Devin Moran wins on night 1 at Davenport
The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series rolled into the Davenport Speedway on Thursday to contest the first race in the three-day ‘Quad Cities 150’ event. That weekend event will conclude on Saturday with a $30,000-to-win show. When all was said and done after the first night of competition, it was Devin Moran who triumphed at the Iowa facility. The Longhorn Chassis driver was awarded $10,000 for his efforts in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 37 cars were signed in for competition.
Brandon Sheppard led the way in Group A qualifying with a lap of 13.588 seconds around the quarter-mile clay oval topping Devin Moran, Bobby Pierce, Nick Hoffman and Jason Feger.
Chris Madden posted the quickest lap in Group B time-trials by outperforming Cade Dillard, Frank Heckenast Jr., Shannon Babb and Ryan Gustin.
Bobby Pierce took the checkered flag ahead of the pack in the first heat race of the night as he bettered Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley and Jason Feger for the win then Devin Moran was victorious in the second preliminary of the night over Nick Hoffman, Jimmy Mars and Chad Simpson.
Chris Madden proved to be the best in the third heat finishing ahead of Frank Heckenast Jr., Ryan Gustin and Brent Larson just before Cade Dillard won the fourth and final heat by defeating Shannon Babb, Chris Simpson and Billy Moyer Jr.
Dennis Erb Jr. and Garrett Alberson won the two Last Chance Showdown races used to set the remainder of the starting grid for the main event.
The WoO Late Models redraw established the first four rows on the feature starting grid as Madden, Moran, Dillard, Pierce, Hoffman, Sheppard, Heckenast and Babb.
At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Madden who went to the lead with Moran, Dillard, Hoffman and Pierce trailing. Moran immediately began to challenge for the top spot as he dove to the inside on the second laps. Madden briefly held the lead but Moran would come back one lap later. This time, Moran was successful as he assumed the lead of the race.
Madden was forced to defend the runner-up position om lap 5 when Pierce offered a challenge. Pierce would eventually take the spot just before a caution flag waved for Gustin.
Pierce moved in on lap 9 to challenge Moran for the lead but Moran was able to fend off the No. 32 machine. In the meantime, Babb, Sheppard, Hoffman and Dillard engaged in a fierce fight for positions in the back half of the top-10.
A yellow flag waved on lap 12 to again slow the action briefly and bunch the field. Just after the restart, Moran and Pierce again slipped away from the pack while Heckenast, Babb and Madden commenced a fight that would go on for several laps until Heckenast finally emerged with the third spot as Babb settled into fourth.
The second half of the race featured Moran and Pierce using the bottom lane to work through slower traffic while all the while fighting for the lead. With five circuits remaining, Pierce poked his nose under Moran but the No. 9 machine fended off the challenge. Again with two laps remaining Pierce would try but in the end it was Moran who would sail under the checkered flag to score his third World of Outlaws Late Model Series win of 2021.
Feature Finish: 1. Devin Moran, 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Frank Heckenast Jr., 4. Shannon Babb, 5. Nick Hoffman, 6. Cade Dillard, 7. Brandon Sheppard, 8. Jimmy Mars, 9. Boom Briggs, 10. Chris Madden, 11. Dennis Erb Jr., 12. Jeremiah Hurst, 13. Ricky Weiss, 14. Tyler Bruening, 15. Chris Simpson, 16. Brian Shirley, 17. Garrett Alberson, 18. Jake Timm, 19. Jason Feger, 20. Brent Larson, 21. Billy Moyer Jr., 22. Spencer Diercks, 23. Ryan Gustin, 24. Chad Simpson
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