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Blankenship is Brilliant in Blue Ridge 50 at Wythe

RURAL RETREAT, VA (June 23, 2012) – John Blankenship of Williamson, WV was the last driver to arrive to race Saturday at Wythe Raceway, but at the end of the night, he was first to cross the finish line as he collected the win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series “Blue Ridge 50”.

Blankenship started 14th and roared through the field, gaining the lead from Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA on lap 36. Blankenship then had to race through a green-white-checker finish after a caution came out with two laps to go. He went on to score his second career LOLMDS victory. Davenport finished second in the Clint Bowyer Racing, Georgia Boot, Barry Wright Toyota as he just barely edged our Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA in the Team Dillon Racing, Clements Race Engines, Warrior Chevrolet.

Blankenship; whose first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win came last year at Hagerstown (MD) Speedway after starting 17th; earned $10,000 for the victory in front of the largest crowd in the track’s history. “I can’t thank the crew enough, Tom Buckingham, and everybody did a great job on the car after time trials, we qualified poorly, but we passed some cars in the heat, so I knew we might have a good car for the feature,” said the 30-year-old Blankenship.

“We started on the outside of the seventh row and we had to get by a lot of tough drivers. The car was just awesome from the start,” said Blankenship, who reached the top five by the 20th circuit. “Once we got to the top five, we rolled around Madden and Dale (McDowell). Then we got to Davenport and I knew it would be a tough race with him, but we raced hard there for a while until I was finally able to clear him off of two. I have to thank my sponsors, Coal America’s Energy, Todd Case Trucking, Fast Lane, VP Race Fuels, Bear Cove Village, Integra Shocks, Cornett Race Engines and Rocket Chassis.”

Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC came from the 20th starting position to claim fourth, just ahead of Kennie Compton Jr. of Bland, VA, who was the highest finishing home state driver. Completing the top ten were Vic Hill of Morristown, TN; Chris Madden of Gaffney, SC; Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN; and Eric Wells of Hazard, KY.

In preliminary action, Tyler Reddick set the Red Buck Cigars Fast Time amongst the 29 entrants with a lap of 16.077 seconds. Heat races were taken by: Jonathan Davenport, Vic Hill, Tyler Reddick, and Dale McDowell. Jared Landers and Donald Bradsher won their respective B-Mains.

The series will be back in action on July 1st and 3rd for a pair of $10,000 spectacular “Buckeye State” show-downs. On July 1st, the stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series take to Portsmouth Raceway Park in Portsmouth, OH for the “Independence 50”. On the eve of Independence Day, Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, OH plays host to the series with the “Budweiser 50”. Both events will feature Red Buck Cigars Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and 50-lap main events.

For more information on either event, go to www.portsraceway.com and www.themuskingumcountyspeedway.com.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto www.lucasdirt.com and be sure to follow the series at www.facebook.com/lucasdirt and www.twitter.com/#!/lucasdirt.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, June 23rd, 2012
Inaugural “Blue Ridge 50”
Wythe Raceway – Rural Retreat, VA

Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Jonathan Davenport / 16.084 seconds (Group A) Tyler Reddick / 16.077 seconds (Group B)

Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Jonathan Davenport, Kennie Compton, Scott Bloomquist, Eric Wells, Justin Labonte, Brett Miller, Steve Shaver, Dennis Franklin

U. S. Steel Second Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Vic Hill, Chris Madden, Ty Dillon, Johnny Pursley, Jared Landers, Billy Hicks, Tim Rivers

Simpson Performance Products Third Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Tyler Reddick, Mike Marlar, Chris Ferguson, John Blankenship, Austin Hubbard, Ray Cook, Earl Pearson, Jr.

HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (10 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Dale McDowell, Jimmy Owens, Steve Francis, Ricky Weeks, Donald Bradsher, Don O'Neal, Travis Greer

JRi Shocks First B-Main (12 Laps – Top 3 Advance): Jared Landers, Brett Miller, Justin Labonte, Dennis Franklin, Steve Shaver, Billy Hicks, Tim Rivers

PAC Racing Springs Second B-Main (12 Laps – Top 3 Advance): Donald Bradsher, Ray Cook, Austin Hubbard, Don O'Neal, Earl Pearson, Jr., Travis Greer-DNS

Feature Finish – 50 Laps: 1. 23-John Blankenship; 2. 15D-Jonathan Davenport; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell; 4. 53-Ray Cook; 5. 10C-Kennie Compton; 6. 1V-Vic Hill; 7. 44M-Chris Madden; 8. 0-Scott Bloomquist; 9. 20-Jimmy Owens; 10. 18E-Eric Wells; 11. 1W-Ricky Weeks; 12. 11T-Tyler Reddick; 13. 71-Don O'Neal; 14. 15-Steve Francis; 15. 22F-Chris Ferguson; 16. 41-Ty Dillon; 17. 11H-Austin Hubbard; 18. 93-Donald Bradsher; 19. 44L-Justin Labonte; 20. 44-Earl Pearson Jr; 21. 09-Johnny Pursley; 22. 5B-Mike Marlar; 23. 47-Brett Miller; 24. 5-Jared Landers

Race Statistics
Entrants: 29
Lap Leaders: Jonathan Davenport (Laps 1 –35); John Blankenship (Laps 36 – 50)
Caution Flags: Ray Cook (Lap 5); debris (Lap 33); Donald Bradsher (Lap 47)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Don O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: none
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Ray Cook (Started 20th; Finished 4th; Advanced 16 positions)
Allstar Performer of the Race: John Blankenship
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
ASi Racewear Challenge Finisher: Jonathan Davenport
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: Jonathan Davenport
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Sweet Mfg Crew Chief of the Race: Tom Buckingham (John Blankenship)
Time of Race: 24 minutes 41 seconds

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