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| Tevin Bair Photo |
Imperial, PA (October 7, 2017) And then there were two? Not so fast possibly. However, the Pittsburgher 100 at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania's Motor Speedway did help bring some clarity to the points championship chase on Saturday night. And beyond that, the weekend was highlighted by the fact that Don O'Neal was brilliant on both Friday and Saturday, and put on one of most dominant performances in recent race history.
The field was brought to green by O'Neal of Martinsville Indiana and Winfield Tennessee's Mike Marlar. O'Neal quickly made his intentions known bolting into the lead at the drop of the green easily distancing himself from the field. The races first caution on lap 13 and most significant for one of the three championship contending drivers. The 0 of Scott Bloomquist rested against the wall in turn one following hard contact that changed the course of his race, and hopes for a title. Bloomquist went pit side for repair and would return to try and salvage as many points as he could, managing an 18th place finish.
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| Howie Balis Photo |
Much like the initial start O'Neal pegged the restart and easily pulled away from the field on every restart thereafter. Meanwhile, contenders Josh Richards and Tim McCreadie were doing what they needed to do during the 100 lap main event. The fourth starting Richards fell to seventh early on and worked his way back by McCreadie who would keep his sights on Richards the rest of the way, but could draw no closer than a sixth place finish. Still though it was a good enough performance to keep Richards 40 points behind him entering the final event of the season in the annual Dirt Track World Championships.
As the laps wound down, the restarts turned out to be no big deal for "The Real Deal" as he was never seriously challenged for the lead and cruised to the $20,000 payday with a green to checker win.
Afterwards an upbeat O'Neal was asked to access his night. "Track record , won the heat, and won the race. We raced what we had, my guys made the right calls and made my job easy," O'Neal said following his second tour win of the season. "As far as future plans go, O'Neal will be back aboard the Peak #5 for Clint Bowyer Racing on the Lucas Oil tour in 2018. "The way we are wrapping up 2017 like we have, I just want to get to Speed Weeks and get going again."
Second place finisher Darrell Lanigan who started 14th on the grid was pleased with his run. "Starting where we did to end up second, we were all on the same tires and at a big ole place like this clean air means a lot."
Bloomquist was very gracious after a disappointing Pittsburgher 100 that saw him fall back to 75 points behind McCreadie. "After tonight we got ourselves way behind and won't be able to do anything with it. We will get to Portsmouth to contend for the win " Bloomquist is completely aware if either of his title contenders finish in the top 10 that it could potentially eliminate his chance at the Lucas crown. I won't sit around and wish for anyone to have a bad night to win a championship."
Series points leader McCreadie was asked what a Lucas title would mean to him, "It would be one of the coolest things we could do as a race team. I was fortunate to win one championship a long time ago and it's been a long drought"
In support division action Pittsburgh Pa' s Daryl Charlier won the $2,500 to win RUSH Crate Late Model, Bill Hendron Memorial race over Max Blair and Ryan Montgomery. The night was capped off by a dominating performance in the Penn/Ohio Street Stock feature as Chris Schneider of Lower Burrell Pa driving the Jack Keil / Rob Shook owned #64 took the honors.
Feature Finish (100-Lap $20,000 to win, 29th Annual Pittsburgher 100)
1. Don O’Neal, Martinsville, IN
2. Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY
3. Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV
4. Earl Pearson, Jr., Jacksonville, FL
5. Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN
6. Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY
7. Hudson O’Neal, Martinsville, IN
8. Boom Briggs, Bear Lake
9. Mason Ziegler, Chalk Hill
10. Rick Eckert, York
11. Gregg Satterlee, Rochester Mills
12. Russ King, Bristolville, OH
13. Jason Covert, York Haven
14. Derek Stefanick, Imperial
15. Jon Hodgkiss, Kennedy
16. Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL
17. Steve Francis, Ashland, KY
18. Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN
19. Alex Ferree, Valencia
20. Dennis Erb, Jr., Carpentersville, IL
21. Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN
22. Jake Gunn, McDonald
23. Tony Musolino, Scott Twp.
24. Colton Flinner, Allison Park
25. Jared Miley, Pittsburgh
26. Tommy Beck, Sewickley
27. Mike Norris, Sarver
28. Mike Pegher, Cranberry Township
The race was slowed by 11 cautions
Lap 13 Bloomquist
Lap16 Flinner
Lap 22 Norris
Lap 30 Flinner
Lap 34 Flinner
Lap 43 Musolini
Lap 50 Gunn
Lap 51 debris
Lap 60 Marlar
Lap 82 Covert
Lap 83 Francis
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