9/19/2025
Knoxville Raceway
Devin Moran Strikes for First Knoxville Win in Night #2 of the Late Model Nationals!
Devin Moran Strikes for First Knoxville Win in Night #2 of the Late Model Nationals!
Moran Also Cinches Pole for Saturday’s $75,000 to Win Finale
By Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 19, 2025) – Devin Moran broke through for his first career win at the Knoxville Raceway Friday on Night #2 of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals, and in so doing locked himself on the pole for Saturday night’s $75,000 to win 75-lap finale. The Dresden, Ohio native earned $10,000 for his victory on Friday. Moran will be joined on the front row by 2022 Late Model Knoxville Nationals champion Jonathan Davenport. The top 24 in points locked themselves into Saturday’s finale, and the remaining drivers will line up in the B main (lineups below).
Brandon Overton shot out to the early lead in the 25-lapper ahead of Moran, Davenport, Bobby Pierce and Ricky Thornton Jr. On lap six, Thornton used the low side to pass Pierce for fourth. Two laps later, Hudson O’Neal came to a stop on the frontstretch to bring the only caution of the event.
Overton led the Delaware double-file restart, ahead of Moran, who chose the outside line, Davenport, Thornton, Pierce and Thursday winner Garrett Alberson. Pierce and Alberson worked by Thornton on the restart, but up front, Overton maintained his pace.
When approaching traffic on lap 17, Moran pulled up on Overton, hit the low side of turn one and slid in front of the leader to take the point. From there he pulled away to the win, maneuvering through lapped traffic.
Overton would settle for second, ahead of Davenport, Pierce and Alberson. Thornton, Brian Shirley, Brandon Sheppard, Carson Ferguson and hard-charger Ryan Gustin rounded out the top ten. Ferguson and Alberson set quick time in their respective groups, while Sheppard, Tyler Erb, Moran and Cory Lawler were heat winners. Gustin and Chad Simpson won the two B mains.
“To win at one of the greatest dirt tracks in the world is nothing to hang your head about,” said a happy Moran in Victory Lane. “I haven’t been here a whole lot, but every time we come here, I feel like we have speed. We just found a couple things, and we were really, really good all night. Air is so big for us here, because the track is so flat and we can’t carve like a sprint car, so we can’t enter on top like a sprint car. I hit the moisture patch (on the bottom of one and two) and kept working on (Overton). It finally worked out…he got a little tight on the top of two and I made my move. I kind of slowed in front of him, but that was kind of my only chance.”
“Sometimes it’s better to be running second than leading,” said Overton. “When I got behind him, I just started following. He was carrying so much more speed. I was hanging wide and not trying to slide over the cushion. After the heat race, I felt really bad, and the boys really got me at least competitive. We’ll have a shot at it tomorrow. I feel like our car is about as good as anyone here. Hat’s off to the track crew. They busted their butt and that’s the Knoxville I want to race on.”
“My car felt pretty good there, but the closer I got to them, the worse I felt,” said Davenport. “Once we caught lapped traffic, I fell back a little bit. I felt like we were catching them the last couple laps, so that’s something to hang your hat on for sure. We were definitely better than we were last night. Hat’s off to the track crew. They did an awesome job. They had a lot of wet clay to maneuver around today, but they did an excellent job with it.”
Join us for the $75,000 to win finale of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Saturday, September 20! For tickets or more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
21st Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Night #2 Results
Qualifying Group 1 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 93-Carson Ferguson, Lincolnton, NC, 00:17.195[9]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal, Martinsville, IN, 00:17.210[16]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr,, Chandler, AZ, 00:17.290[15]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, IL, 00:17.291[2]; 5. 1-Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL, 00:17.389[4]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson, Fayetteville, NC, 00:17.389[10]; 7. 76N-Blair Nothdurft, Renner, SD, 00:17.467[5]; 8. 19M-Joseph Joiner, Milton, FL, 00:17.631[20]; 9. 6-Clay Harris, Jupiter, FL, 00:17.639[17]; 10. 1XM-Aaron Marrant, Richmond, MO, 00:17.664[14]; 11. 60-Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, MN, 00:17.680[19]; 12. 01-Tyler Erb, New Waverly, TX, 00:17.783[6]; 13. 15-Clay Stuckey, Shreveport, LA, 00:17.893[8]; 14. 19R-Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA, 00:17.913[13]; 15. 38T-Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, CA, 00:17.933[18]; 16. 6J-Jake Neal, Omaha, NE, 00:18.040[3]; 17. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfort, IL, 00:18.070[7]; 18. 51-Matt Furman, Iowa City, IA, 00:18.244[1]; 19. 21B-Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL, 00:18.591[12] 20. DQ (No Scales) 75-Daniel Adam, Peru, IN, 00:17.591[11];
Qualifying Group 2 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 58-Garrett Alberson, Las Cruces, NM, 00:17.236[4]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport, Blairsville, GA, 00:17.421[3]; 3. 99-Devin Moran, Dresden, OH, 00:17.424[16]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton, Evans, GA, 00:17.523[9]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL, 00:17.751[2]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson, Oxford, IA, 00:17.751[8]; 7. 79-Donald McIntosh, Dawsonville, GA, 00:17.866[10]; 8. 18C-Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS, 00:17.948[1]; 9. 99S-Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, IA, 00:17.965[6]; 10. 93L-Cory Lawler, Hanover, PA, 00:18.086[18]; 11. 25-Chad Simpson, Mt, Vernon, IA, 00:18.114[19]; 12. 51B-Brandon Carpenter, Coldwater, MS, 00:18.211[7]; 13. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, IA, 00:18.329[15]; 14. 04-Tad Pospisil, Norfolk, NE, 00:18.331[12]; 15. 51C-Dean Carpenter, Coldwater, MS, 00:18.612[14]; 16. 17-Tim Simpson, Iowa City, IA, 00:19.333[13]; 17. 53-Andrew Kosiski, La Vista, NE, 00:19.391[11]; 18. 6H-Al Humphrey, Giltner, NE, 00:20.351[17]; 19. 45D-Dan Battaglia, Gretna, NE, 00:20.388[20]; 20. 10-Junior Coover, Norfolk, NE, 00:20.555[5]
Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:43.4: 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[6]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[1] / 6. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[3]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 8. 38T-Dylan Thornton[8]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[9]; 10. 21B-Rich Bell[10]
Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:48.1: 1. 01-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 5. 71-Hudson O'Neal[6] / 6. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 7. 19M-Joseph Joiner[3]; 8. 75-Daniel Adam[10]; 9. 6J-Jake Neal[8]; 10. 51-Matt Furman[9]
Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:51.7: 1. 99-Devin Moran[5]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 3. 99S-Jesse Sobbing[2]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 79-Donald McIntosh[3] / 6. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[9]; 9. 51C-Dean Carpenter[8]; 10. 45D-Dan Battaglia[10]
Heat four (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. 93L-Cory Lawler[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 3. 18C-Chase Junghans[3]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[5]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson[4] / 6. 04-Tad Pospisil[7]; 7. 17-Tim Simpson[8]; 8. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[1]; 9. DNS - 6H-Al Humphrey; 10. DNS - 10-Junior Coover
B main one (started), 10 laps, 3:19.8: 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 19M-Joseph Joiner[4] / 3. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[3]; 5. 75-Daniel Adam[6]; 6. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 7. 6J-Jake Neal[8]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[7]; 9. 21B-Rich Bell[9]; 10. 51-Matt Furman[10]
B main two (started), 9 laps, NT: 1. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 2. 04-Tad Pospisil[2] / 3. 53-Andrew Kosiski[5]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 5. 51B-Brandon Carpenter[6]; 6. 17-Tim Simpson[4]; 7. 6H-Al Humphrey[8]; 8. 45D-Dan Battaglia[9]; 9. 10-Junior Coover[10]; 10. DNS - 51C-Dean Carpenter
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[6]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[10]; 8. 1-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 9. 93-Carson Ferguson[7]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin[21]; 11. 60-Dan Ebert[17]; 12. 01-Tyler Erb[19]; 13. 79-Donald McIntosh[14]; 14. 18C-Chase Junghans[16]; 15. 71-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 16. 25-Chad Simpson[22]; 17. 19M-Joseph Joiner[23]; 18. 32S-Chris Simpson[12]; 19. 99S-Jesse Sobbing[18]; 20. 04-Tad Pospisil[24]; 21. 93L-Cory Lawler[20]; 22. 6-Clay Harris[13]; 23. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[15]; 24. 18D-Daulton Wilson[11]. Lap Leaders: Overton 1-16, Moran 17-25. Hard-charger: Gustin.
Saturday Lineups
A main
- 99, Devin Moran, 496
- 49, Jonathan Davenport, 491
- 58, Garrett Alberson, 488
- 20RT, Ricky Thornton Jr., 485
- 01, Tyler Erb, 484
- 76, Brandon Overton, 483
- 18D, Daulton Wilson, 480
- 32, Bobby Pierce, 479
- 1, Brandon Sheppard, 478
- 3s, Brian Shirley, 472
- 1XM, Aaron Marrant, 476
- 93, Carson Ferguson, 475
- 19M, Joseph Joiner, 473
- 79, Donald McIntosh, 462
- 71, Hudson O’Neal, 458
- 32s, Chris Simpson, 456
- 22, Daniel Hilsabeck, 454
- 18c, Chase Junghans, 454
- 19R, Ryan Gustin, 451
- 76N, Blair Nothdurft, 451
- 60, Dan Ebert, 448
- 93L, Cory Lawler, 442
- 99s, Jesse Sobbing, 442
- 6, Clay Harris, 436
B main eligible
- 16, Tyler Bruening, 440
- 25, Chad Simpson, 435
- 6J, Jake Neal, 432
- 04, Tad Pospisil, 421
- 99x, Dallon Murty, 408
- 15, Clay Stuckey, 402
- 51B, Brandon Carpenter, 399
- 75, Daniel Adam, 398
- 51, Matt Furman, 398
- 53, Andrew Kosiski, 393
- 17, Tim Simpson, 392
- 38T, Dylan Thornton, 391
- 21B, Rich Bell, 389
- 45D, Dan Battaglia, 383
- 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., 380
- 6H, Al Humphrey, 380
- 51c, Dean Carpenter, 380
- 10, Junior Coover, 376
