Brandon Overton has had success at Lernerville
There are a number of drivers who could potentially win anytime the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rolls through the pit gate of any track in America. But this weekend in the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway, there are two racers who could use strong runs and have proven in the past that they can deliver on the Sarver, Pennsylvania track.
Ricky Thornton Jr is on quite a roll and seemingly has a stranglehold on the top spot on the series standings but Brandon Overton and Tim McCreadie could very well be positioned to gain ground, or at least solidify their places in the all-important top-4 of the standings, by the end of the weekend.
Thornton leads Hudson O’Neal by 185 points in the standings with advantages of 340 and 430 respectively over Overton and McCreadie. But since the top-4 in the standings going into the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway will participate in a ‘high finisher take all’ type format to determine the 2023 titlist, staying within that group is the key.
Right now, fourth-standing McCreadie is 130 points above Devin Moran and 135 atop Jonathan Davenport for the last spot in the final four. A good run, if not a winning run, could allow either Overton or McCreadie to put some distance between themselves and those who might threaten to bump them from the championship fight
This will be only the second season in which the traditional mid-season event at Lernerville will fall under the sanction of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series after having been conducted by the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series up until 2021.
Overton was the Firecracker 100 champion in 2017 and 2021 while McCreadie walked away with the victor’s trophy in 2019 and 2022. Last year was the first time the Saturday night feature paid $50,000 to the winner after previously doling out $30,000.
Beating Thornton is no guarantee, The series-leading driver finished the Firecracker 100 in third last season.
Obviously with the talent level in the Lucas Oil Series there will be any number of drivers who could take the checkered flag ahead of the pack in the points-paying Saturday main event. But these two drivers have proven they can win here.
So the question going in will whether or not Overton and McCreadie can use those positive memories to gain ground in the standings or at least solidify their places within the top-4.
This Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season has to be thought of differently than seasons of the past. In previous years, all but the driver leading the standings thought about catching whoever was ahead of him. Now it might not be so much a matter of who is ahead but rather who is behind as those in the top-4 strive to stay there.
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