Archdale, N.C. (September 21, 2010) - Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) will travel to Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway this weekend for the 31st Annual Jackson 100. With only four events left in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) tour, Pearson is looking to defend his victory from last year and take home the $20,000 purse.
Last year's race was scheduled for Friday night when rain forced the event to be postponed to Saturday. On the verge of a rainout, the Brownstown Speedway track crew was able to recover the track from the rain the night before. Earl Pearson Jr. took the lead with 18 laps to go at last year's event to take home the only Jackson 100 ever completed during the day.
BLR and the LOLMDS visited Brownstown in the beginning of the season where Pearson Jr. nearly brought home a victory, finishing second to Jimmy Owens. Teammate Brad Neat, finished in 11th-place and is looking to improve on his finish.
The motto reads, 'Virginia is for Lovers', and it was for Pearson Jr. last weekend. Pearson is coming off of a second-place finish at the Winchester Speedway and a third-place finish at Virginia Motor Speedway last weekend. That marks the 20th and 21st top-five finish for the No. 44 Lucas Oil Dodge team.
Brad Neat and his No. 41 Red Buck Filtered Cigars Chevrolet team are ready for another great racing weekend and inch closer to 10th in championship points. After two solid nights of racing, Neat finished 19th at Friday's Gunter's Honey 50 at Winchester Speedway and brought home a 12th-place finish on Saturday night at Virginia Motor Speedway.
Team Manager Jason Fitzgerald Comments on Last Weekend's Races and Returning to Brownstown Speedway:
"Earl and Brad really performed well earlier this season at Brownstown. We were really happy with our results. We will have a completely different race this weekend then we did in March because of how much it rained there. Hopefully, it'll stay dry this weekend and we can pull off another victory.
"Earl had a solid weekend in Virginia, but not what we were looking for. Earl has wins at both these tracks and we were hoping to get another on. We did close the gap a little more on the second-place spot in the points standings, so that is definitely a positive. We will go to Brownstown this weekend and aim to take another win there.
"Brad has averaged a 12th-place finish over the last seven races, and we'd really like to get that average up before the end of the season. We will do what it takes this weekend to give Brad a solid run. Brad is definitely in contention for that 10th-position in points. It's really important to his team and for BLR to get both of our teams in the top-10.
"Both of our guys are in battles with their points standings. It's hard not to think about that every weekend. You try your best to just go out, do the best you can, and most importantly win the race. Now that we only have a few races left, you are really conscience of the late calls you may be making, and keeping an eye out on your competitors. We are closing our gaps on our opponents and I feel confident that we will catch them."