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Moran Defends Home Turf with Muskingum County Triumph

2024-07-07 17:41

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (July 6, 2024) - Hometown driver Devin Moran thrilled the capacity crowd on Saturday night at Muskingum County Speedway - leading all the way to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Freedom 60 worth $20,000.

Moran's win was his fourth of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season, but his first series win since 2013 at the track promoted by his father, Hall-of-Famer Donnie Moran and his family.

Ricky Thornton Jr. came from fifth to finish second as he trailed Moran by 3.185 seconds at the finish. Max Blair was third followed by Jonathan Davenport and Matt Cosner.

The stats will show that Moran led all 60 laps, but three different drivers took their best shot at him during the race with Tim McCreadie, Tyler Carpenter, and Thornton all holding the runner-up spot at some point.

McCreadie, who started alongside on the front row held the second spot for the first nine laps of the race until Carpenter got going on the top and moved past McCreadie on lap ten. Carpenter was able to keep Moran in his sights until a lap 30 restart when McCreadie and Thornton got by him.

McCreadie, looking for his first win in the Rocket1 House Car, yielded the second spot to Thornton on lap 41 as Blair joined the party and he began to put the pressure on Thornton for second.

With no caution flags in the last 25 laps, Moran had to navigate heavy traffic that allowed Thornton and Blair to close briefly, but Moran would ultimately pull away.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 12th time in his career, the racer who scored his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win at the same track 11 years ago, climbed from his #99 to the cheers from the massive crowd on hand to witness the event that carried an $80,000 feature purse.

"Man, this is just awesome. All the glory to God and these great race fans. I love coming here! We only get to come here once or twice a year. It was an awesome night and I'm glad to be back in victory lane with the Lucas Oil guys. It took a while to get around those guys in the back. Our car was so good. I just want to give my car owner, Roger Sellers, a huge shoutout as he drove all the way up from Tennessee to be here tonight. Thanks to my dad, my mom and my whole family they put on a great event tonight."

Thornton came home in second and will maintain the series points lead heading to Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri next week.

"I needed to win the heat race to be able to stand where Devin is tonight. I felt like I was pretty decent there. It's tough to start fifth and pass here. It was so top dominant there forever. I just never got myself in a good enough position and then I got a couple of lucky restarts there and I thought I could run him [Moran] down and the lapped cars were racing harder than I was for the lead. It was one of those deals, we'll take second and head on down the road."

For the second year in a row, at Muskingum County, Blair rounded out the Big River Steel Podium with his third-place finish.

"This track races like Eriez, Pa and like a lot of tracks back home. I am much more familiar and comfortable with tracks like this. That was a lot of fun. I thought I was going to have Ricky there for a long time, I think we raced about 20 laps side-by-side and we never touched. This crowd was awesome tonight especially on the Fourth of July weekend, because it's tough, there is so much racing going on everywhere so for the crowd to be this good that is pretty cool."

The winner's Roger Sellers-owned, Double Down Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, C&W Trucking, Lazydays RV, McHugh Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Ram, CarSourceAuto.com, Bilstein Shocks, Red Oak Pub, Smoky Mountain Speedway, Lincoln Smith Racing, Pee Wee's Wrecker Service, and Haulin' Haskell's.

Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Tyler Carpenter, Spencer Hughes, Daulton Wilson, and Hudson O'Neal.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Race Summary

Freedom 60

Saturday, July 6, 2024

Muskingum County Speedway - Zanesville, OH

Allstar Performance Time Trials

Fast Time Group A: Devin Moran | 15.543 seconds (overall)

Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport | 15.887 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 156-James Dennis[5]; 4. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 5. 4T-Tripp Gerrald[3]; 6. 93J-Donovan Jackson[6]; 7. 20B-Todd Brennan[7]; 8. 144-Anthony Kinkade[8]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[3]; 3. 53C-Colten Burdette[4]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 5. 17SS-Brenden Smith[6]; 6. 128-Cory Workman[5]; 7. 93-Cory Lawler[7]; 8. 88-Dustin Smith[8]

Earnhardt Technologies Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 93F-Carson Ferguson[3]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 6. 10L-Nathon Loney[5]; 7. 0-Steve Prince[8]; 8. 25B-Mike Benedum[9]; 9. 17V-Tim Vance[7]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 28C-Tyler Carpenter[1]; 2. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 4. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 7. 99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 8. 6C-Travis Carr[8]; 9. K11-George Klintworth[9]

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 4T-Tripp Gerrald[1]; 2. 17SS-Brenden Smith[2]; 3. 93-Cory Lawler[6]; 4. 144-Anthony Kinkade[7]; 5. 88-Dustin Smith[8]; 6. 93J-Donovan Jackson[3]; 7. 128-Cory Workman[4]; 8. (DNS) 20B-Todd Brennan

UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. 10L-Nathon Loney[3]; 5. 0-Steve Prince[5]; 6. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 7. 25B-Mike Benedum[7]; 8. 17V-Tim Vance[9]; 9. 6C-Travis Carr[8]; 10. K11-George Klintworth[10]

Freedom 60 Feature Finish (60 Laps):

Race Statistics

Entrants: 36

Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Devin Moran

Lap Leaders: Devin Moran (Laps 1-60)

Wieland Feature Winner: Devin Moran

Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a

Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a

Margin of Victory: 3.184 seconds

Dave Warren Powersports Cautions: Clay Harris (Lap 6); Ross Robinson (Lap 28); Garrett Alberson (Lap 30); Garrett Alberson, Brenden Smith (Lap 35)

Series Provisional: Boom Briggs

Fast Time Provisional: Nathon Loney

Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a

Track Provisionals: Todd Brennan; Anthony Kinkade

Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Max Blair

Penske Shocks Top 5: Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Max Blair, Jonathan Davenport, Matt Cosner

Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Daulton Wilson (Advanced 13 Positions)

PEM 4th Place Feature: Jonathan Davenport

Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Tyler Carpenter

Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Carson Ferguson

MD3 Most Laps Led: Devin Moran (60 Laps)

Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

O'Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Carson Ferguson

Coltman Farms Fastest Lap of the Race: Tyler Carpenter (Lap 11 - 16.285 seconds)

Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Max Blair

Miller Welders Hard Luck Award: Drake Troutman

Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Chuck Kimble (Devin Moran)

ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines

Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis

Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jonathan Davenport (15.1132 seconds)

Time of Race: 29 minutes 32 seconds

Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:

 

About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Founded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2024, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 63 events across 16 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap.

The series receives national exposure through a television package streamed live via FloRacing, with select broadcasts on MAVTV Motorsports Network.

The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com.

2024 Official Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Marketing Partners

 
2024 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Partners Include:

Advanced Powder Coating, Allstar Performance, Arizona Sport Shirts, ARMSLIST.com, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Big River Steel, Bilstein Shocks, Black Diamond Chassis, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Brandon Ford, Brodix, Buzz Electric Bicycles, Capital Race Cars, Clements Racing Engines, Coltman Farms Racing, Cornett Racing Engines, Dave Warren Powersports, Deatherage Opticians, Dirt Draft, E3 Spark Plugs, Earnhardt Technologies Group, Fast Shafts, FLORacing, FOX Shocks, General Tire, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Heath Lawson Photography, Hellraizer Jacks, Holmatro, Hoosier Tire, Keyser Manufacturing, Kryptonite Race Cars, Longhorn Chassis, Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network, MD3, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welders, MSD, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Outerwears, Performance Engineering & Manufacturing (PEM), Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies, Poske's Performance Parts, ProFabrication Headers & Exhaust, Pro Power Racing Engines, ProtectTheHarvest.com, Rocket Chassis, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Slicker Graphics, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Summit Racing Equipment, Thermo-Tec Automotive Products, Todd Steel Buildings, UNOH - University of Northwestern Ohio, Vic Hill Race Engines, Victory Fuel, Whelen Engineering Company, Wieland Metal Services, Wilwood, Xceldyne, and 5150 Race Trailers