DECEMBER 31, 2011
:: The Number 23 Inc. team and driver John
Blankenship released their tentative 2012 racing schedule
earlier today here on www.JohnBlankenship23.com! John will
once again follow the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series trail
throughout the '12 campaign. His season will start from February
13-18 with six Lucas Oil Series showdowns during the annual
'Winternationals' at the East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton,
Florida. Click on the
SCHEDULE
page of the website to view the dates that John has confirmed
for the upcoming 2012 season!
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NOVEMBER
7, 2011 :: John Blankenship and his #23 Dirt
Late Model team wrapped up their 2011 campaign from November
3-5 at the immaculate Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord,
North Carolina. The 5th Annual 'Lowes Foods World Finals'
took place over the weekend at the 4/10-mile speedplant and
a pair of $10,000 top prizes were on the line. During the
qualifying session on Thursday night, John timed in twenty-third
fastest for Friday's show and fifth quickest for Saturday's
program.
When Friday evening rolled around at Charlotte,
John finished eighth in his loaded heat race and fifth in his
B-Main, which unfortunately kept him out of the night's 50-lap
feature event. On Saturday in front of a jammed-packed grandstand
and the SPEED Channel cameras, John won his heat race in preliminary
action and later ran as high as third in the 50-lapper. When
the checkered flag fell over the field in his season finale,
the Williamson, West Virginia ace found himself sixth in the
final rundown behind only winner Jimmy Owens, Scott Bloomquist,
Jonathan Davenport, Steve Shaver, and Dennis Erb, Jr. Complete
results from Charlotte can be viewed online at www.worldofoutlaws.com.
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OCTOBER
17, 2011 :: The Number 23 Inc. team closed
out the 2011 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule on October
14-15 with the 31st Annual 'Dirt Track World Championship' at
the newly renamed Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio. A total of
ninety competitors converged on the south-central Ohio facility
over the weekend for the $50,000 to win crown jewel event. Following
a rain-out of the preliminary events on Friday night, the entire
show was condensed into a one-day program on Saturday.
John Blankenship started his day on Saturday afternoon
by posting the second fastest lap in his group during the qualifying
session and later winning his heat race. With the track providing
virtually no passing all day and with no track prep, the 100-lap
DTWC featured single file racing from the drop of the green
flag. John started and finished sixth in the LOLMDS season finale
behind only winner Don O'Neal, Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, Scott
Bloomquist, and Ray Cook. John wound up seventh in the final
version of the LOLMDS point standings following the DTWC. Full
results from Atomic Speedway can be viewed online at www.lucasdirt.com.
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OCTOBER 10, 2011
:: Williamson, West Virginia native John Blankenship competed
in a diversified racing schedule over the October 7-9 weekend,
as he entered events with both the ARCA Racing Series and the
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. On Friday night, John was
at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas for the 'Kansas
Lottery 98.9.' John laid down a lap of 32.844 seconds during
the ARCA qualifying session, which locked him into the seventeenth
starting spot for the 99-lap race. Aboard the Coal America's
Energy #15 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports, John stayed inside
of the top twenty throughout the 'Kansas Lottery 98.9' and eventually
wound up twelfth in the final rundown.
On Saturday and Sunday, John rejoined his Number
23 Inc. Dirt Late Model team at the Dixie Speedway in Woodstock,
Georgia and the Rome Speedway in Rome, Georgia for a pair of
$10,000 to win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series battles. At
Dixie on Saturday evening, John ran fifth in his heat race,
won his B-Main, and later improved seven spots in the 'Dixie
Shootout' en route to a solid eleventh place effort. On Sunday
in the weekend finale at Rome, John took a series provisional
to gain access into the 50-lap 'Rome Showdown' and later posted
a nineteenth place performance. He is currently tied for seventh
in the latest version of the LOLMDS point standings. Full results
from all three races can be viewed online at www.arcaracing.com
and www.lucasdirt.com.
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OCTOBER
3, 2011 :: John Blankenship and the Number
23 Inc. team traveled west to the historic Knoxville Raceway
in Knoxville, Iowa from September 29-October 1 for the 8th Annual
'Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals.' The crown jewel
extravaganza kicked off with a pair of $7,000 to win prelims.
On Thursday night, John ran second in his heat race prior to
finishing eighteenth in the final rundown of the 25-lapper.
In the second prelim on Friday evening, John once again ran
second in heat race action and later wound up seventeenth in
the $7,000 to win semifeature.
The Williamson, West Virginia native did not transfer
directly into the $40,000 to win 'Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville
Nationals' via his prelim performances, but John did win the
B-Main on Saturday night to earn the twenty-fifth starting spot
in the 100-lapper. In front of the high-definition cameras of
the SPEED Channel, John was able to move up nine positions during
the A-Main to notch a sixteenth place effort. View complete
results from the huge weekend at Knoxville by logging onto www.lucasdirt.com.
