Brandon Overton added the National 100 to his impressive win list for 2021
The 47th annual National 100 was contested on Sunday at East Alabama Motor Speedway. After a dominating second half of the race, it was Brandon Overton who claimed another lucrative win in his amazing season. The Longhorn Chassis driver from Evans, Georgia earned $20,000 in an event shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 25 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying and heat races were contested on Saturday night.
Mark Whitener was fastest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.686 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval to beat out Ray Cook, Dennis Erb Jr. and Joey Armistead.
Austin Horton was quickest in Group B time-trials and overall with an effort of 14.538 seconds topping Joseph Joiner, JR Moseley and Kenny Collins.
Brandon Overton turned the best lap in Group C qualifying with a time of 14.590 seconds besting Payton Freeman, Pearson Lee Williams and Larry Harrod.
Austin Horton took the first heat race of the night by outrunning Joseph Joiner, Dalton Cook and Kenny Collins.
Brandon Overton defeated Payton Freeman, Pearson Lee Williams and Randy Weaver in the second preliminary race of the night.
Mark Whitener took the third and final heart of the night ahead of Dennis Erb Jr., Ray Cook and Sam Seawright.
At the start of the 100-lap feature it was Overton who blasted to the lead with Whitener, Horton, Erb and Joiner trailing. Dalton Cook took fifth away from Joiner on the second lap. Whitener moved in to challenge Overton for the lead just before a caution flag waved for a flat tire on the car of fifth running Dalton Cook.
On the ensuing restart, Whitener executed a slide job into turn one to grab the lead but a caution flag was displayed for a spin by Ray Cook before the lap was completed.
When green flag racing resumed, Whitener again went after Overton and was able to take the lead on lap 7. Further back, young Garrett Smith broke into the top-5 just before a yellow flag waved for Ryan Crane on lap 12.
Smith passed by Horton for fourth on lap 14 dropping Horton back into a fight with Williams and Herrington for positions 5-7. Another caution flag waved on lap 22 with Whitener continuing to lead over Overton, Erb, Smith and Horton.
As the race passed the quarter mark Whitener continued to lead with Overton keeping him in his sights. However, a caution for Larry Harrod on lap 28 slowed the pace.
On the lap 28 restart, Overton shot back to the race lead with Erb moving to second. Whitener fought back and regained the runner-up position from Erb on lap 30. Further back, Herrington took fourth away from Smith.
Whitener and Erb continued to battle for second while gaining on Overton as the leader worked through slower traffic as the event approached the halfway mark. Then, a lap 48 caution offered the leaders a reprieve from slower traffic.
Erb moved to second on the lap 48 restart while Randy Weaver broke into the top-5. Two laps later, Weaver took fourth away from Horton while Williams followed suit pushing Horton back to sixth. The top-5 of Overton, Erb, Whitener, Weaver and Williams then began to log laps through the middle stretch of the feature race.
On lap 65, slower machines again came into play as Overton caught the tail of the field but was able to maintain his lead as Erb and Whitener also found themselves fighting with lapped traffic. Weaver took advantage of Erb and Whitener being tangled with slower cars and closed in to challenge Whitener for third.
A caution flag for the slowing car of Chad Wallace on lap 77 regrouped the field for a dash to the finish.
Weaver passed by Whitener for third on the lap 77 restart as Overton and Erb looked to pull away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Horton grabbed fourth away from Whitener on lap 85. At the same time, Weaver closed in on Erb to challenge for second.
But over the closing laps it was Overton who maintained control as he sailed under the checkered flag for his 29th feature win of the season to add another $20,000 to his totals for the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Randy Weaver, 4. Austin Horton, 5. Mark Whitener, 6. Pearson Lee Williams, 7. Kenny Collins, 8. Dalton Cook, 9. Joey Armistead, 10. Joseph Joiner, 11. Garrett Smith, 12. Payton Freeman, 13. Jesse Barnhill, 14. Rucker Orr, 15. Jacob Houser, 16. Jesse Barnhill. 17. Wil Herrington, 18. Ryan Crane, 19. JR Moseley, 20. Jay Elliott, 21. Larry Harrod, 22. Dalton Hood, 23. Ray Cook, 24. Sam Seawright, 25. Dana Eiland
