UNION, Ky. — Garrett Alberson and Daulton Wilson both started from the third position and went on to win their 25-lap main events on Thursday night at Florence Speedway, kicking off the Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 presented by Lucas Oil weekend.
Feature 1
In the $6,000-to-win opener, Alberson passed race leader Devin Moran on the 21st lap after Moran had led the first 20 laps of the race.
Mike Marlar, who finished third and rounded out the podium, ran in second until Alberson got by him on lap 14. Cory Hedgecock finished fourth, with Hudson O’Neal rounding out the top five.
“I was a little scared after the early incident in turn one. I didn’t know if the whole left front was knocked out or not,” Alberson said. “I wonder if that kind of got me all riled up, and I just thought, I’m going to go for it. Devin was building a lot of speed up high, but he started kind of falling into the exit a little, and I could just run right through the crumbs and make up a lot of time.”
Moran, who was looking for his seventh series win of the season, came home in second after leading the first 20 laps of the race. Moran was coming off a $20,000 victory at Florence in June.
“Our car was really good, and then Garrett got by me. We had a great race among the top three. The track was really good tonight; you could run anywhere on it. We’ll just work on it some more for tomorrow night and see if we can close the deal and take one spot better.” Moran finished 1.200 seconds behind Alberson at the finish.
Marlar was in the thick of things the whole race, finishing a close third.
“We had a good car all night. I could run with Devin through the middle and bottom, and then Garrett got in there. We had a really good race for the lead. It’s a great start to the weekend for us.”
Feature 2
Wilson had to outrun the top three-ranked drivers in the nation to earn his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season. He led the final 23 laps after getting by Jonathan Davenport early in a lead-swapping battle.
Brandon Overton made a late-race charge after a caution flag with two laps to go to take the runner-up spot, with three-time and defending North/South 100 winner Bobby Pierce rounding out the podium. Brandon Sheppard finished fourth and Ricky Thornton Jr. completed the top five.
“Man, you know we haven’t been bad, nothing’s gone our way,” Wilson said. “My awesome car owner said, man, it’s time to come home and take a break, go see your family, just re-group, and that’s what we did. We all went home, took a minute to clear our heads, then we came back, focused, and went to work. We had a really good car last week and a really good car tonight. I thought I had given it away down there on that cushion, but then I thought I was either going to win or wreck.”
Overton, who came out of nowhere before the only caution of the race with 23 laps scored, dived to the inside of the track in the final two laps, coming up just 0.212 seconds short at the finish line.
“When we fired off, I didn’t feel great, but I just calmed down and did what I always do—slow down and drive this thing,” Overton said. “I just sat there, ran around, and got into a good rhythm where I could hit the bottom and then squirt up through there. When the caution came out, I didn’t think I was that close; I thought JD was leading and was gone. I didn’t know Daulton was leading, but congratulations to Daulton. It’s a good start to the weekend for us.”
Pierce, who is attempting to become the first driver in the 43-year history of the race to win three consecutive North/South 100s, ran as high as second, briefly took the lead from Wilson, but officially never led a lap as he finished in third.
“I don’t know; I didn’t need the caution because we probably would have finished second,” Pierce said. “Congrats to Daulton on the win, so we were third tonight. We’ll try to get a better race car tomorrow night. I need to get the thing in the ground a little bit; I am just kind of wheel-spinning.”
The finishes:
First feature: Garrett Alberson, Devin Moran, Mike Marlar, Cory Hedgecock, Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Max Blair, Donald McIntosh, Carson Ferguson, Tripp Gerrald, Nick Hoffman, Jason Jameson, Michael Chilton, Blake Creech, Ryan Montgomery, Cory Lawler, Chad Stapleton, Brad Rickels, Josh Vinyard, Kyle Bronson, Donnie Jeschke, Roger Willimas, Daniel Hilsabeck, Devin Gilpin, Calvin Carlton, Billy Green.
Second feature: Daulton Wilson, Brandon Overton, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr., Zack Dohm, Justin Rattliff, Chris Ferguson, Josh Rice, Dustin Nobbe, Logan Zarin, Joseph Joiner, Kyle Strickler, Derek Groomer, Michael Leach, Brandon Hardgrove, Trevor Landrum, Mike Bargo, Austin Lay, Conner Mertens, Dan Ebert, Clay Harris, Adam Stricker, Jonathan Davenport, Michael LeFevers.
