On Friday Night, May 4^th Steve and the rest of the LOLMDS regulars visited Hartford Motor Speedway in Hartford, MI for the first ever series race in the state.  Steve would finish sixth in the Lane Automotive 48 Presented by Allstar Performance.

The next night the series traveled to La Salle Speedway in La Salle, IL for the Spring Shootout.  Steve would start tenth on the grid in the 50-lap event.  He would advance six positions to take home the fourth-place money.

Steve is now fifth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points Standings trailing Jimmy Owens, Don O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist and Earl Pearson Jr.

Steve will try to advance in the points this weekend as he guns for the Bad Boy 98 at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, AR.  On Friday Night, May 18^th will be Red Buck Cigars Time Trials followed by Heat Races.  On Saturday Night, May 19^th will be the B-Mains followed by the 98-lap main event paying $10,000 to win.  The trophy for the winner will be a 2012 Chevy Camaro.  For more information please visit www.batesvillemotorspeedway.net.

On Friday Night at Tri-City, Steve had to take a provisional starting spot and would line up on the grid in 24^th.  Steve gradually worked his way to the front climbing as high as sixth place before contact with a uke tire would result in a flat tire and some suspension damage.  Steve would pit under a caution and return to the track where he finished 12^th in the final running order.

On Saturday Night, Steve would visit Paducah International Raceway where he won in his last visit to the track in 2007.  The LOLMDS sanctioned event was held before a large crowd for the second night in a row as Steve would start seventh in the lineup.  Steve would make his way to the fourth finishing position just a few car lengths behind Scott Bloomquist, who was third.

Steve is now fifth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points, but he is only 75-points behind second-place driver, Scott Bloomquist.  Jimmy Owens continues to lead the championship point’s standings heading into these weekends’ events.

Steve and the rest of the LOLMDS drivers will head to Hartford Motor Speedway in Hartford, MI on Friday Night, May 11^th and Saturday Night, May 12^th to La Salle Speedway in La Salle, IL.  Both events will pay $10,000 to win. 

For more information please visit www.lucasdirt.com, www.hartfordmotorspeedway.net, and www.lasallespeedway.com.

On Friday Night, May 4^th the series will visit Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL and Saturday Night, May 5^th Steve returns to his home state of Kentucky with a trip to Paducah (KY) International Raceway.  Both events will pay $10,000 to win.

Steve concluded April on a disappointing note with a DNF at the LOLMDS sanctioned event at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, PA on April 20^th.  On Friday Night, May 27^th Steve participated in a non-sanctioned event at Southern Ohio Raceway and suffered misfortune while leading the feature.

Steve is currently sixth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points Standings.  However he is only 45-points out of second.  Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN leads the points with positions 2-8 separated by a mere 90 points.

For more information on this weekends’ visits to Tri-City and Paducah you can check out each tracks’ respective websites at www.tricityspeedway.net and www.paducahracing.com.

It marked the first time the LOLMDS had sanctioned the event which posted the richest first place prize so far in 2012.  On Friday Night Steve would fail to transfer from his heat race meaning he would have to compete in one of the B-mains on Saturday.

Steve and the Barry Wright House Car crew went to work on the car and found a suspension issue that had occurred on Friday Night.  Steve was able to grab the fourth and final transfer spot out of the first 20-lap b-main to advance to the $25,000 to win main event.

Steve would line-up 23^rd on the grid.  He would make several pit stops during the event to find the right combination, but ultimately he finished a disappointing 15^th.  Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN won the event for the first time.

Steve is now fourth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points Standings trailing points leader, Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN, Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN and Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA.

Steve and the rest of the stars of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be in action this weekend in Pennsylvania and Maryland.  On Friday Night, April 20^th the series visits Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, PA and Saturday Night, April 21^st at Hagerstown (MD) Speedway.  Both events will pay $10,000 to win.  For more information log onto www.roaringknob.com and www.hagerstownspeedway.com.

In the first LOLMDS event since the East Bay Winternationals in February Francis and the rest of the series regulars ventured to the famous Brownstown (IN) Speedway on March 24^th.  Steve started off the night in fine fashion setting Red Buck Cigars Fast Time and winning his heat race to earn the outside front row starting spot for the $10,000 to win main event.

However misfortune struck on the first lap when Steve got off of all four wheels in turn two and bent some suspension parts.  Steve held on for the entire 50-lap event to finish in fourth after running third for most of the race.  He was passed by Greg Johnson on the final lap denying Steve a top three finish.

Last weekend the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series headed to Jackson (MS) Speedway in Byram, MS and LoneStar Speedway in Kilgore, TX for a pair of $10,000 to win events.  On Friday Night, March 30^th at Jackson before a record-setting crowd Steve had a night that would be termed “frustrating.”  A couple of mishaps during the heat race and feature kept Steve out of victory lane or a most likely top five finish.  In the main event Steve would work his way back from the tail to finish eighth salvaging what could have been a big hit in the points.

On Saturday Night, March 31^st the series hit I-20 west to the state of Texas. Before another huge crowd Steve would race to a fourth place finish in his heat race.  After the heat the Barry Wright house-car team went to work making adjustments on the number 15 and it paid off handsomely.  Steve would start 14^th on the grid and work his way to third without the benefit of a caution flag.

The only caution of the race came out with two laps to go and Steve would line up third behind racer-leader Jared Landers and second place running Jimmy Owens.  Before the caution Steve had an excellent chance to pass both of them to take the win, but with the restart Landers and Owens would battle to the very end with Landers taking his first series win of the season barely edging out Owens.  Steve could not get the type of run in the closing laps he needed as he settled for third earning the Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race.

Steve is currently second the LOLMDS Championship Points Standings behind Owens.  Those two are followed by Don O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport and Dennis Erb Jr.

Steve’s next scheduled Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event will be the Commonwealth 100 on April 13^th and 14^th at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, VA.  It will be the richest first-place prize offered so far in 2012 with a $25,000 payday on the line.  For more information you can visit www.vamotorspeedway.com and www.lucasdirt.com.

He had to withstand Owens’ repeated efforts over the last four laps after a caution
came out for Jason Riggs. On the restart Owens tried the inside of Francis several
times, but Francis repelled him at each turn. Francis also won the Thursday night
installment of the Winternationals. O’Neal was able to get by Bloomquist on the 60th
and final lap to claim third after pitting for fresh tires on lap 27.

“I want to apologize to Donnie (Moran) for getting into him. I knew we had a good
car in open air, I was trying not to make a mistake and let Scott or Jimmy get by
me. We were just looking for a caution to clear the track in front of us. I can’t
say enough about Barry and Lance Wright. This team got together so late in the game,
we have had to work our tails off to get ready. I was racing in Australia just a few
weeks ago,” said Francis, who captured his tenth career win at East Bay.

“The Barry Wright Race Cars and the Clements Engines have been great this week. We
could’ve won a couple more of these without the flat tires, but we’ll never know.
Luckily they all held air tonight,” said the 44-year-old driver embarking on his
second year with the LOLMDS. “I want to thank VP Race Fuels, Valvoline, Nichols
Plumbing, AES Racing, Jri Shocks, and Mathis Farms.”

Completing the top ten were Duke Whiseant of Texarkana, AR; Scott Creel of
Franklinton, LA; Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL; Austin Hubbard of Seaford,
DE; and Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA.

In preliminary action John Blankenship took the Red Buck Cigars Fast Time award
amongst the 41 entrants. Heat races were won by Donnie Moran, Randy Korte, Terry
Casey, and Steve Francis. Duke Whiseant and Austin Hubbard won the B-Mains. Rookie
Late Model driver, Shelby Miles captured the PRC Strawberry Dash.

The next Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event will be on Saturday Night, March
24th at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown, IN. The “Indiana Icebreaker” will pay
$10,000 to win. For more information log onto www.brownstownspeedway.com.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log onto
www.lucasdirt.com.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday Night, February 18, 2012
36th Annual DART Winternationals
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Red Buck Cigars Fast Time:
Donnie Moran / 14.440 seconds (Group A)
John Blankenship / 14.398 seconds (Group B and Overall)

Wiles Driveshafts First Heat (8 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Donnie Moran, Scott
Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport, Duke Whiseant, Tyler Reddick, Mark
Andersen, Danny Mitchell, Justin Rattliff, Todd Frank, Roger Hammond

U. S. Steel Second Heat (8 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Randy Korte, Jared Landers, Shannon
Babb, Scott James, Jackie Nosbisch, Chris Brown, Josh McGuire, Leon Henderson, Eric
Jacobsen, James O’Hara

Simpson Performance Products Third Heat (8 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Terry Casey, John
Blankenship, Jimmy Owens, Chad Stapleton, Morgan Bagley, Earl Pearson, Jr., Austin
Hubbard, Eric Wells, Shane Cottle, Scott Creel

HAWK Brakes Fourth Heat (8 Laps- Top 4 Advance): Steve Francis, Ray Cook, Dennis
Erb, Jr., Jason Riggs, Bobby Pierce, Shelby Miles, Dillan White, Chad Hollenbeck,
Travis Varnadore, Victor Lee-DNS

JRi Shocks First B-Main (10 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Duke Whiseant, Jackie Nosbisch,
Tyler Reddick, Josh McGuire, Chris Brown, Mark Andersen, Justin Rattliff, Danny
Mitchell, James O’Hara, Todd Frank, Roger Hammond, Leon Henderson-DNS, Eric
Jacobsen-DNS

PAC Racing Springs Second B-Main (10 Laps- Top 3 Advance): Austin Hubbard, Morgan
Bagley, Bobby Pierce, Dillan White, Shelby Miles, Chad Hollenbeck, Travis Varnadore,
Shane Cottle, Earl Pearson, Jr.-DNS, Eric Wells-DNS, Scott CreeL-DNS, Victor Lee-DNS

PRC Strawberry Dash Presented by DirtonDirt.com (6 Laps- Winner Advances): Shelby
Miles, Shane Cottle, Chris Brown, James O’Hara, Travis Varnadore, Chad Hollenbeck

Feature Finish – 60 Laps:    

FINISH

START

CAR #

DRIVER NAME

HOMETOWN

1

4

15

Steve Francis

Ashland, KY

2

10

20

Jimmy Owens

Newport, TN

3

9

71

Don O’Neal

Martinsville, IN

4

5

0

Scott Bloomquist

Mooresburg, TN

5

12

28e

Dennis Erb, Jr.

Carpentersville, IL

6

17

A1

Duke Whiseant

Texarkana, AR

7

25

31

Scott Creel

Franklinton, LA

8

23

44

Earl Pearson, Jr.

Jacksonville, FL

9

18

11h

Austin Hubbard

Seaford, DE

10

13

15d

Jonathan Davenport

Blairsville, GA

11

15

81

Scott James

Lawrenceburg, IN

12

21

11T

Tyler Reddick

Corning, CA

13

3

81x

Randy Korte

Highland, IL

14

14

32s

Chad Stapleton

Edinburgh, IN

15

6

23

John Blankenship

Williamson, WV

16

24

18e

Eric Wells

Hazard, KY

17

1

99

Donnie Moran

Dresden, OH

18

22

32

Bobby Pierce

Oakwood, IL

19

19

01

Jackie Nosbisch

Valrico, FL

20

16

81JR

Jason Riggs

Harrisburg, IL

21

7

5

Jared Landers

Batesville, AR

22

8

53

Ray Cook

Brasstown, NC

23

20

14m

Morgan Bagley

Tyler, TX

24

26

76

Shelby Miles

Bloomington, IN

25

2

42c

Terry Casey

New London, WI

26

11

18

Shannon Babb

Mowequa, IL

Race Statistics
Entrants: 41
Lap Leaders: Donnie Moran (Laps 1 – 24); Steve Francis (Laps 25 – 60)
Caution Flags: Tyler Reddick (Start); Duke Whiseant (Lap 11); Austin Hubbard (Lap
27); Pile Up (Lap 27); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 37); Jason Riggs (Lap 56)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Earl Pearson Jr., Eric Wells
DirtonDirt.com Fast Time Provisional: Scott Creel
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: n/a
Performance Bodies First Non-Qualifier: Shane Cottle
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Scott Creel (Started 25th; Finished 7th;
Advanced 18 positions)
Allstar Performer of the Race: Duke Whiseant
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Jimmy Owens
ASi Racewear Challenge Finisher: Steve Francis
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: Austin Hubbard
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Roush Yates Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Barry Wright Race Cars
Sweet Mfg Crew Chief of the Race: Lance Wright
Time of Race: 56 minutes 58 seconds

Steve will be bringing his long-time sponsor Valvoline along with him as Steve will be running the LOLMDS tour for the second year in a row. This year Steve finished fourth in the final championship points standings behind Jimmy Owens, Scot Bloomquist and Don O’Neal.

In 2012 it will mark the first time since the 1990’s that the Hall of Fame Chassis builder and co-owner Barry Wright will be hitting the road on a national touring series. He was quite successful with two-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion, Scott Bloomquist back then and hopes to help Steve make a championship run next year. Along with Wright the team is co-owned by Troy Baird.

“It was a business decision that I had to make,” says Steve. “Teaming up with Barry and Troy is an ideal situation for me right now, I want to thank Keith and Tader Masters of MasterSbilt Race Cars and Jason at Ohlins Shocks for all of their support in 2011, and they were all great to work with our race program.”

“With the financial burdens now days in all forms of racing, it’s better to team up with somebody as it will relieve me worrying about both being a car owner and driver, now I can concentrate on being a driver and that should help my performance overall in the long-run, we had some really good runs this year, but didn’t have the finishes to show for it, I can’t wait until the 2012 season begins,” said the 44-year-old former World 100 and Dirt Track World Championship winning racer.

Activity will get underway with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series on Friday Night, October 14^th with the Red Buck Cigars and DirtonDirt.com Qualifications followed by Heat Race action for the LOLMDS.

On Saturday Night, October 15^th action will begin at 7 PM with the B-Mains followed by the 100-lap U. S. Steel Dirt Track World Championship Presented by Sunoco.  For more information you can log on to www.kc-raceway.com and www.dirttrackworldchampionship.com.

This past weekend Steve and the rest of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series regulars competed in the state of Georgia with two shows.  On Saturday Night, October 8^th Steve competed at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA for the Lucas Oil Dixie Shootout.  Steve would finish ninth in the main event.

On Sunday Night, October 9^th the team ventured to Rome Speedway in Rome, GA for the Lucas Oil Rome Showdown.  Steve would come home in seventh place in the final rundown.  Steve will head to KC Raceway for the DTWC still a solid fourth in points.

Steve would like to thank his 2011 sponsors including; Valvoline, MasterSbilt Race Cars, Roush-Yates Racing Engines, PRC, Ohlins, Keyser Mfg., Harbaugh Amusement Machine Inc., VP Racing Fuels, JFRgraphics.com, Tim Logan Racing and Bobst Auto Parts.

Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points Standings

1. Jimmy Owens (Newport, TN) – 6975
2. Scott Bloomquist (Mooresburg, TN) – 6925
3. Don O’Neal (Martinsville, IN) – 6290
4. Steve Francis (Ashland, KY) – 5965
5. Jared Landers (Batesville, AR) – 5550

On Thursday Night, September 29^th Steve would end up not finishing night number one of the event after his battery went dead while battling eventual winner, Jimmy Owens for second place.  Steve had just pulled alongside Owens early on in the race went his battery expired as he was forced pitside.  On Friday Night, September 30^th during night number two Steve would be running in a transfer spot in the B-Main when Don O’Neal passed him on the final lap forcing Steve to miss the feature by one spot.

Steve’s fortunes would turn for the better on Saturday Night, October 1^st as the 100-lap $40,000 to win main event took the green flag.  Steve would line-up up 12^th on the grid and quickly made his way into the top ten.

Steve would get up to sixth place and with 25-laps to go he and Brian Birkhofer would stage a side-by-side battle for fifth.  That lasted until Jimmy Mars fell out of the race which moved both Steve and Birkhofer up a spot.

On the restart Steve and Birky would race hard and clean with each other as Steve would eventually get by Birkhofer to gain the second at the finish.  Owens led until O’Neal was able to get by him on lap 96, as Owens would hook the burm forcing the nosepiece of his car to bend in.  Owens would eventually finish in fifth.

With his second place finish Steve would earn his best paycheck of the 2011 season as the event paid $20,000 for second place. Steve remains fourth in the current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points Standings heading into this weekend’s events.  

On Saturday Night, October 8^th the stars of the LOLMDS head to Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA for the Lucas Oil Dixie Shootout.  On Sunday Night, October 9^th they visit Rome Speedway in Rome, GA for the Rome Showdown.  Both events will pay $10,000 to win.

For more information on this weekend’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events you can log on to www.dixiespeedway.com, www.raceromespeedway.com, and www.lucasdirt.com.

Steve would like to thank his 2011 sponsors including; Valvoline, MasterSbilt Race Cars, Roush-Yates Racing Engines, PRC, Ohlins, Keyser Mfg., Harbaugh Amusement Machine Inc., VP Racing Fuels, JFRgraphics.com, Tim Logan Racing and Bobst Auto Parts.

Current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship Points Standings

1. Scott Bloomquist (Mooresburg, TN) – 6530
2. Jimmy Owens (Newport, TN) – 6515
3. Don O’Neal (Martinsville, IN) – 5945
4. Steve Francis (Ashland, KY) – 5585
5. Jared Landers (Batesville, AR) – 5240