BRANDON, S.D. — Devin Moran is $53,000 richer after a triumphant performance on Saturday night with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Huset’s Speedway.
Bill Leighton also reached the winner’s circle, capturing the $5,053-to-win Malvern Bank SLMR Series main event.
Moran led all 80 laps on Kwik Star Night, which wrapped up the 14th annual Silver Dollar Nationals presented by MyRacePass. It marked the biggest victory of his career and his first Silver Dollar Nationals presented by MyRacePass win. He became the 10th different winner in the event’s storied history.
“I guess this is officially the biggest race I’ve ever won,” he said. “It was hard work. I had something going on with the carburetor and it was spitting fuel like the last 25 laps. Whew, I’m out of breath.”
Bobby Pierce and Brandon Sheppard put on a great battle for the runner-up position. Both drivers spent time in second place and pulled even with Moran, who hustled the cushion and strategically dropped to the bottom groove at the right times to win by 0.816 seconds.
“I knew Sheppy and Bobby were ripping and I was doing everything I could to stay out front,” he said. “I saw Sheppy kept poking and kept poking. I tried running the bottom and it felt so slow. It obviously wasn’t horrible.
“Hell yeah, it was a good way to finish this weekend off.”
Pierce, who won the two preliminary nights of the event, garnered the second-place showing.
“Devin was good and I think we just missed a little on the right front setup,” he said. “It was kind of bouncing around the corner. The track got a little more characteristic in it than we thought. However the car bounced was how I went. I had my hands full for a while, but it was a fun battle with Brandon and Devin. He drove a heck of a race there at the very end. When I had a last-effort chance at it he moved up at the perfect time. He moved around when he needed to and did a heck of a job there at the end.”
Sheppard, who captured the event last year, rounded out the podium.
“All in all, we had a really good car all weekend,” he said. “It was an awesome balance. I love Huset’s Speedway and can’t wait to come back next year.”
Tyler Erb produced a fourth-place finish after starting 13th with Tim McCreadie ending fifth.
Feature Finish (80 Laps)
1. 99-Devin Moran (2); 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce (1); 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard (4); 4. 1T-Tyler Erb (13); 5. 1-Tim McCreadie (5); 6. 157-Mike Marlar (18); 7. 71-Hudson O’Neal (7); 8. 58-Garrett Alberson (11); 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson (3); 10. 49-Jonathan Davenport (9); 11. 111-Max Blair (16); 12. 25C-Chad Simpson (12); 13. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr (6); 14. 17SS-Brenden Smith (14); 15. 76N-Blair Nothdurft (8); 16. 20-Jimmy Owens (17); 17. 07-Ben Sukup (22); 18. 93-Cory Lawler (26); 19. 99B-Boom Briggs (21); 20. 7T-Drake Troutman (15); 21. 93F-Carson Ferguson (10); 22. 7-Ross Robinson (19); 23. 10-Junior Coover (23); 24. 15C-Curt Schroeder (25); 25. 37-Scott Ward (24); 26. 6-Clay Harris (20).