WINCHESTER, Va. – August 13, 2016 – Billy Moyer Jr. climbed out of his car Saturday night, standing over a wild crowd that witnessed his first ever World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series win at Winchester Speedway. Moyer’s moment in victory lane was one of overwhelming emotions – from letting out a huge battle cry to spraying the fans with a water bottle. This was a moment to cherish.
“This means a lot,” said Moyer, taking group shots with the dozens of children that met him at victory lane. “I’ve never won a national tour deal. I’ve won some Summer Nationals stuff but nothing like this. It’s a hell of a crowd up there, and I really appreciate them all for coming. I appreciate the kids coming down.”
Prior to the program, Moyer recorded three top five finishes with the series. He is currently leading the rookie of the year campaign, and the win extends his lead over the other two newcomers of the series. Moyer said he is not the most consistent driver, but to be able to ride this high is unimaginable. Moyer started in the front row for the 50-lap feature. It took him less than one lap to solidify the top spot.
Within the first five laps, Moyer extended his lead to 1.283 seconds in his No. 21JR Crop Production Services/ Karl Performance Moyer/ Victory car. Behind him, Jason Covert began his strong outing by slipping by defending series champion Shane Clanton for second place. Though Moyer further extended his lead to a 2.519 split, Covert began to trim away at his lead by roughly 0.200 seconds from lap 15-20.
Covert diminished Moyer’s lead by more than one second, but the race’s first caution halted any further advances. Moyer held his ground at the bottom of the track, while similarly strong restarts from Covert, Clanton and Josh Richards grouped the trio into a three-wide power struggle for a podium position.
Though the first caution did not change the order, the following two cautions with 18 laps remaining foreshadowed an impending battle between Covert and Clanton. While Moyer gained ground – a 1.918-second lead at this point – the two butted fenders. Covert got the best case-scenario of the short-lived battle. Thereon, Covert resumed his advances in his No. 72c Mann Automotive/ Phiv-Tech Solutions Rocket car.
Covert’s battle with Clanton gave Moyer the opportunity to increase his buffer to more than one-second; however, Covert bounced back quickly. With five laps remaining, Covert began to catch up. At times, Moyer had to use lapped traffic to deter the speedy Covert. Covert only managed to trim Moyer’s lead down to as little as .432 seconds. Moyer would go on to finish by a .689-second margin.
“I was counting down the laps with five to go,” Moyer said. “Dad a long time ago said Covert would run me clean and when I knew it was him, I knew he wouldn’t rough me up. I appreciate him running me clean.”
Covert’s runner-up performance was his second-consecutive one with the series. The night before at Potomac Speedway (Md.), Covert also ran out of real-estate toward the end. Covert won his heat race earlier in the night.
“The team did a good job,” Covert said. “When Billy got the lead and I was able to sneak by [Clanton] and fight him off on the restarts… that was really the race. I took a run at [Moyer] at the end. I went down into turn three and four, steered left and it never turned. We need to be better, but it’s a learning thing. Congratulations to Billy. It’s a big one for him.”
Moyer kicked-off his strong overall performance by recording the fastest time in hot laps with a 14.806 lap time. Though Moyer did not win a heat race in the evening, he picked up where he left off from hot laps, recording the fastest lap time in the feature of 16.474.
Clanton, who rounded out the podium in his No. 25 Weldbank Energy/ Coopers Meat Packers Capital car, won his 10th heat race of the season. The third place finish was Clanton’s third consecutive podium finish in the mid-Atlantic stretch.
“We had a pretty good racecar,” Clanton said. “It was just a lack of effort on my part. I missed the bottom over there in turns one and two, and in three and four I got into the slime, and lost four spots. I just needed to get them back.”
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World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series Statistical Report; August 13, 2016; Winchester Speedway; Winchester, Va.
A-Main (50-laps): 1. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr. [2] [$11,000]; 2. 72c- Jason Covert [3] [$5,600]; 3. 25- Shane Clanton [1] [$3,800]; 4. 1- Josh Richards [6] [$3,300]; 5. 0- Dale Hollidge [7] [$2,000]; 6. 7- Rick Eckert [5] [$2,600]; 7. 22- Russell Erwin [4] [$1,400]; 8. 1*- Chub Frank [8] [$2,050]; 9. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn [16] [$1,200]; 10. 8Ball- Mark Pettyjohn [12] [$1,100]; 11. 76- Brandon Overton [13] [$1,700]; 12. C9- Steve Casebolt [23] [$1,550]; 13. 24- Kenny Moreland [11] [$950]; 14. 2- Dan Stone [18] [$950]; 15. 3s- Brian Shirley [15] [$1,350]; 16. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr. [24] [$1,350]; 17. 18- Eric Wells [20] [$1,320]; 18. 2c- Joey Coulter [10] [$750]; 19. 6- Jamie Lathroum [19] [$730]; 20. 93- Donald Bradsher [21] [$700]; 21. 83- Walter Crouch [22] [$700]; 22. 99- Kyle Hardy [14] [$700]; 23. 99B- Boom Briggs [9] [$700]; 24. 14m- Morgan Bagley [25] [$610]; 25. 14H- Tyler Horst [17] [$725]
Last-Chance Showdown Group No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 14H- Tyler Horst; 2. 6- Jamie Lathroum; 3. 93- Donald Bradsher; 4. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr.; 5. 14m- Morgan Bagley; 6. 94- Jason Miller; 7. 7r- Ross Robinson; 8. 82- Andy Fries
Last-Chance Showdown Group No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 2- Dan Stone; 2. 18- Eric Wells; 3. 83- Walter Crouch; 4. C9- Steve Casebolt; 5. 1V- Jeremy Miller; 6. 90- Larry Ramsey; 7. 91- Tyler Erb; 8. 43D- Tom Decker III; 9. 32- Travis Stickley
Qualifying Group No. 1: 1. 7- Rick Eckert, 14.771; 2. 1- Josh Richards, 14.999; 3. 99B- Boom Briggs, 15.091; 4. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr., 15.134; 5. 22- Russell Erwin, 15.289; 6. 2c- Joey Coulter, 15.318; 7. 76- Brandon Overton, 15.361; 8. 99- Kyle Hardy, 15.393; 9. 14H- Tyler Horst, 15.397; 10. 7R- Ross Robinson, 15.451; 11. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr., 15.465; 12. 6- Jamie Lathroum, 15.642; 13. 94- Jason Miller, 15.749; 14. 14m- Morgan Bagley, 15.797; 15. 93- Donald Bradsher, 15.882; 16. 82- Andy Fries, 15.935
Qualifying Group No. 2: 1. 24- Kenny Moreland, 15.226; 2. 72c- Jason Covert, 15.234; 3. 1*- Chub Frank, 15.384; 4. 18- Eric Wells, 15.400; 5. 25- Shane Clanton, 15.403; 6. 8Ball- Mark Pettyjohn, 15.415; 7. 91- Tyler Erb, 15.507; 8. 0- Dale Hollidge, 15.546; 9. 3s- Brian Shirley, 15.551; 10. 1V- Jeremy Miller, 15.577; 11. 90- Larry Ramsey, 15.625; 12. C9- Steve Casebolt, 15.640; 13. 2- Dan Stone, 15.660; 14. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn, 15.839; 15. 43D- Tom Decker III, 16.140; 16. 32- Travis Stickley, 16.210; 17. 83- Walter Crouch, 16.264
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 7- Rick Eckert; 2. 22- Russell Erwin; 3. 99B- Boom Briggs; 4. 76- Brandon Overton; 5. 14H- Tyler Horst; 6. 93- Donald Bradsher; 7. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr.; 8. 94- Jason Miller
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Josh Richards; 2. 21JR- Billy Moyer Jr.; 3. 2c- Joey Coulter; 4. 99- Kyle Hardy; 5. 6- Jamie Lathroum; 6. 14m- Morgan Bagley; 7. 82- Andy Fries; 8. 7r- Ross Robinson
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 25- Shane Clanton; 2. 1*- Chub Frank; 3. 24- Kenny Morehead; 4. 3s- Brian Shirley; 5. 2- Dan Stone; 6. 83- Walter Crouch; 7. 91- Tyler Erb; 8. 90 Larry Ramsey; 9. 43D- Tom Decker III
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. 72C- Jason Covert; 2. 0- Dale Hollidge; 3. 8Ball- Mark Pettyjohn; 4. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn; 5. 18- Eric Wells; 6. 1V- Jeremy Miller; 7. C9- Steve Casebolt; 8. 32- Travis Stickley
World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners (awards presented to noted finisher/qualifier or next highest displaying decal):
Comp Cams – $50 Product certificate: Billy Moyer Jr.
MSD – $50 Cash: Billy Moyer Jr.
QuarterMaster – $100 Product certificate: Billy Moyer Jr.
Wrisco Aluminum – 3 Sheets of aluminum: Billy Moyer Jr.
Penske Shocks – TBD Product certificate: Rick Eckert
JE Pistons – $50 Cash: Rick Eckert
VP Racing Fuels – $50 Cash: Chub Frank
Edelbrock – $50 Cash: Brandon Overton
Comp Cams – $50 Cash: Brandon Overton
Morton Buildings – $50 Cash: Brandon Overton
Cometic Gasket – $50 Cash: Steve Casebolt
JRI Shocks – $50 Cash: Dan Stone
SuperFlow – $50 Cash: Eric Wells
QuarterMaster – $25 Product certificate: Eric Wells
JE Pistons – Set of rings: Frank Heckenast Jr.
QuarterMaster – $50 Product certificate: Boom Briggs
Arizona Sport Shirts – $100 Product certificate: Kyle Hardy
JE Pistons – Set of rings: Boom Briggs
MSD – $25 Cash: Tyler Horst
QA1 – $50 Cash: Rick Eckert
Bonus Bucks – $500 Cash: Jason Covert
Rookie Bonus – $250 Cash: Billy Moyer Jr.
Craftsman Bonus – $100 Cash: Jason Covert
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Billy Moyer Jr.
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Shane Clanton
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Josh Richards
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Rick Eckert
Craftsman Bonus – $200 Cash: Chub Frank
2016 World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Point Standings as of August 13 – 32 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/residence/points/deficit to leader):
Pos. Car # Driver Residence Points Trail By
1 1 Josh Richards Shinnston, WV 4558 0
2 25 Shane Clanton Zebulon, GA 4312 246
3 7 Rick Eckert York, PA 4194 364
4 76 Brandon Overton Evans, GA 4046 512
5 3S Brian Shirley Chatham, IL 4030 528
6 21JR Billy Moyer Jr. Batesville, AR 3940 618
7 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA 3928 630
8 C9 Steve Casebolt Richmond, IN 3922 636
9 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr. Frankfort, IL 3892 666
10 18 Eric Wells Hazard, KY 3828 730
11 14M Morgan Bagley Gladewater, TX 3800 758
12 91 Tyler Erb New Waverly, TX 3438 1120
13 18C Chase Junghans Manhattan, KS 3348 1210
14 2C Joey Coulter Union Grove, NC 3302 1256
15 99B Boom Briggs Bear Lake, PA 3046 1512
16 77 Jordan Yaggy Rochester, MN 1586 2972
17 11 Austin Smith Cedartown, GA 1368 3190
18 38S Kenny Pettyjohn Millsboro, DE 1270 3288
19 72 Jason Covert York Haven, PA 1256 3302
20 6 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA 1210 3348
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Bad Boy Off Road (Official Side-by-Side Vehicle), Craftsman (Official Tool), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Sears (Official Home Store), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience, VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel) and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, MSD, Penske Shocks, QA1, QuarterMaster, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.