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Firecracker Finale- Dillard Does It; Blair Goes Back to Back In Emig Memorial

Tommy Hein Photo

 

Sarver, PA (June 27, 2020) Opportunity knocked on Saturday night at Lernerville Speedway and Cade Dillard answered to say the least. And he did so with a flawless performance that saw him hit every mark perfectly, and never lose his nerve with lapped traffic or several late race restarts that saw drivers pull to his door, but not stay there very long.  The Robeline, Louisiana native scored his biggest career victory to this point, taking home the $30,000 winner's share of the Firecracker purse.

œI really dont know what to say right now," an emotional Dillard remarked in victory lane.  "This whole deal is a dream come true. I never in a million years thought that something like this could happen to me.?

Dillard started on the pole not only by virtue of a pill draw, but the process it took to be able to pull said pill as well. Dillard was the most consistent performer throughout all three nights of action. His preliminary night finishes enabled him to start his 10 lap heat race from the pole where he was once again flawless on a night where the pressure was intense, and the car and driver looked stout in all grooves all  night long.

Dillard and Michael Norris led the field to the green flag and along with former champion Darrell Lanigan, quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field from the start of the race. Behind them, Chase Junghans, Boom Briggs and Max Blair were ensconced in a hard fought battle for the fourth spot. Blair made his way around Briggs to seize it and began setting his sights on the leaders.

Following a restart on lap 10, Lanigan slipped past Norris and started hunting Dillard for the lead while Blair made his way under Norris to move to the third spot. Norris then slipped off the backstretch and lost more momentum while Lanigan started heavy pursuit of Blair to retake the second position.  Out front, all eyes were on Dillard who faced some considerable lapped traffic approaching the thirty lap mark. The yellow flag flew on lap 32 for a stopped Gregg Satterlee, giving Blair and Lanigan another opportunity to put a stop to Dillard's hold on the race. However, the charge would come up just short for each of them as down the stretch, Blair and Lanigan drew almost even with the leader on restarts, but the margin would just increase in the following laps for Dillard who simply drove away from his competition and stayed focused.

Though there was not a great deal of position swapping among the top three cars, the surface was racy with plenty of bite leading to several furious charges as the race went along. Dennis Erb Jr's car seemingly came to life in the final 10 laps as he made his way around Norris for the fourth spot after starting the main event from the sixth row as he made one last charge to claim a podium spot while Jared Miley moved up 11 positions to claim the hard charger of the race.

Dillard was halted for a pair of late race restarts, but the same scenario played out as beforehand. Dillard simply was on another plane on the night and refused to make the one mistake that Blair or Lanigan needed to capitalize on. ?Everybody has worked so hard to get to this point, and I know weve still got a long way to go," Dillard said.  "This is all pretty humbling though. I cant believe everything Ive been blessed with over the years."

In RUSH Late Model action. Max Blair won his second consecutive Bill Emig Memorial in a caution free 50 lap race that saw him apply pressure to pole sitter and race leader Chub Frank who was mired in lapped traffic. Blair made his way around Frank with 30 laps to go while Boom Briggs ran third making for an all Northern Tier podium when all was said and done. Blair pocketed over $31,000 on the weekend between his preliminary night performances and second place honors in the Firecracker portion of the night. Jeremy Wonderling found victory lane in the shortened non-qualifiers race to bring the racing to a close for the weekend.

The Action Track Podcast Firecracker Hangover Edition was recorded in studio after the racing on Saturday concluded. You can listen to it HERE

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models  Firecracker Finale (50) Laps- $30,000 to win)

( 97) Cade Dillard
(111) Max Blair
(29v) Darrell Lanigan
(28) Dennis Erb Jr.
(72n) Mike Norris
(1) Brandon Sheppard
(0m) Chris Madden
(7) Ricky Weiss
(12) Ashton Winger
(1x) Chub Frank
(10) Jared Miley
(12d) Doug Drown
(25z) Mason Zeigler
(99b) Boom Briggs
(18) Chase Junghans
(B1) Brent Larson
(22) Gregg Satterlee
(56) Russ King
(2s) Dan Stone
(77) Tyler Dietz
(20rt) Ricky Thornton Jr.
(29) Ken Schaltenbrand
(18b) Shannon Babb
(4) Alex Ferree
(72) Jason Covert
(0) Scott Bloomqust

RUSH Late Model Bill Emig Memorial Main Event- 50 Laps ($10,000 to win)

(111) Max Blair
(1*) Chub Frank
(99b) Boom Briggs
(3J) Jeremy Wonderling
(15) Chad Sines
(29J) Jason Genco
(184) Kyle Lukon
(21L) Matt Latta
(10S) Joe Martin
(11L) Joe Martin
(11L) John Waters
(60M) John Mollick
(136) David Pangrazio
(33) Josh Ferry
(21) Kyle Murray
(7r) Ross Robinson
(90J) Michael Duritsky Jr.
(1st) Christian Schneider
(1Z) Logan Zarin
(09) Bill Kessler
(Z17) Kyle Zimmerman
(948) Joey Zambotti
(31) Nathan Smith
(66) Justin Kann
(14A) Dan Angellicchio

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 1

(111) Max Blair
(72) Jason Covert
(25) Mason Zeighler
(12d) Doug Drown
(03) Rick Eckert
(7) Ricky Weiss
(22G) Greg Oakes
(29) Ken Schaltenbrand
(0) Scott Bloomquist- DQ- Tech violation

 

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 2

(29v) Darrell Lanigan
(1) Brandon Sheppard
(1x) Chub Frank
(20rt) Ricky Thornton Jr.
(2s) Dan Stone
(56) Russ King
(94) Charles Powell Jr.
(0s) Ryan Scott
(93) Cory Lawler

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 3

(97) Cade Dillard
(18) Chase Junghans
(0m) Chris Madden
(12) Ashton Winger
(10) Jared Miley
(4) Ales Ferree
(91) Tommy Beck
(14) Dan Angellichio
(2) Pearson Williams
(B22) Bump Hedman
(11) Joshua Powell

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Heat 4

(72) Michael Norris
(99b) Boom Briggs
(28) Dennis Erb Jr.
(22) Gregg Satterlee
(B1) Brent Larson
(18b) Shannon Babb
(77) Tyler Dietz
(77h) Heath Close

 

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Last Chance Showdown  #1

(7) Ricky Weiss
(2s) Dan Stone
(56) Russ King
(94) Charles Powell Jr.
(44) Colten Burdette
(93) Cory Lawler
(22G) Greg Oakes
(0e) Rick Eckert
(48) Colton Flinner
(0) Scott Bloomquist
(29) Ken Schaltenbrand- Did Not Start
(0s) Ryan Scott- Did Not Start

World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Last Chance Showdown #2

(4) Alex Ferree
(18b) Shannon Babb
(10) Jared Miley
(B1) Brent Larson
(2) Pearson Williams
(91) Tommy Beck
(B22) Bump Hedman
(11) Joshua Powell
(77) Tyler Dietz
(77h) Heath Close
(14) Dan Angellicchio

RUSH Late Model Bill Emig Memorial Last Chance Showdown #1

(90J) Michael Duritsky
(1ST) Christian Schneider
(21J) Jamie Wrightsman
(42D) Nico Dabecco
(09) Bill Kessler
(27T) Tony White
(11S) John Oaks
(41B) Collin Burke

RUSH Late Models Bill Emig Memorial Last Chance Showdown #2

(66) Justin Kann
(31) Nathan Smith
(33x) Eric Hamildon Jr.
(24C) Colin Casale
(7K) Jared Kane
(6) Chuck Recker
(25s) Cory SInes
(52) Bryan Benton

 

Rush Late Models Bill Emig Memorial Non-Qualifiers Race

(21J) Jamie Wrightsman
(42D) Nico Dabecco
(252) Bryan Benton
(11S) John Oaks
(27T) Tony White
(33x) Eric Hamilton Jr.
(6) Chuck Recker
(41B) Collin Burke
(25S) Cory Sines
(24C) Colin Casale

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