EASTABOGA, Ala. (October 8, 2022) – Tim McCreadie led all the way for his sixth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of 2022 on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track.
With the victory, McCreadie now has a 215-point advantage over Brandon Sheppard heading into next week’s season finale at Portsmouth Raceway Park.
Ricky Thornton Jr. tracked down McCreadie in the final stages of the race, finishing 0.661 seconds behind the 48-year-old New York racer. Dale McDowell finished in third followed by Garrett Alberson and Brandon Sheppard. Michael Page, a multi-time Ice Bowl winner at Talladega, crossed the finish line in fourth but was disqualified after failing post-race droop check.
McCreadie had to fight lapped traffic late in the race but held on for the win. “I was trying to get by Ross [Robinson] there and I know he was trying to lay low down the straightaway and let me get a good run on the outside. Ross was trying to help me out, but I just figured if I backed up a little bit and let him get out a little further maybe it won’t mess me up so much in the middle so once I did that I thought just stay where you are, and we got it done.”
Thornton, with his runner-up finish looks to secure third place in the championship points heading to Portsmouth next week where he will defend his Dirt Track World Champion title. “I thought about one time a Hail Mary on the top in three and four. Then I thought better of it. I was like at this point if I could run second, it was a lot better than destroying a car. We’ll take it. T-Mac was really good. The only reason I got close to him was because of lapped traffic.”
McDowell rounded out the podium with his third-place run. “We were pretty decent. We just needed a little bit there in the feature. You know it was just where you start. Hats off to the track crew they tried to make that top work. We really couldn’t use the top like they was hoping. I give them an A for effort. It’s hard to do. I have done it myself.”
The winner’s Paylor Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Mega Plumbing HVAC, Armslist.com, New Point Lighting and Design, Bilstein Shocks, Racing for Heroes, Walker Performance Filtration, Baker Mitchell Company, SCT, and The Aesthetic Haus.
Completing the top ten were Spencer Hughes, Tyler Erb, Ross Bailes, Dylan Knowles, and Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday, October 8th, 2022
Talladega Short Track – Eastaboga, AL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Tim McCreadie / 13.287 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Garrett Alberson/ 13.717 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 12-Scott Crigler[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. T1-Todd Morrow[3]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 6. 44D-Dalton Cook[6]; 7. 25-Tim Roszell[7]; 8. M96-Marty Lunsford[8]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 11-Spencer Hughes[3]; 3. 18X-Michael Page[2]; 4. 35-Chris Mullinax[5]; 5. 46J-Chris Jones[8]; 6. 4-Ryan Wilson[6]; 7. 42-Cla Knight[7]; 8. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[4]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 79-Ross Bailes[7]; 5. 38-Dillon Tidmore[4]; 6. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 7. 05-TJ Brittain[8]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton[5]
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell[1]; 2. 16S-Sam Seawright[2]; 3. 66K-Dylan Knowles[3]; 4. 25C-Shane Clanton[8]; 5. 5-Chase Oliver[4]; 6. 15-Tim Busha[5]; 7. 22R-Will Roland[6]; 8. (DNS) 46P-Jason Papich
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 3. 38-Dillon Tidmore[2]; 4. 44D-Dalton Cook[5]; 5. 5-Chase Oliver[4]; 6. 4-Ryan Wilson[7]; 7. 15-Tim Busha[8]; 8. 05-TJ Brittain[10]; 9. 42-Cla Knight[11]; 10. 22R-Will Roland[12]; 11. 76-Brandon Overton[14]; 12. 25-Tim Roszell[9]; 13. M96-Marty Lunsford[13]; 14. 46J-Chris Jones[3]; 15. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[15]; 16. (DNS) 46P-Jason Papich
A-Main (50 Laps): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 6. 11-Spencer Hughes[7]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[10]; 8. 79-Ross Bailes[14]; 9. 66K-Dylan Knowles[12]; 10. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[23]; 11. 35-Chris Mullinax[15]; 12. 4-Ryan Wilson[22]; 13. 7-Ross Robinson[17]; 14. 5-Chase Oliver[21]; 15. 16S-Sam Seawright[8]; 16. 76-Brandon Overton[24]; 17. 38-Dillon Tidmore[19]; 18. T1-Todd Morrow[13]; 19. 18D-Daulton Wilson[9]; 20. 12-Scott Crigler[5]; 21. 71-Hudson O’Neal[18]; 22. 44D-Dalton Cook[20]; 23. 25C-Shane Clanton[16]; 24. 18X-Michael Page[11]