Overton Back to Victory Lane at Golden Isles

Brandon Overton returned to victory lane on Friday Night at Golden Isles Speedway in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The 30-year-old Georgia native won for the second time in his career in the Super Clean Super Bowl of Racing presented by eBay Motors.

One night after failing to crack the starting line-up in the season opener, Overton chased down race leader and opening night winner, Devin Moran to pass him on lap 27. Overton held off Moran and a hard-charging Hudson O’Neal at the finish. The top three finishers were separated by only .7 tenths of a second at the line.

With several passes in the last few laps of the 50-lap event, Earl Pearson Jr. and Tyler Bruening rounded out the top five drivers.

Pole starter Moran continued his strong start at Golden Isles this weekend taking the lead at the start of the race. Moran held a steady and healthy lead for the first 12 laps of the race until the first of two cautions slowed the action.

On the restart Moran kept his lead as Pearson and Overton battled for second. Overton gained the second spot from Pearson on lap 22, quickly catching Moran in traffic and overhauling him for the race lead on lap 27. Moran tracked down Overton closing the gap with a few laps remaining as O’Neal was peddling hard on the outside.

O’Neal had a run on Moran coming off of turn four as the duo headed to the checkers but Moran was able to hold him off at the finish line. Overton’s 12th career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win was by just .622 seconds.

Overton failed the series droop-rule after qualifying on Thursday night but came back strong to score the victory 24-hours later. “I told my car owner last night I am sorry I probably cost us that one. I told him I will make it up tomorrow. Our car’s been really good especially last year. That was a heck of race, I just wished we could have gotten to race last night. I know it’s cold and they are trying the best they can. Kyle (Bronson) has done a job with this place. Devin (Moran) is one of my buddies, he’s a heck of a race car driver.”

Sporting the Midwest Sheet Metal orange spoiler indicating him as the current points leader, Moran led the first 26 laps of the race before coming home in second. “I just could not maneuver through lapped traffic. It was hard to maneuver tonight. Brandon (Overton) does what he always does. I am glad he wasn’t in the race last night. Our tires were pretty much bald at the end.”

O’Neal charged back from the back end of the top-10 to take the final podium spot, shaking things up in the last few laps of the race. “We were just a lap or two too late. We had a great car. We just got behind there a little bit early and didn’t fire as good as we needed too. We kind of slowly had to work our way back up, the lapped cars didn’t help any. We proved we a had a good race car and we made improvements from the first night.”

The winner’s Wells Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Allstar Concrete, Crossfit Overton, Penske Racing Shocks, EZ-GO, Convenience Lube, R.W. Powell Construction, Big Dog Stump and Tree, Clean Way Clearing and Grading, and VP Fuels.

Completing the top ten were Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Madden, Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, and Tim McCreadie.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Super Clean Super Bowl of Racing Presented by eBay MotorsFriday, January 28th, 2022Golden Isles Speedway – Waynesville, GA

Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Devin Moran / 14.906 seconds Fast Time Group B: Brandon Sheppard / 14.903 seconds (overall)

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 9-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 28E-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 5. 89-Ashton Winger[6]; 6. 10-Garrett Smith[4]; 7. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 8. 48-Colton Flinner[8]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 4. 79-Ross Bailes[5]; 5. 1ST-Johnny Scott[4]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[7]; 7. 33-Jeff Mathews[8]; 8. 2X-John Henderson[6]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[5]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 4. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 5. 111-Steven Roberts[7]; 6. 97-Cody Overton[6]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 8. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr[8]

Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 3. 58W-Mark Whitener[4]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 6. 19M-Jason Hiett[7]; 7. 11-Spencer Hughes[6]; 8. 6S-Blake Spencer[8]

eBay Motors Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[2]; 4. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[5]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 7. 2M-Allen Murray[7]; 8. 14JR-Trey Mills[8]

Super Clean Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 44M-Chris Madden[2]; 2. 6-Kyle Larson[1]; 3. 18J-Chase Junghans[4]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 6. 1R-Josh Richards[6]; 7. 4A-Michael Arnold[7]

Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 79-Ross Bailes[2]; 3. 89-Ashton Winger[4]; 4. 111-Steven Roberts[6]; 5. 10-Garrett Smith[7]; 6. 66C-Matt Cosner[8]; 7. 1ST-Johnny Scott[5]; 8. 97-Cody Overton[9]; 9. 48-Colton Flinner[13]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 11. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[10]; 12. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr[15]; 13. 3S-Brian Shirley[12]; 14. 2X-John Henderson[14]; 15. 33-Jeff Mathews[11]

UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 5. 2D-Dan Stone[5]; 6. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[8]; 8. 19M-Jason Hiett[7]; 9. 1R-Josh Richards[9]; 10. 14JR-Trey Mills[14]; 11. 6S-Blake Spencer[13]; 12. 11-Spencer Hughes[10]; 13. 2M-Allen Murray[11]; 14. (DNS) 4A-Michael Arnold
Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Race StatisticsEntrants: 47Lap Leaders: Devin Moran (Laps 1 – 26); Brandon Overton (Laps 27 – 50)Wrisco Feature Winner: Brandon OvertonArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 0.622 secondsStop-Tech Cautions: Mark Whitener (Lap 12); Stormy Scott (Lap 12 restart)Series Provisionals: Josh Richards, Shane ClantonFast Time Provisional: n/aSeries Emergency Provisionals: Stormy Scott, Garrett Alberson, Ashton WingerTrack Provisionals: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Brandon Overton, Devin Moran, Hudson O’NealPenske Shocks Top 5: Brandon Overton, Devin Moran, Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr, Tyler BrueningOptima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Ashton Winger (Advanced 13 Positions)Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Devin MoranHot Rod Processing Most Laps Led: Devin Moran (26 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Earl Pearson JrO’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/aDirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Devin Moran (Lap 3 – 15.828 seconds)DirtonDirt.com Tough Break of the Race: Mark WhitenerOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Kent Fegter (Brandon Overton)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brandon Overton (15.153 seconds)Time of Race: 19 minutes 35 seconds
Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings: