TAMPA, FL (February 8, 2007)-Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, IL passed Terry Casey
on lap 32 and went on to take the 40 lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
event on Thursday Night at East Bay Raceway Park. Babb’s first career win at
East Bay Raceway earned him $7,000 for his efforts as he became the fourth
different winner in four nights of the 2007 East Bay Winternationals. Babb
behind the wheel of the Bill Moyer/Car City/J&J Steel/Watters Auto
Land/Performance Rod and Custom/Allstar Performance/Imperial Motors/Hoosier
Tires/Dargie Race Engines/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo crew chiefed by Jay Hunt
beat Casey to the line for the victory. Casey of New London, WI had a strong
run in finishing second in the Arnie Ranta Motorsports/Pro Power/C.J.
Rayburn Monte Carlo. Third place went to Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, WI is
his Miller Brothers Coal/Pro Power/C.J. Rayburn Monte Carlo with 13th
starting Steve Francis of Ashland, KY coming home in fourth and Terry
English of Benton, KY was fifth in the Petroff Towing/C.J. Rayburn Monte
Carlo. A total of 90 were on hand for the event.
Brady Smith would race to the lead on the opening lap from his pole starting
spot with Dennis Erb, Jr. and Schlieper in hot pursuit. Casey, who started
third, was around Schlieper for the third spot by the second lap with Babb,
who started sixth now up to fourth. Casey would make a run for the lead
passing Erb to take second and then made the move on Smith to take over the
point on lap four.
Casey then started to pull away from the field as Babb went around Smith on
lap seven to take second. Traffic was quickly playing a role in the race
with Casey and Babb reaching the back of the field by the ninth circuit.
Casey and Babb would open up a good sized advantage over the third place
running Smith with Babb pulling even with Casey on lap 12 at the
start-finish line. Schlieper then entered the top three taking that spot
away from Smith.
A caution flag on lap 18 for Brian Birkhofer slowed the fast paced event. At
the halfway mark it was Casey still showing the way with Babb right on him
followed by Schlieper, Smith and Tim McCreadie who was up from his 14th
starting position. Smith would lose four spots as cars went by him on lap
22. The third caution of the race would then come out for Tim Dohm,
Wednesday’s night’s winner who lost a tire in turn three.
On the restart, Casey and Babb would duke it out again for the top spot
going wheel to wheel to the excitement of the large crowd on hand. The
fourth and final caution of race came out for Smith whose car stalled on the
backstretch as he was out of the race. With 13 laps to go it would set up a
classic battle for the win between Casey and Babb as the green came back out
to restart the race.
Schlieper would make things interesting closely up on the outside of Babb
and challenging him for second. But Babb would have none of it as he pulled
back in front of Schlieper in the race for second. With ten laps to Casey
was really starting to feel the heat from Babb as Babb would make the move
coming off of turn number four on lap 32 to take over the lead from Casey.
Babb would then open a two to three car length lead over Casey which would
carry him all the way to checkers for his first ever win at East Bay Raceway
Park. Casey finished second followed by Schlieper, Steve Francis, who came
up from the 13th starting position was a solid fourth and Terry English
would make a late race charge to finish fifth.
In victory lane for the first time ever at East Bay, Babb was excited to me
there. “We finally got a win here we’ve been close so many times at this
track.” “I just followed Casey there for a while, he was running good, but
we were able to get the inside of him there and pass him, it was good race
I’m sure for the fans, but it almost wore me out.” Babb also won despite
suffering a broken arm several weeks ago which is just now healed up.
Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Billy Drake, Don O’Neal, Billy
Moyer and Darrell Lanigan.
In preliminary action Earl Pearson, Jr. was the LifeLong Locks Fast Time
Award Winner with a lap of 14.831 seconds around the 1/3 mile track. The
Hawk Brake and Quarter Master sponsored heat race winners were Terry Casey,
Shannon Babb, Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars, Brady Smith, Dennis Erb, Jr., Dan
Schlieper and Terry English. The Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno and Penske
Shocks sponsored B-mains were taken by Tim Dohm, Don O’Neal, Scott
Bloomquist and Eddie Carrier, Jr. with the Performance Rod and Custom
Strawberry Dash win grabbed by Doug Horton, who earned a starting spot in
the A-main for his victory.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series quickly returns to action at East Bay
Raceway on Friday night, February 9th with a complete show of LifeLong Locks
Time Trials, Hawk Brake and Quarter Master sponsored Heat races, Mason Racin’
Rebel Shock Dyno and Penske Shocks sponsored B-Mains Performance Rod and
Custom Strawberry Dash and the $10,000 to win A-Main.
Catch all of the action of the 31st Annual East Bay Winternationals live on
the internet all week long at www.racetalklive.com.
Race Summary
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Bay Raceway Park-Tampa, FL
Thursday, February 8, 2007
LifeLong Locks Fast Time: Earl Pearson Jr- 14.853
Hawk Brake First Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Terry Casey, Darrell Lanigan,
Dean Carpenter, John Mason, Dan Stone, Jeff Beyers, Jason Riggs, Rick
Rogers, Earl Pearson Jr., Tommy Bailey
Hawk Brake Second Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Shannon Babb, Adam Hensel,
Tim Dohm, Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Jordan Bland, Chuck Harper, Scott
James, Anthony White, Josh McGuire, Michael England
Quarter Master Third Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Billy Moyer, Billy
Drake, Mike Marlar, Steve Shaver, Chris Hackett, D Jay Miller, Wayne Chinn,
Mike Mataragas, Jason McBride, Kristin Flory, Wendell Wallace
Quarter Master Fourth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Jimmy Mars, Brian
Birkhofer, Don O’Neal, Damon Eller, Gerald Davis, Steve Casebolt, Rick
Aukland, Randy Korte, Jeff Gress, Marshall Austin, Freddy Smith
Hawk Brake Fifth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Brady Smith, Steve Francis,
Scott Bloomquist, Matt Miller, Tim Fuller, Darren Miller, Greg Johnson,
Victor Lee, Jeep VanWormer, Ray Cook, DJ Wells, Roger Crouse
Hawk Brake Sixth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Dennis Erb Jr., Tim
McCreadie, Jackie Boggs, Bryan Collins, Ivedent Lloyd, Doug Horton, Kevin
Cole, Ricky Arms, Brad Neat, Mark Andersen, Mike Petersak
Quarter Master Seventh Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Dan Schlieper, Donnie
Moran, Eddie Carrier Jr., Garrett Durrett, John Blankenship, Davey Johnson,
Richard Hedrick, Matt Hubbard, CJ Rayburn, Bob Geiger, Eric Wells
Quarter Master Eighth Heat: (10 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Terry English, Ches-ley
Dixon, Eric Jacobsen, Justin Rattliff, Bub McCool, Shane Clanton, Christian
Rayburn, Vic Coffey, Brian Nuttall, Frank Shickel, Joe Morris
Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Tim
Dohm, Dean Carpenter, Rick Eckert, Anthony White, Josh Richards, John Mason,
Daniel Stone, Jeff Beyers, Scott James, Earl Pearson Jr., Jeff Fortner,
Jason Riggs, Jordan Bland, Chuck Harper, (DNS-Rick Rogers, Josh McGuire,
Tommy Bailey, Michael England)
Penske Shocks Second B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Don O’Neal, Mike
Marlar, Damon Eller, Steve Shaver, Chris Hackett, Wayne Chinn, Gerald Davis,
Jeff Gress, Jason McBride, Marshall Austin, Steve Casebolt, D Jay Miller,
Rick Aukland, Freddy Smith, Mike Mataragas, Randy Korte, Wendell Wallace,
Kristin Flory
Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno Third B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Scott
Bloomquist, Bryan Collins, Matt Miller, Darren Miller, Victor Lee, Tim
Fuller, Greg Johnson, Ivedent Lloyd, Doug Horton, Jeep VanWormer, DJ Wells,
Brad Neat, Mark Andersen, Ray Cook, Roger Crouse, Jackie Boggs, Ricky Arms,
Kevin Cole, Mike Petersak
Penske Shocks Fourth B-Main: (12 Laps-Top 2 Advance): Eddie Carrier Jr.,
Eric Jacobsen, Christian Rayburn, Garrett Durrett, John Blankenship, Davey
Johnson, Bub McCool, Eric Wells, Vic Coffey, Richard Hedrick, Bob Geiger,
Shane Clanton, Brian Nuttall, CJ Rayburn, Matt Hubbard, Frank Shickel Jr.,
Justin Rattliff, (DNS-Joe Morris)
PRC Strawberry Dash: (8 Laps- 1 Advances): Doug Horton, Jeep VanWormer, DJ
Wells, Greg Johnson, Bub McCool, Wayne Chinn, Anthony White, Christian
Rayburn
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Earl Pearson Jr., Scott James
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Feature Finish: (40 laps): Shannon Babb,
Terry Casey, Dan Schlieper, Steve Francis, Terry English, Tim McCreadie,
Billy Drake, Don O’Neal, Billy Moyer, Darrell Lanigan, Bryan Collins, Dennis
Erb Jr., Jimmy Mars, Mike Marlar, Earl Pearson Jr., Dean Carpenter, Eric
Jacobsen, Ches-ley Dixon, Scott Bloomquist, Brady Smith, Tim Dohm, Donnie
Moran, Brian Birkhofer, Eddie Carrier Jr., Doug Horton, Adam Hensel, Scott
James
Race Statistics
Entries: 90
Yellow Flags: 4
Red Flags: 0
Lap Leaders: Brady Smith 1-3, Terry Casey 4-31, Shannon Babb 32-40
Edelbrock Hard Charger Award: Bryan Collins (Started 23rd and Finished
11th-Advanced 12 Positions)
Allstar Performance Performer of the Race: Steve Francis
K&N Filters Clean Pass Award: Shannon Babb
Comp Cams Rookie of the Race: None
2007 DART Winternationals Points Fund Standings (After February 8)
1) Steve Francis (Ashland, KY)-835
2) Dan Schlieper (Sullivan, WI)-790
3) Shannon Babb (Moweaqua, IL)-760
4) Earl Pearson, Jr. (Jacksonville, FL)- 710
5) Terry English (Benton, KY)-695
6) Matt Miller (Waterville, OH)-690
7) Don O’Neal (Martinsville, IN)-675
8) Terry Casey (New London, WI)-670
8) Tim Dohm (Cross Lanes, WV)-670
10) Ricky Arms (Moss, TN)-660
10) Rick Eckert (York, PA)-660
10) Donnie Moran (Dresden, OH)- 660
2007 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Sponsors
Lucas Oil Products – “The Official Oil” of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt
Series
Sunoco Race Fuels – “The Official Fuel” of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt
Series
Arizona Sport Shirts – “The Official Merchandise Vendor” of the Lucas Oil
Late Model Dirt Series
Hoosier Tires – “The Official Race Tire” of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt
Series
K&N Filters – “The Official Filter” of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
2007 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Supporters Include: AFCO, Allstar
Performance, American Racer Tires, Banshee Graphics, Bloomquist Race Cars,
Comp Cams, Cornett Race Engines, Cruise with the Champions, DART, Design
500, Edelbrock, Erson Cams, Grover Racing Engines, GRT Race Cars, Hawk
Brake, Hyperco, Integra Shocks, Jay Dickens Racing Engines, King of the
Road, Larry Wallace Racing Engines, Malcuit Racing Engines, Mason Racin’,
MasterSbilt Race Cars, Ohlins, On the Edge of the Graphics, Penske Shocks,
Performance Bodies, PBM Performance Products, PPM Racing Products,
Performance Rod and Custom, Pro Power Racing, Quarter Master, C.J. Rayburn
Race Cars, Rick Schwallie Photography, Rocket Chassis, Tex Racing, Vic Hill
Racing Engines, WD Enterprises
