From lucasdirt.com
DEVIN MORAN INHERITS LUCAS OIL SHOW-ME 100 VICTORY
WHEATLAND, Mo. (May 27, 2023) – Devin Moran was declared the winner of the 31st Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 presented by the Missouri Division of Tourism after the initial winner Ricky Thornton Jr. was penalized four spots post-race for a droop limiter infraction.
Moran earned a career-best payday of $50,000 in the crown jewel event and becomes the ninth different winner in the past nine Show-Me 100 events. Moran also marks the 16th different driver to win the traditional Memorial Weekend event in its 31-year history.
Tim McCreadie was moved to second in the final rundown with Spencer Hughes, Chris Ferguson and Thornton rounding out the top five drivers.
Jonathan Davenport, who was looking for a weekend sweep after winning the Cowboy Classic on Thursday night and the Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson on Friday night grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag.
Thornton would run in the second spot for the first 20 laps before McCreadie was able to wrestle the spot away from him. McCreadie stayed in the second spot until lap 31 when Thornton regained the position. Hughes was one of the fastest cars on the track at the time - moving from eighth to third and then eventually to second by lap 36. After a lap 37 restart, Hughes yielded the second spot back to Thornton.
Thornton would then track down Davenport as the two went back-and-forth in the battle for the lead. Thornton cleared Davenport for the point on lap 58 becoming the first driver other than Davenport to lead a lap in three nights of racing. Thornton then pulled away from Davenport stretching his lead out by several car lengths.
Overton’s night ended a few laps from the finish as he brought out the caution when he made hard contact with the wall coming off turn four. After one final restart, Thornton would outrun Moran to the checkers, but would drop to fifth in the running order following post-race tech.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the seventh time in his career Moran was asked his thoughts on the biggest win of his racing career. “This is like the best-worst win of my life. I just won the freaking Show-Me 100 and $50,000, but Ricky was the best car in the field and right there before that last caution I was making a boatload of time in one and two. I was just charging really hard to get through there, I was feeling really good. I don’t now what our lap times were compared to the 20RT before that caution. I got a really good restart for sure.”
Moran gave credit to his victory to Kevin Rumley in his post-race interview. “First and foremost, there is a bad son-of-a-gun in North Carolina named Kevin Rumley. This win, 110% of it goes to that man. My entire career has been working our tails off. We’ve worked as many hours as you could imagine this week. Obviously, I want to thank Roger [Sellers] and his family for giving me this opportunity.” It was the second Show-Me 100 victory for the Double Down Motorsports team as they went to Victory Lane in 2021 with Hudson O’Neal behind the wheel.
McCreadie was moved up one spot at the finish to claim the runner up spot and a $20,000 payday. “I didn’t know until I saw Overton bring out the caution, I didn’t know if they had scored a lap. We just do our best and we had some luck, and we’ll take it.”
Hughes, who ran as high as second during the race rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third. “It’s great to get another good finish. We have been running really good here lately. In the past we have struggled in the long races. We have been fast in them before, we’ve run in the top five a lot, but to finish one off on the podium means a lot for us. We were really good for a long time there. At the end those other guys could get more consistently through three and four than I could. We are glad to put together another good run.”
The winner’s Roger Sellers-owned, Double Down Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Lazydays RV, C&W Trucking, Lucas Oil Products, McHugh Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep., Bilstein Shocks, CarSourceAuto.com, Red Oak Pub, Smoky Mountain Speedway, and Lincoln Smith Racing.
Completing the top ten were Dillon McCowan, Tyler Erb, Garrett Alberson, Daulton Wilson, and Ricky Weiss.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
31st Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 presented by Missouri Division of Tourism
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO
31st Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Presented by Missouri Division of Tourism Feature Finish (100 Laps):
Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:
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