From Mike Warren / worldofoutlaws.com
Devin Moran added a mark to his record book on a milestone night in World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series history.
While the Dresden, OH driver has won at many tracks across his home state, Sharon Speedway was a missing piece of his resume.
That changed on Saturday night when he ripped the lead away from Ryan Gustin and held on to win the Battle at the Border—the 800th Feature in Series history.
Moran started fourth in the 40-lap, $10,000-to-win Feature and quickly worked to second in the race’s first five laps.
It wasn’t long before he saw his opportunity to pounce, lurking behind Gustin as they caught the back of the field.
As “The Reaper” dealt with traffic on the top, “The Mailman” switched his line to the bottom—thundering under Gustin’s Rocket XR1 in Turn 4 to take the lead on Lap 11.
From there, Moran went unchallenged to earn his first World of Outlaws CASE Late Models win of 2022.
“I didn’t know how it was going to be at the start because they did a little bit of track work,” Moran said. “Obviously, the top was pretty fast at the start. I got a good start, got into third, and then Jared (Miley) messed up off of (Turn) 4 a little bit, so I slid him and knew I had to take advantage of it.
“From then on, I just tried to run down Ryan (Gustin) a little bit, and once we got into traffic, we pounced on it.”
Despite his strong start on the outside lane, he credited how well his Longhorn Chassis handled through the corners. Moran stated that his ability to change lanes was a factor in his ninth career Series triumph.
“My car was really maneuverable,” Moran said. “I didn’t have to go all the way up there, and I could make time up in the middle, so I knew I was going to be alright. Those two lap cars were slicing and dicing, and he hit the brown the lap before when I about got him, and the next lap put it in there before he could do it.
“The car was just really, really good, and it was really fun to drive.”
Gustin, from Marshalltown, IA, settled for second—his third straight top-three finish at Sharon Speedway.
Despite leading the first 10 laps, “The Reaper” said Moran was the man the beat.
“I think Devin was just a bit better than us regardless,” Gustin said. “Once I cleared them lap cars, I didn’t really gain any ground. We were probably pretty close to the same speed there; he just executed a little better than I did.”
Shane Clanton, the 2015 Series champion, finished third—his second podium finish of the weekend and second podium at Sharon this season.
The Zebulon, GA driver said he didn’t want to make too many adjustments after the Heat Race, even though it may have cost him.
“We just weren’t tight enough,” Clanton said. “We were on top of the ground a little bit and just taking our time trying to get to the front. It’s just one of them things where I didn’t want to go too far because I was pretty good in my Heat Race. I just didn’t go far enough when I put the hard tire on.”
Series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. finished fourth, extending his points to 164 over Tanner English, who finished seventh. Erb, from Carpentersville, IL, stated he hoped the race would stay green to keep his momentum going.
“Tonight, the track is a little more my taking here,” Erb said. “We had a pretty good car. I would’ve rather it stay green instead of that caution there at the end, but we came home fourth, and I’m happy with that.”
Jared Miley finished fifth, his second top five with the Series in 2022. The Pittsburgh, PA driver stated he was thrilled with his performance after not making the Feature at Sharon in May.
“I feel way better than when we were here back in May,” Miley said. “We didn’t even make the race; we were so bad. Tonight, to come out and qualify well, win the Heat (Race) and run in the top five; we know what we need to do next time for sure.”
While Tanner English lost points to Dennis Erb in the battle for the championship, he gained points on Max Blair, who finished 12th, in the race for Rookie of the Year. The Benton, KY driver leads Blair by 26 points with 16 races remaining.
Devin Moran lived up to his nickname Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, delivering another column on his dirt Late Model resume. It’s a victory he’ll remember as he can cross Sharon off the list of tracks he’s won at in Ohio.
UP NEXT: The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet return to Pennsylvania for a trip to Tri-City Raceway Park in Franklin, PA, on Sunday, Aug. 21.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online on with the DIRTVision App
CASE Construction Feature (40 Laps): 1. 9-Devin Moran[4]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 5. 10-Jared Miley[2]; 6. C9-Steve Casebolt[12]; 7. 81E-Tanner English[10]; 8. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[13]; 9. 99-Boom Briggs[14]; 10. 1*-Chub Frank[16]; 11. B1-Brent Larson[18]; 12. 111V-Max Blair[20]; 13. 25S-Cory Sines[5]; 14. 21-Matt Lux[9]; 15. 11-Gordy Gundaker[24]; 16. 1-Josh Richards[23]; 17. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[11]; 18. 1Z-Logan Zarin[19]; 19. 1C-Alex Ferree[7]; 20. 58-Ashton Winger[8]; 21. 12B-Andy Boozel[17]; 22. 9S-Breyton Santee[21]; 23. 4S-Ryan Montgomery[15]; 24. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[22]
See the full story and results:
Photo: World Of Outlaws / Jacy Norgaard
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