Moran takes Wieland Winter Nationals Opener at Ocala
Photo by Mike Ruefer
OCALA, Fla. — Devin Moran continued his winning ways with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, capturing the 30-lap $7,000 Wieland Winter Nationals main event on Tuesday night at Ocala Speedway. Moran took the lead on lap 24 from Brandon Overton, who had led the first 23 laps, as the Dresden, Ohio driver secured his 17th career series victory.
Overton, who fell back to third on a restart with five laps remaining, managed to get around Jonathan Davenport with two laps left. He then closed in on Moran at the end, finishing just .0264 seconds behind. Davenport secured the final spot on the Big River Steel Podium in third. The rest of the top five consisted of Carson Ferguson and Hudson O’Neal.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the second time in his career at Ocala and the second consecutive time this season, Moran recalls his early-week successes in previous years at Easy Bay.
“Just like for the Winternationals at East Bay, I felt I was really good the first night, so bringing that over to Bubba’s place is awesome, and taking his money is great too. As I mentioned earlier tonight, I thought the track would be pretty good, and it did seem good. Turns out, one and two finally started to come in once it slowed down. He (Overton) finally caught lapped traffic, which threw him off a bit. I’ve watched a lot of film and seen how to take different lines here to gain speed. I tried them all and finally found one that worked. It was really cool to get the first win of the week here. I wish it was a points night, but that’s alright. We’ll take the money and get ready for the rest of the week.”
Overton, who started on the Victory Fuel Pole, led unchallenged for the first 20 laps of the race until traffic started to play a part as a long stretch of green flag racing allowed Moran and Davenport to make it a three-way battle for the top spot.
“I I was just trying to outsmart them on that restart. I figured he (Moran) would go to the bottom in turns one and two, but he went to the top on that restart, which really threw me off. I just wheelied and pushed and got back behind JD, and I was able to enter a little lower than everyone else in three. We had a good enough car to win. I just got too close to the lapped car and spun the tires leaving turn two. It was just one of those nights when running second felt better than being out front. So, we'll take it; we are making gains every day.”
Davenport created an exciting three-car battle before the caution flag waved with 25 laps completed. He briefly took second place when Overton slipped up the track on the restart, but Overton managed to pass him again on the final lap.
“I I thought I had passed Overton before the caution, but they said I wasn’t ahead of him that lap. We had a great race there. They got a bit held up in lapped traffic and I caught up to them. I found the top down on that end and we were just a little better. We tried something new tonight, but I don’t think it worked as well. We know what we need to do to improve for tomorrow and the rest of the week. It’s sunny in Florida, and it’s 80 degrees; we’re all having a good time down here.”
The winner’s Double Down Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, C&W Trucking, Red Oak Pub, Bomag, Anthony’s Pizza, Millwood Plumbing, CarSourceAuto.com, Refuel Wellness, Pee Wee’s Wrecker Service, McHugh, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, Eibach Springs, Smoky Mountain Speedway, and Haulin’ Haskell’s.
Completing the top ten were Tyler Erb, Max Blair, Wil Herrington, Tim McCreadie, and Jimmy Owens.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wieland Winter Nationals | Night 1
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Ocala Speedway – Ocala, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton | 14.420 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran | 14.362 seconds (overall)
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 5. 19M-Spencer Hughes[8]; 6. 81J-Jack Riggs[7]; 7. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[6]; 8. C4-Freddie Carpenter[9]; 9. 57-Matt Tifft[10]; 10. 09-Michael Leach[3]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener[6]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 7. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart[9]; 9. 79-Donald McIntosh[7]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 9-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 4. 28B-Carson Brown[4]; 5. 1-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 7. 6-Clay Harris[7]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert[8]; 9. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[9]; 10. 24-Tyler Wyant[10]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[2]; 3. 15K-Wil Herrington[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[5]; 5. 17SS-Brenden Smith[3]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 7. 81-Jason Riggs[7]; 8. 93L-Cory Lawler[8]; 9. 55C-Chad Mahder[9]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (7 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 5-Mark Whitener[2]; 2. 81J-Jack Riggs[3]; 3. 19M-Spencer Hughes[1]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 6. C4-Freddie Carpenter[7]; 7. 79-Donald McIntosh[10]; 8. 57-Matt Tifft[9]; 9. 09-Michael Leach[11]; 10. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 11. 43-Derrick Stewart[8]
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 3. 17SS-Brenden Smith[2]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[5]; 5. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 7. 81-Jason Riggs[6]; 8. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[9]; 9. 55C-Chad Mahder[10]; 10. 93L-Cory Lawler[8]; 11. 24-Tyler Wyant[11]
Wieland Winter Nationals | Night 1 Feature Finish (30 Laps):
Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Earnings
1 - 2 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $7,000
2 - 1 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - $3,500
3 - 7 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - $2,000
4 - 3 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - $1,500
5 - 5 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $1,400
6 - 9 - 1T - Tyler Erb - New Waverly, TX - $1,300
7 - 8 - 111 - Max Blair - Centerville, PA - $1,200
8 - 12 - 15K - Wil Herrington - Hawkinsville, GA - $1,100
9 - 6 - 9 - Tim McCreadie - Watertown, NY - $1,000
10 - 15 - 20 - Jimmy Owens - Newport, TN - $950
11 - 20 - 40B - Kyle Bronson - Brandon, FL - $900
12 - 10 - 22* - Drake Troutman - Hyndman, PA - $850
13 - 13 - 8 - Dillon McCowan - Urbana, MO - $800
14 - 16 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - $750
15 - 17 - 5 - Mark Whitener - Middleburg, FL - $725
16 - 14 - 28B - Carson Brown - New London, NC - $700
17 - 22 - 17SS - Brenden Smith - Dade City, FL - $700
18 - 23 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - $700
19 - 18 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - $650
20 - 19 - 81J - Jack Riggs - Nolensville, TN - $625
21 - 11 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - $625
22 - 4 - 3S - Brian Shirley - Chatham, IL - $600
23 - 24 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $600
24 - 21 - 19M - Spencer Hughes - Meridian, MS - $600
Race Statistics
Entrants: 38
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Brandon Overton
MD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1-23); Devin Moran (Laps 24-30)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Brandon Overton
Wieland Feature Winner: Devin Moran
Margin of Victory: 0.264 seconds
Coltman Farms Racing Cautions: Brian Shirley (Lap 5); Daulton Wilson (Lap 25)
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisional: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Devin Moran, Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport
Penske Shocks Top 5: Devin Moran, Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, Carson Ferguson, Hudson O’Neal
PEM 4th Place Feature: Carson Ferguson
DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Hudson O’Neal
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Max Blair
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Kyle Bronson
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Dillon McCowan
MD3 24th Place Feature: Spencer Hughes
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Kyle Bronson (Advanced 9 Positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Brandon Overton (23 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Carson Ferguson
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Devin Moran
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton (Lap 4 | 14.929 seconds)
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Hard Luck Award: Brian Shirley
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Chuck Kimble
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Devin Moran (14.7165 seconds)
Time of Race: 33 minutes 53 seconds
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