BROWNSTOWN, Ind. — Jimmy Owens and Devin Moran swapped the lead several times in the final 14 laps of Saturday’s 42nd annual Jackson 100 at Brownstown Speedway. In the end, Owens edged Moran by .079 seconds at the finish.
Moran, who was looking for his first-ever win at Brownstown, finished second. Tanner English, last year’s Eibach Springs Rookie of the Year in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series came home third. Earl Pearson Jr. and Mike Marlar rounded out the top five.
Owens jumped to the lead at the start of race as he and first-time Jackson 100 starter Spencer Hughes ran first and second for the first 40 laps. Pearson, who had been hounding Hughes for several laps moved into the runner-up spot on lap 41. Pearson then held the second position until lap 58 when Moran moved ahead.
The first 86 laps of the race went caution-free until Ricky Thornton Jr. brought out the only yellow flag after climbing to sixth in the running order with 14 laps to go.
The final 14 circuits between Owens and Moran saw the duo go back-and-forth in the battle for the lead. Moran was able to forge ahead on lap 88, but the two remained side-by-side before Owens regained the top spot-on lap 93. Moran was not done yet, staying right with the defending series champion to the very end but falling just short of victory.
Owens earned $20,000 for his 77th Lucas Oil Late Model Series triumph.
“That was a blast. I didn’t know which way he (Moran) was going to be coming on me whether it was going to be high or low,” Owens said. “Because he really, really had a good car. We had a good hot rod too you know. It’s great being in victory lane here at Brownstown.
“Tonight, was the best track we have had by far here in a while. They did their best with the weather; you can’t do anything about the rain. It was fun racing with Devin, he was respectful and gave me plenty of room and it put on a heck of a show for the fans.”
Moran still awaits his first Jackson 100 triumph after finishing in the runner-up spot for the second time.
“Jimmy is the one of the cleanest guys in the country him and a couple of other drivers,” Moran said. “I just want to win here so bad. This has now happened twice here at this place. I really don’t think I wanted that caution there at the end because I could see him, and I was running him down. The tires had heat in them and when I got the lead I could here Jimmy just gassing on it. I was just missing the bottom of three and four, so I just blame myself.”
English climbed to third at the finish after starting 11th to round out the podium.
“I knew there at the end I just needed a couple of laps to get going. I am so easy on stuff I need to go 150 laps you know instead of a 100. My right-rear tire was just coming in when the checkered fell. We just needed a few more laps and I think we could have had something for them. We feel back almost to 18th it seemed like, but we finally came back and started digging.”
The finish:
Jimmy Owens, Devin Moran, Tanner English, Earl Pearson Jr., Mike Marlar, Hudson O’Neal, Dennis Erb Jr., Josh Richards, Spencer Hughes, Stormy Scott, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb, Jason Jameson, Zack Dohm, Delvin Gilpin, Steve Casebolt, Skyller Lewis, Ricky Thornton Jr., Johnny Scott, Billy Moyer Jr., Shane Clanton, Scott James, Jared Bailey.