McCreadie was pulling away when the final caution was displayed just after taking the white flag. He made the risky decision to slide up top from the bottom on the restart, and he executed it perfectly to defend the lead and score the win and his second big check at Eldora.
“I just figured you’ve got two of the best behind you on the cushion, and the last thing I wanted to do was get beat because I didn’t at least try to go up there,” McCreadie said. “I know I didn’t get all the way in the cushion, but I figured if I drove in hard enough and kept my speed up, they wouldn’t be able to get that huge run off the corner because I was in their way.”
Pierce made the mad scramble for the top line on the final restart work to his advantage, as he was able to hold off the hounds behind him for a runner-up finish with almost no right-rear quarter-panel remaining.
“Any little chance I had, I had to take it because the track started taking rubber there at the end,” Pierce said. “All in all, the racetrack was really good. To provide racing like that, there’s nothing like Eldora Speedway, that’s why I love coming here.”
After a third-place run Friday night, Dale McDowell was able to sneak by on the low side for another third-place finish on the final restart.
“We re-fired on one of those restarts and drove up through there, and then it was like having a flat and I had a little tire shake,” McDowell said. “So, I don’t know what went on. And then it kind of laid off; it came and went. The last restart, I was just a little patient and those guys were hustling pretty good. So, I was able to get me a few spots.”
The finish:
- 39 – Tim McCreadie; 2. 32 – Bobby Pierce; 3. 17m – Dale McDowell; 4. 1 – Brandon Sheppard; 5. 22 – Chris Ferguson; 6. 7 – Ricky Weiss; 7. 18B – Shannon Babb; 8. 14 – Richards; 9. 49 – Jonathan Davenport; 10. 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr.; 11. 25Z – Mason Zeigler; 12. 9 – Devin Moran; 13. 18 – Chase Junghans; 14. 50 – Shannon Buckingham; 15. 1T – Tyler Erb; 16. 99jr – Frank Heckenast Jr.; 17. 2 – Nick Hoffman; 18. 20 – Jimmy Owens; 19. 40B – Kyle Bronson; 20. 83 – Scott James; 21. 76 – Brandon Overton; 22. 7R – Kent Robinson; 23. 0E – Rick Eckert; 24. 8 – Kyle Strickler; 25. 0M – Chris Madden