DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals

Tim McCreadie made one thing clear on Saturday night at Volusia Speedway Park – he plans on being a part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision championship conversation all year long.

Last season, the primary reason he wasn’t in contention down the stretch was his poor start to the year, as the Briggs Transport team didn’t reach Victory Lane until May. McCreadie was determined to not let that happen again, and he only needed three nights to finish the job and score his first win of the year at DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals.

“I’ve said this before, I love winning at Volusia,” McCreadie said. “Whether it’s now, whether it’s here during Cup week, I love racing at Volusia. I wish it was up where New York was, I’d probably still be racing weekly.”

Early in the 50-lap contest, Ryan Gustin wasted no time jumping out to a sizeable lead and commanded the first 20 laps. But McCreadie was busy hustling his way through the field from the 10th starting spot, and with 20 laps on the board he had ran down the “Reaper.” McCreadie soon set sail from the rest of the pack, but a Lap 34 restart gave Gustin another shot.

With McCreadie rolling the bottom and Gustin ripping the high side, the two remained door-to-door for laps on end. But a slider with 14 to go put McCreadie on top, and he never relinquished the lead from there on his way to his third World of Outlaws win at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile.”

“This place is different and you’ve got to build a balance,” McCreadie said. “Last night, I couldn’t steer on the bottom even though I was there the whole time. We worked on that tonight and the track kind of came to us. Felt like I was a sitting duck, but I moved back to the middle and I didn’t hear nobody anymore, so it must have been good.”

Brandon Sheppard moved up to second late to clinch the Sunshine Nationals championship, while Dennis Erb Jr., Gustin and Drake Troutman completed the top five.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision returns to Volusia Speedway Park to wrap up Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Feb. 12-14. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

Want to watch the World of Outlaws? Stream every race live on DIRTVision.

RACE NOTES:

Ryan Gustin set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Brandon Overton won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Brandon Overton won Heat 1.

Bobby Pierce won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Ryan Gustin won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Chris Madden won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Josh Rice and Ricky Thornton Jr. won the Last Chance Showdowns.

Ryan Gustin won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Ricky Thornton Jr. won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Brandon Sheppard was the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the WIX Filters Third-Place Finisher.

Ryan Gustin was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Drake Troutman was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Bobby Pierce was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Ricky Thornton Jr. was the Penske Racing Shocks Seventh-Place Finisher.

Brandon Overton was VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the Lifeline Ninth-Place Finisher.

Hudson O’Neal was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Chris Madden was the Quarter Master 11th-Place Finisher.

Daulton Wilson was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

Tristan Chamberlain was the Quarter Master 13th-Place Finisher.

Donald McIntosh was the ARP 14th-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the Arizona Sport Shirts 18th-Place Finisher.

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 9M-Tim McCreadie[10]; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[12]; 6. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[18]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 9. 9-Nick Hoffman[20]; 10. 6-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 11. 44-Chris Madden[4]; 12. 58V-Daulton Wilson[8]; 13. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[19]; 14. 7M-Donald McIntosh[16]; 15. 5-Mark Whitener[9]; 16. 1-Tyler Erb[25]; 17. 49-Jake Timm[24]; 18. 19-Dustin Sorensen[23]; 19. 114-Jordan Koehler[22]; 20. 1Z-Logan Zarin[15]; 21. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 22. 97-Cody Overton[21]; 23. 14-Trey Mills[26]; 24. 11R-Josh Rice[17]; 25. 11S-Allen Styck[13]; 26. 55E-Eli Johnson[27]; 27. B1-Brent Larson[14]