Tim McCreadie captured the Dirt Late Model Stream
The finale of the three-night Dirt Late Model Stream was contested at Eldora Speedway on Saturday night in an event broadcast by FloRacing.com. At the end of the night Tim McCreadie stood on the stage in front of an empty grandstand at the Rossburg, OH track to receive the trophy and a check for $50,000.
The starting lineups for the heat races were set by points acquired during the races held on Thursday and Friday.
Devin Moran claimed the first heat race of the night ahead of Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb and Tim McCreadie while Brandon Sheppard beat out Dale McDowell, Ricky Thornton, Jr., and Frank Heckenast, Jr. in the second heat.
Josh Richards topped Kyle Strickler, Jimmy Owens and Ricky Weiss just before Chris Madden outran Brandon Overton, Kyle Bronson and Shanon Buckingham in the fourth and final heat of the night.
Chase Junghans won the first B-main ahead of Rick Eckert and Mason Zeigler while Nick Hoffman outran Scott James and Kent Robinson in the final B-main of the evening.
The first significant moment of the race occurred before the field even rolled onto the track as the car of pole sitter Chris Madden failed to start and the No. 0M was retired before the drop of the green flag.
At the start of the 67-lap feature it was Sheppard who took the early lead with Davenport, Moran, Erb and Owens trailing. Erb dashed by Moran for third on lap two while Owens moved by Moran for fourth one lap later.
Sheppard began to slip away from the pack on lap 6 while McDowell moved by Moran to grab fifth.
The first caution of the night came on lap 17 when contact between Bobby Pierce and Strickler forced Strickler into the outside wall.
Owens took second away from Sheppard on lap 18. Further back Pierce moved into the top-5 on lap 23 then went to fourth when he passed by Erb on lap 25.
On a lap 30 restart it was Pierce who made a move as he took third while McCreadie, McDowell, and Erb going three-wide for fourth further back.
A lap 35 restart saw McDowell, Davenport, and Sheppard go three-wide for the lead with Sheppard emerging from the battle to get the top spot. Pierce then took second from Davenport on lap 37.
McCreadie’s move toward the front continued on lap 46 when he went by Davenport for third. The No. 32 machine then went about the business of closing in on Sheppard for the race lead.
The top-3 of Sheppard, Pierce, and McCreadie ran in tight formation as they fought over the lead of the race on lap 60. One lap later, McCreadie took the runner-up position from Pierce then two laps later he moved to the front of the field by passing Sheppard.
Just after McCreadie took the white flag a caution came out for the slowing car of Erb. On the restart, McCreadie maintained his advantage with Pierce and McDowell emerging from the battle to secure second and third.
Feature Finish: 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Bobby Pierce, 3. Dale McDowell, 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Chris Ferguson, 6. Ricky Weiss, 7. Shannon Babb, 8. Josh Richards, 9. Jonathan Davenport, 10. Ricky Thornton, Jr., 11. Mason Zeigler, 12. Devin Moran, 13. Chase Junghans, 14. Shanon Buckingham, 15. Tyler Erb, 16. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 17. Nick Hoffman, 18. Jimmy Owens, 19. Kyle Bronson, 20. Scott James, 21. Brandon Overton, 22. Kent Robinson, 23. Rick Eckert, 24. Kyle Strickler, 25. Chris Madden
