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McCreadie wins 5th Annual Late Model Knoxville Nationals
By Stacy Ervin
KNOXVILLE, IA (Sept. 27) - Tim McCreadie of Watertown, New York, won the 5th
Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by Super Clean on
Saturday, September 27, at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.
The victory was worth $40,000 and he earned every penny with one of the most
exciting races ever seen at this speedway in front of a huge and
enthusiastic record crowd for this event. The 100-lapper saw drama
throughout.
The excitement started before the green flag fell when polesitter and
preliminary favorite Darrell Lanigan pulled back to the work area on the
pace laps with no power steering. He did rejoin the field and start on the
pole, but when the green flag fell, Jimmy Owens took off with the lead from
outside the front row.
The first slowdown came at lap four when Steve Francis apparently ran over
some debris and his right-rear tire exploded. That sent him up and over in
turn four and Terry Casey came along and clipped him. Several cars used the
early caution to come to the work area and adjust.
After the green, Owens took off again and was spared when second-place
runner Lanigan showed big smoke off his machine and then pulled off the
track. Owens came to lapped traffic at lap 15 and that allowed new
second-place runner Josh Richards to close.
Just as Richards made his pass in turn one at lap 22, the yellow flag came
out negating the move when Chris Simpson slowed. After the restart,
McCreadie, who started sixth, closed fast on Owens. The two actually touched
in turn one on the 24th lap and that allowed Darren Miller to close on them.
Owens kept the lead while all the action went on behind him as McCreadie,
Miller and Richards fought it out. But McCreadie found his groove by the
32nd lap when he raced Owens side by side. He wrestled the lead in turn one
the next time and found himself in lapped traffic. Richards also moved by
Owens, who then slipped back several spots.
McCreadie had built a pretty good lead as the race progressed towards the
halfway mark, but Tony Stewart did not want to be denied in this race and he
came on strong. Stewart powered to the lead down the backstretch on the 48th
circuit and left McCreadie and Richards behind.
But McCreadie wanted the win too and he put a big slider on Stewart in turn
two on the 55th lap. T-Mac even threaded a very thin needle between two
lapped cars in turn one to stay ahead of Stewart. During this time,
McCreadie had also developed a bit of a push and continually had trouble on
the cushion in turns two and four.
The 66th lap was a big turning point for this race when Stewart came upon
McCreadie and two banged fenders hard in turn two before Stewart pulled away
with the lead. A lap later, Stewart’s right-rear tire exploded and that
brought out the yellow flag, handing the lead back to McCreadie.
The next yellow came out when Darren Miller suffered another heartbreak here
on lap 70. Running third, he slowed with a broken drive shaft to bring out
another yellow. Another yellow came out at lap 72 when Dan Schlieper spun in
turn three. Another yellow came out at lap 74 when John Blankenship spun in
turn two.
After that, McCreadie led the ensuing green-flag laps even as Moyer closed.
But the yellow returned at lap 82 when Eddie Carrier Jr. hit the wall in
turn two and slowed in turn four.
McCreadie continued to lead after that, even as the wheel-hop problems
continued on the cushion in turn four. Moyer gave chase, but his car began
to show smoke on lap 90. Richards finally got around him for second on lap
94.
Moyer set up a wild finish when he finally had to concede to his motor and
slowed on the track. He made it nearly to the turn-four pit entrance but did
not get far enough before he stopped. McCreadie had just taken the white
flag, so the caution set up a green, white, checkered finish.
McCreadie took off with the lead on the green, but Richards passed him
coming to the white flag and took the lead momentarily. McCreadie raced him
down the backstretch and came out with the lead under the checkered flag.
The 20-lap B-Main was won by Brian Birkhofer, who went on to get seventh in
the main. The drama in this race came at the 18th lap when Brian Harris and
Brian Shirley got together in turn three. The two had been running in fifth
and sixth, which were the final transfer spots, at the time. The 15-lap
C-Main was won by Darin Duffy, who led all the laps.
2008 Knoxville Late Model Nationals RESULTS
C Feature, 15 laps, No Time: 1. Darin Duffy, Hazleton IA; 2. Rod Smith,
Monmouth IL; 3. Jill George, Cedar Falls IA; 4. Ed Sanger, Postville IA; 5.
Alonzo Grosse, Council Bluffs IA; 6. Nick Kramer, Pine Island MN; 7. Rickey
Frankel, Quincy IL; 8. Junior Coover, Norfolk NE; 9. Chris Schroeder, Ankeny
IA; 10. Jerry Bagby Jr., Secor IL;
B Feature, 20 laps, No Time: 1. Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine IA; 2. Ken
Schrader, Concord NC; 3. Scott James, Lawrenceburg IN; 4. Jeep Van Wormer,
Pinconning MI; 5. Dan Schlieper, Sullivan WI; 6. Chris Simpson, Marion IA;
7. Jason Utter, Columbus Junction IA; 8. Eddie Kirchoff, Gillette WY; 9.
Andy Eckrich, Iowa City IA; 10. Rich Bell, Sheffield IL; 11. Wayne Chinn,
Bradford OH; 12. Dave Eckrich, Oxford IA; 13. Darin Duffy, Hazleton IA; 14.
Rod Smith, Monmouth IL; 15. Jill George, Cedar Falls IA; 16. Brian Harris,
Davenport IA; 17. Brian Shirley, Chatham IL; 18. Mitch Johnson, Hickson ND;
19. Matt Lux, Franklin PA; 20. Curt Martin, Independence IA; 21. Chris
Spieker, Massena IA; 22. Alonzo Grosse, Council Bluffs IA; 23. Ed Sanger,
Postville IA; 24. Jay Johnson, West Burlington IA;
A Feature, 100 laps, No Time: 1. Tim McCreadie, Watertown NY; 2. Josh
Richards, Shinnston WV; 3. Shannon Babb, Moweaqua IL; 4. Jimmy Mars,
Menomonie WI; 5. Rick Eckert, York PA; 6. Earl Pearson Jr., Jacksonville FL;
7. Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine IA; 8. Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg TN; 9.
Tony Stewart, Columbus IN; 10. Jimmy Owens, Newport IN; 11. Boone
McLaughlin, Mediapolis IA; 12. Eddie Carrier Jr, Salt Rock WV; 13. Donnie
Moran, Dresden OH; 14. John Duty, Portland OR; 15. Ken Schrader, Concord NC;
16. Billy Moyer, Batesville AR; 17. Brady Smith, Solon Springs WI; 18. John
Blankenship, Williamson WV; 19. Dan Schlieper, Sullivan WI; 20. Darren
Miller, Milledgeville IL; 21. Justin Fegers, Mound MN; 22. Matt Miller,
Whitehouse OH; 23. Eric Jacobsen, Sea Cliff Beach CA; 24. Jeep Van Wormer,
Pinconning MI; 25. Denny Eckrich, Oxford IA; 26. Terry Casey, New London WI;
27. Chris Simpson, Marion IA; 28. Scott James, Lawrenceburg IN; 29. Darrell
Lanigan, Union KY; 30. Steve Francis, Ashland KY.
Lap Leaders: Owens 1-31; McCreadie 32-48; Stewart 49-54; McCreadie 55-66;
Stewart 67; McCreadie 68-99; Richards 100; McCreadie 101
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