Moran Drives To First Knoxville Late Model Victory

Devin Moran (third from left) and his crew in Knoxville Raceway victory lane Friday night. (LOLMDS photo)

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Devin Moran took the lead from Brandon Overton on lap 17 and then pulled away to win the Friday night portion of the 21st Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by All Makes Collision Center.

Moran, who started fourth, earned $10,000 for his first career win at Knoxville. Overton finished in second, followed by Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce, and Garrett Alberson.

Overton bolted to the lead at the start of the race, which had only one caution flag. Overton maintained the lead until Moran, who had been challenging Overton from the first lap, made his move exiting turn two on the 17th lap to take the lead.

Moran went on to win by .517 seconds at the finish after splitting a pair of cars in traffic en route to the victory.

Friday night marked Moran’s 23rd career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory, and the Dresden, Ohio native became the 52nd different late model winner in Knoxville Raceway history.

“Winning at one of the greatest dirt tracks in the world is something to be proud of, whether it’s a preliminary night or not,” said Moran. “I haven’t been here very often, but every time we come, I feel like we have speed. We just discovered a couple of things, and we were really good all night. The air is so crucial for us because the track is so flat, and we can’t carve like a sprint car. We can’t come right up on that cushion; it’s really challenging to do.

“They made some adjustments to the bottom of [turns] one and two, and I just hit that moisture patch there. I kept working on (Overton), and finally, it paid off.”

Overton, who led the first 16 laps of the race, stayed in second the rest of the race and held off Davenport down the stretch.

“Sometimes it’s better to be second than to lead, so when I got behind him (Moran), I started to follow him,” explained Overton. “He was carrying way more speed. I was trying to stay wider to avoid sliding over the cushion, and he was just going so much faster, especially when entering one. But it is what it is.

“After the heat race, I felt really bad, but Burroughs and the team did a great job making it at least competitive, so we’ll have a shot at it tomorrow. I believe our car is just as good as anyone here.”

Davenport, who finished third at the Knoxville Late Model Nationals in 2022, rounded out the Big River Steel Podium.

“My car felt pretty good out there, but like anybody here, the closer I got to them, the worse I felt,” noted Davenport. “Once we hit lapped traffic, I fell back a little, and I feel like I passed them both at one point during the last couple of laps, so that’s something we can be proud of.

“At the start of the race, Devin was really fast; he was running a bit lower, so he was blocking my air, and I couldn’t get lower than him. But we were definitely a lot better tonight than last night,” Davenport added. “Hats off to the track crew; they did an awesome job today. They had a lot of wet clay to work around, but they handled it excellently. Hopefully, the track will be somewhat like that tomorrow.”

Completing the top 10 were Ricky Thornton Jr., Brian Shirley, Brandon Sheppard, Carson Ferguson, and Ryan Gustin.

The finish:

A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 99-Devin Moran [4]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton [2]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport [6]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce [1]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson [8]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr. [3]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley [10]; 8. 1-Brandon Sheppard [9]; 9. 93-Carson Ferguson [7]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin [21]; 11. 60-Dan Ebert [17]; 12. 01-Tyler Erb [19]; 13. 79-Donald McIntosh [14]; 14. 18C-Chase Junghans [16]; 15. 71-Hudson O'Neal [5]; 16. 25-Chad Simpson [22]; 17. 19M-Joseph Joiner [23]; 18. 32S-Chris Simpson [12]; 19. 99S-Jesse Sobbing [18]; 20. 04-Tad Pospisil [24]; 21. 93L-Cory Lawler [20]; 22. 6-Clay Harris [13]; 23. 1XM-Aaron Marrant [15]; 24. 18D-Daulton Wilson [11].