Brandon Overton earned another Eldora win on Wednesday night
After winning both Dirt Late Model Dream races in 2021, Brandon Overton returned to form at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday night when the race was resumed after being halted for rain back in June. It was the third consecutive Dream win for the driver known as “Big Sexy” and his fourth win in his last seven starts at “The Big E”.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Evans, Georgia scored a $128,000 payday on the Rossburg, Ohio track in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
Feature Re-Cap: With a light rain falling, the 100-lap feature took the green flag. Madden bolted to the front with Overton, O’Neal, Dohm and Carson Ferguson trailing. Ferguson passed by Dohm for fourth on the second lap as Madden looked to drive away.
Madden’s lead was more than two seconds by lap 5 ahead of Overton, O’Neal, Ferguson and Dohm. McCreadie moved forward on lap 8 when he took fifth away from Dohm. Madden continued to lead but began to encounter slower traffic by lap 10.
The rain picked up by lap 14 causing officials to show a caution flag to the field. That yellow flag turned red as the rain continued.
Running Order at the Time of Red Flag: 1. Chris Madden, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Hudson O’Neal, 4. Carson Ferguson, 5. Tim McCreadie, 6. Kyle Strickler, 7. Zack Dohm, 8. Chris Ferguson, 9. Kyle Bronson, 10. Gregg Satterlee, 11. Josh Rice, 12. Dale McDowell, 13. Devin Moran, 14. Brandon Sheppard, 15. Brian Shirley, 16. Tyler Erb, 17. Bobby Pierce, 18. Ricky Thornton Jr., 19. Shannon Babb, 20. Jonathan Davenport, 21. Scott Bloomquist, 22. Johnny Scott, 23. Mason Zeigler(-1), 24. Earl Pearson Jr.(-1)
***Following the lap 14 resumption***
When the racing action resumed with 86 laps remaining, it was Madden who went back to the lead with Overton, Carson Ferguson, O’Neal and McCreadie trailing. However, a yellow flag would be displayed just one lap later when sixth runner Chris Ferguson spun and backed hard into the turn one retaining wall to end his night prematurely.
On the restart, O’Neal zipped up to second while McCreadie assumed the fourth spot. Then on lap 17, O’Neal moved around Madden to grab the lead. Further back, Josh Rice merged into the top-5 and looked to move even higher.
O’Neal and Madden exchanged the lead on laps 19 and 20. Madden would take the lead again on lap 25 as O’Neal began to fall back. Rice continued to climb as he took fourth away from McCreadie on lap 26 just before Overton would return to second on lap 27 while Rice passed by O’Neal for third at the same time.
At the halfway mark of the race, Kyle Bronson emerged as a contender when he jumped into the top-5 as Brandon Sheppard also began to rumble. On lap 59, Sheppard took fifth away from Bronson then three laps later Sheppard moved around Rice for fourth.
With 40 laps remaining, Madden’s lead had extended to almost two second ahead of Overton while McCreadie rode further back.
Jonathan Davenport, who has won multiple crown jewel races in 2022 including the Eldora Million, entered the top-5 after restarting the race in the 20th position. Madden continued to control the pace as the race reached the lap 80 point with Overton, McCreadie, Sheppard and Davenport filled the remaining top-5 spots.
Just when it looked like Madden had everything under control, a caution flag waved with 9 laps to go for a crash involving Devin Moran, Bobby Pierce and Hudson O’Neal.
On the restart, Overton took the lead away from Madden and began to slip away.
Overton sailed on to the checkered flag and claimed his third consecutive Dirt Late Model Dream victory.
“I feel like every time I get up here I cry,” Overton declared in his victory lane interview. “I’m happy, man. I shouldn’t have won that race. I probably had a second-place car but I’ve got a couple of guardian angels riding on this thing with me. Special wrap, special weekend. I’ve got all my family with me. I love coming here.”
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. Brandon Sheppard, 6. Dale McDowell, 7. Kyle Strickler, 8. Josh Rice, 9. Brian Shirley, 10. Kyle Bronson, 11. Tyler Erb, 12. Ricky Thornton Jr., 13. Hudson O’Neal, 14. Devin Moran, 15. Bobby Pierce, 16. Carson Ferguson, 17. Zack Dohm, 18. Johnny Scott, 19. Shannon Babb, 20. Gregg Satterlee, 21. Mason Zeigler, 22. Earl Pearson Jr., 23. Chris Ferguson, 24. Scott Bloomquist
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