Imperial, PA (October 4, 2024) – Devin Moran achieved a clean sweep on the opening night of the 36th Annual Pittsburgher 100 Presented by Big River Steel on Friday night at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. He secured his seventh Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season, earning a $10,000 victory.
Moran, who turned 30 years old last week, scored his first career win at PPMS. This track was where his dad, Donnie, won 12 times during his Hall-of-Fame career. Jonathan Davenport made it a close race at the end, finishing just 0.186 seconds behind the driver from Dresden, Ohio.
Ricky Thornton Jr., who ran as high as second in the race, finished in third, followed by Carson Ferguson, whose first trip to Pittsburgh netted him a fourth-place finish. Max Blair earned the Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race as he came from the 17th starting spot to complete the top five drivers.
Moran jumped to the lead at the start of the 30-lap main event with Thornton in tow. Thornton ran in the second spot and was closing back in on Moran when the only caution of the race flew with 16 laps complete for fourth place running Garrett Alberson, who slowed with a shredded right tire.
After the restart, Moran began to widen the gap as Davenport picked up speed and passed Thornton for second place on lap 17. Davenport was about nine car lengths behind Moran, but in the last 10 laps, he managed to close in on Moran as they encountered traffic. Davenport got within one car length in the final couple of laps but fell just short of winning his first race at PPMS.
For the 15th time in Lucas Oil Victory Lane, Moran took the first step towards his first-ever Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title.
“Man, I have been coming to Pittsburgh a long time, even back in the day with my dad. I can’t think of a better time to get my first win here. It’s a great way to start the Pittsburgher 100 weekend, for sure. My heart rate was up to whole time. I know it’s like everything is moving in slow motion. You drive so hard at this place. I don’t think Cody [Overton] and I got into each other. But I just knew I had to slide him and keep on going not to lose my momentum because once you lose your momentum here, they can catch you so quick,” said the winner.
Davenport, seeking his fourth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title to tie both Earl Pearson Jr. and Jimmy Owens, came home in the runner-up spot.
“It was just a combination of things from qualifying on. If we could have started on the outside of the front row instead of fourth, I might have worked him [Moran] more. He did an awesome job. He moved around when he needed to. I was trying to go where he wasn’t. I tried to run a little above him or below him, but it just didn’t work out for us.”
Thornton, who has won two of the last three Pittsburgher races, finished third on the Big River Steel Podium.
“I didn’t want that yellow. I felt like without the yellow, we had a good shot of winning. I didn’t fire off as well as I needed to. JD’s stuff was really good too. In the grand scheme of things, I am happy with our night. We ran really well and were fast all night. Luckily, we’ve got a little bit we can work on for tomorrow. I know last year when I was here, there was a really big lip around the top, and this year, it’s all knocked down.”
The winner’s Roger Sellers-owned, Double Down Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, C&W Trucking, Lazydays RV, Southeastern Equipment, CarSourceAuto.com, Haulin’ Haskell’s, Red Oak Pub, Bilstein Shocks, Smoky Mountain Speedway, Pee Wee’s Wrecker Service, Lincoln Smith Racing, McHugh Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram.
The top ten included Mason Zeigler, Drake Troutman, Tim McCreadie, Gregg Satterlee, and Mike Marlar.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
36th Annual Pittsburgher Presented by Big River Steel | Night 1
Friday, October 4, 2024
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway – Imperial, PA
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Devin Moran | 17.621 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | 17.912 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[6]; 4. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 5. 97-Cody Overton[7]; 6. 111-Max Blair[3]; 7. 17-Logan Roberson[9]; 8. 93-Cory Lawler[8]; 9. 36-Tony Musolino[10]; 10. 02-Michael Norris[2]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 1C-Alex Ferree[3]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[7]; 6. 0-Rick Eckert[2]; 7. 24-Tyler Wyant[8]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[6]; 9. 9Y-Levi Yetter[9]
Earnhardt Technologies Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[4]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[3]; 5. 1Z-Logan Zarin[5]; 6. 184-Kyle Lukon[6]; 7. 55-Chris Schneider[8]; 8. 01-Ron Hall[9]; 9. 10-Ryan Christoff[7]; 10. (DNS) 10M-Jared Miley
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 93F-Carson Ferguson[2]; 3. 22-Gregg Satterlee[4]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens[5]; 5. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[3]; 6. 48-Colton Flinner[6]; 7. 27T-Tony White[7]; 8. 5M-Ryan Markham[9]; 9. EZ1-Ron Fink[8]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 111-Max Blair[3]; 2. 02-Michael Norris[11]; 3. 97-Cody Overton[1]; 4. 17-Logan Roberson[5]; 5. 0-Rick Eckert[4]; 6. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 7. 24-Tyler Wyant[6]; 8. 36-Tony Musolino[9]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[8]; 10. 9Y-Levi Yetter[10]; 11. 93-Cory Lawler[7]
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 2. 69-Jon Hodgkiss[2]; 3. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 4. 55-Chris Schneider[5]; 5. 184-Kyle Lukon[3]; 6. 5M-Ryan Markham[8]; 7. EZ1-Ron Fink[10]; 8. 27T-Tony White[6]; 9. 01-Ron Hall[7]; 10. 10-Ryan Christoff[9]; 11. (DNS) 10M-Jared Miley
36th Annual Pittsburgher Presented by Big River Steel | Night 1 Feature Finish (30 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Pay
1 – 1 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $10,100
2 – 4 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $5,600
3 – 2 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Martinsville, IN – $3,600
4 – 8 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $2,800
5 – 17 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,600
6 – 9 – 25Z – Mason Zeigler – Chalk Hill, PA – $2,300
7 – 5 – 7T – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $2,200
8 – 6 – 1 – Tim McCreadie – Watertown, NY – $2,200
9 – 12 – 22 – Gregg Satterlee – Indiana, PA – $2,050
10 – 14 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $2,000
11 – 11 – 7 – Ross Robinson – Georgetown, DE – $1,600
12 – 16 – 20 – Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN – $1,400
13 – 7 – 1C – Alex Ferree – Saxonburg, PA – $1,200
14 – 10 – 99B – Boom Briggs – Bear Lake, PA – $1,000
15 – 18 – 1Z – Logan Zarin – Hookstown, PA – $950
16 – 13 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $925
17 – 15 – 18D – Daulton Wilson – Fayetteville, NC – $900
18 – 21 – 97 – Cody Overton – Thomson, GA – $875
19 – 3 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $850
20 – 24 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $825
21 – 22 – 48 – Colton Flinner – Allison Park, PA – $800
22 – 23 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $800
23 – 19 – 2 – Michael Norris – Sarver, PA – $800
24 – 20 – 69 – Jon Hodgkiss – Pittsburgh, PA – $800
25 – 25 – 93 – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $100
Race Statistics
Entrants: 38
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Devin Moran
Lap Leaders: Devin Moran (Laps 1-30)
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: 0.187 seconds
Dave Warren Powersports Cautions: Garrett Alberson (Lap 14)
LOLMDS Series Provisionals: Clay Harris; Brenden Smith
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
LOLMDS Emergency Provisionals: Cory Lawler
Track Provisional:n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3:Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Penske Shocks Top 5: Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Carson Ferguson, Max Blair
Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Max Blair (Advanced 12 Positions)
PEM 4th Place Feature: Carson Ferguson
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Drake Troutman
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Alex Ferree
MD3 Most Laps Led: Devin Moran (30 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.; Devin Moran; Jonathan Davenport; Tim McCreadie
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Carson Ferguson
Coltman Farms Fastest Lap of the Race: Devin Moran (Lap 2 | 18.702 seconds)
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Jonathan Davenport
Miller Welders Hard Luck Award: Garrett Alberson
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Chuck Kimble (Devin Moran)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (17.4349 seconds)
Time of Race: 13 minutes 22 seconds