WAYNESVILLE, Ga. — On lap 42, Tyler Bruening reclaimed the lead from Daulton Wilson and pulled away in the closing laps for his first win in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing, during the opening night of the Super Bowl of Racing at Golden Isles Speedway on Friday.
The Decorah, Iowa, native led the first six laps before giving the lead to Wilson, who maintained his position until he had to slow down for a car that was crosswise in front of him on lap 41.
Though Bruening had dropped to third, he regained speed in the final laps, overtaking Wilson to become the 93rd different winner in the 21-year history of the series.
Jonathan Davenport passed Brandon Overton in the final laps to secure second place. Overton finished third, with Devin Moran and Brian Shirley completing the top five drivers.
Not only was it Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the first time in his career, but it was also Bruening’s first-ever win in a national touring series event.
“I can’t describe it,” said an emotional Bruening. “It’s the hardest thing I have ever done. Those guys [Wilson and Overton] got by me. We had a good hot rod all night; everything was a first for me tonight. I set a new track record; I have never done that before. I won a heat against some of the best in the business. I drove my butt off in the feature. My emotions are high; I don’t know what to say. I am on the verge of just breaking down here. Oh man, I can’t tell you how hard it’s been. The ups and downs, how difficult this sport is, and how good everybody really is.”
“I am so blessed to wheel this hot rod here tonight. We’ve been through a lot. We have worked our butt off, and I couldn’t be prouder. My crew chief Zeb [Holksevick] deserves this. My mom, my sister, and my brother, watch me every night.”
Davenport, who started in ninth place, came to life late in the race to secure the runner-up spot behind Bruening.
“That’s awesome for Tyler to win. I saw he fell back, and then he got rolling on the top, so he did a great job keeping his composure and finding a new line. Congratulations to him. I stole one from him a couple of years ago at Knoxville. I had that in the back of my mind. Thanks to my guys, we had a good car there, we just needed a little bit more. I am never satisfied and think I can be a little better. I know some things we need to work on. We always run well here but haven’t won in a while. It’s really tough.”
Overton finished third.
“I was content to running second to Daulton. I knew he had a 2 compound on and I was thinking this is Brunswick. The bottom is going to clean up, we are going to single file and he’ll start backing up, and then all of a sudden here comes Bruening blowing by. What do you do? It’s the first night; I am so excited for this year. We run in the top three of a Lucas Oil race. We have so much more room to go.”
The finish:
Tyler Bruening, Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Overton, Devin Moran, Brian Shirley, Jimmy Owens, Brandon Sheppard, Max Blair, Garrett Alberson, Daulton Wilson, Tyler Erb, Dennis Erb Jr., Drake Troutman, Kyle Bronson, Ethan Dotson, Carson Ferguson, Dan Ebert, Tim McCreadie, Ross Robinson, Michael Leach, Mark Whitener, Ricky Thornton Jr., Clay Harris, Hudson O’Neal, Brenden Smith, Donald McIntosh, Cody Overton, Ryan Gustin.
