Devin Moran closed out East Bay competition with a win
Saturday brought the final night of the Wrisco Winter Nationals for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at the East Bay Raceway Park. It would be the fifth event hosted by the Tampa, Florida facility. When all was said and done at ‘The Clay by the Bay’, it was Devin Moran who made a charge in the second half to score the win. The Longhorn Chassis driver from Dresden, Ohio earned $15,000 for his efforts in a race aired live by Mav TV.
A total of 69 cars were signed in for competition.
Brandon Overton turned the fastest lap in Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.471 seconds around the third-mile clay oval besting Mark Whitener, Devin Moran, Dale Hollidge, Tyler Erb, Boom Briggs, Hudson O’Neal and Brian Shirley.
Ashton Winger was quickest in Group B time-trials with a mark of 14.685 seconds to outdo Brandon Sheppard, Tanner English, Colten Burdette, Garrett Alberson, Jimmy Owens, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Daulton Wilson.
Brandon Overton would start the feature from the pole position after he won the first heat race ahead of Hudson O’Neal and Bob Gardner.
Dale Hollidge initially placed second in the first heat but a violation of the droop caused his finish to be taken away.
Tyler Erb was flagged as the winner of the second preliminary topping Mark Whitener and Tyler Bruening while Devin Moran bettered Kyle Bronson and Boom Briggs in the third heat.
Colten Burdette would start the main event from the outside of the front row after taking the fourth heat over Ashton Winger and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Brandon Sheppard outran Garrett Alberson and Johnny Scott in the fifth heat while Tanner English was the victor in the sixth and final heat beating out Shane Clanton and Jimmy Owens.
Garrett Smith initially placed third in the fifth heat but had that position taken away when he failed to report to the scales after the finish.
Chase Junghans, Frank Heckenast Jr., and Josh Putnam won the three B-main races that would fill in the starting grid for the main event.
The 50-lap feature took the green flag with Overton leading on the opening lap ahead of Erb, Sheppard, Burdette and English. Sheppard, who entered the night on a three-race winning streak, wasted no time in getting back to the front as he took to the outside and passed by both Erb and Overton to grab the lead on lap 3.
Erb took second from Overton on lap 5 while Burdette and English fought for position at the back of the top-5. Soon after, a furious battle involving Burdette, English, Moran, O’Neal, Bronson and Alberson ensued for positions 4-9. At the same time, Sheppard began to slip away from the pack.
Sheppard found himself racing among slower traffic as he maintained his advantage over his pursuers. Overton regained the runner-up position when he moved around Erb on lap 15. Erb returned the favor one lap later as he took second back away from Overton.
Bronson charged forward as he stormed into the top-5 and moved in on the Erb-Overton fight. At the same, Moran worked to get himself up into the mix. As Sheppard led, the foursome of erb, Bronson, Overton and Moran ran in two-by-two formation for the remaining spots in the top-5.
The first caution flag of the race waved on lap 28 as a light rain began to fall around the track. After having the cars to coast around the track for several laps, series officials deemed the track ready for green flag competition and the action resumed.
Moran jumped to third on the lap 28 restart as he moved around Erb while Clanton entered the top-5 by also passing Erb. Overton looked to regain lost positions as he took fifth away from Erb on lap 31 but Erb fought back to reclaim that position on the next circuit.
After a lap 33 yellow flag for Heckenast, Moran took to the high side and blasted to the lead as green flag action resumed. Just behind the leader, Bronson rose to the runner-up position as early leader Sheppard got into the turn four cushion and fell back to the 12th position.
On lap 34, Alberson spun and collected Sheppard and Stormy Scott.
Erb closed in on Moran to challenge for the lead on lap 35 but Moran was able to fight him off. Further back, Whitener and English charged up third and fourth respectively as some of the early leaders began to fade.
A lap 44 yellow flag was displayed to the field when contact from Clanton sent Ross Robinson spinning. At that time, Moran led Erb, Whitener, English and Overton.
Over the closing laps, Moran held steady and ultimately cruised under the checkered flag to claim his third victory of 2022.
Feature Finish: 1. Devin Moran, 2. Tyler Erb, 3. Mark Whitener, 4. Tanner English, 5. Brandon Overton, 6. Ashton Winger, 7. Ricky Thornton Jr., 8. Jimmy Owens, 9. Tyler Bruening, 10. Tim McCreadie, 11. Kyle Bronson, 12. Colten Burdette, 13. Garrett Alberson, 14. Earl Pearson Jr., 15. Shane Clanton, 16. Johnny Scott, 17. Boom Briggs, 18. Ross Robinson, 19. Hudson O’Neal, 20. Chase Junghans, 21. Brandon Sheppard, 22. Stormy Scott, 23. Spencer Hughes, 24. Daulton Wilson, 25. Josh Putnam, 26. Bob Gardner, 27. Frank Heckenast Jr.
Rocket and Longhorn neck-and-neck going into SpeedWeeks stretch run
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