Citing lack of merit, tour won't hear Owens appeal
Jimmy Owens
The National Dirt Racing League denied Jimmy Owens’s request to appeal the disqualification that stripped him of an April 13 victory at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on the first-year tour. The appeal request lacked merit, NDRL’s appellate board chairman found in denying the request, the series said.
NDRL officials disqualified Owens because a sample from one of the Hoosier LM-40 tires on I-55’s winning car failed to meet manufacturer benchmarks in postrace laboratory tests, evidence that the tire had been chemically-altered to improve performance.
Owens, 41, denied using altered tires, saying last week in a DirtonDirt.com interview his team’s tires were “100 percent legal.”
In denying the request for an appeal, NDRL officials released more details about the lab test, including that the tire sample revealed four chemicals not found in Hoosier’s benchmark for the compound. The series also confirmed the tire samples were collected and sealed properly before sending to the lab with a member of the winning team among witnesses.
Besides forfeiting his $20,000 in earnings at the Let’s Get Dirty 75, Owens also forfeits series points earned and is suspended from NDRL-related competition until paying a $1,500 fine plus lab costs.
Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, originally the runner-up at I-55, inherits the $20,000 payday and winner’s points from the I-55 event. The disqualification moves Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., into the NDRL points lead with 390 points to lead Billy Moyer (386) and Birkhofer (384).
Owens was the fourth high-profile Dirt Late Model racer to face penalties this season after failed tire tests.
Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., was stripped of a $20,000 World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., lost a $5,000 Southern All Star victory at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway, and Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., was disqualified from a fifth-place finish at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., on the Ray Cook-promoted Spring Nationals.
