TAZEWELL, Tenn. (June 28) — Other drivers’ misfortune propelled Shanon Buckingham to his first-ever Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory in Friday night’s Toyota Knoxville/Secret City Dodge Jeep/Ted Russell Ford 50 at Tazewell Speedway.

But after the 46-year-old racer from Morristown, Tenn., secured a $12,000 win that was undoubtedly the biggest of his racing career, he didn’t need to apologize for the circumstances of his milestone triumph. He’s well aware that no one ever needs to apologize for how they captured an ultra-competitive national touring series event.

“That’s kind of what it’s about with these deals,” Buckingham said after climbing out of his Roger Sellers-owned Double Down Motorsports Longhorn car in victory lane. “You’ve got to put yourself in position to win.”

Buckingham did just that, running solidly inside the top five throughout the feature’s distance. He was right there, ready to seize the moment when, late in the race, three drivers ahead of him — Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, and Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga. — experienced trouble in rapid succession.

First Richards, who led laps 1-27, relinquished third place on lap 42 when he slowed in his Clint Bowyer Racing mount to bring out a caution. Then, on lap 44, Erb, who overtook Richards for the lead on lap 28, triggered another caution because his Best Performance Motorsports car’s right-rear tire went flat as he set the pace and McDowell headed to the pit area as well with a flat tire of his own before he could officially lead a circuit.

That dramatic turn of events elevated Buckingham from third to first place and he didn’t let the golden opportunity slip through his fingers. He took off on the restart and controlled the final six laps, pulling away to win the A-main by several car lengths over Jared Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., who advanced from the 15th starting to register a career-best Lucas Oil Series finish driving Kentuckian Tim Logan’s XR1 Rocket car.

Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., placed third in the Black Diamond house car after starting 10th. Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., soldiered forward from the 16th starting position to place fourth in the SSI Motorsports Longhorn while Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., completed the top five in the Ramirez Motorsports XR1 Rocket after rallying from a lap-10 pit stop.

The always talkative Buckingham conceded that he caught some breaks, but he was thankful that things finally went his way for a change after all the struggles he’s endured as a Lucas Oil Series rookie this season, including a grinding crash just two weeks ago at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

“I know we got it off a bunch of flat tires,” Buckingham said. “We just put ourselves in position to capitalize on a couple guys’ bad luck.”

From Buckingham’s vantage point, it was the 22-year-old Erb who was “definitely the best car.”

“He impressed me,” said Buckingham, who was overtaken for second by Erb on a lap-10 restart. “We’ve been friends for awhile but we haven’t really raced together that much, and when he crossed back over and got back under me (for second) I thought, Man, he really has a good car.”

Buckingham wasn’t quite sure if he would have had anything for McDowell over the final 6-lap sprint to the finish. He said he was “just trying to be patient and have stuff for the end,” but dealing with McDowell became a moot point because the 53-year-old veteran had to pit with a flat tire before he could restart as the leader.

All Buckingham had to do from there was avoid a major mistake. He did just that in outrunning Hawkins to the checkered flag.

Once the win was cemented, Buckingham couldn’t help thinking off all the blood, sweat and tears it took for him to win on such a big stage.

“I know we didn’t have the best car, but we worked our butts off,” said Buckingham, who best finish in Lucas Oil Series action this year was eighth, on Feb. 9 at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., and May 16 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. “We have worked our butts off. I was up till 4:30 (a.m.) last night. J.C. (Crockett) has been up every night … I can’t count how many times he’s been up. We’ve worked so hard — Shane, my dad, my wife, Roger, we’ve just all worked so hard.”

Buckingham couldn’t have picked a better place to become a Lucas Oil Series winner.

“So glad to do it here, so glad to do it front of hometown fans,” said Buckingham, who lives barely an hour from Tazewell. “I hate to be emotional. It’s not my first win, but as struggling of a season as we’ve had, it sure is sweet. It feels really good.”

Hawkins, 32, was a story as well with his runner-up finish coming in his first-ever start at Tazewell, an imposing high-banked, third-mile oval. He wasn’t able to offer Buckingham a challenge following the lap-44 restart but tallied a very satisfying $5,500 run.

“We lucked out there at the end with attrition, but the car was real good,” Hawkins said. “We were making moves on the way up through there. First we were maybe just gonna try to ride around, and the track really smoothed out for the feature a lot better than what it was early.”

Hawkins was certainly glad he entered the event.

“Once I told Tim (Logan) we’ve never been here he said, ‘Well, we gotta go try it out,’” Hawkins said. “I got YouTube-certified last night, watched some (Tazewell) videos, but that just didn’t do it justice. This place is pretty unreal.”

The 47-year-old Pearson, meanwhile, largely spent the 50-lapper trying to stay out of trouble and ended up with a third-place finish. With points leader Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., retiring on lap eight due to a broken driveshaft and finishing 22nd — absorbing his first DNF of the 2019 campaign — Pearson was able to knock some points off Davenport’s healthy edge, closing from 405 to 330 points behind.

“Running back there fifth, sixth, seventh, I mean, they were just beating on each other, carrying on,” Pearson said. “They were all up there just rubbing all over each other and I said, ‘Oh, boy, this is gonna be big right here.’”

Eight caution flags slowed the rough-and-tumble affair, including one for an incident on lap eight that proved to be a very memorable moment.

As Richards was lapping veteran Steve Smith that circuit, contact with the Tennessean on the homestretch sent Richards’s car sideways into turn one and Smith’s car down the track into the second-running Owens. A caution flag was displayed, but Richards managed to continue on without stopping and got his spot at the front of the field back and Owens raced on as well. On lap 10, however, Owens slowed to bring out a caution of his own due to residual problems from clipping Smith and later in the race, on lap 42, Richards slowed and also headed pitside to the attention of his crew.

Other caution flags flew on lap one for Billy Moyer Jr. slowing; lap 18 for Vic Hill’s flat tire; lap 19 for debris; and lap 35 for Michael Norris, the Sarver, Pa., driver whose first start as a fill-in for sidelined Clint Bowyer Racing driver Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., ended with him sliding backwards into the homestretch wall off turn four.

Notes: Buckingham became the 11th different winner of a Lucas Oil Series A-main this season. … The 27-year-old Norris’s debut in the CBR — and first-ever start at Tazewell — started well when he registered the third-fastest lap in qualifying. He started ninth in the feature and finished 20th. … Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., had to pull out his backup car for the feature, which he started from the 23rd spot thanks to a provisional. He climbed as high as fourth before pitting during the lap-44 caution period. … Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., started 18th but steadily advanced forward to finish sixth. ...  During the feature's cool-down lap, Richards expressed apparent displeasure with Erb for a run-in during the race. ... Davenport’s rough night began during the third heat when he slowed with a flat right-rear tire while leading. … Tazewell’s concrete hillside grandstand was filled virtually to capacity on a night that saw light rain fall periodically, including just before the start and, at times, during the feature.