KNOXVILLE, IA (September 15, 2022) – Shane Clanton earned his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory of 2022, lead wire-to-wire in night one of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway on Thursday night.

Clanton took the lead at the start of the 25-lap event, first holding off Hudson O’Neal and then Earl Pearson Jr. to pick up his second career win at Knoxville and becoming the 18th different winner this year with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

Pearson came home in second, followed by Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, and Kyle Strickler. The top finishers in Thursday night’s preliminary feature have never won the Saturday night finale that pays $50,000 to the victor for the second year in a row.

The first caution of the race came with three laps complete when Chris Madden, who was making his first trip to Knoxville since 2019, slowed on the track ending his night. O’Neal stayed with Clanton on the restart, but just as it looked like O’Neal had something for Clanton, he slowed on the track with rear end issues to bring out the second and final caution of the race with ten laps scored.

On the restart Pearson and Davenport had a tight battle for second as the two drivers who have a combined seven Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championships tried to track down the high-flying Clanton.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the sixth time in his career, the 47-year-old Georgia native was pleased with the performance of his car. “I could pass cars there on the bottom, so I knew my car was pretty good. I think we have a good enough car right now to win this on Saturday, we just need to be up front and take advantage of it. You need a car that is balanced to win here Saturday. You can’t use a lot of brake getting into the corners you need it where it turns free, and it still has traction, and that’s what we have right now so hopefully the track will be the same on Saturday. We can put a harder tire on the right rear maybe it will be alright.”

Pearson, whose win at Port Royal in August ended a two-year dry spell, came home in second. “The track was top dominate tonight, there is no doubt about it. We started fourth after transferring from our heat. The car was good all night with a lot of speed. We had a good points night. On the restarts you could do a little bit of a slide job. Jonathan [Davenport] drove me clean coming off of two, he could have slid on up and made me hit the brakes, but he didn’t.”

Davenport, who accumulated the most points among the top finishers in Thursday night’s preliminary feature, was concerned about overheating issues. “I need a bigger motor and a bigger fan. Everybody was running hot. It was just wide open around the cushion really. We got going there early and I was just trying to run around the bottom. About the last ten laps I was just started rolling out of it going down the straightaway, my temperature gauge was pegging over there. I was just trying to cool it down.”

The winners Greg Bruening-owned, Skyline Motorsports, Capital Race Car is powered by a Clements Racing Engine is sponsored by Olson Explosives, Inc., Brown’s Heavy Equipment, Truck Country, Carolina Concrete Finishing, Super K Express, Bennett Explosives, Penske Racing Shocks, Base Racing Fuels, and Go Lithium.

Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Ryan Gustin, Brian Shirley, and Chase Junghans.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Race Summary

Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals – Night 1

Thursday, September 15th, 2022

Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, IA

Late Model Nationals – Night 1 (25 Laps): 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[10]; 5. 8-Kyle Strickler[12]; 6. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens[8]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[15]; 9. 3S-Brian Shirley[17]; 10. 18J-Chase Junghans[16]; 11. 1X-Aaron Marrant[14]; 12. 157-Mike Marlar[19]; 13. 58-Garrett Alberson[20]; 14. 7W-Ricky Weiss[9]; 15. 11-Spencer Hughes[23]; 16. 2S-Stormy Scott[18]; 17. 7-Ross Robinson[11]; 18. 56-Chris Spieker[24]; 19. 04-Tad Pospisil[2]; 20. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[22]; 21. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 22. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[21]; 23. 62-Justin Zeitner[7]; 24. 44-Chris Madden[13]

Fast Shafts B-Main 1 (15 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 11-Spencer Hughes[1]; 4. 32S-Chris Simpson[5]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[10]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 7. 22-Charlie McKenna[7]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]; 9. 14M-Reid Millard[14]; 10. 18S-Jesse Sobbing[4]; 11. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 12. 10-Junior Coover[9]; 13. (DNS) 29D-Spencer Diercks; 14. (DNS) 15-Justin Duty; 15. (DNS) 48-Tim Lance

UNOH B-Main 2 (15 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 2. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 3. 56-Chris Spieker[7]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[4]; 5. 51-Matt Furman[12]; 6. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[9]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 9. 33-Nick Marolf[6]; 10. 6H-Al Humphrey[14]; 11. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 12. 42-Johnathan Huston[8]; 13. (DNS) 1ST-Johnny Scott; 14. (DNS) 21M-Billy Moyer Sr; 15. (DNS) 25-Chad Simpson

Penske Shocks Heat 1 (12 Laps): 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[3]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[2]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 5. 11-Spencer Hughes[6]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 8. 15-Justin Duty[8]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 (12 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[4]; 3. 62-Justin Zeitner[6]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 6. 22-Charlie McKenna[7]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[8]

Simpson Race Products Heat 3 (12 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 7W-Ricky Weiss[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 4. 18S-Jesse Sobbing[5]; 5. 53-Andrew Kosiski[7]; 6. 48-Tim Lance[1]; 7. 10-Junior Coover[8]; 8. 29D-Spencer Diercks[4]

Ohlins Shocks Heat 4 (12 Laps): 1. 18J-Chase Junghans[1]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 6. 42-Johnathan Huston[7]; 7. 1ST-Johnny Scott[3]; 8. 25-Chad Simpson[8]

Wrisco Industries Heat 5 (12 Laps): 1. 1X-Aaron Marrant[2]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[5]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[7]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 6. 56-Chris Spieker[1]; 7. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 8. 6H-Al Humphrey[8]

Lucas Oil Heat 6 (12 Laps): 1. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 4. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 6. 33-Nick Marolf[2]; 7. 51-Matt Furman[7]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]

Qualifying – GROUP A: 1. 11-Spencer Hughes, 00:17.557[13]; 2. 62-Justin Zeitner, 00:17.599[15]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:17.744[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:17.814[16]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:17.828[2]; 6. 18S-Jesse Sobbing, 00:17.833[4]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:17.905[14]; 8. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 00:17.953[20]; 9. 29D-Spencer Diercks, 00:17.973[17]; 10. 25C-Shane Clanton, 00:18.004[8]; 11. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:18.004[1]; 12. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 00:18.010[6]; 13. 7-Ross Robinson, 00:18.030[24]; 14. 44-Chris Madden, 00:18.183[12]; 15. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:18.203[5]; 16. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:18.256[19]; 17. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:18.365[18]; 18. 48-Tim Lance, 00:18.416[21]; 19. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:18.533[9]; 20. 22-Charlie McKenna, 00:18.555[7]; 21. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:18.626[22]; 22. 15-Justin Duty, 00:18.781[11]; 23. 14M-Reid Millard, 00:19.633[23]; 24. 10-Junior Coover, 00:21.002[10]

Qualifying – GROUP B: 1. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:17.494[10]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:17.585[8]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:17.627[12]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:17.885[24]; 5. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:17.928[15]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:18.075[3]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler, 00:18.079[14]; 8. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:18.116[9]; 9. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:18.137[7]; 10. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 00:18.140[11]; 11. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:18.146[5]; 12. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:18.268[22]; 13. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:18.292[13]; 14. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:18.320[1]; 15. 33-Nick Marolf, 00:18.362[23]; 16. 18J-Chase Junghans, 00:18.385[21]; 17. 56-Chris Spieker, 00:18.411[4]; 18. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:18.422[20]; 19. 42-Johnathan Huston, 00:18.422[16]; 20. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:18.479[18]; 21. 51-Matt Furman, 00:18.557[6]; 22. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:18.869[19]; 23. 6H-Al Humphrey, 00:19.309[2]; 24. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:19.568[17]

Hot Laps – GROUP 1: 1. 39-Tim McCreadie, 00:18.640[3]; 2. 25C-Shane Clanton, 00:18.697[8]; 3. 18S-Jesse Sobbing, 00:18.936[4]; 4. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 00:18.968[6]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:19.001[1]; 6. 44-Chris Madden, 00:19.025[12]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:19.256[2]; 8. 22-Charlie McKenna, 00:19.276[7]; 9. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:19.489[9]; 10. 15-Justin Duty, 00:19.736[11]; 11. 10-Junior Coover, 00:21.628[10]; 12. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:59.999[5]

Hot Laps – GROUP 2: 1. 11-Spencer Hughes, 00:18.350[1]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:18.433[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 00:18.507[8]; 4. 29D-Spencer Diercks, 00:18.627[5]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:18.688[6]; 6. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:18.824[7]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson, 00:18.849[12]; 8. 62-Justin Zeitner, 00:18.963[3]; 9. 53-Andrew Kosiski, 00:19.631[10]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard, 00:20.123[11]; 11. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:20.322[4]; 12. 48-Tim Lance, 00:59.999[9]

Hot Laps – GROUP 3: 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:18.260[3]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:18.347[7]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:18.493[8]; 4. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:18.569[9]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:18.708[12]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 00:18.798[11]; 7. 51-Matt Furman, 00:18.905[6]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:19.020[1]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:19.203[5]; 10. 56-Chris Spieker, 00:19.341[4]; 11. 6H-Al Humphrey, 00:19.369[2]; 12. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:59.999[10]

Hot Laps – GROUP 4: 1. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:18.206[3]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:18.468[6]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:18.493[12]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler, 00:18.637[2]; 5. 42-Johnathan Huston, 00:18.650[4]; 6. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:18.665[1]; 7. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:18.927[8]; 8. 18J-Chase Junghans, 00:18.958[9]; 9. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:19.140[7]; 10. 33-Nick Marolf, 00:19.561[11]; 11. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:19.701[10]; 12. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:19.892[5]