ELDORA SPEEDWAY 13929 SR 118 New Weston, OH 45348 (937) 338-3815
ROSSBURG, OH (Sept. 7-9) -- Jimmy Owens now rules the World! After topping a stellar 203 car field with a time of 15.690 seconds around Eldora Speedway’s famed one-half mile clay oval, the Newport, TN veteran captured the biggest win of his career with Sunday’s $40,000 World 100 victory.
Scheduled for Saturday night, the racing action was shifted to Sunday afternoon when persistent and heavy rains inundated the area and turned the grounds into quagmire.
Undaunted, the Eldora officials used their back-up plan the event went without a hitch on Sunday.
The change in track conditions from night to day created a flurry of activity among the pit crews; with the end result being top notch racing.
After the six qualifying heat races and two B-Mains set the 28-car starting field, Shannon Buckingham found himself starting on the pole, with three-time World 100 winner Scott Bloomquist outside of him. As expected, Bloomquist shot into the lead at the dropping of the green flag, while Buckingham held down second.
Only three laps into the event, Josh Richards got sideways in turn two and the resulting melee collected Steve Shaver and Brad Neat. Shaver’s shot at the World ended at the point, while Richards and Neat were able to continue.
On the restart, it remained Bloomquist and Buckingham up front, while Owens had advanced from his 6th starting slot to third. Randy Korte and Wayne Chinn rounded out the top five at this point.
It only took Owens two laps to wrestle second away from Buckingham, and he then set his sights on Bloomquist and the lead. He slowly closed the gap, and by lap eight he had closed to within inches of Bloomquist’s bumper. As the field came down to complete lap ten, it was Owens in the lead and a surprised Bloomquist back in second.
While that pair fought their battle, former World 100 winner Steve Francis was entering the fray. After starting 10th, Francis clawed his way to the front, and was running third. Another quiet mover was Shannon Babb, who started 18th and when Owens made his move for the lead, Babb was up to 9th.
Francis let it be known that his drive forward was no fluke. On lap 16 he shot past Bloomquist and two laps later took the lead away from Owens At that point Babb was up to fifth and the massive crowd was in awe with the daytime action.
By lap 32, the front runners began entering lapped traffic; however it appeared to have no affect on Francis’ determination to captured another globed traffic. As Francis and Owens proceeded forward, the fans noticed that Bloomquist was starting to fall off the pace a bit. On lap 36 Darrell Lanigan, who had advanced from14th got by Bloomquist to take third spot and by lap 40, Bloomquist was ranning back in 10th spot.
With his tires obviously going away, Bloomquist uncharacteristically looped it on the front stretch on lap 54. A quick charge to the pits got him back on the track before the green flag reappeared, albeit at the back of the pack.
Francis resumed his lead at the restart, with Owens, Lanigan, Chinn and Babb behind him.
From this point forward the race went non-stop, and tire conservation came into play.
Near the three-quarter mark, Owens regained life and began to decrease the distance between himself and Francis. Lap by lap, Owens inched forward and with the ensuing checkered flag nearly in sight, he regained control of the field on lap 87. The adrenalin rush of climbing onto Eldora’s hallowed stage was enough to keep him in front and the normally quiet Owens erupted with joy as he climbed out of his car to accept the famed World 100 globed trophy.
Francis graciously accepted second place, while Lanigan had another strong Eldora run to finish third. Wayne Chinn wowed the crowd with an impressive fourth place finish, while last year’s fan pleaser Jeep VanWormer didn’t let them down this year. Using his patented rim riding, wall banging style, VanWormer came all the way from 23rd to take home a top five finish.
Babb finished sixth while Bloomquist wasn’t able to get the break of a caution flag to tighten the field, yet came back up to sixth.
37th annual World 100
203 cars fast time: Jimmy Owens 15.690
Non-Qualifier 1: Scott James, Jared Landers, Andrew Reaume, Rick Rickman, James Felker, Jason Dunn, David Hilliker, Joseph Pomeroy, Bill Hahn, Donnie Roberts, Randy Woodling, Dennis Potridge, Jake Henry, Adam Thrush, Steve Lance, Dennis Roberson, Scott Ford, Bryan Elder, Chris Dick, David Hatfield, Justin McCree, Nick Marolff
Non-Qualifier 2: Jesse Lay, D. J. Wells, Jeff Beyers, Jeff Alsip, Mike Amell, Donald Beyers, Jeff Watson, Jason Jameson, Justin Shaw, Chuck Hummer, Keith Gentz, Dean Boyd, Doug Zartler, Kevin Mack, Ryan VanderVeen, Dereck Chandler, Shaun Smith, Clint Jamison
Non-Qualifier 3: David Webb, Rohn Moon, Justin Robinson, Lee Devesier, Wayne Maffett, Dona Marcoullier, Chris Wilson, Mike Walker, John Jackson, Brad Eitinear, Bill Williams, Devin Shiels, Steve Kempt, Hillard Miller, Brian Claudnic, Mike Stacy, Larry Kingseed, Michael Stiltner
Heat 1: Matt Miller, Mike Marlar, Jimmy Owens, Freddy Smith, Ivedent Lloyd, Billy Moyer, Terry Phillips, Tim Dohm, Brandon Kinzer, Scott James, Rod Conley, Brian Ruhlman, Shawn Toczek, Curt Spalding, Josh Bocook, Jackie Boggs, Dustin Moore, Greg Johnson, Dave Hilliker, Ben Adkins
Heat 2: Randy Korte, Donnie Moran, Darrell Lanigan, Brady Smith, Jeep VanWormer, Michael, England, Jason Keltner, Jay Johnson, Chuckie May, Andrew Reaume, Casey Noonan, Bill Hahn, Chub Frank, Chris Madden, Doug Drown, Jordan Bland, David Webb, Earl Pearson, Jr., George Lee, Dustin Neat
Heat 3: Randy Weaver, Dan Schleiper, Brian Birkhofer, John Mason, Dale McDowell, Chris Wall, Josh Richards, Chad Simpson, Justin Ratliff, D. J. Wells, Jared Hawkins, Steve Casebolt, Bobby Kitchen, Steve Barnett, Kris Patterson, John Blankenship, Jason Dunn, G.R. Smith, Steve Shaver, Jerry Rice
Heat 4: Wayne Chinn, Steve Francis, Dennis Erb, Billy Drake, Rick Eckert, Bart Harman, Tim Hitt, Jerry Bowersock, Frank Heckenast, Eric Wells, Tim Manville, Josh Williams, Jared Landers, Bryan Barber, Mark Douglas, Aaron Scott, Chad Hina, Dave Davasier, Clint Smith, Ky Harper
Heat 5: Scott Bloomquist, Ray Cook, Jason Feger, Brad Neat, Don O’Neal, Chad Ruhlman, Steve Smith, Brian Shirley, Garrett Durrett, Anthony White, Brett Wyatt, Brian Dauber, Rick Corbin, Rusty Seaver, Booper Bare, Jeff Kohn, Tony Knowles, Terrance Nowell, Duane Chamberlin, Don Hammer
Heat 6: Shannon Buckingham, Wendell Wallace, Shannon Babb, Vic Hill, Eddie Carrier, Shane Clanton, Eric Smith, Matt Lux, Josh McGuire, Chris Combs, John Gill, Shannon Thornsberry, Whitney McQueary, Tyler Boggs, Eric Wells, Rick DeLong, Michael Kloos, Ray Bradford
B Main 1: Brady Smith, Jeff VanWormer, Michael England, Josh Richards, Scott James, Chris Wall, Billy Moyer, Terry Phillips, Tim Dohm, Ivadent Lloyd, Rod Conley, Chad Simpson, Casey Noonan, Jay Johnson, Justin Ratliff, Chuckie May, Freddy Smith, John Mason, Brandon Kinzer, Jason Keltner, Andrew Reaume, Jared Hawkins, DJ Wells, Dale McDowell
B Main 2: Brad Neat, Billy Drake, Rick Eckert, Vic Hill, Chad Ruhlman, Matt Lux, Bart Hartman, Brian Shirley, Eddie Carrier, John Gill, Eric Smith, Don O’Neal, Steve Smith, Josh McGuire, Eric Wells, Jerry Bowersock, Chris Combs, Garrett Durrett, Anthony White, Frank Heckenhast Jr., Shannon Thornsberry, Brett Wyatt, Tim Manville, Shane Clanton
A Main: Jimmy Owens, Steve Francis, Darrell Lanigan, Wayne Chinn, Jeep VanWormer, Shannon Babb, Scott Bloomquist, Wendell Wallace, Donnie Moran, Randy Korte, Chris Madden, Billy Drake, Dennis Erb, Michael England, Brady Smith, Shannon Buckingham, Jason Feger, Mike Marlar, Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Matt Miller, Dan Schlieper, Ray Cook, Brad Neat, Randy Weaver, Brian Birkhofer, Steve Shaver, Vic Hill