Tim McCreadie was the victor at Volusia
The Late Model portion of the 50th annual DIRTcar Nationals kicked off on Monday evening at Volusia Speedway Park. When all was said and done, it was Tim McCreadie who led flag-to-flag and scored the win in a race shown live by DirtVision.com. The Watertown, NY driver earned a $5,000 payout for his victory.
A total of 51 cars were entered for competition.
Devin Moran was quickest in Group A time-trials when he turned a lap in 16.189 seconds around the half-mile clay oval to outperform Kyle Bronson, Rick Eckert, Parker Martin, Dan Stone, and Josh Richards.
Bobby Pierce was fastest in Group B qualifying and overall with a time of 16.139 seconds besting Brandon Overton, Tim McCreadie, Mark Whitener, Michael Norris, and Brian Shirley.
Devin Moran took the win in the first heat race of the night ahead of Brandon Sheppard and Parker Martin while Kyle Bronson was the victor in the second preliminary ahead of Tyler Bruening and Dan Stone.
Josh Richards topped Rick Eckert and Boom Briggs in the third heat race.
Mark Whitener beat Bobby Pierce and Darrell Lanigan to the finish line in the fourth preliminary then Brandon Overton outran Ross Bailes and Michael Norris in the fifth heat.
Tim McCreadie took the sixth and final heat by beating out Brian Shirley and Dale McDowell.
David Breazeale topped Chase Junghans in the first Last Chance Showdown just before Billy Moyer Jr. and Jimmy Owens transferred to the main event out of the second LCS. Finally, Cade Dillard edged Mike Maresca in the third Last Chance Showdown.
At the start of the 30-lap feature it was McCreadie who bolted away from the pack with Bronson, Moran, Whitener and Overton trailing. McCreadie immediately began to pull away from his pursuers building a lead of almost two seconds after only four laps.
Home state driver Whitener began to rumble as lap 10 went up on the board. He took third away from Moran then moved up to challenge for second. By lap 13, Whitener swept by Bronson to claim the runner-up position.
A lap 13 caution for the slowing car of Moyer Jr. briefly halted the racing action just as Whitener had begun to cut into the lead of McCreadie.
On the lap 13 restart, McCreadie held on to the lead while Sheppard made his way into the top-5. At that point, Moran, Sheppard and Pierce engaged in a fierce battle for positions 4-6.
As the laps clicked away, Whitener again began to cut into the lead of McCreadie as the duo worked through slower traffic. But in the end, it would be McCreadie who would win the race to the checkered flag to claim the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Mark Whitener, 3. Devin Moran, 4. Kyle Bronson, 5. Bobby Pierce, 6. Brandon Sheppard, 7. Brandon Overton, 8. Josh Richards, 9. Rick Eckert, 10. Tyler Bruening, 11. Brian Shirley, 12. Ross Bailes, 13. Darrell Lanigan, 14. Chase Junghans, 15. Cade Dillard, 16. Jimmy Owens, 17. Michael Norris, 18. Dan Stone, 19. Boom Briggs, 20. Mike Maresca, 21. Parker Martin, 22. David Breazeale, 23. Billy Moyer Jr., 24. Dale McDowell
