FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Earl Pearson, Jr. Returning to Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports in 2015

DUNN, NORTH CAROLINA (September 24, 2014) - Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports is excited to announce the team will once again compete on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2015 with driver Earl Pearson, Jr., of Jacksonville, Florida, behind the wheel. Carlton and Kemp Lamm, owners of the Dunn-Benson Ford Dealership in Dunn, North Carolina, have decided to field a team on the national tour after an eight year hiatus from the sport as team owners. Earl Pearson, Jr. drove for the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team from 1999 through 2006. Earl and the DBFM team won the 2006 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship and the prestigious 'World 100' at Eldora (OH) Speedway in their final year together.

After the 2006 season, the Lamm's decided to sell the team to NASCAR star Bobby Labonte - who formed his own Dirt Late Model racing team and hired Earl Pearson, Jr. as his driver. Pearson and Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) captured a pair of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championships in 2007 and 2008. After eight seasons of following the LOLMDS full-time, Bobby Labonte Racing and Pearson will amicably split following the completion of the 2014 campaign - giving Earl the opportunity to reunite with his former car owners Carlton and Kemp Lamm.

"We are excited to start our team back up after being away from the sport for a while now. It just made perfect sense to team up with Earl again after all of the success that we had together for many years. We always considered Earl a part of our family - a great friend first and foremost - and stayed friends even after we sold the team to Bobby Labonte at the end of 2006. Earl has always been a class act and his entire family are great people. We feel refreshed and recharged to start a team again. Of course, we are very excited to a have Forrest Lucas backing the team once again and all of the great people at Lucas Oil Products," stated Kemp Lamm, General Manager of Dunn-Benson Ford.

Earl Pearson, Jr. is a four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion, as he won the coveted title in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Earl also won the 2004 Stacker 2 Xtreme DirtCar Series Championship driving for the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team. The popular driver known as "The Hurricane" also has several marquee Dirt Late Model victories on his resume including the 2006 'World 100,' the 2006 'Hillbilly 100,' the 2009 'Colossal 100,' the 2009 'Jackson 100,' and the 2010 'Dirt Track World Championship.' Earl is ranked fourth all-time on the LOLMDS win list with 27 career tour victories. Along with five National Touring Series Championships to his credit, Earl has over 120 Super Late Model triumphs in his illustrious career.

"I am grateful for the opportunity Bobby Labonte gave me over the past eight years. We won two Championships and a lot of races together. Now that he has decided to allocate all of his resources towards the chassis business, I am thrilled to get a chance to reunite with Carlton and Kemp Lamm. They have always been great friends to me and my family over the years. It will be fun to drive for them again and have Lucas Oil on board. I am excited about 2015 and everything the Lamm's will be putting together, as we start a team again," commented Earl Pearson, Jr.

Earl Pearson, Jr. and the #1 Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team will have primary sponsorship from Lucas Oil Products for the 2015 season. Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports hopes to announce additional sponsors, along with chassis and engine brands for the team in the near future. A new team website, along with social media pages, will be announced very soon as well.

The Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team and Earl Pearson, Jr. will compete for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship in 2015 and will enter many of the sport's marquee events. A full schedule of the team's plans will be released soon.

For more information about Dunn-Benson Ford, visit their company website at www.dunnbensonford.com.

For more information about Lucas Oil Products, visit their website at www.lucasoil.com.

For the latest breaking news about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, including the 2014 tour schedule, TV schedule, drivers, sponsors and all the information about the series, visit the official website at: www.lucasdirt.com.
 
Follow the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series on the social media outlets at www.facebook.com/lucasdirt andhttps://twitter.com/lucasdirt.

 

Bobby Labonte Racing Announces Changes for 2015
Will Cease Operations, Labonte to Focus on Longhorn Chassis

TRINITY, N.C. (September 24, 2014) - Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) announced today the team will cease operations at the end of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season. Since 2007, BLR and driver Earl Pearson, Jr. have enjoyed championship success together. They won back-to-back Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championships and some of dirt late model top events including the Indiana Icebreaker, Colossal 100 and the Dirt Track World Championship among others. The team was also the founder and house team of the Longhorn Chassis beginning in 2011.

BLR has continued to evolve over time as has Longhorn Chassis. It is through the success and growth of Longhorn Chassis that owner Bobby Labonte has elected to shut down his race operations and put all resources and efforts on the further development and growth of Longhorn Chassis.

"These decisions are never easy, however, we have seen a lot of growth in the Longhorn Chassis over the past year," said Bobby Labonte Racing Owner and Co-Founder of Longhorn Chassis. "We need to allocate all our resources in this direction and it would not be fair to Earl to continue the race team if we couldn't put all our focus there. Again, it was not an easy decision, but one that we all agreed was best."

"I have enjoyed working with Earl over the last eight years and I'm proud to call him a friend," continued Labonte. "He is a great guy and a championship leader. He is one of the reasons why Longhorn Chassis has been so successful and he will always be a part of the family."
Pearson, Jr. drove the original Longhorn Chassis and has been instrumental in the evolution of the fastest growing brands in dirt late model racing. He is also the only driver that raced for BLR during its full duration in dirt late model racing.

"I would like to thank Bobby, Labonte family and the entire BLR race team for all they have done for me and my family," said Pearson, Jr. "I feel fortunate to have worked with such a wonderful group of people that I now call friends. Over the last eight years we have won championships and many prestigious events. I would like to thank Lucas Oil and the many other sponsors that have partnered with us over the last eight years. As BLR and I part ways at the end of the season, my hope is for continued success for everyone involved with BLR and Longhorn Chassis."

BLR and Pearson, Jr. will complete the 2014 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season. The team is currently sixth in championship standings.

About Longhorn Chassis
Longhorn Chassis was founded in 2010 by NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte, along with his brother and two-time NASCAR Champion, Terry Labonte. After numerous successful seasons as a Dirt Late Model team owner with driver Earl Pearson Jr., Labonte decided to take it one step further with his racing operations and the team started building their own race cars, in shop. The first two late model chassis built out of Longhorn Chassis went to Justin Labonte and the house car, driven by Earl Pearson Jr. Pearson would debut his Longhorn Chassis at the North/South 100 in Florence, Ky., where he finished a solid second, he'd later record Longhorn Chassis' first Victory at the 2010 Dirt Track World Championships at West Virginia Motor Speedway. With just a couple of racing season under their belts, and numerous wins, Longhorn Chassis has already proven its strength and ability on the track.

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Contact:
Jeff Dennison
Breaking Limits
403 Gilead Road, Suite A
Huntersville, NC  28078
Office: 704-766-9061
Mobile: 704-252-3356 
jdennison@breakinglimits.net

  

Reutzel Races to Strong Fall Brawl Finish!

Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (September 24, 2014) – After more of the same nasty luck reared its ugly head once again on Friday, fortune finally turned for Aaron Reutzel with a strong run from 16th to seventh in Saturday night’s Fall Brawl finale at Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway.

It was the dose of positive momentum that Reutzel and the BC Fundz/Wren Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X Chassis team needed going into this weekend’s Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO.

Coming off a slew of misfortune in recent weeks, much seemed the same for the Clute, TX, driver early on in I-80’s Fall Brawl.

“The draw didn’t go our way either night,” Reutzel explained.  “We had good positions but not the right cars, we had some of the fastest cars in front of us and around us both nights.”

Track conditions didn’t help with the draw position either.

“It was one-lane, locked down in the heat races both nights, there wasn’t a lot you could you,” Reutzel says.  “It was good for the features though.”

After starting third and finishing third in his Friday heat, Reutzel was in “B” Main action and on the move right away in the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine.

But it didn’t last long.  “We were taking the lead going down the frontstretch,” Reutzel says.  “I don’t know exactly what happened, but it pulled a spark plug wire right off.”  And just like that, Reutzel’s Friday effort was done.

Reutzel’s luck began to turn for the better on Saturday with an Ian Madsen penalty for jumping a start moving Reutzel to third and putting him 16th in the feature starting grid.

And, after riding through the early portion of the race, Reutzel was on the move over the latter half of the feature in the Scott Baylor Racing Engines/Basic One Services entry, charging all the way up to seventh by the time the checkered flag flew.

And, more importantly, Reutzel finally saw a checkered flag for the first time in a while.

“With seven DNF’s in a row, I was nervous, I was bound and determined to finish the race,” Reutzel says.

“When the middle went away, you had to go up and pound the fence to get around,” Reutzel explains.  “I just didn’t want to crash or have something go wrong so I waited a while to do it.”

Reutzel could only resist the temptation so long in the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics machine.

“I finally went up there and we just took off,” Reutzel says.  “We started doing that and went from about 12th or so to finish seventh.  If we had done that earlier, we probably could have been a top five.”

Reutzel admits the recent spate of bad luck affected his approach.

“I was just a little messed up in the head,” Reutzel says.  “That many DNF’s and you just want to finish a race.”

With that mission accomplished, Reutzel and the No. 87 team can focus on winning with this weekend’s Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.

“Hopefully we’ve got all that stuff out of the way, now I can just focus on driving and getting up front.”

Reutzel enters this weekend ranked ninth in Lucas Oil ASCS National points with an eye focused towards adding to his overall total of six feature wins thus far in 2014.

2014 Quick Stats:  51 races, 6 “A” Main wins, 22 top-fives, 32 top-tens.

Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS action with the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO, this Friday and Saturday.

Keep Track:  Keep track of Aaron Reutzel’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-Reutzel-Racing/117666254913127 or on Twitter at @AaronReutzel.  You can also e-mail Aaron at aaronreutzel@yahoo.com.

If you would like Aaron Reutzel Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.

Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on racinboys.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events.  For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.

Bell Ready for WoO Double after Busy Week of Dirt Work!

Lonnie Wheatley, NORMAN, Okla. (September 24, 2014) – It was just another typical week of racing for Christopher Bell with a varied mix of World of Outlaws 410-ci Sprint Cars, Midgets and Silver Crown over the course of six days.

The results weren’t quite what the 19-year-old from Norman, OK, is accustomed to though, with a runner-up finish in the USAC Midget portion of Eldora Speedway’s Four Crown Nationals the best of five events during the week.

This week, it’s back to World of Outlaws action aboard the Fox Brothers No. 53 at Indiana’s Bloomington Speedway on Friday and then Michigan’s Berlin Raceway in Marne on Saturday.
“It wasn’t very good,” Bell says of the past week of action.

It started with three nights of World of Outlaws action before finishing off with Midget and Silver Crown competition at Four Crown Nationals.

Last Tuesday’s event kicked off two nights of World of Outlaws competition in Indiana before shifting to Eldora for opening night of the Four Crown Nationals on Friday.  And, on each occasion, Bell found himself deep in the field after qualifying.

“We just didn’t qualify very good, we have to do better at that,” Bell says.

Bell marched forward each time, racing from 21st to finish 11th at Kokomo before moving on to the Terre Haute Action Track on Wednesday.  Bell was on the march again from 15th, only to settle for 13th after a late bobble.

Bell finished off the set of World of Outlaws events much the same by racing from 22nd to 14th at Eldora Speedway on Friday, making it a total of 20 feature positions gained over three nights.

Saturday’s Four Crown Nationals started off in promising fashion with Bell fast in both Midget and Silver Crown hot laps before setting second quick time in Midget qualifying.

Bell then followed that up with quick time in the Silver Crown ranks, only to have the time disallowed after a change of wheels resulted in a car-width that violated regulations.

With the balance of the Four Crown Nationals pushed back to Sunday, Bell rebounded from an early crash in the Midget feature to salvage a runner-up finish in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota No. 71 Midget before blowing a tire and tagging the wall in the RPM/Gormly No. 99 Silver Crown car.

“We got caught up in that crash in the Midget feature, we were lucky to get back out and get back up to second,” Bell says.

“The track was good for the Midgets, but it started taking rubber in the Sprint Car feature and was locked-down by the time we got on it for the Silver Crown feature,” Bell explains.  “It was rubbered up, we blew a tire and hit the wall.”

With another busy week of racing action in the books, Bell will try to add another notch to the World of Outlaws win column this weekend after scoring his first series win at Jacksonville, IL, earlier this year.  And with that, he’ll also try to boost his overall win total of 20 for 2014.

2014 Quick Stats:  87 races, 20 wins, 45 top-fives, 57 top-tens.
Next Up:
Friday, Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN) - Fox Brothers No. 53 winged Sprint Car (World of Outlaws)
Saturday, Berlin Raceway (Marne, MI) – Fox Brothers No. 53 winged Sprint Car (World of Outlaws)

Keep Track:  Keep track of Christopher Bell’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.christopherbellracing.com/.
If you would like to keep up with all of Christopher Bell’s racing action by having press releases e-mailed directly to you, simply send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on racinboys.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events.  For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.