CONCORD, N.C. – Earl Pearson Jr. took control of the lead on Lap 9 and never let go as he stormed to Victory Lane in the Circle K Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The two-day event was condensed into a one-day show and run on Sunday due to inclement weather on Friday and Saturday. 

Driving the No. 44p for Bobby Labonte Motorsports, Pearson Jr. started the race from the pole position, but fell in line behind Jonathan Davenport coming off of Turn 2 on the first lap. Davenport maintained the lead until he got caught up in lap-car traffic on Lap 8 and Pearson Jr. made his move.

Defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series Champion Darrell Lanigan finished a close second after pitting under the first caution period to change a tire. He restarted at the back of the field and worked his way up through the pack to challenge for the lead in the closing laps. 

World of Outlaws Late Model Series point leader Josh Richards closed in on Pearson three-quarters of the way through the race, but dropped one spot in the closing laps to finish third. Steve Francis, winner of the 2008 Circle K Colossal 100, finished fourth and Davenport rounded out the top five. 

Pearson Jr. took home the $50,000-winner’s share of the purse along with a sword and helmet for his second victory at the four-tenths-mile clay oval. His last win at The Dirt Track came in 2004. 

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Pearson Jr. as he climbed from his car in Victory Lane after the race. “At the end I saw on the scoreboard that Lanigan was coming in a hurry and I was getting worried about that, but I got through lapped traffic good. It’s just a dream come true.

“My crew worked their butts off.I’m just tickled to death.”

Will Vaught won the Charlotte 30 non-qualifiers race. Josh McGuire, Vic Hill, Tommy Weder and Eric Wells rounded out the top five. 

In B-Feature action, Larry Blankenship took the early lead in the first B-Feature, but fell back and pulled off the track on Lap 8. Chub Frank took over the lead and went on to score the win. Tim Fuller, Jimmy Owens and Russ King claimed the four transfer spots. 

Dan Schlieper claimed victory in the second B-Feature. Matt Lux, Donnie Moran and Davey Johnson transferred to the Circle K Colossal 100. 

The 10-lap heat races were won by Pearson Jr., Davenport, Shane Clanton, Lanigan, Francis and Ray Cook. Scott Bloomquist posted the fasted time in the afternoon’s qualifying session with a lap of 16.962 seconds.

Todd Bradbury won the CRASHCar Feature at the wheel of Nasty. Josh Walsh (Nuclear Banana), Rusty Drye (Vigilante), Paul Sparrow (Invader) and Marc White (Invader) rounded out the top five. 

There were no major incidents during any of the on-track activities.

Te Dirt Track returns to action during Coca-Cola 600 week with the World of Outlaws Showdown featuring the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Friday night, May 22. Tickets can be purchased by calling Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS or online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com. 

The results:

CRASHCar Feature (15 laps): 1. Nasty, Todd Bradbury; 2. Nuclear Banana, Josh Walsh; 3. Vigilante, Rusty Drye; 4. Invader, Paul Sparrow; 5. Invader, Marc White; 6. Trouble, Jeremy Troiano; 7. Big Show, Kenneth Deese; 8. Country Boy, Dalton Tompkins; 9. Rimer Motors, Kirby Allen; 10. The Stinger, Matt Drye; 11. Rimer Rocket, Chris James; 12. Copperhead, Jason Campbell; 13. White Boy, Jerry White; 14. Ruby Rhino, Dave. 

Qualifying: 1. Scott Bloomquist, 16.962 seconds; 2. Rick Eckert, 17.003; 3. Jimmy Owens, 17.084; 4. Michael England, 17.113; 5. Josh Richards, 17.129; 6. Chris Madden, 17.140; 7. Shannon Babb, 17.150; 8. Billy Moyer, 17.172; 9. Clint Smith, 17.204; 10. Darrell Lanigan, 17.223; 11. Dale McDowell, 17.224; 12. John Blankenship, 17.285; 13. Earl Pearson Jr., 17.345; 14. Jonathan Davenport, 17.365; 15. Shane Clanton, 17.394; 16. Randle Chupp, 17.404; 17. Steve Francis, 17.432; 18. “Rambo” Franklin, 17.466; 19. John Anderson, 17.470; 20. Jeep Van Wormer, 17.477; 21. Steve Shaver, 17.482; 22. Kelly Boen, 17.505; 23. Eddie Carrier Jr., 17.522; 24. Ray Cook, 17.553; 25. Chub Frank, 17.569; 26. Dan Schlieper, 17.571; 27. Casey Roberts, 17.572; 28. Jared Landers, 17.599; 29. Austin Dillon, 17.601; 30. Austin Hubbard, 17.619; 31. Russ King, 17.645; 32. Brady Smith, 17.673; 33. Tommy Kerr, 17.691; 34. Matt Lux, 17.707; 35. Tim Fuller, 17.710; 36. Jordan Bland, 17.732; 37. Ken Schrader, 17.732; 38. Eric Wells, 17.754; 39. Larry Blankenship, 17.846; 40. Davey Johnson, 17.856; 41. Rick Elliott, 17.924; 42. Josh McGuire, 17.978; 43. Justin Ratliff, 18.017; 44. Will Vaught, 18.037; 45. Tyler Reddick, 18.064; 46. Chuck Harper, 18.127; 47. Larry McDaniels, 18.132; 48. Donnie Moran, 18.162; 49. Luke Roffers, 18.221; 50. Scott Shirey, 18.247; 51. Dustin Hapka, 18.355; 52. Brent Robinson, 18.465; 53. Jayme Zidar, 18.502; 54. Tommy Weder, 18.714; 55. Brian Ledbetter, 18.810; 56. Daniel Baggerly, 18.820; 57. Petey Ivey, 18.834; 58. April Farmer, 19.008; 59. Raymond Pennington, 19.158; 60. Chas Shellenberger, 19.353; 61. Dustin Mitchell, 19.392; 62. Carl Powell, 19.965; 63. Vic Hill, disqualified.

First Heat (10 laps): 1. Earl Pearson Jr.; 2. John Anderson; 3. Shannon Babb; 4. Scott Bloomquist; 5. Chub Frank; 6. Russ King; 7. Ken Schrader; 8. Justin Ratliff; 9. Dustin Mitchell; 10. Luke Roffers; 11. Brian Ledbetter. 

Second Heat (10 laps): 1. Jonathan Davenport; 2. Jeep Van Wormer; 3. Rick Eckert; 4. Billy Moyer; 5. Dan Schlieper; 6. Brady Smith; 7. Will Vaught; 8. Eric Wells; 9. Scott Shirey; 10. Daniel Baggerly; 11. Carl Powell.

Third Heat (10 laps): 1. Shane Clanton; 2. Steve Shaver; 3. Tommy Kerr; 4. Casey Roberts; 5. Larry Blankenship; 6. Jimmy Owens; 7. Vic Hill; 8. Dustin Hapka; 9. Tyler Reddick; 10. Clint Smith; 11. Petey Ivey.

Fourth Heat (10 laps): 1. Darrell Lanigan; 2. Kelly Boen; 3. Jared Landers; 4. Michael England; 5. Matt Lux; 6. Randle Chupp; 7. Davey Johnson; 8. Brent Robinson; 9. Chuck Harper; 10. April Farmer.

Fifth Heat (10 laps): 1. Steve Francis; 2. Josh Richards; 3. Eddie Carrier Jr.; 4. Dale McDowell; 5. Tim Fuller; 6. Rick Elliott; 7. Jayme Zidar; 8. Larry McDaniels; 9. Austin Dillon; 10. Raymond Pennington.

Sixth Heat (10 laps): 1. Ray Cook; 2. Chris Madden; 3. Rambo Franklin; 4. Austin Hubbard; 5. Donnie Moran; 6. Tommy Weder; 7. Jordan Bland; 8. Josh McGuire; 9. John Blankenship; 10. Chas Shellenberger.

First B-Feature (25 laps): 1. Chub Frank; 2. Tim Fuller; 3. Jimmy Owens; 4. Russ King; 5. Austin Dillon; 6. Clint Smith; 7. Rick Elliott; 8. Vic Hill; 9. Tyler Reddick; 10. Dustin Hapka; 11. Dustin Mitchell; 12. Larry McDaniels; 13. Brian Ledbetter; 14. Larry Blankenship; 15. Luke Roffers; 16. Ken Schrader; 17. Justin Ratliff; 18. Jayme Zidar.

Second B-Feature (25 laps): 1. Dan Schlieper; 2. Matt Lux; 3. Donnie Moran; 4. Davey Johnson; 5. Randle Chupp; 6. Brady Smith; 7. Will Vaught; 8. Tommy Weder; 9. Josh McGuire; 10. Eric Wells; 11. Jordan Bland; 12. April Farmer; 13. Chuck Harper; 14. Daniel Baggerly; 15. Scott Shirley; 16. Chas Shellenberger; 17. Brent Robinson; 18. Carl Powell.

Charlotte 30 (30 laps): 1. Will Vaught; 2. Josh McGuire; 3. Vic Hill; 4. Tommy Weder; 5. Eric Wells; 6. Austin Dillon; 7. Tyler  Daniel Baggerly; 9. April Farmer; 10. Larry Blankenship; 11. Luke Roffers; 12. Dustin Hapka; 13. Brian Ledbetter; 14. Dustin Mitchell; 15. McDaniels; 16. Russ King; 17. Raymond Pennington; 18. Carl Shirley; 20. Jayme Zidar. 

Did Not Start: Randall Chupp; Rick Elliott; Jordan Bland; Chuck Justin Ratliff; Brent Robinson; Petey Ivey; John Blankenship. 

Circle K Colossal 100 (100 laps): 1. Earl Pearson Jr.; 2. Lanigan; 3. Josh Richards; 4. Steve Francis; 5. Jonathan Madden; 7. Scott Bloomquist; 8. Steve Shaver; 9. Kelly Boen; 10. Jeep Van Wormer; 11. Eddie Carrier Jr.; 12. Billy Moyer;  13. Dale Owens; 14. Jimmy Owens; 15. Jared Landers; 16. Ray Cook; 17. Rambo Franklin; 18. Michael England; 19. Austin Hubbard; 20. Ken Schrader; 21. Donnie Moran; 22. John Anderson; 23. Brady Smith; 24. Chub Frank; 25. Rick Eckert; 26. Tim Fuller ; 27. Tommy Kerr; 28. Matt Lux; 29. Dan Schlieper; 30. Shane Davey Johnson; 31. Davey Johnson 32. Casey Roberts; 33. Shannon Babb; 34. Clint Smith; 35. Russ King.

— Lowes Motor Speedway

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