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Overton Denies Thornton in Golden Isles Finale

WAYNESVILLE, Ga. (January 28, 2023) – Brandon Overton utilized a last lap pass coming off turn number four to barely edge Ricky Thornton Jr. at the finish line. Overton earned a Golden Isles Speedway record $25,000 payday on Saturday night in the final night of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Super Clean Super Bowl of Racing - presented by ICON Electric Vehicles.

Overton’s 0.056 seconds margin of victory at the finish line was one of the closest in series history. For the second night in a row Thornton suffered a late-race heartbreak to come home in second. Tanner English finished third with Brandon Sheppard and Hudson O’Neal completing the top five finishers.

For the third night in a row Overton started from the pole and would lead the first 22 laps of the 60-lap event. Thornton, who started fourth, charged by Hudson O’Neal on lap 13 for second and then pursue Overton before grabbing the point from him on lap 23.

English, who started on the inside of the fourth row, moved into the runner-up slot behind Thornton on lap 33. A caution for a slowing Daulton Wilson on the frontstretch on lap 34 would bunch the field up. On the restart Overton got back by English for second and set his sights on Thornton.

With five laps to go to Thornton was holding a precarious lead over Overton as he was battling with cars at the tail end of the field. Overton started to move to the top of the and close the gap on Thornton as they took the white flag.

Overton with the momentum on the top as the duo exited off the final corner would make the winning pass against the outside retaining wall to steal the victory from Thornton.

Overton in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the fifth time in his career at Golden Isles emerged from his car to the cheering fans in his home state. “I got lucky tonight. Last night I stuffed it in the fence. When I sent it in there tonight, I made sure I had the back end pointed out and on the chip. It just worked out. I hate it for Ricky, but that’s what it takes lapped traffic sometimes to play a big part of it. I knew when he [Thornton] passed me I had to stay in second and I had to do a better job of managing my tires. I knew a Hail Mary was all I had. Ricky’s run well this week. I am so happy. I love this stuff.”

“I couldn’t let Kyle [Larson come down and show us up like he did last night,” Overton added. “I just keep playing it back through my head just trying to make sure I didn’t go too soon. I seen the white and I said alright here it is I was going to knock the motor out of it, or I was going to get him. It worked out perfect.”

Thornton ended the week at Golden Isles with a third-place finish and a pair of runner-up finishes to maintain second place in the championship standings behind Overton. “The bottom was really good. I wanted to stay stuck there and I thought I had enough gap to Dennis [Erb Jr.] and then they got to racing in front of him and it kind of slowed my pace down. I knew he [Overton] was going to throw a Hail Mary in three and four. My crew guys were telling me to move up. It was like one of those deals where I tried it once and it about destroyed the car. Congrats to Brandon. It stinks to lose another one here. But the good part is we have good speed going into the next two days at Bubba.”

English had his best run of 2023 coming home in third to round out the Big River Steel Podium. “It definitely feels like a win especially against those two guys. They are two of the toughest in the business. We have got to figure out how to get better. It’s feels like a rough month, but it’s only been a few weeks. We are turning it around.”

The winner’s Wells and Sons Motorsports-owned, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Garnto Southern, Victory Fuel Flavored Electrolyte Water, Muscle Factory, Clean Way Clearing and Grading, Dirt Mafia, Boswell Oil, R.W. Powell Construction, Penske Racing Shocks, EZ-GO, Earnhardt Technologies, Convenience Lube, H&A Development.

Completing the top ten were Tim McCreadie, Jonathan Davenport, Mason Zeigler, Shane Clanton, and Kyle Bronson.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Super Clean Super Bowl of Racing Finale
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Golden Isles Speedway – Brunswick, GA

Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Overton / 14.798 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Hudson O’Neal / 14.939 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 96V-Tanner English[3]; 3. 89J-Jeff Choquette[2]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 01-Jason Garver[6]; 6. 5-Mark Whitener[7]; 7. 19M-Wil Herrington[5]; 8. 6-Blake Spencer[8]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[9]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 3. 2-GR Smith[6]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 5. 111-Steven Roberts[2]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[9]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[7]; 9. 4-Kale Green[8]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25C-Shane Clanton[2]; 2. 8-Brian Shirley[4]; 3. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 5. 773-Christian Thomas[6]; 6. 2V-Allen Murray[1]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 8. (DNS) 25B-Mike Benedum

AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs[8]; 6. 111B-Max Blair[4]; 7. 114-Jordan Koehler[6]; 8. 78-Matthew Brocato[9]; 9. 21H-Robby Hensley[7]

Super Clean Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 3. 2X-John Henderson[3]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 6. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr[5]; 7. 8K-Kyle Strickler[6]; 8. 89-Logan Roberson[9]; 9. 20V-Rece Vaught[7]

Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[3]; 3. 11-Spencer Hughes[5]; 4. 44D-Dalton Cook[6]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[8]; 6. 81J-Jack Riggs[7]; 7. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 8. 22*-Payton Freeman[4]

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 5-Mark Whitener[7]; 4. 19M-Wil Herrington[10]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens[8]; 6. 6-Blake Spencer[13]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 8. 58-Garrett Alberson[12]; 9. 25B-Mike Benedum[17]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans[11]; 11. 773-Christian Thomas[6]; 12. 111-Steven Roberts[5]; 13. 2V-Allen Murray[9]; 14. (DNS) 01-Jason Garver; 15. (DNS) 14W-Dustin Walker; 16. (DNS) 4S-Danny Snyder; 17. (DNS) 4-Kale Green

UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 4. 111B-Max Blair[7]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs[4]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[6]; 7. 89-Logan Roberson[14]; 8. 44D-Dalton Cook[3]; 9. 78-Matthew Brocato[13]; 10. 8K-Kyle Strickler[11]; 11. 81J-Jack Riggs[9]; 12. 26JR-Jimmy Sharpe Jr[8]; 13. 114-Jordan Koehler[10]; 14. 20V-Rece Vaught[17]; 15. (DNS) 18D-Daulton Wilson; 16. (DNS) 22*-Payton Freeman; 17. (DNS) 21H-Robby Hensley

Super Clean Super Bowl of Racing- Night #3 Feature Finish (60 Laps):

Race Statistics
Entrants: 52
Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Brandon Overton
Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1-22); Ricky Thornton, Jr. (Laps 23-59); Brandon Overton (Lap 60)
Wieland Feature Winner: Brandon Overton
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: Brandon Overton
Margin of Victory: 0.056 seconds
Stop-Tech Brakes Cautions: Shane Clanton, Carson Ferguson, Garrett Smith, Spencer Hughes, Tyler Erb (Initial Start); Brian Shirley, John Henderson, Tyler Bruening, GR Smith (Restart); Devin Moran (Lap 8); Daulton Wilson (Lap 34)
Series Provisionals: Garrett Alberson; Daulton Wilson
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: Ross Robinson; Kyle Bronson; Wil Herrington; Logan Roberson; Jimmy Owens
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Brandon Overton, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Tanner English
Penske Shocks Top 5: Brandon Overton, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Tanner English, Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal
Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Kyle Bronson (Advanced 16 Positions)
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Jonathan Davenport
Deathridge Opticians Lucky 13th Place Finisher: Spencer Hughes
Earnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (37 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon Overton
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/a
Etchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton (Lap 4 – 15.844 seconds)
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Kent Fegter (Brandon Overton)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ryan Gustin (15.054 seconds)
Time of Race: 37 minutes 44 seconds

The Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:

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