Kyle Strickler scored his biggest Late Model win on Thursday at Eldora
With the 2020 Dirt Late Model Dream shelved due to coronavirus restrictions the Eldora Speedway played host to the substitute Dirt Late Model Stream invitational as a three-day event beginning on Thursday evening. At the end of night 1 in the event run in front of an empty grandstand while being broadcast by FloRacing.com it was Kyle Strickler who earned the $10,000 first prize from the Rossburg, OH facility to score the biggest Late Model win of his career.
Chris Ferguson set the fastest time in qualifying by turning a lap in 15.281 seconds around the historic half-mile clay oval. That lap beat out Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Bobby Pierce, Steve Casebolt, Shane Clanton, Michael Norris, Kyle Stickler and Scott James.
Chris Ferguson won the first heat of the night ahead of Kyle Strickler, Ricky Weiss and Bobby Pierce while Brandon Overton was victorious in the second preliminary over Ricky Thornton, Jr., Scott James and Steve Casebolt.
Shane Clanton topped the field in the third heat by beating out Chris Madden, Devin Moran and Jimmy Owens just before Tim McCreadie scored the win in the fourth and final heat race ahead of Michael Norris, Brandon Sheppard and Tyler Erb.
Jonathan Davenport topped Dennis Erb, Jr. and Chase Junghans in B-main 1 while Dale McDowell outran Frank Heckenast, Jr. and Kyle Bronson in the second B-main.
An invert placed Strickler on the pole for the main event with Norris, Clanton, McCreadie, Sheppard and Ferguson filling in the remainder of the first three rows on the starting grid.
At the start of the 30-lap feature it was Strickler who took the early lead with Norris, Clanton, Ferguson and McCreadie trailing. Madden entered the top-5 on the second circuit while Clanton looked to the inside to challenge Norris for second.
A yellow flag waved to slow the action on lap 3 when Owens slowed. On the restart, Clanton moved around Norris for the runner-up position while Madden came to fourth and Overton entered the top-5.
On lap 7 overton’s rise continued as he took fourth from Madden. Meanwhile, Strickler was putting distance between himself and his pursuers as his lead grew to the length of a full straightaway.
With the race running its final 27 laps caution free lapped traffic proved to be a factor for the race leader. At one point on lap 11 the No. 8 machine banged off of the backstretch wall causing damage to the right rear of the Longhorn. However, the North Carolina driver would go largely unchallenged over the course of the second half.
Behind the leader, it was Overton and Clanton who would contest the second spot over the closing laps before Overton experienced trouble while Madden fought with Sheppard further back in the top-5. But in the end, it was Kyle Strickler who would sail under the checkered flag for the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Kyle Strickler, 2. Shane Clanton, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Ricky Thornton, Jr., 5. Bobby Pierce, 6. Chris Madden, 7. Scott James, 8. Ricky Weiss, 9. Michael Norris, 10. Chris Ferguson, 11. Tyler Erb, 12. Shannon Babb, 13. Dale McDowell, 14. Tim McCreadie, 15. Chase Junghans, 16. Devin Moran, 17. Dennis Erb, Jr., 18. Jonathan Davenport, 19. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 20. Kyle Bronson, 21. Steve Casebolt, 22. Donald McIntosh, 23. Brandon Overton, 24. Jimmy Owens
