O’Neal Wins DART Winternationals Finale, Erb Wins Points Title

[Larry Jewett]

Don O’Neal was waiting for one mistake, ready to capitalize if it occurred. It happened on lap 40 when race leader Scott Bloomquist jumped the cushion in turn one and that was enough for O’Neal to win $12,000 in the final race of the 2010 DART Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park.


Don O'Neal (71) and Dan Schlieper (S9) slip past leader Scott Bloomquist in turn one. (Mike Horne photo)

Bloomquist dominated early, moving into traffic by lap nine. O'Neal was dancing a treacherous top line around the track and on lap 31 he lost three spots, falling from second to fifth in a matter of one lap. A red flag came out with 39 laps complete for a multi-car pileup on the frontstretch. The incident eliminated the cars of Brady Smith and Ricky Weiss.On the fateful lap 40 restart, Bloomquist headed into turn one and jumped the cushion. O'Neal jumped at the chance to lead the race with Bloomquist and Dan Schlieper going at it for second. Bloomquist moved back into the runnerup slot on lap 44. O'Neal sped on to pick the big check for his not only his 13th career win at East Bay, but his 13th career win on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour.

The 45-year-old racer who has twice finished runner-up in the Lucas Oil Series, but had won in the Modified portion of the Winternationals in late January, said he thought he had thrown the chance away when he jumped the cushion. "I thought I had really messed up there, we had a really good car from the start and I thought I had lost my chance to win. 75 laps is a lot of laps here, things can happen so quick here; people come and go to the front so often that you lose and gain track position all the time. When I saw Scott jump the cushion up there on that restart, I thought this was my chance to redeem myself," said O'Neal. "That cushion was tough, but after we got out in front I tried to avoid as many of the rough spots as possible and keep the car straight so we wouldn't lose a tire out there. Man it feels good to get back to victory lane here at East Bay, we've always run well here and I have to thank my crew, Tader, Doug, Mark and Tim for all their help. It's a good win for MasterSbilt and Jay Dickens.”


Don O'Neal picked up his 13th East Bay win, capturing the $12,000 75-lap main event in the DART Winternationals. (RicksDarkRoom.com photo)

Schlieper would take second with Bloomquist, Dennis Erb Jr. and Jimmy Mars rounding out the top five.
By virtue of his fourth place finish, Erb captured the 2010 34th Annual DART Winternationals Championship. Erb took home a $5,000 check for his efforts during the week as won by a 55-point margin over O'Neal.

Chris Wall set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 14.022 seconds, eclipsing Dan Schlieper’s mark one year to the day it had been set. Wall, O’Neal, Bloomquist and Justin Rattliff won heats. Matt Miller and dan Stone qualified with B main wins.


Dennis Erb's steady finishes gave him the overall DART Winternationals point title. (Mike Horne photo)

DART Winternationals
February 6, 2010
A Main (75 laps): Don O'Neal, Dan Schlieper, Scott Bloomquist, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jimmy Mars, Jason Feger, Steve Francis, Rick Eckert, Ray Cook, Earl Pearson, Jr., Chris Wall, John Blankenship, Tim Fuller, Eric Wells, Eric Jacobsen, Tim McCreadie, Justin Rattliff, Brady Smith, Matt Miller, Ricky Weiss, Daniel Stone, Shannon Babb, Mark Andersen, Mike Marlar, Steve Casebolt, Jimmy Owens, Dillan White

Sources:

East Bay Raceway Park
2VHL Promotions, Inc.
6311 Burts Road
Tampa, Florida 33619

Dart Machinery
353 Oliver Street
Troy, MI 48084
Main Line: 248-362-1188

[NC Ghost Hunter]