CONNEAUT, Ohio — After flat left-rear tires sent three drivers to the pits at Raceway 7, second-running Tim McCreadie couldn't help but notice that leader Shane Clanton might have a similar problem cropping up late in Friday's Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event.
"I could tell (Clanton's left-rear tire) was wrinkling real bad," McCreadie said. "Normally when (tires) wrinkle up like that the they've got air in 'em, it's because it's got a lot of load on the tire and it's tractioned up kind of like drag cars and stuff. But I noticed it was rolling outside the rim, so I knew he was in trouble."
Indeed McCreadie's fellow front-row starter fell by the wayside on the 42nd lap, handing the lead back to the 47-year-old Watertown, N.Y., driver and sending the series points lead to his sixth victory of the season.
With Clanton heading pitside after his demise, McCreadie took the checkers in the 50-lapper 1.809 seconds ahead of Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., while Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., finished third. Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., improved eight positions to finish fourth and provisional starter Jimmy Owens, driving a backup car after breaking an engine in his heat race, rallied from 23rd to round out the top five at the 7/16 mile oval in extreme northeastern Ohio.
McCreadie, who set fast time and won his heat race, jumped into the lead from the outset, but he gave up the lead to Clanton on the fourth lap in turn two.
"I saw Shane under me and I kind of turned right and I thought we were going to hit," McCreadie said, "and it got me over the bank."
Clanton maintained control for 36 laps until McCreadie slipped underneath on lap 39 to regain the point, but Clanton went right back ahead to lead two more laps before his tire woes forced him out.
"I hate it for Shane. I know how hard they're working and I think he truly had it tonight. Sometimes you've gotta be lucky, and at least we're in position," said McCreadie, who had gotten a warning from former WoO regular Chub Frank about the tricky tire issues.
"It's truly been a dream year for me," McCreadie said. "I know we haven't won as many as we'd always like to, but if I run second every night and make a boatload of money and can run this orange spoiler (signifying the Lucas Oil leader) all the time, I'll learn to live with it."
Richards, who scored his first podium finish since July 17 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., felt like he was sneaking up on the Clanton-McCreadie battle with 10 laps remaining.
"We've definitely had a pretty rough year and just to be in the hunt for the front was really cool," Richards said. " I didn't want to see that caution. I think I might've been able to sneak up on 'em. After that restart, McCreadie got out and he was pretty good. But I just can't thank this Clint Bowyer Racing team enough for not giving up.
"We've definitely been off a little bit and just had some rough luck, but we'll certainly take it."
Pearson scored his third top-five finish since shifting to car owner Jason Papich's Longhorn Chassis and posted his first series since a third-place run Oct. 3, 2020.
"The track was pretty tough to race on right there, but anyway, we survived," said Pearson, whose car suffered right-front damage during the event. "We had a good race there with Josh through most of the race and McCreadie and (Clanton) were checked out there a little bit. Anyway, all in all, to be way up here this far north, I enjoy coming up here."
Along with Clanton's lap-42 left-front flat, the event's other three yellow flags also involved flat left-rear tire on lap 8 (Dave Hess Jr.), lap 23 (fifth-running Jonathan Davenport, who left-front tire was also flat and left-rear wheel bent; he came back to finish seventh) and lap 25 (third-running Gregg Satterlee).
