GREENWOOD, Neb. (July 19) — A victory and runner-up finish earned Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., the most passing points in Friday night's dual-heat qualifying program, giving him the pole position for Saturday’s ninth annual Imperial Tile Silver Dollar Nationals finale at I-80 Speedway.

Zeigler, 26, will start from the front row in the 80-lap, $53,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event for the second straight year. He took the green flag second in last year's race but was an early retiree and finished 31st.

“We’ll see what happens,” said Zeigler, who also finished 31st in his other SDN feature appearance, in 2017. “I think we got a good enough car to at least contend for the win.”

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who led all drivers in passing points after the first round of heats, will share the front row with Zeigler on Saturday after winning a Round 1 heat (from the fourth starting spot) and finishing fourth (from seventh) in Round 2. He won the Silver Dollar Nationals in 2017.

There were no repeat winners in the evening’s 10 heat races. Joining McCreadie as first-round victors were Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., and Bill Leighton Jr. of LaVista, Neb., while Round 2 winners along with Zeigler were Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, and Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba.

The top 18 drivers in combined passing points from Friday night’s heats locked into the Silver Dollar Nationals A-main. The remainder of the entries will vie in B-mains on Saturday to fill out the field, including Moyer and Weiss, the only heat winners who didn’t earn enough passing points to transfer to the headliner.

Zeigler flashed some serious strength in the pair of heats, following up his promising run in Thursday night’s weekend-opening Lucas Oil Series-sanctioned Malvern Bank Go 50 — he led laps 8-20 before settling for a fourth-place finish — with a second-place finish (from the seventh starting spot) in Round 1 and a triumph (from fourth) in Round 2.

After Zeigler performed so well in last year’s Silver Dollar Nationals feature — he was running second behind Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., on lap 12 when the four-link plates ripped off his car’s rearend — he’s showing he hasn’t lost a step.

“It’s funny, because we came back with a totally different car, different setup, different everything, this year,” said Zeigler, who entered his family-owned XR1 Rocket car. “I knew we were good last year, but I feel like our program is just better this year coming in so we just figured we’d stick it out and see how it went.

“I’m happy we did because I think we might be a little bit better than last year. I just hope we’re better when the track slows down. I hope we can steer a little better than we did last year in the slick.”

Zeigler has a plan for this year’s 80-lap feature. It doesn’t involve pacing himself throughout the race.

“Everyone used to always say, ‘Patience and patience and patience,’” Zeigler said. “Man, it’s not patience anymore. You got guys like Tyler Erb and Bobby Pierce — you take a break for one second out there and you’re getting passed. I say Bobby and Tyler and them because they’re more, like, just on the cushion and beating the wall down, but even guys like Davenport and (Chris) Madden and them, as smooth as they are, you just slack off for one second and they’re driving right by you. You gotta be on kill-mode from lap one I think.

“I wouldn’t say being patient is the right word. I think just being more focused would be a better word. You just gotta focus on not sliding your tires. You gotta focus on hitting your marks.

“That’s the biggest thing — just having good focus tomorrow and keeping my tires underneath me and not blistering them, and, again, just being in the right part of the racetrack when it starts transitioning,” he added. “That’s something that really has bit me in the ass. Last night was a very good example. I don’t think Brandon (Sheppard) would’ve ever drove back by me if I would’ve been in the right part of the racetrack.”

For Zeigler, his relative inactivity this season — he didn’t attend Georgia-Florida Speedweeks and has made only 19 starts — is one hinderance to his hopes of success on a big stage. He’s won twice in Pennsylvania but still feels like he’s striving to function at 100 percent of his capability.

“I feel like like I keep making mistakes in the seat and making some bad calls,” Zeigler said. “These (crew) guys rely on me to get out of the car and tell them what I need, and I feel like sometimes I make bad decisions because I just don’t have the best feel right now. That’s just a lack of racing. We need to race more, we want to race more, but the situation presented itself that we weren’t able to as much this year.

“We raced a couple times with Lucas (Oil) this year, but I don’t think we’ve really got a good opportunity to showcase how good our stuff is,” he added. “I think we have one of the best cars in the country right now, I really do. I just need to do my part and I think we can win some races.”

Passing points totals

(Ties broken by fastest lap time in heats)
1. Mason Zeigler 128.080
2. Tim McCreadie 116.560
3. Devin Moran 116.560
4. Jimmy Owens 116.560
5. Tyler Erb 114.800
6. Bobby Pierce 114.800
7. Tyler Bruening 110.800
8. Brandon Sheppard 110.800
9. Scott Bloomquist 110.800
10. Bill Leighton Jr. 109.040
11. Earl Pearson Jr. 105.040
12. Jonathan Davenport 105.040
13. Corey Zeitner 105.040
14. Chris Madden 105.040
15. Michael Norris 102.800
16. Chad Simpson 102.800
17. Mike Marlar 102.800
18. Hudson O’Neal 101.040
19. Nick Deal 99.280
20. Shanon Buckingham 99.280
21. Josh Richards 97.520
22. Ricky Weiss 97.520
23. Kyle Bronson 93.520
24. Billy Moyer Jr. 93.520
25. Billy Moyer 93.520
26. Josh Leonard 91.280
27. Cody Laney 89.520
28. Dennis Erb Jr. 89.520
29. Dale McDowell 89.040
30. Chris Simpson 87.760
31. Allan Hopp 82.00
32. Shannon Babb 81.520
33. Tad Pospisil 71.760
34. Terry Phillips 70.000
35. Dave Eckrich 70.000
36. Andrew Kosiski 66.000
37. Chase Junghans 66.000
38. J.C. Wyman 66.000
39. Jeremy Grady 62.000
40. Scott Ward 62.000
41. Ben Schaller 62.000
42. Stormy Scott 54.000
43. Ben Sukup 54.000
44. Robbie Anderson 54.000
45. Rece Vaught 50.000
46. Blair Nothdurft 50.000
47. Al Humphrey 50.000
48. Junior Coover 50.000
49. Jake Timm 46.000

Saturday B-main lineups

(15 laps; top 4 transfer)
First B-main
Row 1: Nick Deal, Josh Richards
Row 2: Kyle Bronson, Billy Moyer
Row 3: Cody Laney, Dale McDowell
Row 4: Allan Happ, Tad Pospisil
Row 5: Dave Eckrich, Chase Junghans
Row 6: Jeremy Grady, Ben Schaller
Row 7: Ben Sunup, Rece Vaught
Row 8: Al Humphrey, Jake Timm
Second B-main
Row 1: Shanon Buckingham, Ricky Weiss
Row 2: Billy Moyer Jr., Josh Leonard
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Simpson
Row 4: Shannon Babb, Terry Phillips
Row 5: Andrew Kosiski, J.C. Wyman
Row 6: Scott Ward, Stormy Scott
Row 7: Robbie Anderson, Blair Nothdurft
Row 8: Junior Coover

Preliminary results and notes:

Fifth heat

Polesitter Ricky Weiss, the runner-up in last year’s Silver Dollar Nationals, found his rhythm in the night’s final heat, scoring a runaway wire-to-wire win by 2.510 seconds over third-starter Shanon Buckingham. The runner-up spot was hotly contested between Buckingham and sixth-starter Tyler Erb, who traded sliders before Buckingham finally wrestled the position away with two laps to go. Erb settled for third, seventh-starter Corey Zeitner was fourth and Chris Simpson started and finished fifth. Thursday-night winner Jonathan Davenport advanced from the 10th starting spot to finish sixth.

Finish (12 laps): Ricky Weiss, Shanon Buckingham, Tyler Erb, Corey Zeitner, Chris Simpson, Jonathan Davenport, Scott Ward, Ben Schaller, Jeremy Grady, Rece Vaught.

Fourth heat

Mason Zeigler came from the fourth starting spot to shoot by race-long pacesetter Billy Moyer Jr. for the lead on lap nine en route to a victory. Moyer settled for second after starting outside the front row, 1.435 seconds behind Zeigler. The polesitting Michael Norris slipped to third in the final rundown, while Round 1 passing-points leader Tim McCreadie finished fourth after starting seventh and Mike Marlar fell from the third starting spot to a fifth-place result.

Finish (11 laps): Mason Zeigler, Billy Moyer Jr., Michael Norris, Tim McCreadie, Mike Marlar, Dave Eckrich, Andrew Kosiski, Ben Sukup, Junior Coover.

Third heat

Rebounding from a slow start that saw him slip from the outside pole to fifth, Devin Moran made a late-race charge to emerge victorious. He slid by Kyle Bronson and Scott Bloomquist to reach third on lap six, took second from Josh Richards on lap seven and overtook race-long pacesetter Chad Simpson for the lead on lap 10. Moran crossed the finish line 1.165 seconds in front of the fourth-starting Richards, who passed the polesitting Simpson on the last lap. Bloomquist finished fourth after starting seventh.

Finish (12 laps): Devin Moran, Josh Richards, Chad Simpson, Scott Bloomquist, Kyle Bronson, Josh Leonard, Tad Pospisil, Cody Laney, Robbie Anderson, Jake Timm.

Second heat

Outside polesitter Billy Moyr turned back a late challenge from front-row mate Hudson O’Neal to clinch a flag-to-flag victory by 0.312 of a second over the teenager. O’Neal pulled a slider to get ahead of Moyer through turns one and two on the final lap, but Moyer crossed back underneath O’Neal off turn two and reached the finish line first. Fifth-starter Tyler Bruening finished third, Nick Deal came from seventh to fourth and eighth-starter Bill Leighton Jr. settled for fifth after climbing as high as third. A caution flew on lap four when Stormy Scott spun in turn four while in a tight battle for third place.

Finish (12 laps): Billy Moyer, Hudson O’Neal, Tyler Bruening, Nick Deal, Bill Leighton Jr., Earl Pearson Jr., Shannon Babb, Stormy Scott, Terry Phillips, Blair Nothdurft.

First heat

Fourth-starter Jimmy Owens overtook Dale McDowell for the lead on lap four and marched on win by 0.764 of a second over hard-charging seventh-starter Bobby Pierce, who slid Brandon Sheppard for the runner-up spot on lap 10 and quickly ate into Owens’s edge. Sheppard settled for third after starting sixth, Dennis Erb Jr. lost a spot to place fourth and polesitter McDowell fell to fifth in the final rundown.

Finish (12 laps): Jimmy Owens, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Dale McDowell, Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Madden, Chase Junghans, J.C. Wyman, Allan Hopp, Al Humphrey.

Round 2 heat lineups

First heat
Row 1: Dale McDowell, Al Humphrey
Row 2: Dennis Erb Jr., Jimmy Owens
Row 3: Chase Junghans, Brandon Sheppard
Row 4: Bobby Pierce, J.C. Wyman
Row 5: Allan Hopp, Chris Madden
Second heat
Row 1: Hudson O’Neal, Billy Moyer
Row 2: Shannon Babb, Stormy Scott
Row 3: Tyler Bruening, Terry Phillips
Row 4: Nick Deal, Bill Leighton Jr.
Row 5: Earl Pearson Jr., Blair Nothdurft
Third heat
Row 1: Chad Simpson, Devin Moran
Row 2: Robbie Anderson, Josh Richards
Row 3: Kyle Bronson, Jake Timm
Row 4: Scott Bloomquist, Tad Pospisil
Row 5: Josh Leonard, Cody Laney
Fourth heat
Row 1: Michael Norris, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 2: Mike Marlar, Mason Zeigler
Row 3: Dave Eckrich, Andrew Kosiski
Row 4: Tim McCreadie, Ben Sukup
Row 5: Junior Coover
Fifth heat
Row 1: Ricky Weiss, Rece Vaught
Row 2: Shanon Buckingham, Scott Ward
Row 3: Chris Simpson, Tyler Erb
Row 4: Corey Zeitner, Ben Schaller
Row 5: Jeremy Grady, Jonathan Davenport

Round 1 update

Tim McCreadie accumulated the most passing points in the first round of heat action, topping the standings with 64.280 points. Mason Zeigler was second (63.800), followed by Earl Pearson Jr. (60.760), Bill Leighton Jr. (60.760) and Mike Marlar (59.800).

Rounding out the top 10 after Round 1 are Jonathan Davenport (59.000), Chris Madden (59.000), Tyler Erb (58.520), Scott Bloomquist (58.520) and Tyler Bruening (56.280).

Fifth heat

In by far the wildest heat of the first round, second-starter Bill Leighton Jr. led from flag-to-flag but had to withstand several stiff challenges from Tyler Erb and Bobby Pierce, who finished second and third, respectively. Erb slid in front of Leighton in turn three heading to laps seven, eight and nine, but Leighton crossed over to the inside and maintained command each time. On the ninth lap Pierce slid hard to the inside of turns one and two to overtake Erb while nearly running into Leighton, but on the final circuit Pierce got over the cushion in turn two and lost him momentum, allowing Erb to regain second and finish 1.472 seconds behind Leighton.

Finish (11 laps): Bill Leighton Jr., Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce, Josh Leonard, Shannon Babb, Josh Richards, Ricky Weiss, Dave Eckrich, Al Humphrey.

Fourth heat

Jonathan Davenport roared off the outside pole to lead all the way, beating seventh-starter Mason Zeigler by 2.469 seconds. Fifth-starter Brandon Sheppard placed third, Nick Deal started and finished fourth and Chris Simpson improved two spots to complete the top five.

Finish (12 laps): Jonathan Davenport, Mason Zeigler, Brandon Sheppard, Nick Deal, Chris Simpson, Dale McDowell, Tad Pospisil, Billy Moyer, Robbie Anderson, Junior Coover.

Third heat

Chris Madden started from the pole position and stayed in front for the entire distance, defeating his car owner, Scott Bloomquist, by 1.752 seconds. Bloomquist reached second on lap eight when Jeremy Grady slid high and slapped the outside wall between turns three and four, starting a fall that saw Grady finish seventh. Eighth-starter Mike Marlar placed third, ninth-starter Devin Moran was fourth and Terry Phillips improved one spot to finish fifth.

Finish (12 laps): Chris Madden, Scott Bloomquist, Mike Marlar, Devin Moran, Terry Phillips, Hudson O’Neal, Jeremy Grady, Chase Junghans, Scott Ward, Ben Sukup.

Second heat

Bolting from third to first on a lap-four restart, fourth-starter Tim McCreadie went on to capture the prelim by 3.342 seconds over early leader Allan Hopp. Sixth-starter Tyler Bruening, who briefly reached with a lap-two slider by McCreadie, settled for third while seventh-starter Jimmy Owens placed fourth and 10th-starter Chad Simpson was fifth. The race’s lone caution flag flew on lap four when Jake Timm came to a stop against the turn-four wall.

Finish (12 laps): Tim McCreadie, Allan Hopp, Tyler Bruening, Jimmy Owens, Chad Simpson, Shanon Buckingham, Billy Moyer Jr., Ben Schaller, Blair Nothdurft, Jake Timm.

First heat

Earl Pearson Jr. followed to a flag-to-flag victory by 1.777 seconds over polesitter Cody Laney, the Californian who hung tough in second for the entire distance. Corey Zeitner improved one spot to place fourth, Kyle Bronson picked up two positions to finish fourth and 10th-starter Michael Norris completed the top five. Dennis Erb Jr. finished sixth after after the race pulled alongside Norris to express some displeasure with contact between the two earlier in the race.

Finish (12 laps): Earl Pearson Jr., Cody Laney, Corey Zeitner, Kyle Bronson, Michael Norris, Dennis Erb Jr., J.C. Wyman, Andrew Kosiski, Rece Vaught, Stormy Scott.

Round 1 heat lineups

First heat
Row 1: Cody Laney, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 2: J.C. Wyman, Corey Zeitner
Row 3: Andrew Kosiski, Kyle Bronson
Row 4: Stormy Scott, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 5: Rece Vaught, Michael Norris
Second heat
Row 1: Blair Nothdurft, Allan Hopp
Row 2: Ben Schaller, Tim McCreadie
Row 3: Jake Timm, Tyler Bruening
Row 4: Jimmy Owens, Shanon Buckingham
Row 5: Billy Moyer Jr., Chad Simpson
Third heat
Row 1: Chris Madden, Jeremy Grady
Row 2: Ben Sukup, Scott Bloomquist
Row 3: Terry Phillips, Chase Junghans
Row 4: Scott Ward, Mike Marlar
Row 5: Devin Moran, Hudson O’Neal
Fourth heat
Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Junior Coover
Row 2: Tad Pospisil, Nick Deal
Row 3: Brandon Sheppard, Chris Simpson
Row 4: Mason Zeigler, Robbie Anderson
Row 5: Billy Moyer, Dale McDowell
Fifth heat
Row 1: Josh Leonard, Bill Leighton Jr.
Row 2: Bobby Pierce, Tyler Erb
Row 3: Dave Eckrich, Josh Richards
Row 4: Shannon Babb, Al Humphrey
Row 5: Ricky Weiss

Pre-race notes

There’s no let up in the heat department for Friday’s Silver Dollar Nationals qualifying program. Heat advisories have been in effect throughout the day as the high temperature has approached 100 degrees with a heat index of over 110 degrees. Skies are crystal clear, however, so there’s no chance of rain in the forecast. … Most teams stayed up late after Thursday night’s program to work on their cars in the cooler overnight hours rather than in the boiling afternoon sun. … The distances of the heat races in each of Friday’s two qualifying rounds will be determined by the number of starters plus two laps. … Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., reconsidered his decision to head home early after a heat-race incident on Thursday bent the rear clip of his Ronnie Delk-owned car. “Mark (Richards) came over and Port-a-Powered it over and said it’ll be like new,” Marlar said of the Rocket Chassis co-owner who helped straighten Marlar’s machine, which was twisted to the left from impact with the turn-two wall. … Nebraskan Tad Pospisil bypassed Thursday’s Lucas Oil Series program to concentrate on the 35-lap Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series feature, which he finished in the third spot. He put a larger open-competition engine in his No. 04 to compete the rest of the weekend. … Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., has a new decal on his Scott Bloomquist Racing entry that sports an “M” design inside the No. 0, helping to differentiate him from the nearly identical car Bloomquist is driving. … Michael Norris of Sarver, Pa., the temporary fill-in driver for the sidelined Don O’Neal in the Clint Bowyer Racing No. 5, used the team’s emergency provisional to start Thursday’s feature after his qualifying effort was dive-bombed because he jumped the cushion in his heat and bent the car’s nosepiece. He said he “driving the track wrong” in his first appearance at I-80 and is hoping to find better results Friday with a change in his approach.

Pre-race setup

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctions the ninth annual Imperial Tool Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway, a half-mile oval outside Omaha owned and promoted by Nebraska’s well-known Kosiski family. A first-place prize of $53,000 has been posted for Saturday night’s 80-lap A-main, which boasted a $25,000 payoff for its inaugural edition in 2011 and offered a $40,000 check three years ago before climbing to $53,000 in ’17.

The three-day event kicked off Thursday with a Lucas Oil Series event won by Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga. Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa, meanwhile, captured the companion Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series feature that paid $5,300 to win.

Friday night’s card features hot laps and two rounds of heat races for the Late Model competitors on hand along with a identical two-round heat-race format for United State Modified Touring Series entrants. No time trials will be contested for the Dirt Late Model division; heat races will be aligned by a draw and combined passing points from the prelims will set the lineups for Saturday’s main event.

The top 18 drivers in heat race passing points will be locked into the 80-lap feature, while remaining drivers will run consolation races on Saturday to secure feature starting spots. The 32-car feature field will then be filled out with multiple rows of provisional starters.

Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CDT with racing to follow at 7:30 p.m.