By Wayne Castleberry

Jacksonville, FL (October 25, 2005)- Earl Pearson Jr. competed in the Cotton Pickin 100 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus Mississippi over the weekend. The 100-lap feature event paid $15,000 to the winner and attracted 63 super late model drivers from all over the country including Billy Moyer and Scott Bloomquist. Earl would flex his strength in the first heat race as he beat fast qualifier Shane Clanton and won the heat race going away to earn the pole position for the 100-lap feature event.

At the start Earl would fall into second place and maintain his position early in the event. As the laps clicked off Earl found himself back around the fourth and fifth positions in the middle stages of the event. By lap 65 Earl had moved back up to the third position and was in a fierce battle for position as the action was three wide at the lap 75 mark. Earl driving a MasterSbilt Chassis found a racing line to his liking and moved into the second position with 10 laps to go. Earl followed Bloomquist’s tracks over the final ten laps but was unable to close in to make the pass for the win. Earl crossed the finish line with another strong second place finish among a stellar field of drivers.

“Our car was pretty good tonight, but we just didn’t have quite enough to beat Scott. Were happy with our finish tonight and we are really looking forward to the final Lucas Oil series event at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway next weekend”, stated Earl. The Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team has put a pretty good streak together at the end of the 2005 racing season. In the last five race events the team has competed at, Earl has two wins, two second place finishes and a good shot at another top five finish at Knoxville Raceway before mechanical failure relegated the team with a 27th place finish. Earl has finished no worse than second in the last four out of five events.

Earl and the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team will now focus on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship this weekend. The final event at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway will include a non-sanctioned 50-lap feature event paying $10,000 to the winner on Friday October 28th. Then on Saturday the final event on the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will take place at the Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in Calvert City Kentucky with a 50-lap $10,000 to win feature event with the series championship to be decided between Earl and Don O’Neal. Earl leads O’Neal by 55 points heading to the final event that will draw a stellar field of drivers from all over the country. All eyes will be watching Pearson and O’Neal to see who will be crowned the 2005 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion.

The Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team will conclude their 2005 racing season the following week at Modoc Speedway in Modoc South Carolina for a 100-lap $10,000 to win unsanctioned event on November 4-5, 2005.

To learn more about the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports Team visit their website at www.dunnbensonfordmotorsports.com. You can also view the latest Earl Pearson Jr. merchandise at his official merchandise website at www.earlpearsonjr.net. with 10% of all merchandise sales is being donated to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund through November 30, 2005.



Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on the Message Board! or send a letter to the editor!