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Ebert’s Lucas run ends in 18th; Moran victorious at Florida’s All-Tech Raceway
From Series Reports
LAKE CITY, FL (February 1) - Devin Moran surged from his 11th starting position, took the lead for good on the 43rd lap, and then held on for a green-white-checkered finish, securing the $15,000 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Winter Nationals main event on Saturday night at All-Tech Raceway.
In a race that featured six official lead changes among four different drivers, Moran, who led laps 13-16, regained the lead in the hard-fought contest from Ricky Thornton Jr. with seven laps remaining.
Jonathan Davenport finished in second, with hard charger Tyler Erb rounding out the podium. Garrett Alberson was fourth, and Tim McCreadie rounded out the top five drivers.
Brandon Overton, who started from the pole, led the first two laps until Alberson passed him coming off of turn four to take the lead on the third lap. It was Thornton’s turn to lead as he claimed the top spot on lap 10. Thornton, who entered the event with three victories in his last four starts at All-Tech, aimed to win all three Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events this week.
Thornton’s stay at the point was short-lived as Moran charged from the inside of row six and made his first appearance at the top of the leader board, grabbing the lead on lap 13 from Thornton. But like Thornton, Moran’s lead was not for long, as by the 16th lap, Thornton was back out in front.
Thornton then led the next 25 circuits in what was shaping up to be an outstanding battle for the lead among Thornton, Moran, and Davenport, a trio later joined by Alberson.
Moran managed to regain the lead from Thornton on lap 43, as there was nearly a three-wide battle for second place coming off turn four with two laps remaining. However, Thornton’s night ended abruptly after making hard contact with the frontstretch wall. Moran then successfully navigated a two-lap sprint to the finish to secure the victory.
Moran celebrated his 16th career victory in Lucas Oil Victory Lane, marking his first win at All-Tech.
“It was just awesome!” said Moran. “You know, everybody’s been talking about the track and all that. I don’t think you can find a better race track than tonight. It was so wild; it felt like we were running Sprint Car lines. I love watching Sprint Cars! You dive in, then come back down the hill, and we started ripping it. This place is so much fun; it’s so underrated. In my opinion, it’s a top five track in the country doubt,” said the Dresden, Ohio native.
“The line was changing throughout the race; he [Thornton] started railing the top in one and two while I was still trying to work that little diamond deal and hit the bottom. There just wasn’t enough off the bottom in two, so I finally started going around that top, and I began to make up ground on Ricky. When we got into lapped traffic and headed to the back straightaway, I knew I had to go for it, and I did. I finally won at All-Tech! I feel like we had the best car here on Thursday, but it just didn’t work out.”
Davenport finished second after starting in 14th, turning it into a four-car battle for the lead during the final 10 laps of the race.
Erb, who started 17th, passed Alberson on the final lap to take as he advanced 14 positions during the race.
Daulton Wilson, Brandon Overton, Carson Ferguson, Kyle Bronson, and Brandon Sheppard completed the top 10.
Lake Shore, Minnesota’s Dan Ebert qualified for the feature and finished 18th from his 15th starting spot, while Renner, South Dakota’s Blair Nothdurft had his efforts stymied in the B feature, finishing fifth. Sun River, Montana’s Michael Leach was sixth in the same B feature and also missed qualifying for the A-main.
SUMMARY
Lucas Oil Late Models:
LOLMDS A-Main (50 Laps): 1. 99-Devin Moran[11]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[14]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[17]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 9-Tim McCreadie[7]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[10]; 7. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 8. 93-Carson Ferguson[22]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 10. 1-Brandon Sheppard[18]; 11. 19M-Spencer Hughes[4]; 12. 111-Max Blair[13]; 13. 22*-Drake Troutman[19]; 14. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 15. 79-Donald McIntosh[20]; 16. 20-Jimmy Owens[12]; 17. 93L-Cory Lawler[25]; 18. 60-Dan Ebert[15]; 19. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 20. 6-Clay Harris[24]; 21. 7-Ross Robinson[23]; 22. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[21]; 23. 11-Shane Clanton[16]; 24. 16-Tyler Bruening[8]; 25. 71-Hudson O'Neal[6]