Brandon Overton took the lead early then dominated at Cochran
The Super Late Model division returned to Cochran Motor Speedway on Friday night to complete the Gobbler 100 event that had been postponed by weather back in November of last year. The unsanctioned feature race at the Georgia facility was captured by Brandon Overton after a night of dominating night of racing. The Evans, GA driver earned a hefty $20,000 payday for his efforts in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
Back in November, Kyle Bronson had led Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.668 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval besting Dillon Tidmore, Steven Roberts, Jimmy Sharpe Jr., and Pearson Lee Williams.
Brandon Overton was fastest in Group B time-trials with a time of 14.669 second to top Scott Bloomquist, Wil Herrington, Michael Page, and Cla Knight.
Kyle Bronson had beaten Pearson Lee Williams and Kenny Collins in the first heat held last fall while Brandon Overton defeated Wil Herrington and Cla Knight in the second preliminary.
It was Ross Bailes who took the third heat ahead of Austin Kirkpatrick and Jimmy Sharpe Jr. then Michael Page outran Scott Bloomquist and Dalton Cook in the fourth and final heat.
At the start of the 75-lap feature it was Bronson who would take the early lead ahead of Overton, Bailes, Page and Williams. Overton wasted little time establishing himself as the favorite by passing Bronson for the lead on lap 5. At that point, the No. 76 machine began to pull away from the field.
The top-5 of Overton, Bronson, Bailes, Page and Herrington spaced out and began to log laps. However, Page made a move to take third away from Bailes on lap 23 as Overton continued to lead while fighting with a pack of slower machines.
A caution flag waved on lap 28 when Ahnna Parkhurst slowed on the speedway. On the ensuing restart, Herrington moved up to second with Page and Bailes following as Bronson fell back to the fifth position.
Page took the runner-up spot away from Herrington on lap 30 as Overton again pulled away from the field. Four laps later, it was Bailes who would pass by Herrington to assume the third position.
Once more, the leading No. 76 car found itself working through slower traffic on lap 35. Further back, Parker Martin and Bronson fought over fifth with Bronson eventually holding the spot.
A lap 53 yellow flag bunched the field another time, giving his competitors another shot to keep pace with Overton. However, that would prove to be difficult as the Wells Motorsports car pulled away from his pursuers immediately after the green flag waved.
Over the closing laps with nothing but clear track ahead of him, it was all Overton as he sailed under the checkered flag to claim the victory.
“I’ll tell you what,” Overton proclaimed in victory lane. “That’s probably one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. That thing would run right around there and stay stuck. Hat’s off to my crew first and foremost. It’s a whole team effort. I love coming over here. It’s an awesome race track and it got pretty tricky tonight, it was slick getting in there. You gotta get it arced right to get on down the hill. I don’t know what to say, that’s probably one of the best race cars I’ve ever driven. We’ll just keep on trucking.”
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Michael Page, 3. Ross Bailes, 4. Kyle Bronson, 5. Parker Martin, 6. Wil Herrington, 7. Scott Bloomquist, 8. Austin Kirkpatrick, 9. Dalton Cook, 10. Kenny Collins, 11. Trent Ivey, 12. Jim Rogers, 13. Jeff Mathews, 14. Pearson Lee Williams, 15. Ahnna Parkhurst, 16. Jimmy Sharpe Jr., 17. Mark Whitener, 18. Dillon Tidmore, 19. Cla Knight, 20. Steven Roberts, 21. Marty Lunsford, 22. Dean Bowen
