BROWNSTOWN, Ind. — Brian Shirley is finally a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series winner as the Chatham, Illinois racer became the 97th different winner on Saturday night at Brownstown Speedway.
Shirley captured the 47th Annual WillScot Jackson 100 Presented by the Jackson County Visitors Center.
Shirley took the lead from Kyle Bronson on the 24th lap and led the rest of the way to not only pick up the $50,000 first place prize, but a $5,000 bonus from UNOH, and the fourth driver this year to be awarded a $1,000 check from Steering Buddy for becoming a first time series winner.
Shirley, who started ninth took the win withstanding challenges from Josh Rice before a caution with 14 laps to go. Shirley would pull away from the Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 winner to take the victory.
Rice finished in second with Max Blair taking the third spot. The defending Jackson 100 winner Ricky Thornton Jr., who led the first lap of the race, finished fourth with 3-time and reigning Indiana Icebreaker winner Devin Moran coming home in fifth.
Shirley scored his first win at Brownstown since a Summer Nationals victory in 2008.
“It sounds great to be a Lucas Oil winner,” Shirley said. “There are a few things I want to do in my career before I hang up the hat and one of them was win a Lucas Oil race. I wasn’t wanting to end my career without a Lucas Oil win. This is so rewarding, you know we race against the best guys in the country week in and week out and we get our teeth kicked in here and there.
“Man, that was a long 100 laps. I was just counting and counting, and we were able to get it done. I thought we had a car that was capable of getting to the front and how we was going to manage that when we got to the front. I was really second guessing to go out and go around lapped cars or just ride so I had something left, luckily we had that caution, and I was hoping to see one a little sooner, but all-in-all the good Lord just said it was our night and luckily all things came together.”
Rice, who was looking for his second Crown Jewel victory of the season, finished 0.646 seconds behind Shirley.
“I felt it took 80 laps for my tires to come in where I could actually steer. I think that was my shot before that caution there,” Rice said. “I just couldn’t get back into a rhythm once we had that caution it was like my right front cooled off and I couldn’t steer anymore. Hats off to Brian he did a heck of a job; he did what he had to do to win. He played the lapped traffic perfect. He could swing out on those straightaways where I had to kind of stay in the mud.”
Blair came from the 14th starting position to finish third.
“I honestly think we were good enough to win. Josh never made a mistake on that bottom it was like I had a chain to his bumper for 100 laps. I thought I had a shot at him two or three times, but it was going to get hairy and probably was going to be contact, so I lifted and seen the next lap. Man, I love this place, it is a lot of fun. We weren’t real good last night, the track was little different tonight, so we changed a couple of things, so we are definitely headed in the right direction. I wish it would have been 130 laps.”
47th Annual Jackson 100 | Feature Finish (100 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 9 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $56,900
2 – 6 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $21,000
3 – 14 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $10,900
4 – 1 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $9,300
5 – 12 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $8,300
6 – 3 – 99JR – Frank Heckenast Jr – Frankfort, IL – $6,000
7 – 4 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $5,800
8 – 5 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $5,000
9 – 10 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $3,800
10 – 24 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $4,500
11 – 18 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $4,300
12 – 13 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $4,100
13 – 17 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $3,900
14 – 23 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $3,500
15 – 15 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $2,400
16 – 2 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $3,200
17 – 22 – 32 – Chad Stapleton – Edinburgh, IN – $2,200
18 – 25 – D48 – Derek Groomer – Bloomington, IN – $2,100
19 – 11 – 12J – Jason Jameson – Lawrenceburg, IN – $2,000
20 – 7 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $2,900
21 – 19 – 17SR – Brody Smith – Dade City, FL – $2,000
22 – 20 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $2,000
23 – 16 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $2,900
24 – 8 – 15R – James Rice – Verona, KY – $2,000
25 – 21 – 11C – Tyler Collins – North Vernon, IN – $2,000
