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Big pileup behind Pierce puts Moran in the catbird seat Tuesday; Sorensen finishes 9th

From DirtOnDirt.com Staff Reports

BARBERVILLE, FL (February 13) - Inheriting the point when race-long pacesetter Bobby Pierce slowed with a broken fuel line on a lap-17 restart attempt, fifth-starting Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, paced the remaining circuits to win Tuesday's 25-lap opener of the 53rd annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. Moran earned $7,000 for his fifth career victory at the half-mile oval and his 10th triumph all-time in Georgia-Florida Speedweeks action.

The second-starting Pierce led the first 17 laps before a fuel line broke on his carburetor, shooting raw fuel onto the distributor and creating a fire; as a result, Pierce slowed abruptly in turn four as the green flag flew, setting off a chain-reaction tangle that collected nine other cars and caused a 15-minute red flag for cleanup. The late-race melee ended the night for Pierce, Mike Marlar, Hudson O'Neal, Nick Hoffman, Chase Junghans and Tyler Bruening; O'Neal went to the hospital to have his left hand examined for possible injury. Ninth-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. moved into the runner-up spot on the lap-17 restart and trailed Moran the rest of the way, finishing 1.407 seconds back. Pole-starting Kyle Bronson finished third; he rallied after falling outside the top 10 by the race's midway point. Max Blair was fourth, while Cade Dillard improved seven positions and completed the top five.

Rochester, Minnesota’s Dustin Sorensen was ninth from 23rd.

SUMMARY

DIRTcar Late Models:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 99-Devin Moran[5]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[9]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 4. 111-Max Blair[6]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[12]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard[20]; 7. 12-Ashton Winger[11]; 8. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen[23]; 10. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[16]; 11. 18D-Daulton Wilson[24]; 12. 1T-Tyler Erb[18]; 13. 114-Jordan Koehler[7]; 14. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 15. 157-Mike Marlar[14]; 16. 1-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 17. 9-Nick Hoffman[8]; 18. 18-Chase Junghans[10]; 19. 16-Tyler Bruening[17]; 20. 174-Ethan Dotson[15]; 21. 7T-Drake Troutman[21]; 22. 6JR-Parker Martin[19]; 23. 17M-Dale McDowell[13]; 24. 3S-Brian Shirley[22]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 17M-Dale McDowell[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[7]; 7. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[2]; 8. 54-David Breazeale[9]; 9. B1-Brent Larson[8]; 10. 14JR-Jason Fitzgerald[12]; 11. 10-Garrett Smith[10]; 12. B2-Brian Booze[11]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[4]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans[3]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[7]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 8. 22*-Max McLaughlin[10]; 9. 99T-Dylan Thompson[11]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[9]; 11. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]; 12. 14C-Codee Schneider[12]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 114-Jordan Koehler[3]; 3. 12-Ashton Winger[4]; 4. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 5. 6JR-Parker Martin[8]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[9]; 8. 89-Mike Spatola[11]; 9. 30-Todd Cooney[7]; 10. 11-Austin Smith[1]; 11. 48-Tim Lance[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 6. 5-Mark Whitener[7]; 7. 76-Blair Nothdurft[4]; 8. 97C-Cody Overton[9]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 10. 4-Amanda Robinson[10]; 11. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[11]