4 27 18e Eric Wells Hazard, KY
5 24 28e Dennis Erb, Jr. Carpentersville, IL
6 12 21JR Billy Moyer, Jr. Batesville, AR
7 8 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN
8 14 s9 Dan Schlieper Sullivan, WI
9 17 41n Brad Neat Dunnville, KY
10 19 157 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
11 29 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
12 16 88 Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR
13 2 44 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
14 26 33 Al Purkey Coffeyville, KS
15 13 777 Jared Landers Lexington, NC
16 10 5 Eric Jacobsen Watsonville, CA
17 9 28m Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI
18 22 c9 Steve Casebolt  Richmond, IN
19 25 71w Chris Wall Holden, LA
20 7 00H Jesse Stovall Galena, MO
21 20 32x Chris Simpson Oxford, IA
22 15 1 Will Vaught Crane, MO
23 6 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
24 1 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
25 21 15b Brian Birkhofer Muscatine, IA
26 23 41 Josh McGuire Grayson, KY
27 4 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA
28 18 18 Shannon Babb Mowequa, IL
29 28 25c Chad Simpson Mt. Vernon, IA

Race Statistics
Entrants: 73
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Owens (Laps 1-10); Don O'Neal (Laps 11-61); Ray Cook (Laps 62-72); Steve Casebolt (Laps 73-89); Ray Cook (Laps 90-100)

Caution Flags: Lap 10 (Brian Birkhofer, Chris Wall, Jimmy Owens); Lap 11 (Jimmy Owens); Lap 12 (Shannon Babb); Lap 21 (Dale McDowell); Lap 23 (Brad Neat); Lap 27 (Scott Bloomquist); Lap 28 (Eric Jacobsen); Lap 38 (Chris Simpson); Lap 50 (Eric Jacobsen); Lap 52 (Earl Pearson Jr.); Lap 53 (Jared Landers); Lap 56 (Jimmy Owens); Lap 58 (Will Vaught); Lap 65 (Jesse Stovall); Steve Casebolt (Lap 89); Jimmy Mars (Lap 91); Jared Landers (Lap 92)

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Chris Wall, Eric Wells

Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association Provisionals: Al Purkey, Chad Simpson

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: John Blankenship