ROSSBURG, OH— September 8, 2017— Thursday night kicked off the 47th Annual World 100 at Eldora Speedway. 104 drivers and crews flooded the famed Ohio half-mile in hopes of winning the prestigious event. Thursday’s show consisted of a full schedule complete with hot laps, qualifying, heat races, last chance showdowns and two twin $10,000-to-win 25 lap feature races split into odd and even groups.
Darrell Lanigan, of Union, KY, fled to Victory Lane after a late race pass by Jonathan Davenport in the odd feature race. Davenport defended his race long lead until lap 18 when Lanigan was able to make his move. Behind the battle for the lead was another battle between Jimmy Mars, Mike Marlar and Bobby Pierce all vying for the final podium position. Mars was able to secure third by only 0.011 seconds.
During the even feature event, Brandon Overton held off multiple charges from Chris Madden to secure the preliminary feature win and the $10,000 check. Although a late race caution fell over the 24-car field, the lead position wasn’t surrendered.
Outlaws at the World:
Shane Clanton
Shane Clanton developed a strong baseline to build off of for the next two days at Eldora Speedway. The veteran driver had solid runs every time he touched the familiar half-mile dirt track. He placed 10th fastest out of 103 cars that qualified, followed up with a third place run in his heat race which transferred him into the even twin 25. During the feature, on lap 8, Clanton and Scott Bloomquist were battling between 11th and 12th positions and got tangled on the track sending them to a stop and sending them to the tail of the field. Clanton made the most of the short feature as he steered his way back toward the front, landing among the top 10.
Frank Heckenast Jr
Frank Heckenast Jr. finished 34th in qualifying which placed him on the pole of the fourth heat race next to four time World of Outlaws Champion, Josh Richards. The pair battled for the lead but ultimately Heckenast Jr. settled for second by the time the checkers fell. From his heat race, Heckenast joined the even feature event where he would start seventh but finish one spot shy of the top-10.
Chris Madden and his crew rebounded from early car troubles during hot laps to find himself battling for the lead during the even feature with Brandon Overton. Madden finished second from a fifth place start in the feature and won his heat race after starting third, all of which is building his excitement for the main event on Saturday.
“Hats off to my guys who have worked really hard today,” said Madden. “We had some trouble during hot laps and broke some stuff but those guys worked hard and got us back out here with a good race car tonight. We’ll tune a little bit for tomorrow and try to get us a win.”
Devin Moran
The Rookie of the Year contender, Devin Moran, is showing great promise in his pursuit toward the World 100. Of 103 cars which hit the track for qualifying, Moran was second fastest with a 15.299-second lap at the half-mile dirt track. Moran finished fourth in his heat after a last lap pass to claim the final transfer spot from his race into the twin feature. Moran settled for a 17th place finish, only losing one spot from the start of the stacked feature event.
Brandon Sheppard couldn’t shake off some bad luck on Thursday as things just didn’t seem to be clicking for the Rocket No. 1 ride. Throughout the season, Sheppard has praised his crew for their hard work and determination to put him in the best ride possible day in and day out. Assuredly there will be no shift in the teams’ philosophy and the Rocket 1 Racing crew will be hard at work throughout the evening and Friday to put Sheppard back on top.
Friday’s action at Eldora Speedway for the World 100 will also have a full schedule of events concluding with two twin 25 lap features which also pay $10,000-to-win. Points collected from Thursday’s and Friday’s finishing order will set the stage for the main event, the World 100.
Eldora Speedway Abbreviated Results:
Odd Feature: 1. 14- Darrell Lanigan[3]; 2. 49- Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 28M- Jimmy Mars[4]; 4. 157- Mike Marlar[6]; 5. 32P- Bobby Pierce[5]; 6. 39- Tim McCreadie[11]; 7. 15H- Jon Henry[9]; 8. 21- Billy Moyer[10]; 9. 71- Hudson O’Neal[18]; 10. 19- Eddie Carrier Jr. [1]; 11. 18B- Shannon Babb[8]; 12. 83- Scott James[19]; 13. 32S- Chris Simpson[15]; 14. R1- Riley Hickman[16]; 15. 22S- Gregg Satterlee[24]; 16- 55. Jeep VanWormer[21]; 17. 3s- Brian Shirley[7]; 18. 4- Cody Mahoney[14]; 19. 20H- Jacob Hawkins[22]; 20. 1S- Brandon Sheppard[13]; 21. 7R- Kent Robinson[23]; 22. 18K- Brandon Kinzer[12]; 23. 7B- Jeff Babcock[20]; 24. Dustin Nobbe[17]
Even Feature: 1. 116- Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 44- Chris Madden[5]; 3. Don O’Neal[8]; 4. 17D- Zack Dohm[12]; 5. 1P- Earl Pearson Jr.[3]; 6. 1R- Josh Richards[4]; 7. 25Z- Mason Zeigler[24]; 8. 18X- Michael Page[18]; 9. 25c- Shane Clanton[15]; 10. Jimmy Owens[17]; 11. 99JR- Frank Heckenast Jr. [7]; 12. 0- Scott Bloomquist[22]; 13- c9. Steve Casebolt[6]; 14. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr. [20]; 15. 12- Jason Jameson[2]; 16. 88- Andrew Reaume[21]; 17. 9- Devin Moran[16]; 18. 22- Chris Ferguson[9]; 19. C8- Timothy Culp[13]; 20. 4B- Jackie Boggs[10]; 21. Brent Larson[11]; 22. Mike Norris[19]; 23. 25- Jason Feger[14]; 24. 33M- Tim Manville[23];
Qualifying: 1. 157- Mike Marlar, 15.291; 2. 9- Devin Moran, 15.299; 3. 5N- Dustin Nobbe, 15.359; 4. 1R- Josh Richards, 15.36; 5. 14- Darrell Lanigan, 15.394; 6. 5- Don O’Neal, 15.427; 7. 20H- Jacob Hawkins, 15.429; 8. 72- Mike Norris, 15.43; 9. 21- Billy Moyer, 15.435; 10. 25C- Shane Clanton, 15.46; 11. 39- Tim McCreadie, 15.469; 12. 44- Chris Madden, 15.479; 13. 18K- Brandon Kinzer, 15.49; 14. 20- Jimmy Owens, 15.505; 15. 71- Hudson O’Neal, 15.506; 16. 97- Michael Chilton, 15.51; 17. 49- Jonathan Davenport, 15.525; 18. 25- Jason Feger, 15.526; 19. 10- Eddie Carrier Jr., 15.527; 20. H1- Jared Miley, 15.542; 21. 32P- Bobby Pierce, 15.547; 22. c9- Steve Casebolt, 15.605; 23. 28M- Jimmy Mars, 15.608; 24. 17- Zack Dohm, 15.62; 25. 1S- Brandon Sheppard, 15.622; 26. 1P- Earl Pearson Jr., 15.633; 27. 83- Scott James, 15.675; 28. 22- Chris Ferguson, 15.719; 29. 32S- Chris Simpson, 15.736; 30. 116- Brandon Overton, 15.739; 31. 7R- Kent Robinson, 15.74; 32. 17M- Dale McDowell, 15.748; 33. 7M- Donald McIntosh, 15.756; 34. 99JR- Frank Heckenast Jr., 15.758; 35. 18B- Shannon Baab, 15.764; 36. C8- Timothy Culp, 15.794; 37. 15H- Jon Henry, 15.817; 38. 12- Jason Jameson, 15.818; 39. 48- Tim Lance, 15.818; 40. 4B- Jackie Boggs, 15.822; 41. 22S- Gregg Satterlee, 15.827; 42. 56- Tony Jackson, 15.832; 43. 3s- Brian Shirley, 15.84; 44. 240- Doug Drown, 15.841; 45. 55- Jeep Vanwormer, 15.862; 46. 11R- James Rice, 15.863; 47. 4- Cody Mahoney, 15.876; 48. 1M- Mike Mataragas, 15.885; 49. 7B- Jeff Babcock, 15.887; 50. 1GK- Ryan King, 15.912; 51. R1- Riley Hickman, 15.927; 52. B1- Brent Larson, 15.931; 53. 101- Casey Roberts, 15.948; 54. 1- Conner Meade, 15.951; 55. 11G- Gordy Gundaker, 15.952; 56. 88- Andrew Reaume, 15.96; 57. 9R- Curtis Roberts, 15.984; 58. 77B- Adam Bowman, 16.043; 59. 48L- Steve Lane, 16.053; 60. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr, 16.059; 61. 17- Shannon Thornsberry, 16.067; 62. 31- Nick Latham, 16.069; 63. 1V- Vic Hill, 16.088; 64. 252- Mason Ziegler, 16.094; 65. 87- Walker Arthur, 16.096; 66. 18x- Michael Page, 16.109; 67. 111- Steven Roberts, 16.114; 68. 28- Dennis Erb Jr., 16.163; 69. CO2- Mike Whitener, 16.165; 70. 93- Jay Johnson, 16.191; 71. 18- Chase Junghans, 16.217; 72. 12M- Raymound Merrill, 16.22; 73. 58- Jeremiah Hurst, 16.224; 74. 33M- Tim Manville, 16.233; 75. 2- Nick Hoffman, 16.245; 76. 95J- Jerry Bowersock, 16.253; 77. 1N- Casey Noonan, 16.3; 78. 20C- Duane Chamberlain, 16.302; 79. 2TS- Travis Stemler, 16.318; 80. 32- Chad Stapleton, 16.343; 81. 15- Steve Francis, 16.351; 82. 2c- Joey Coulter, 16.375 ;83. 50- Shannon Buckingham, 16.387; 84. 40B- Kyle Bronson, 16.414; 85. 89- Dustin Mitchell, 16.421; 86. 39T- Rob Toland, 16.441; 87. 33- Jesse James Lay, 16.449; 88. 128- Jeff Alsip, 16.512; 89. 96- Tanner English, 16.527; 90. 51- Joey Moriarty, 16.531; 91. 31AUS- Paul Stubber, 16.608; 92. 6- Blake Spencer, 16.634; 93. 17E- Lance Elson, 16.743; 94. 45H- Don Hammer, 16.849; 95. 69- Johnny Huck, 16.925; 96. 79- Bryant Dickinson, 16.996; 97. 79- Troy Worrick, 17.106; 98. 4BG- Bob Gardner, 17.269l 99. 97M- Brett Miller, 17.352; 100. 144- Chris Barton, 17.528; 101. 22F- Nicholas Fenner, 17.854; 102. 28X- Drake Meeks, 17.874; 103. 34- Chase Porter, 18.395
