Roaring Knob Mtsprts Complex
Tire wear critical, Moyer rises to top at the Knob
Billy Moyer talks about his victory. (Todd Battin)
MARKLEYSBURG, Pa. (Sept. 2) — A 75-lap race that had one leader for 71 laps had three more leaders the final four circuits as Hall of Famer Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., won a tire-wear showdown at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex.
Moyer earned $20,000 in the Let’s Get Dirty 75 on the first-year National Dirt Racing League after overtaking 19th-starting Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md., on a restart with two laps remaining. | Slideshow | Video
“It turned out our way. I guess being patient and keeping tires under me paid off for once,” said Moyer, who won his first trip to Roaring Knob with his turn-one pass on lap 74. “I didn’t have it all planned out. You just do it at the blink of an eye and everything happened where I had some momentum going, so I just went for it.”
A dozen drivers had flat tires in the long-distance affair, including polesitter Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., who led the first 71 laps. He gave up the lead to Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., who had a flat tire two laps later to give up the lead to Lathroum, whose deflating right-rear tire help Moyer making the winning move.
Lathroum held on to finish second over Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who rallied after an earlier pit stop to replace a flat tire. Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., rounded out the top five finishers in the Labor Day event.
Moyer notched his 774th career feature victory and second of the weekend following Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph at Portsmouth (Ohio) RacewayPark. He has six victories overall in 2013.
“We had a good weekend for sure. We’ve had a dismal year and it’s finally starting to pick up,” Moyer said. “We’ve been working real hard trying to design some new things on this car, and it’s finally coming around ... it wasn’t the best tonight, but it got the job done.”
Lathroum did his best to make his right-rear tire last after leading the field to the final green flag with just two laps remaining.
“I just had to let (Moyer) go because I knew the tire was going down and I just had to push it as hard as I thought it could go,” Lathroum said. “I seen Josh pass me on the last straightaway, so I said, 'I guess we can gas it up and hope to make it.' ”
Richards started eighth and was ran as high as second before his flat tire, but he found himself back near the front with the demise of Shaver, Davey Johnson, Shane Clanton and other frontrunners to the dreaded flat tire.
“The last couple of laps I thought we might have a shot to win it again,” Richards said.
Besides the series of cautions of flat tires, the race was also halted by a 20-minute red flag for a rain delay on the 12th lap.
Notes: Moyer’s Victory Circle Chassis has a Clements Racing Engine and sponsorship from Henderson Motorsports, Banner Valley Hauling, L&D Trucking, Karl Chevrolet, J&J Steel, Car City, Ohlins Shocks, Red Line Oil, Watters Autoland and New Vision Graphics. ... Moyer unofficially takes the NDRL points lead from Jimmy Mars. ... Among other drivers with late-race tire issues: Cody Hardesty, Bob Gordon, Tim Fuller, Corey Conley, Eric Wells, Dennis Erb Jr., and Gregg Satterlee, who ran as high as second. ... Jason Feger stopped to draw a lap-30 caution. ... Rick Eckert, Brian Birkhofer, Vic Coffey and Mason Zeigler were among drivers caught up in a lap-28 tangle. ... Tim Senic slowed on the 10th lap. ... Michael Lake, 12, topped 24 RUSH Crate Late Models for a $2,000 top prize. ... The NDRL concludes its inaugural season Oct. 11-12 at Pittsburgh Pa. Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa., with the 25th annual Pittsburgher 100 weekend.
Let’s Get Dirty 75: (1) Billy Moyer, (2) Jamie Lathroum, (3) Josh Richards, (4) Eric Wells, (5) Tim Fuller, (6) Shane Clanton, (7) Steve Shaver, (8) Dennis Erb Jr., (9) Jimmy Mars, (10) Davey Johnson, (11) Corey Conley, (12) Bob Gordon, (13) Gregg Satterlee, (14) D.J. Troutman, (15) Cody Hardesty, (16) Jason Feger, (17) Rick Eckert, (18) Mike Marlar, (19) Brian Birkhofer, (20) Mason Zeigler, (21) Vic Coffey, (22) Tim Senic, (23) Scott Rhoes, (24) Jeremy Miller. Fast qualifier (among 37 cars): Shaver. Heat race winners: Shaver, Senic, Hardesty, Johnson. Consolation winners: Miller, Gordon.
Correction: Fixes Jason Feger as 16th-place finisher.
