Brandon Overton Scores Marquee Victory; Wins Lucas Oil LM Dirt Series Hilbilly Hundred

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – MIDDLEBOURNE, WV – Brandon Overton won the richest one-day prize in dirt late model racing history, capturing the 50th Annual General Tire Hillbilly Hundred at Tyler County Speedway on Sunday night.

The 27-year-old took the lead from home-state favorite, Jared Hawkins on lap 70 and led the rest of the way to the $50,000 payday. Hawkins managed to hold off Mason Zeigler for second. Zeigler came home in third with Jimmy Owens and Gregg Satterlee completing the top five drivers.

Overton received congratulations from his crew after a hard-earned victory as he entered Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “I can’t quite shaking. We just had the worst two nights of racing I think I have ever had. Last week at Mansfield we didn’t even make the race. It’s just a miserable feeling. We ran some regional races and did pretty good and we thought we were going to come up here and show everybody what we are made of. We got beat down pretty quick. There are just different parts of the country where you need to race different. Last night we were about to get lapped and to come back tonight and win, this is great.”

“I am glad to have the support of everybody behind me. I am thankful for Billy Franklin for giving me this opportunity. Billy hasn’t said one thing. We have run terrible the last two nights and hasn’t said nothing. That’s why I love to drive for him. I would rather be on the upside than the downside with this deal. I didn’t know what was going to happen after the Dream, but it couldn’t have ended up any better than it has,” Overton added.

Hawkins, who had the capacity crowd rooting for him, nearly pulled off the win. “Early on in the race I was just feeling out the car and where I could run it best. I just tried to maintain a good pace and take care of my stuff. I was just trying to be there at the end. I guess I needed to move up on him [Overton]. He just got up on the wheel and got it done. I love racing with these Lucas Oil guys. It’s a lot of fun to do that. Thanks to all of the fans for coming out and thanks to Tim Logan for giving me a shot at driving his car.”

Zeigler, who currently leads the Rookie of the Year chase, came home in third. “I didn’t do well in qualifying and it put us behind. I think if we would have started up front we would have been even better. It is what it is. I am happy for those two guys who ran up front. Congratulations to Brandon on the win. It was good to see the top three being Rocket Chassis. Brandon was really good. I think we could have run second. I got up on Jared [Hawkins], but that was about it.”

The winner’s Rocket Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by: Franklin Enterprises, BCI Asphalt, Textron Off-Road, Big Dog Tree and Stump, R.W. Powell Construction, Franklin Fence Company, Big A’s Custom Graphics, Bozard Ford Lincoln, and Wade’s Body Shop.

Completing the top ten finishers were Tyler Erb, Jonathan Davenport, Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, and Dennis Erb Jr.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Sunday, September 2, 2018
50th Annual General Tire Hillbilly Hundred
Tyler County Speedway – Middlebourne, WV

Miller Welders Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jared Hawkins / 12.507 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tyler Erb / 12.576 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jared Hawkins, Gregg Satterlee, Don O’Neal, Ricky Thornton Jr., Travis Brown, Darrell Lanigan, Brian Baumberger, Greg Oakes, Dylan Bledsoe, Ronnie Mayle, Steve Sabo-DNS

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Chris Garnes, Mason Zeigler, Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie, Tyler Carpenter, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Cody Rogers, Steve Weigle, Sonny Conley

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tyler Erb, Jimmy Owens, Kyle Bronson, Dennis Erb, Jr., Robbie Scott, Jonathan Davenport, Derek Doll, Colten Burdette, Steven Roberts, Kyle Thomas, Derek Stefanick

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (15 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Mike Benedum, Brandon Overton, Josh Richards, Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Zack Dohm, Tim Dohm , Austin Hubbard, T.J. Salango, Devin Moran

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (15 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Tyler Carpenter, Darrell Lanigan, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Greg Oakes, Steve Weigle, Travis Brown, Cody Rogers, Dylan Bledsoe, Ronnie Mayle, Brian Baumberger, Sonny Conley-DNS, Steve Sabo-DNS

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (15 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Robbie Scott, Tim Dohm , Colten Burdette, Austin Hubbard, Derek Doll, Kyle Thomas, T.J. Salango, Steven Roberts, Derek Stefanick, Zack Dohm-DNS, Devin Moran-DNS

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (100 Laps):

FINISH	START	CAR #	DRIVER NAME	HOMETOWN	EARNINGS
1	8	76	Brandon Overton	Evans, GA	$50,000
2	1	11H	Jared Hawkins	Fairmont, WV	$15,000
3	11	25Z	Mason Zeigler ®	Chalk Hill, PA	$9,800
4	6	20	Jimmy Owens	Newport, TN	$6,800
5	5	22	Gregg Satterlee	Indiana, PA	$4,700
6	2	91	Tyler Erb	New Waverly, TX	$3,000
7	20	49	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville, GA	$3,400
8	3	0	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg, TN	$2,800
9	9	5	Don O’Neal	Martinsville, IN	$2,500
10	14	28	Dennis Erb, Jr.	Carpentersville, IL	$2,300
11	23	22G	Greg Oakes	Franklinville, NY	$1,500
12	10	40B	Kyle Bronson ®	Brandon, FL	$1,450
13	22	18S	Robbie Scott	Shinnston, WV	$1,425
14	4	25B	Mike Benedum	Salem, WV	$1,400
15	21	14	Darrell Lanigan	Union, KY	$2,075
16	12	1R	Josh Richards	Shinnston, WV	$2,350
17	15	32	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood, IL	$2,025
18	16	1	Earl Pearson, Jr.	Jacksonville, FL	$2,100
19	18	1S	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin, IL	$1,275
20	13	20RT	Ricky Thornton Jr.	Sedgwick, KS	$1,250
21	17	39	Tim McCreadie	Watertown, NY	$1,925
22	7	42	Chris Garnes	Evans, WV	$1,200
23	19	28C	Tyler Carpenter	Parkersburg, WV	$1,200
24	24	87	Derek Doll	Greenwood, WV	$1,200
25	25	17d	Zack Dohm	Cross Lanes, WV	$1,200
26	26	57	Kyle Thomas	Pennsboro, WV	$1,200