ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 25) — Earl Pearson Jr. is still the only winner the World of Outlaws Late Model Series has ever known at Eldora Speedway. The standout driver from Jacksonville, Fla., repeated his triumphant performance in last year’s inaugural tour event at NASCAR star Tony Stewart’s famed half-mile oval, rolling to a flag-to-flag victory in the Subway 50.

This time, however, Pearson didn’t have to survive any last-lap challenges. He surged off the outside pole to assume command at the initial green flag and never looked back, turning back mid-race pressure from Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., and Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, en route to his fourth career WoO checkered flag.

“Last year there were cars everywhere in this race and that slide job Shannon Babb gave me (on the final lap) was tough to handle,” said Pearson, who earned $10,150. “This year was just a good race for us. We started off strong and the car just came to me late in the race.”

Pearson, 36, drove his Bobby Labonte-owned LifeLong Locks MasterSbilt car across the finish line 1.820 seconds ahead of Birkhofer, who started 12th and ran in the runner-up spot for the final 20 laps of a race that was taped by the Speed cable network. (The event will be telecast Aug. 23, at 4 p.m. EDT.)

Clanton finished third after making several bids for the lead near the halfway mark, while Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., and Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., completed the top five. Both Richards and Bloomquist started and finished in the same position.

Pearson’s most worrisome moment came on lap 26, when Clanton, who started 11th but reached second place by the 19th circuit, used a slider to pull ahead in turn two. But a caution flag moments later for the slowing car driven by Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., negated the move and allowed Pearson to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Luckily the caution came out when Shane Clanton put a run on me,” Pearson said. “He was all the way ahead of me, and I don’t know if I would’ve ever got back by him. When that happened, I knew I had to go somewhere else and try something different. We started off good right up against the (outside) wall and then we moved down in the mid-part of the race, on the restart I got right back up against the wall and it handled good after that.”

With Pearson going with a harder tire compound than many of his rivals, the 24-lap green-flag stretch that closed the race was perfect for his setup. He was never threatened while handling lapped traffic with ease.

“Down in (turns) three and four it would just go around that top as pretty as you please,” Pearson said of his machine — the same car that his car owner Labonte drove in last month’s Old Spice Prelude to the Dream event at Eldora. “It was just a little bit rough on the cushion, but I could just hold it wide open and go.”

Birkhofer, 36, also stuck the nose of his Mars Car under Pearson, but he couldn’t summon enough speed on the bottom to accomplish a winning pass. “All I did was speed Earl up,” Birkhofer said of his bids for the lead. “He had more in that car than what he thought. I really couldn’t move up there to the top like I needed to. I don’t race the cushion very well, so I stayed on the bottom. I’m happy, though. I got a good feel for what we need here when we come back in September.”

Clanton, 32, saw his hopes effectively dashed when he clipped the backstretch wall on lap 30, ceding second to Birkhofer. The WoO regular spent the remainder of the distance racing with the right-rear spoiler damaged on his RSD Enterprises Rocket and felt fortunate to hold off Richards for third.

“I was trying to run that fine line on the cushion,” said Clanton. “When you’re on that lip and it’s a foot from the wall, it’s a real fine line. I was just driving too hard and got over that lip and hit the wall. It tore the spoiler and tore the nose off. I don’t know if I could’ve got (Pearson), but think I could’ve stayed with him if I didn’t mess my car up.”

The 20-year-old Richards climbed as high as second in his Mark Richards Racing Enterprises Rocket early in the event, but he put himself in a hole from which he never recovered on a lap-13 restart. “I should’ve picked the outside (lane) for that restart,” said Richards. “(Donnie) Moran got the jump on me and then a couple other guys put me back to fifth, so I had to drive so hard to catch back up.”

Bloomquist, 45, salvaged a fifth-place finish after a rock poked a hole in his self-built car’s radiator early in the feature. “I had fluid shooting back in my face for almost the whole race,” said Bloomquist, who slipped backward at the start but ran fifth from lap 28 to the finish. “I used up all my tearoffs and the red (temperature) light came on.”

Finishing in positions 6-10 were Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.; Darren Miller of Milledgeville, Ill.; WoO points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.; 20th-starter Scott James of Greendale, Ind.; and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who used a provisional and started 23rd.

Among the race’s casualties were Babb, who was forced to make a pit stop on lap 26 after a broken right-rear wheel cover caused his wheel to pack with mud; Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who was knocked from a top-10 spot on lap 23 when his car’s right-rear tire blew up and wrapped around its suspension; and Jeep Van Wormer of Pinconning, Mich., who spun in turn four on lap 13 and was involved in a lap-20 tangle with Aaron Scott of Newark, Ohio.

One year after tangling with Frank while bidding for the lead in the first-ever WoO event at Eldora, track owner Stewart returned for another engagement and experienced a very eventful evening.

Driving the Old Spice-Bass Pro Shops No. 20 prepared by the Rocket Chassis team, Stewart was attempting to pass VanWormer for the final transfer spot in the first heat when he ran into the back of the slowing car driven by Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. He returned after a quick pit stop to patch up heavy right-side damage, but another tangle with Van Wormer on a restart forced him out.

Stewart fell a spot short of qualifying in the first consolation race after trading slide jobs with Van Wormer. He got a second chance, however, when he won the Alltel Fan’s Choice Provisional, earning the loudest cheer of the five Eldora drivers who were picked for the competition.

Aaron Scott was the runner-up in the Alltel Fan’s Choice voting — and Stewart decided to add him as well as a track provisional. Stewart went on to finish 17th and Scott was 20th.

The night’s wildest accident occurred on the opening lap of the second consolation. Bobby Kitchen of Grove City, Ohio, flipped in the middle of a multicar tangle on the backstretch, but he emerged from his upside-down racer unhurt.

Alltel Ohio Speedweek continues July 26 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, and July 27 at Eriez Speedway near Erie, Pa.

World of Outlaws @ Eldora: (1) Earl Pearson Jr., (2) Brian Birkhofer, (3) Shane Clanton, (4) Josh Richards, (5) Scott Bloomquist, (6) Tim McCreadie, (7) Darren Miller, (8) Darrell Lanigan, (9) Scott James, (10) Clint Smith, (11) Brady Smith, (12) Chub Frank, (13) Shannon Babb, (14) Rick Eckert, (15) Matt Miller, (16) Tim Fuller, (17) Tony Stewart, (18) Steve Francis, (19) Donnie Moran, (20) Aaron Scott, (21) Billy Moyer, (22) Brian Ruhlman, (23) John Blankenship, (24) Jeep Van Wormer, (25) Kevin Claycomb, (26) Ben Adkins, (27) Chad Ruhlman. Fast qualifier (among 54 cars): Pearson, 15.521 seconds. Heat race winners: Pearson, Bloomquist, Richards, Francis. Consolation winners: Frank, B. Ruhlman. Provisional starters: C. Smith, Fuller, Blankenship, Stewart, Scott.

Feature lineup

Earl Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Josh Richards and Steve Francis were the four heat winners Friday night at the World of Outlaws sanctioned Subway 50 at Eldora Speedway. Track owner Tony Stewart suffered heavy damage to the right side of his car in the first heat race, after he was involved in a pair of altercations with Jeep Van Wormer and Tim Fuller. The top two finishes from each heat race are set to re-draw for the starting order of the main event. Video of the four heat events will be online shortly.

Pre-race notes

Defending race winner Earl Pearson Jr. recorded a 15.521 to top the 54-car field Friday night at the World of Outlaws sanctioned Subway 50. Qualifying was done in four groups, with Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Josh Richards, and Steve Francis topping each set. Heat lineups are posted below. The top four from each heat will advance to the feature, with the top two from each heat re-drawing for position.

Heat one