National notebook
Notes: Streaking Owens on rise heading to Wythe
Jimmy Owens is rolling in 2010. (thesportswire.net)
With a victory this weekend at Wythe (Va.) Raceway, Jimmy Owens can continue a personal hot streak, match a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series record and take the points lead on the circuit that's been dominated by Scott Bloomquist the past two seasons.
Owens, the former World 100 winner from Newport, Tenn., heads to Saturday's Lucas Oil race gunning for his fourth victory in his last five races overall and trying to continue a personal streak of finishing third or better since March 20. His third straight Lucas Oil victory would tie Josh Richards as the only driver in the history of the 7-year-old tour to win three in a row. And he's within five points in the series standings of Bloomquist, embedded in the top spot since April '09.
“We learned so much last year being out on the road with the Lucas Series,” said Owens, who drives for car owner Mike Reece of Tazewell, Tenn. “Coming into this year it’s all about winning races — and it’s also important that if we run into trouble we can still finish races."
Bloomquist won a single series race in capturing the '09 Lucas Oil title, worth $75,000, but he only had two finishes outside the top 15. Owens, who finished second in points, finished 16th or worse seven times last season.
“If we get involved in a wreck and we can make repairs to the car, we are going to get back out there and get the best finish we can," Owens said. "Same with a flat tire. Instead of parking the car and settling for a poor finish, we will make every effort to get back on the track and gain as many points as we can possibly get out of a bad night."
Owens has led 87 of the last 100 laps of feature action on the Lucas Oil circuit while winning at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway and Bedford (Pa.) Speedway. He won last Saturday's World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky., leading every lap. And he heads to Wythe with good history at the half-mile oval — he won a Tennessee Thunder DirtCar Series event at the Virginia track in 2007.
Owens credits his crew, including crew chief and cousin Chris Fox, for getting his No. 20 off to a solid start on the Lucas Oil circuit.
"(Fox has) become really good at tire selection, seeing what everybody else is running vs. what we have on, reading the track and so on," Owens said. "Several of the tracks we went to last year, we had never been there, he’s made good notes and now that we go back for the second time this year, we have something to go on." — James Essex
O'REILLY ALL STARS REOPEN BIG WEST VIRGINIA OVAL: The 5/8-mile West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells reopens for the first time since '07 with the O'Reilly All Star-sanctioned Mark Balzano Memorial on Sunday. "West Virginia Motor Speedway is another place that we are extremely excited about," said series director Jason Shank. "The guys at BDS Promotions have been hard at work getting the old girl back in shape for racers and fans and are anxiously waiting the grand reopening." The 40-lap feature pays $5,000 to the winner. Fastrak-sanctioned Crate Late Models, TSMA modifieds and hotmods will also be in action May 16 with hot laps scheduled for 6 p.m. — From series and track reports
SCHLENK MAINTAINS UMP POINTS LEAD: Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, Mich., remains atop UMP DIRTcar Racing's points with six weeks of weekly competition completed. Schlenk, 23, continued to build a significant early-season edge, extending his lead to 342 points (1,120-778) over Jason McBride of Carbondale, Ill., in races run through May 9. The Michigander's edge increased by a healthy 59 points after he scored a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend. The big mover in the latest points standings was Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., whose back-to-back victories at Fairbury and Shepp's vaulted him from seventh to third in the rankings. — From DIRTcar reports
THREE LATE MODEL DRIVERS AMONG FREMONT INDUCTEES: Three former Late Model drivers are among 10 people to be inducted into the Fremont (Ohio) Speedway Hall of Fame on June 5. De Genzman, Roy Sheets and Wally Heminger will be immortalized on a special plaque under the historic covered grandstands at the 59-year-old oval. Genzman, of Fremont, won three Fremont championships and 26 career features (his son Andy also raced, competing in NASCAR truck events). Sheets won championships in '66, '67, '81 and '82 while posting 22 career feature victories. Heminger captured '74 and '79 titles and stands 10th on Fremont's all-time list with 32 feature victories. Car owner Joe Sabo, who fielded cars for Genzman, Richard Frampton and sons Tim and Steve, will also be inducted. — Brian Liskai
ONTARIO DIRT LATE MODELS BOOST POINTS FUND: Nearly doubling its point fund from '09, the Ontario Dirt Late Models will pay out $13,875 to the top 16 drivers at the conclusion of the five-race season. The champion will earn at least $3,500 as the tour tries to add more sponsorship and boost the points fund further. The tour launches the first of five $2,000-to-win events on July 23 at Autodrome Edelweiss in Wakefield, Quebec. Greg Oakes of Franklinville, N.Y., is the two-time and reigning series champion. — From series reports
BIG 10 SERIES ROLLING IN ILLINOIS: The third annual Big 10 Series is under way among three Illinois tracks with last weekend's races at Macon Speedway and Shepp's Speedway in Alexander. Brandon Sheppard won Saturday's opener at Macon and Ryan Unzicker took Sunday's victory at Shepp's. Eight more races remain with Macon hosting events May 22, June 12, July 17 and Aug. 28; Shepp's hosts events June 13, July 18 and Aug. 1; and Jacksonville Raceway hosts an Aug. 6 event. Steve Sheppard Jr. won last year's miniseries crown. — From track reports
SERIES SCHEDULE CHANGES: Rain forced Cresco (Iowa) Speedway to postpone Thursday's Dart Corn Belt Clash event to June 3. ... The Midwest DIRTcar Late Model series will run July 3 at Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee, Okla.; the event was originally scheduled for May 21. ... The Clash South Tour has postponed May 14-15 until later in the season; Modoc (S.C.) will host a June 18 event and a date at Waycross (Ga.) Motor Speedway will be announced later. ... The May 14-15 events at Whynot (Miss.) Motorsports Park on the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series were pushed back to June 25-26 because of scheduling conflicts.
ODDS AND ENDS: The Southern Nationals Series is looking for a title sponsor after O’Reilly Auto Parts dropped to contingency sponsorship for 2010. ... The Midwest DIRTcar Late Model series has boosted May 15's winning purse at Minneapolis (Kan.) Raceway to $1,200 with special sponsorship from Speedline Racing Products of Salina, Kan. ... Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series competitors using a spec-engine package will be required to run 8-inch rear spoilers, 4 inches shorter than normal in May 14-15 races in Hattiesburg and Jackson.
