Brandon Overton added $30,000 to his bank account at Lernerville
With the preliminary action being completed on Thursday and Friday nights, competitors from the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series rolled through the gates of the Lernerville Speedway to contest one of the most prized events on that national touring series schedule.
At the end of the three-day weekend, it was Brandon Overton who added to his recent run of success coming away the winner at the Sarver, PA track in a race shown live by DirtVision.com. The Evans, Georgia driver pocketed $30,000 for his efforts.
More than 50 cars were signed in for competition.
Lineups for the heat races were set by points scored by the drivers during the Thursday and Friday preliminary races.
Brandon Sheppard took the win in the first heat race of the night ahead of Spencer Hughes, Ryan Gustin, and Chris Ferguson then Mason Ziegler was victorious in the second preliminary over Mike Norris, Mark Whitener, and Alex Ferree.
It was Chris Madden who emerged as the winner out of the third heat by besting Dennis Erb Jr., Max Blair, and Brent Larson just before Brandon Overton defeated Tyler Bruening, Rick Eckert, and Scott Bloomquist in the fourth heat.
Cade Dillard claimed the fifth and final heat topping Chub Frank, Ricky Weiss, and Jason Covert
Darrell Lanigan and Dan Stone transferred to the feature out of the first Last Chance Showdown while Gregg Satterlee and Boom Briggs moved on to the main event from the second LCS.
Mike Benedum won the Uncle Sam 30 to earn the final open spot in the Firecracker 100.
The WoO Late Models redraw set the top-5 on the starting grid as Dillard, Madden, Ziegler, Overton and Sheppard.
At the start of the 100-lap feature it was Madden who blasted to the lead with Dillard, Overton, Hughes, and Sheppard in tow. Hughes moved around Overton on the second lap to grab third on lap 3 while Sheppard followed suit by taking fourth away from the double Dream winner one lap later.
All the while, Madden was slipping away from the pack as drivers appeared to be getting a feel for the track and the competition. Ten laps into the affair, Hughes and Sheppard began a position swapping battle that would carry on for multiple laps with Sheppard eventually claiming third then moving up to wrest second away from Dillard.
After the first caution flag of the night waved on lap 22 for Jason Covert, Overton jumped to second on the restart. Further back, the No. 28 of Erb also gained positions as he grabbed fourth. Shortly afterwards, Erb would continue to move forward as he took third away from Sheppard.
As the race reached its one-third mark, Overton and Erb began to close in on Madden as the leaders worked through slower traffic. Finally on lap 40, Overton would take command of the race as he passed by Madden for the lead.
Erb rolled into second following a lap 44 restart as Overton continued to show the way. Just behind the two front runners, Sheppard and Hughes again battled with Hughes taking fourth away from the series points leader.
Over the race’s second half, Overton maintained command and was never seriously challenged. Veteran drivers Madden and Lanigan would, however, march forward as Madden eventually rose to second while Lanigan drove up to fourth. But in the end, Overton proved to be too much for the competition as he sailed to yet another lucrative win and his second career triumph in the Firecracker 100.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Darrell Lanigan, 5. Brandon Sheppard, 6. Max Blair, 7. Michael Norris, 8. Mason Zeigler, 9. Spencer Hughes, 10. Tyler Bruening, 11. Brent Larson, 12. Cade Dillard, 13. Chris Ferguson, 14. Ricky Weiss, 15. Dan Stone, 16. Gregg Satterlee, 17. Colton Flinner, 18. Rick Eckert, 19. Ryan Gustin, 20. Mark Whitener, 21. Jared Miley, 22. Scott Bloomquist, 23. Boom Briggs, 24. Kyle Strickler, 25. Ross Robinson, 26. Jason Covert, 27. Chub Frank, 28. Alex Ferree, 29. Mike Benedum
