Ed Gressel Tribute

Since Tim McCreadie debuted the yellow-and-white tribute wrap to his father, “Barefoot Bob” McCreadie at the World 100, he has been on a mission to park it in Victory Lane.

Mission accomplished.

The 2006 champion of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision got to the front of 81 Speedway’s Ed Gressel Tribute six laps in and never looked back for his fifth Series win of the year.

“It means the world to our entire family,” McCreadie said. “Who knows where I would be without him. He’s been gone for a year, and it’s tough. Every time we mention it, I get a little shaky. To do him, and everybody that helped him all the years. He had a major sponsor, but this would have been his colors his whole career.

“It’s pretty cool, especially to come out here, we’re way away from New York state. To have people remember this car and say things about it, buy our apparel. You guys don’t understand, it means the world to me.”

Bobby Pierce was scheduled to lead the field to green, but an unapproved tire adjustment in the staging area prior to the Feature meant he had to drop to the rear, handing control to Brian Shirley and McCreadie. Shirley’s middle groove initially prevailed over McCreadie up top, while Nick Hoffman followed him through on the opening lap to get second.

McCreadie didn’t spend much time in third, as he rode the cushion to the outside of Hoffman through Turns 1 and 2 to get the spot back with five laps on the board. He wasn’t done there though, as one corner later, he dove to the inside of Shirley entering Turn 3, squeezed up in front and made light contact with the No. 3S before taking command of the race.

Once he got to the front, McCreadie’s lead grew as large as a second before Shirley tracked him back down in the second half of the Feature. But as the track became more bottom-dominant as the race progressed, Shirley’s chance to pounce on the outside ran out as he watched McCreadie drive to victory.

“I felt like the outside could momentum really well, it was just a matter of trying to hit it right,” McCreadie said of his thought process in the early laps. “Once I hit it right, right before that yellow came out, I hit it right, and I’m like, ‘Man, I hope Hoffman doesn’t take the outside.’ He didn’t, and I got a good start. I got into Brian there, I didn’t try to slide him. He must have thought I was going to slide him, but I’m not much of a slider guy anyways. Probably wasn’t ready for it.”

McCreadie’s fifth trip to World of Outlaws Victory Lane this season moved him to within 50 points of Ryan Gustin in the battle for third in the standings, and marked the next chapter of the career resurgence he has experienced in 2025 since partnering with the Briggs Transport team.

“When I was a lot younger, I probably was way up and way down a lot,” McCreadie said. “I get excited when I win, but I’ve learned there’s unfortunately way more losses than there ever is wins. How you respond and how you rebound from them, I just try to do 100 plus percent every time I set foot in the car, work on shocks, talk with my guys. I’ve come a long ways from a kid that used to probably grind on everybody and belittle people a lot.”

Shirley crossed the line second for his eighth-straight top five with the Series, a run that has him holding on to a top-five points position by 16 markers over Friday’s winner, Dennis Erb Jr.

“Obviously we want to win, and winning is what we do this for,” Shirley said. “After the beginning of the year, the flat tires, the fire and all the things that took us out of the championship, it’s nice to see that we can put a solid run together. Maybe we do a little homework this winter. One thing about Bob [Cullen], he’s not afraid to spend the money where we need to spend it to put our team in the right position to hopefully one day go for a championship.”

Rounding out the podium was Hoffman, who believed he had the car to challenge for the win, but missed his window of opportunity to get to the front.

“Should have been a little bit more aggressive and pushed the issue there early,” Hoffman said. “Knowing it was a 50-lap race, I was trying to conserve a little bit and T-Mac ends up snookering us on the outside, both of us. Then he was smart enough to get down to the rubber. It started to lash on the back straightaway right away, and I was like, ‘Man, I better try and go here,’ and then it was too late.”

Tanner English went from 13th to fourth for FOX Factory Hard Charger honors, while Drake Troutman completed the top five.

RACE NOTES:

Tyler Bruening set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Bobby Pierce won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Bobby Pierce won Real American Beer Heat 1.

Drake Troutman won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Tim McCreadie won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Brian Shirley won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Ethan Dotson and Gordy Gundaker won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.

Bobby Pierce won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Tanner English won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Brian Shirley won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Tanner English was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Drake Troutman was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Cody Overton was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Ryan Gustin was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Jake Timm was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The final $50,000 payday of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season awaits next weekend at Boothill Speedway in the Bayou Classic, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 10-11. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 9M-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 4. 96-Tanner English[13]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 6. 2-Cody Overton[10]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[7]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin[12]; 11. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 12. 49-Jake Timm[8]; 13. B1-Brent Larson[16]; 14. 11G-Trevor Gundaker[20]; 15. 15-Clay Stuckey[15]; 16. 50-Kayden Clatt[21]; 17. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[22]; 18. 1X-Aaron Marrant[11]; 19. 48-Hunter Kohn[24]; 20. 51W-JT Wasmund[23]; 21. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[14]; 22. 11-Gordy Gundaker[18]; 23. 8-Matthew Larson[19]; 24. 74X-Ethan Dotson[17]