COCHRAN, Ga. — Nearly four months after dominating preliminary action for Thanksgiving weekend’s Gobbler 100, Brandon Overton finally cashed in his front-row starting spot for a $20,000 payday at Cochran Motor Speedway.

Overtaking fellow front-row starter Kyle Bronson on the sixth lap, Overton cruised to victory in the unsanctioned 75-lap feature, which was rescheduled to Friday after the event’s second night was rained out on its original Nov. 27-28 weekend. The dominating performance marked Overton’s fifth victory of 2021 and gave him his biggest payday of the season so far.

“That’s probably one of the best race cars I’ve driven,” Overton said of his David Wells-owned Longhorn Chassis. “That thing would run right around there you know and stay stuck. Hat’s off to my crew … Steve, Kent, Mitch and Phil and everybody that comes by my shop. It’s a whole team effort. We got our car owner here tonight, David. I’m glad he drove in.”

Michael Page of Douglasville, Ga., moved to second on lap 30 of the 75-lapper but never seriously challenged Overton. He settled for second, 4.501 seconds behind the leader. Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C., finished third with Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., fourth and Parker Martin of Milledgeville, Ga., fifth.

After slipping back to third on the race’s initial start, the second-starting Overton roared back around third-starting Bailes in turns three and four to retake second by the completion of the first lap. He then set his sights on Bronson and stalked the leader before slipping by exiting turn two on lap 10.

Overton cruised from there, opening up more than a straightaway advantage by the time the first of the race’s two cautions waved on lap 28. A scramble behind him on the ensuing restart allowed Overton to quickly rebuild his comfortable advantage on the field.

Heavy traffic as the race entered the three-quarters mark allowed Page to close the lead slightly, but the race’s second caution on lap 53 gave Overton clear track and smoothing sailing the remainder of the distance.

The victory continued Overton’s dominance in his home state, giving him nine straight victories in the Peach State going back to mid-2020. Two of those races have come at Cochran. Located just over two hours from his shop, the 29-year-old Overton ranks Cochran among his favorite tracks.

“I love coming over here,” said Overton, who saw his home-state winning streak come to an end later Friday when he finished third in the night’s Crate Late Model feature after starting from the tail of a consolation race. “This is an awesome racetrack. It got pretty tricky tonight. It’s slick getting in there and you gotta get it arched right to get it down the hill. I don’t know what to say. That’s probably one of the best race cars I’ve ever driven.”

Page, who earned a $20,000 victory of his own in Crate Late Model action at Cochran late in 2020, thought he had a shot at another big payday at the track before the lap-58 caution slowed the momentum for his Troy Baird-owned ride.

“I didn’t need that caution there in that long run,” Page said. “It would’ve been hard to run Brandon either way, but we were pretty good. I’m happy with second. We’ve done a lot to try something different. We just gotta work on it a little more and I think we’ll be alright.”

Debuting a new car for his Big Frog Motorsports team, Bailes worked through some new-car bugaboos to secure his third-place finish.

“That’s a new car there and we’ve got something gong on with the brakes. Whenever I get on the brakes, it shoved like crazy, so we were just holding on there,” Bailes said. “If I could’ve got it turn, I might could’ve ran up there (around the high groove), but it just wouldn’t turn for me so I had to just stay right around that bottom wall.”

Notes: Action continues at Cochran on Saturday, with a $5,000-to-win unsanctioned event at the 3/8-mile oval. … Thirteen cars were running at the finish. Only six were on the lead lap. … Overton’s five victories in 2021 have all came under different sanctioning: Lucas Oil, World of Outlaws, Dydene Xtreme, Southern All Stars and now unsanctioned. … Both cautions were for Ahanna Parkhurst of Evans, Ga., who suffered two flat left-rear tires caused by body damage from an early scrape. … Wil Herrington of Hawkinsville, Ga., won the night’s Crate Late Model feature, topping Bronson and Overton for a $3,000 victory. Herrington finished sixth in the Super Late Model feature after running as high as second.

Nov. 28 action postponed

With a light mist continuing to fall over an already saturated Cochran Motor Speedway at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, event officials were forced to postpone the the final night of the track's Gobbler 100. The event was ultimately rescheduled for March 12.

Qualifying and heat races for the $20,000-to-win race were held on Nov. 27 with Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., topping 25 qualifiers and later winning one of four heat races before overnight storms soaked the track and lingering clouds and light rain persisted throughout the day on Nov. 28, forcing officials to postpone the $20,000-to-win finale.

Heat race results