Don O'Neal Wins Indiana Icebreaker

Don O’Neal Wins Indiana Icebreaker

(BROWNSTOWN, IN - March 22, 2014) - Don O'Neal raced to his fifth career Indiana Icebreaker win on Saturday Night at Brownstown Speedway. It was O'Neal's first triumph for Clint Bowyer Racing and his 34th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory and his 54th career win at Brownstown Speedway. O'Neal took the lead from Eddie Carrier, Jr. on lap eleven and led the remainder of the race. Carrier finished second followed by Steve Francis, Scott Bloomquist, and Kent Robinson. The 50-lap feature went caution-free.

 "It's always good to come here and win at Brownstown. This is where I started my Late Model career and it's the first time I have won here in a Barry Wright Race Car. I want to thank the fans for coming out tonight. I would say they saw a great feature race. I have to thank Clint Bowyer, Lance and Barry Wright, my crew chief Jeremy Justice, and everybody else on the crew. The car was phenomenal!" exclaimed O'Neal in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. "I have to thank all of my sponsors, Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Crawford Supply, Traeger Grills, Cometic Gasket, Ohlins, Georgia Boot and Clements Racing Engines."

 Carrier was seeking his first ever win at the quarter-mile track. He paced the field early on and was a strong contender for the win, but O'Neal made his way around Carrier on lap eleven. "To run second here to Don O'Neal is quite a statement," said Carrier, who was looking for a clean sweep of the racing activities at Brownstown. "This Rocket car has been good all-year long at Golden Isles, East Bay, and here tonight. I thought we could get it done! We set fast time, won our heat, and led early, but O'Neal was just too tough. I have to thank Carl Grover for giving me this opportunity; we are off to a real good start this season."

 While O'Neal and Carrier were firmly entrenched in first and second a terrific battle for third, fourth, and fifth was ongoing throughout the entire race. Francis, who started 11th, climbed to third after a torrid battle between Bobby Pierce and Scott Bloomquist allowed Francis to clear both of them with 17 laps remaining.

 "We got it going a little too late," said Francis afterwards. "We probably needed a couple of cautions early-on to help us. To run first and third for Clint Bowyer Racing is awesome. We will take this success and head to the next race. This Georgia Boot Team needed a good run tonight and we got it."

 Completing the top ten were Pierce, Jeep VanWormer, Earl Pearson Jr., Ray Cook, and Devin Moran. With his win tonight, O'Neal took over the series championship point lead for the first time in 2014.

In preliminary action, Eddie Carrier Jr. set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the ¬45 entrants, with a lap of 14.533 seconds. Scott Bloomquist set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 14.989 seconds. Eddie Carrier Jr., Don O'Neal, Scott Bloomquist, and Earl Pearson Jr. won their respective heat races. Duane Chamberlain and Shelby Miles won their respective B-Mains.

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