Brandon Overton scored another WoO win at Cherokee
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series kicked off a two-race weekend on Friday night at Cherokee Speedway. At the end the night it was Brandon Overton who received the accolades in victory lane after winning his fourth consecutive race sanctioned by that tour at the Gaffney, SC track. The Longhorn Chassis driver from Evans, Georgia earned $10,000 for his efforts.
Chris Ferguson was fastest in Group A qualifying when he toured the 4/10 mile clay oval in 14.697 seconds to beat out Ryan Gustin, Daulton Wilson, Ben Watkins and Kyle Strickler.
Brandon Sheppard topped Group B time-trials with an effort of 14.868 seconds besting Brandon Overton, Ross Bailes, Brent Dixon and Trent Ivey.
Daulton Wilson took the win in the first heat race of the night by outrunning Chris Ferguson, Kyle Strickler and Tyler Bruening then Ben Watkins defeated Ryan Gustin, David Breazeale and Dillon Brown in the event’s second preliminary.
Brandon Sheppard was victorious in the third heat over Ross Bailes, Trent Ivey and Chris Madden just before Brandon Overton won. the fourth and final heat ahead of Brent Dixon, Michael Brown and Thomas Robinson.
The top-2 from each heat went to the WoO Late Model Series redraw which would set the first four rows of the feature starting grid.
The redraw determined the top-8 starters to be Overton, Wilson, Watkins, Sheppard, Ferguson, Dixon, Gustin and Bailes.
Dennis Erb Jr., Anthony Sanders, Boom Briggs, Dan Breuer, Ricky Weiss and Dennis Franklin transferred to the main event out of the lone Last Chance Showdown.
At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Wilson who bolted to the lead with Overton, Watkins, Sheppard and Ferguson trailing in his tire tracks. By lap 5, Wilson had begun to slip away from the pack by a few car lengths. However, the front runners would quickly tighten back up when slower traffic came into play.
The first yellow flag of the night would be displayed to the field on lap 13 when Briggs slowed. On the ensuing restart, Sheppard and Gustin charged by Watkins to move into third and fourth respectively. Soon afterward, Overton and Sheppard began working the high line around the track while the leading car of Wilson remained on the bottom.
Overton’s efforts paid off on lap 25 when he moved by Wilson on the high side of the track to take over the lead of the race. Further back, Ferguson gained a position as he moved around Gustin to grab fourth. However, the action would be slowed again by a caution flag. This time, it was Strickler who spun on lap 28.
One lap after green flag racing resumed, Sheppard took the runner-up position away from Wilson. Ferguson would also pass by Wilson on lap 32 to assume third. He then stepped forward to offer a challenge to Sheppard for second. Those two cars were engaged for most of the remaining laps while at the same time closing on Overton, who was wrestling with slower traffic.
Ferguson would attempt a slide job on Sheppard for second on lap 38 but jumped the cushion and lost enough momentum to allow Wilson to retake third. But in the end, it was Overton who add to his already magical season by claiming another checkered flag.
As a result of his win, Overton has won the last four WoO Late Models races held at Cherokee Speedway.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Daulton Wilson, 4. Chris Ferguson, 5. Chris Madden, 6. Ryan Gustin, 7. Ben Watkins, 8. Ross Bailes, 9. Michael Brown, 10. Trent Ivey, 11. Brent Dixon, 12. Dillon Brown, 13. Tyler Bruening, 14. Dennis Erb Jr., 15. David Breazeale, 16. Anthony Sanders, 17. Ricky Weiss, 18. Thomas Robinson, 19. Dennis Franklin, 20. Dan Breuer, 21. Brent Larson, 22. Kyle Strickler, 23. Doug Sanders, 24. Boom Briggs
