The Dirt Track at Charlotte

Owens, McDowell fastest in time trials at Lowe's

October 30, 2008, 7:47 pm

By Kevin Kovac

World of Outlaws Late Model Series

Owens tunes up at Lowe's. (erikgrigsbyphotos.com)

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 30) — Southern stars Jimmy Owens and Dale McDowell shared the spotlight on Thursday, grabbing fast-time honors in the two rounds of World of Outlaws Late Model Series time trials that opened the second annual Vault World Finals at the Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. A field of 78 dirt Late Models jammed the pit area for the blockbuster doubleheader, which also attracted 47 machines for the companion Advance Auto Parts Sprint Car Series meet. | Complete Lowe's coverage

Owens, 36, of Newport, Tenn., controlled the first round of time trials, roaring around the 4/10-mile oval in 14.825 seconds to earn his first WoO fast-time honor of 2008. The performance behind the wheel of Mike Reece’s Bloomquist Chassis car gained him the pole position starting spot for the first Vault World Finals heat race on Friday night.

McDowell, 42, of Chickamauga, Ga., denied Owens a sweep of the qualifying night, topping the second round of time trials with a lap of 14.832 seconds. The former WoO regular will start Sanford Goddard’s Warrior Chassis house car from the pole position in the first heat on Saturday night after nipping Owens, whose lap of 14.945 seconds left him just short of duplicating the double fast-time accomplishment turned in by Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., during last year’s World Finals.

Owens’s powerful evening helped him erase memories of a frustrating outing in the previous night’s WoO Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown. After his primary car was sidelined by terminal engine problems during heat action, Owens jumped in his backup machine to start the 50-lap A-Main thanks to a fast-time provisional but was the first retiree.

McDowell, meanwhile, was strong for the second consecutive night. He backed up a third-place finish in the Showdown and appears primed to chase his first WoO victory since Sept. 23, 2005, at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in Calvert City, Ky.

Thursday’s first round of time trials set the lineups for Friday night’s heats, while the second round of qualifying was used to align Saturday night’s heats.

WoO points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., earned a pole position starting spot in a Friday-night heat and an outside-pole start in a Saturday-night prelim with his steady qualifying laps of fifth and eighth. He will clinch his first career WoO championship by starting Friday night’s 50-lapper.

Thursday night’s program concluded with the Breaking the Vault dashes, a series of nine match races among the top-five drivers in the WoO points standings and five of the fastest qualifiers from the evening. The winner of each lap-and-a-half dash earned $300 and had the opportunity to select his next opponent, building the drama to a final two-and-a-half-lap finale that was captured by Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind.

Lanigan made a bid to sweep the dashes, ripping off five straight wins by defeating in succession Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., McDowell, Josh McGuire of Grayson, Ky., Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., and Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga. But Lanigan’s run ended with $1,500 in earnings after Owens knocked him off in Round 6. Owens pocketed only one $300 win before falling in Round 7 to O’Neal, who proceeded to defeat Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., in Round 8 and Josh Richards of Shinnston,W.Va., in the extended-distance finale. O’Neal earned a total of $1,600 for his efforts in the Rattliff Motorsports mount.

O’Neal is scheduled to start from the pole position in heat action on both Friday and Saturday night. His time was second-fastest in the first round and third-fastest in the second round. “Hopefully we can start off the heat race tomorrow night better than we did last year,” said O’Neal, recalling the wild flip during last year’s Friday-night World Finals heat competition that left him with a weekend-ending concussion.

The Integra Shocks Crew Chief Challenge scheduled for the end of Thursday night’s program was canceled due to the falling temperatures. The competition will be rescheduled to take place during February’s Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.

The Vault World Finals continue on Friday and Saturday, with hot laps scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and racing set to take the green flag at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday night’s program will be televised live by the Speed cable network from 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern, and Friday night’s action will taped for telecast on Speed at 9 p.m. Nov. 8.