BRANDON, S.D. — Tim McCreadie saluted the crowd at Huset’s Speedway in style after winning the first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at the high-banked oval on Tuesday evening.
McCreadie drove around the track backwards for a polish victory lap before whipping his race car around 180 degrees and executing a slight burnout that propelled him into victory lane. Once he climbed from his car McCreadie pounded his car’s roof before he waved to the crowd and offered a hat tip while donning a big smile.
“Hats off to the track prep guys,” he said. “They did an amazing job tonight. It built a big cushion and left some brown on the bottom so we could do what we love to do. That’s as much fun as I’ve had in a car in probably the last three, four months.”
Tyler Erb led the first dozen laps of the 40-lap feature before eighth-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. performed a slide job in turns one and two to drive into the lead following a restart on Lap 13. Erb went for a slide job of his own in turns three and four, but the top groove prevailed for Thornton Jr.
Sixth-starting McCreadie quickly maneuvered into the runner-up position and stalked Thornton Jr., who was mostly committed to the outside lane. The bottom groove worked in McCreadie’s favor on Lap 30 as he hustled into the lead exiting turn four.
“I followed him for a little while,” he said. “That was very beneficial to be able to not lead so early. When we caught some traffic I just think I was a little more maneuverable than the guys I was racing with at the time.
“Tonight was probably one of the nights where I felt like we had everything clicking all night long. It didn’t show in qualifying, which was my fault. I did a bad job driving. The rest of the night was awesome.”
The final caution of the race occurred with seven laps remaining. McCreadie used a strong restart to maintain the lead throughout the remainder of the feature, but the action behind him was intense.
Mike Marlar secured a second-place showing after starting 12th as he emerged atop a three-way battle for the runner-up position. He garnered the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
“It was a great race track,” he said. “(I) was able to roll the hub there all night long. I was down there where less traffic was and able to pass them. I was in a heck of a race tonight. It was really fun racing and I really enjoyed it here.”
Erb rounded out the podium.
“This is a great race track,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. I hope we come back here 10 times a year. This is literally one of my favorite race tracks now.”
Brandon Sheppard placed fourth and Hudson O’Neal finished fifth.
Trevor Anderson led the distance of the 25-lap Tri-State Late Models main event for his first career series victory.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie (6); 2. 157-Mike Marlar (12); 3. 1T-Tyler Erb (2); 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard (3); 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal (7); 6. 10G-Garrett Smith (4); 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr (8); 8. 58-Garrett Alberson (1); 9. 46-Earl Pearson Jr (11); 10. 11-Spencer Hughes (9); 11. 20-Jimmy Owens (5); 12. 7-Ross Robinson (13); 13. 18D-Daulton Wilson (10); 14. 10K-Shawn Kirwin (19); 15. 91-Gabe Umbarger (18); 16. 76B-Blair Nothdurft (15); 17. 22-Gary Brown Jr (14); 18. 37-Scott Ward (17); 19. 99B-Boom Briggs (16).
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