INDIANAPOLIS— Brandon Overton had never seen Circle City Raceway before Friday night. However, during the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series’ first visit to the track on the southeast side of Indianapolis, Overton led every lap, earning the $15,000 for his first tour win of 2025.
Devin Moran pulled even with Overton after a lap 17 restart but couldn’t clear him, as the Evans, Georgia driver fended off Moran’s challenges for the rest of the race. Hudson O’Neal secured third place on the Big River Steel Podium. Jonathan Davenport finished fourth, with Ricky Thornton Jr. completing the top five.
Overton took the lead from the pole position at the start of the 50-lap main event. Moran, who started next to Overton in the front row, moved into second and held that position until Garrett Alberson claimed second place on lap 15, just before a caution came out a lap later.
On the restart, Moran passed Alberson to regain second place and raced door-to-door with Overton off of turn two along the entire back straightaway. However, Overton maintained the lead off of turn four, and Moran was unable to challenge him for the rest of the race.
“It would have been really easy for him (Moran) to get in there and knock me out a little bit, so I appreciate that,” Overton said. “We have been leading races for four weekends in a row, and something happens, so sooner or later, something would go my way. I didn’t think it would be here. It’s pretty special to win here. I have the hardest-working guys in the pits; they don’t give up, and they have good attitudes. As I said, I knew we were going to win sooner or later. The first one is always the hardest, so I hope it continues on.”
Moran, who entered the race second in points and was seeking his sixth series win of the year, took the runner-up spot, falling just 0.062 seconds to Overton at the finish.
“It wasn’t a bad run; congrats to Brandon and the guys,” Moran remarked. “They have been having a lot of bad luck this year, so it’s cool to see them win. I thought I had a chance; I got all the way underneath him, but I couldn’t bring myself to go in there and door slam him for the win. I try to race respectfully, and he does too. I want to thank Circle City for tonight. The weather was not on our side; they still stuck their necks out there and put a lot of money on the line for us and for all of these fans sticking it out.”
O’Neal, whose only previous race experience at Circle City was in a crate late model, finished third.
“I was fortunate on that last restart and managed to bet on the bottom there. I kind of rooted my way in on the bottom and drove up to third. I caught up to those guys, but I just couldn’t do anything with them. Thank you to Lucas Oil, congratulations to Brandon and Devin and everybody. Thank you to Circle City. It’s always good to race around home. It’s fun to see some familiar faces.”
With forecasts for thunderstorms and up to an inch of rain on Saturday, the 39th Annual Ralph Latham Memorial at Florence Speedway has been canceled.
The finish:
Brandon Overton, Devin Moran, Hudson O’Neal, Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson, Daniel Hilsabeck, Jason Jameson, Spencer Hughes, Carson Ferguson, Devin Gilpin, Brandon Sheppard, Dan Ebert, Clay Harris, Cory Lawler, Donald McIntosh, Jeffrey Shackelford, Kent Robinson, Steve Peeden, Tyler Collins, Daulton Wilson, Josh Rice, Tyler Neal, P.J. Simpson.
