MINERAL WELLS, W.Va. – Devin Moran kicked off RACEFEST World Championship weekend at West Virginia Motor Speedway with a $5,000 victory Saturday night with the Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Northern Series.
Max Blair would take the lead at the drop of the green flag in the 25-lap main event, followed by Moran, Ashton Winger, Ryan Montgomery and Kyle Strickler. Blair and Moran would set a rapid pace out front and would begin working slower traffic by lap seven, while Strickler would challenge Winger for the fourth position and would take it on lap twelve.
Moran would close in on Blair on lap fourteen and make around the high side of turns three and four and take the race lead on lap 15, using a slower car for a pick to be able to work past Blair for the lead. The first caution of the race waved on lap 18 when Rod Conley’s machine slowed in turn one. The restart would see Moran maintain the lead, with Blair, Montgomery, Dustin Nobbe, and Ted Nobbe in pursuit.
The caution would appear on lap 20 and would become a red flag as the track would be blocked up for a tangle that involved Josh Tonkin, Robbie Bostic, Ed Shuman, and George Klintworth, with only Shuman able to continue. The restart would see the top five remain the same. As the field would complete lap 23, Jacob Wilkinson would slow on the track and draw the caution flag.
The restart would see the yellow flag wave and turn to a red when Matt Altiers made contact with the outside retaining wall and would come back across the track, with Brian Baumberger and Kelby Abels receiving the worst of the incident with heavy contact between that duo, with all three drivers done for the event.
The final restart would see Moran maintain an advantage on the restart and would take the checkered flag first, 1.272 seconds ahead of Blair, with Montgomery coming home in third. Ted Nobbe would work past Dustin Nobbe on the final restart, with the father-son duo settling for fourth and fifth respectively.
The finish:
Devin Moran, Max Blair, Ryan Montgomery, Ted Nobbe, Dustin Nobbe, Ed Shuman, Dustin Smith, Dave Stamm, Deshawn Gingerich, Brian Baumberger, Matt Altiers, Kelby Abels, Robbie Bostic, Josh Tonkin, Jacob Wilkinson, Rod Conley, George Klintworth, Ashton Winger, Wayne Francis, Kyle Strickler, Freddie Carpenter, Ryan Markham, Dave Hilton.