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Triple 20s victories garnered by Pierce, Marlar & Sheppard at Volusia Wednesday

From DirtOnDirt.com Staff Reports

BARBERVILLE, FL (February 14) - Wednesday night played host to the Triple 20s night of the 53rd annual DIRTcar Nationals, featuring three 20-lap, $5,000-to-win semifeatures for DIRTcar-sanctioned Super Late Models.

Feature 1

Surviving numerous restarts after seven cautions slowed the action, pole-starting Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, IL, led all 20 laps to wire Wednesday's first $5,000 Triple 20. Pierce picked up his second career DIRTcar Nationals triumph and his first since topping a $7,000 DIRTcar-sanctioned feature there on Feb. 9, 2021. Third-starting Cade Dillard grabbed the runner-up spot on a lap-four restart, but never truly challenged Pierce for the lead and finished 2.269 seconds back.

Tim McCreadie slipped as low as seventh before rebounding to complete the podium in third behind Dillard. McCreadie used a turn-one slider to grab third from Ethan Dotson on lap 14. Ashton Winger improved four positions and finished fourth, while Max McLaughlin completed the top five.

Lake Elmo, Minnesota’s Brent Larson was 13th, while Renner, South Dakota’s Blair Nothdurft was 14th. Rochester, Minnesota’s Dustin Sorensen was a DNF after a tangle during the race.

SUMMARY

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 5. 22*-Max McLaughlin[13]; 6. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 7. 25B-Mike Benedum[6]; 8. 11B-Stacy Boles[12]; 9. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[16]; 10. 1Z-Logan Zarin[4]; 11. 14JR-Jason Fitzgerald[15]; 12. 11-Austin Smith[7]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[10]; 14. 76-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 15. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 16. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]

Feature 2

Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN, led all 20 laps from the pole to win Wednesday's second $5,000 Triple 20s DIRTcar Nationals semifeature at Volusia Speedway Park. Marlar captured his second career DIRTcar Nationals victory and his first since topping a $7,000 DIRTcar Super Late Model feature there on Feb. 11, 2019. Fourth-starting Tyler Erb moved into second on a lap-13 restart and trailed Marlar the rest of the way, finishing 1.293 seconds back.

After getting caught up in Tuesday's massive 10-car pileup, Nick Hoffman rebounded to finish third. Max Blair improved four positions and finished fourth, while Mark Whitener slipped as low as eighth on lap 15 before recovering to finish fifth.

SUMMARY

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 4. 111-Max Blair[8]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener[6]; 6. 99T-Dylan Thompson[5]; 7. 114-Jordan Koehler[3]; 8. 23-David Breazeale[13]; 9. 4-Amanda Robinson[11]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 12. B2-Brian Booze[14]; 13. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]; 14. 17Z-Jimmy Zacharias[16]; 15. 17M-Dale McDowell[7]; 16. 6JR-Parker Martin[12]

Feature 3

Inheriting the point after leaders Devin Moran and Ricky Thornton Jr. tangled on lap 19, third-starting Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, IL, led the final two laps to steal Wednesday's third $5,000 DIRTcar Nationals Triple 20s semifeature at Volusia Speedway Park. Sheppard secured his 22nd career Georgia-Florida Speedweeks triumph.

Fourth-starting Ryan Gustin followed Sheppard by Thornton on the late-race restart and finished second, 1.007 seconds back. Daulton Wilson improved two positions and completed the podium finishers. Tyler Bruening was fourth, and Hudson O’Neal completed the top five.

SUMMARY

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 5. 1-Hudson O'Neal[9]; 6. 7T-Drake Troutman[7]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 9. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 10. 20-Jimmy Owens[10]; 11. 89-Mike Spatola[13]; 12. 93-Cory Lawler[14]; 13. 30-Todd Cooney[15]; 14. 97C-Cody Overton[12]; 15. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 16. 44-Chris Madden[16]