8/21/2022
Sharon Speedway
DEVIN MORAN BEATS THE RAIN & BECOMES 10TH DIFFERENT WINNER IN 10 WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL RACES AT SHARON
By Mike Leone
August 20, 2022
(Hartford, OH)…Sharon Speedway hosted the "Battle at the Border" on Saturday night for the final appearance by the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models of the 93rd anniversary season. Devin Moran celebrated in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply victory lane with rain falling from the sky. The rain washed out the Whelen Econo Mod feature, which will be made up next Saturday night. A total of 56 cars were on hand for the two-division show on Stackhouse Construction and Bucks Fabricating Night.
Devin Moran made a three-wide move in lapped traffic to overtake Ryan Gustin on lap 11 and led the rest of the way in the 40-lap feature, which was the historic World of Outlaws race #800 in Series history. Moran became the 10th different winner in 10 World of Outlaws races run all-time at Sharon. Moran's first World of Outlaws win of the season was his first career victory at the Hartford, Ohio oval was worth $10,000 for the Buckeye State native.
"This Tye Twarog Racing Longhorn was just badass and is about the best I've felt since Florida," expressed the 27-year-old Dresden, Ohio racer. "I love racing here, but I've only been here about three or four times so to come here and win in my home state means a lot. They did a great job with the track."
"I didn’t know how it was going to be at the start because they did a little bit of track work,” revealed Moran. “Obviously, the top was pretty fast at the start. I got a good start, got into third, and then Jared (Miley) messed up off of (turn) 4 a little bit, so I slid him and knew I had to take advantage of it. From then on, I just tried to run down Ryan (Gustin) a little bit, and once we got into traffic, we pounced on it.”
Gustin, who won his first career World of Outlaws race in May at Sharon, took off in the lead looking for a perfect night after setting fast time and winning his heat race. Miley followed in second with fourth starting Moran getting by Friday night Williams Grove winner, Shane Clanton, for third on the opening lap. On lap two, Moran and Clanton moved past Miley for second and third respectively.
Moran began to track down Gustin on lap four as they began to distance themselves from the field. Gustin had nearly a 0.7-second lead when he caught lapped traffic on lap nine, but one lap later the advantage was gone as Moran was right on his bumper. The duo ran side-by-side for the lead on lap 11. Gustin shot to the outside of the lapped car of Ryan Montgomery, while Moran found a lane off the bottom of turn four, which worked as Moran bolted into the lead.
By lap 14, Moran began to pull away from Gustin. Sixth starting Dennis Erb, Jr. finally worked his way by Miley for fourth on lap 20. Max Blair, a rookie on the World of Outlaws with nine career Sharon wins, got into Brent Larson in turns one and two with Larson spinning to bring out what would be the only caution of the event with 25 laps completed.
With rain inching closer to the track, the final 15 laps thankfully went caution-free. Moran's only challenge was lapped traffic on lap 38, which allowed Gustin to cut into the lead. Moran though was still able to take the checkered flag first for his ninth career World of Outlaws win over Gustin by a margin of 1.440 seconds in the Tye Twarog-owned #9.
“My car was really maneuverable,” Moran added. “I didn’t have to go all the way up there, and I could make time up in the middle, so I knew I was going to be alright. Those two lap cars were slicing and dicing, and he hit the brown the lap before when I about got him, and the next lap put it in there before he could do it. The car was just really, really good, and it was really fun to drive.”
Clanton was third with World of Outlaws points leader Erb coming home fourth to extend his points lead. Miley was the top local racer in fifth. Indiana's Steve Casebolt broke down on his way to Sharon and arrived right before warmups. Casebolt charged from the 12th starting spot to sixth. Tanner English, who leads the WoO Rookie-of-the-Year standings, was seventh. Mason Zeigler went 13th to eighth over Boom Briggs and 16th starting Chub Frank.
Gustin set fast time overall against the 35-car field in qualifying with a lap of 17.589. Heat winners were Gustin, Clanton, Moran, and Miley, while Andy Boozel and Larson won the last chance B mains.
Gary Olson and Jordan Simmons won the heat races for the 21 Whelen Econo Mods prior to their feature getting rained out. An invert 0 was drawn, which will put Olson and Simmons on the front row of their 20-lap make-up feature next Saturday night.
Coming up next Saturday night (August 27) will be the final "Steel Valley Thunder" program of the season. The Renegades of Dirt UMP Modifieds will make their final appearance of the season racing for $1,500 to-win. The Terry Bowser Excavating RUSH Sprint Cars, HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds, and Whelen Econo Mods are also on the card. Race time is 7 p.m.
World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models (40 laps, $10,000 to-win): 1. 9-DEVIN MORAN[4]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 3. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb, Jr[6]; 5. 10-Jared Miley[2]; 6. C9-Steve Casebolt[12]; 7. 81E-Tanner English[10]; 8. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[13]; 9. 99-Boom Briggs[14]; 10. 1*-Chub Frank[16]; 11. B1-Brent Larson[18]; 12. 111V-Max Blair[20]; 13. 25S-Cory Sines[5]; 14. 21-Matt Lux[9]; 15. 11-Gordy Gundaker[24]; 16. 1-Josh Richards[23]; 17. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[11]; 18. 1Z-Logan Zarin[19]; 19. 1C-Alex Ferree[7]; 20. 58-Ashton Winger[8]; 21. 12B-Andy Boozel[17]; 22. 9S-Breyton Santee[21]; 23. 4S-Ryan Montgomery[15]; 24. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[22].
DNQ for the feature: Danny Snyder (44), Deshawn Gingerich (0), Todd Brennan (20), Clay Ruffo (14R), Gary Lyle (10), Rob Anderzack (8), Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. (8s), Ron Hall (01), Logan Jaquay (99B), Ryan Missler (50), Andrew Wylie (84).
Sharon Speedway is owned by the Blaney, Weller, and Kirila Families and is a 3/8-mile dirt track located on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio near the intersection of Routes 7 & 305. For more information, check out the website at www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481. Become a fan of Sharon Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharonspeedway and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sharonspdwy.
Article Credit: Mike Leone
