Brandon Overton earned his third win of the week at ‘The Big E’
The huge week of racing continued on Friday at Eldora Speedway as competitors took to the track to contest the 26th annual Dirt Late Model Dream. Following a draw, drivers would be divided into two groups for the purpose of contesting two completely separate shows. As had been the case on Wednesday, the Group A and Group B preliminary events would be used to set the starting lineups for Saturday’s heat races.
At the end of the night at the Rossburg, Ohio track, it was Brandon Overton who scored the win in the Group A feature race. The Evans GA driver earned $10,000 for his efforts. Taking his Wednesday preliminary win into account as well as the 27th Dream, it was his third win in three starts this week at Eldora.
A total of 71 cars were signed in for competition.
Brandon Overton led the way in Group A qualifying with a lap of 15.154 seconds around the half-mile clay oval besting Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton Jr., Kyle Larson, Travis Stemler, Tim McCreadie, Ricky Weiss, Scott Bloomquist, Nick Hoffman, Darrell Lanigan, Spencer Hughes, and Frank Heckenast Jr. It would be those twelve drivers who were inverted for the purpose of determining the lineups for the Friday night heat races.
Brandon Overton grabbed the checkered flag in the first heat race of the night beating out Nick Hoffman, Frank Heckenast Jr., Travis Stemler and Dennis Erb Jr. while Darrell Lanigan outran Devin Moran, Brian Shirley, Scott James, and Tim McCreadie.
Ryan Gustin defeated Ricky Thornton Jr., Ricky Weiss, Shane Clanton and Chad Simpson in the third preliminary then Scott Bloomquist took the fourth heat over Ross Bailes, Kyle Larson, Spencer Hughes, and Kyle Strickler.
Kent Robinson won the lone B-main topping Steven Roberts, Michael Brown, and John Blankenship.
At the start of the 25-lap Group A feature it was Gustin who shot to the lead with Lanigan, Overton, Bloomquist, and Thornton trailing. Overton quickly went on the move by taking second away from Lanigan on lap 3. One lap later, Bloomquist moved in an attempt to challenge Lanigan for third.
Overton immediately began to harass Gustin for the race lead. On lap 6, that harassment paid off as the No. 76 moved to the lead. At that point, Overton set about the business of pulling away from his pursuers.
As the laps clicked away Moran and Larson worked to move into contention. Moran broke into the top-5 on lap 20 but Larson would take that position away from him with two laps remaining. But in the end, it was all Brandon Overton as he cruised under the checkered flag to claim the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Ryan Gustin, 3. Darrell Lanigan, 4. Scott Bloomquist, 5. Kyle Larson, 6. Devin Moran, 7. Ricky Thornton Jr., 8. Frank Heckenast Jr., 9. Nick Hoffman, 10. Shane Clanton, 11. Brian Shirley, 12. Tim McCreadie, 13. Ross Bailes, 14. Dennis Erb Jr., 15. Chad Simpson, 16. Kyle Strickler, 17. Kent Robinson, 18. Travis Stemler, 19. John Blankenship, 20. Steven Roberts, 21. Michael Brown, 22. Kent Robinson, 23. Ricky Weiss, 24. Scott James
