ROSSBURG, Ohio — Before he became one of Dirt Late Model racing's biggest stars, Brandon Overton remembers those struggling nights at Eldora Speedway when he was spectating instead of racing. The 30-year-old Evans, Ga., driver's now-fiancee Heather Curry offered the best encouragement she could muster.

"Me and Heather used to sit up there when, hell, I couldn't even make the race," Overton said Thursday night at Eldora, "and she used to tell me, 'Don't worry about it, we're going to get 'em one day.' "

Seems like Curry was shooting a little low.

"One day" has become "every day" at the legendary track's biggest races as Overton fought back to regain the lead from fellow Georgian Dale McDowell on the 72nd lap Thursday in the 51st annual World 100 for Overton's unprecedented third consecutive crown jewel victory at the Earl Baltes-founded oval.

Starting third in the 28-car field, Overton led twice for 64 laps Thursday in adding his $54,000 triumph to more than $273,000 he earned in June's double Dream victories.

In taking the checkers 0.819 of a second ahead of 19th-starting Tim McCreadie, Overton became just the fourth driver in Eldora history to capture a same-season Dream and World 100 sweep, joining the historic names of Billy Moyer, Donnie Moran and Jonathan Davenport. Overton's days of watching other drivers win at Eldora are in the past.

"I'm just glad it all finally paid off," Overton said, his eyes welling with tears as he emerged from his car on Eldora's victory stage to collect his first career globe trophy.

"This whole year has been unbelievable," Overton's car owner David Wells said in victory lane. "He is absolutely done things that, I mean nobody would've dreamed of. And it has absolutely been wonderful."

Watertown, N.Y.'s McCreadie made a stirring charge from the 10th row, but it was too late to catch Overton as he ran away in the late stages on a track that allowed little passing after Overton regained the point. McDowell, of Chickamauga, Ga., settled for third after leading laps 59-71, while McCreadie's fellow provisional starter Hudson O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., came from 20th to fourth. The 17th-starting Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., was up to third and hounding Overton just before he made the winning pass, but slipped back to fifth at the finish while seeking his fourth World 100 in his last six starts.

Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., jumped into the lead from outside the front row and comfortably led the first 23 laps, but Overton swiftly moved in on the 24th lap to grab the point with McDowell dropping Thornton to third two laps later.

Overton and McDowell controlled the top two spots through the race's middle stages with O'Neal and Davenport running as high as third while McCreadie reached the seventh spot by halfway. The steady Overton looked like he did in winning June's Dreams — smoothly running the middle of the track, unwavered by lapped traffic as he kept McDowell in check.

But the race's third and final caution on lap 58 set up a restart that saw the Georgians swap spots. With Overton picking the inside of the double-file restart, McDowell swept around on the outside and pulled away by a three-second margin with 35 laps remaining. Overton kept his cool and began slicing the margin as action picked up behind them with Davenport, O'Neal and McCreadie getting into the mix.

"This thing is so damn good. I've got a lot of confidence in it. I can sit there and wait on 'em," Overton said. "Me and Dale both race in the rubber a lot. I wasn't worried, and then I seen J.D. and I said, 'S---, I've gotta go.' I hung wide a little bit right here and just got my right side (tires in the rubber strip) enough to cross him over.

"Dale's one of the best, you know. I've followed him many times. So to beat him here, and for this race to play out like this, man, I can't put it into words," Overton said.

Overton's backstretch pass dropped McDowell to second, then as the leaders struggled to get past Ryan King — Overton daringly dove past on lap 77 while his pursuers couldn't overtake the slower King for many more laps — McDowell's turn-three slipup allowed McCreadie to grab second.

"When Brandon picked the bottom, actually it was a little bit of a break because somebody had rolled up beside me on the outside when he and I were kind of running the bottom, and I was a little tight," McDowell said, offering congratulations to Overton for a cleanly run victory. "And so when I got in traffic, it just took that air off, and when it took the air off, it made me shove a little bit, and I shut down and kind of turned the car with the brakes.

"And so he just got a good run on me. And I got into lapped traffic and felt like we had a solid second, you know, and we got in lapped traffic, and one of the lapped cars, he was outside and he just come down to the bottom groove," added the 2005 World 100 winner. "There again it took the air off the nose and so I skated out. I was in a little hot, I was going to hit him, so I skated out and Timmy got under me. We can't complain with a top-three. I'm a little disappointed because I got up there and got in the lead and was wanting to win another one of these things before I hang the helmet up for good. Hopefully that's a couple of years out. But we'll just keep plugging at it."

McCreadie, thanking his team for the hard work of repairing his car's power steering and a oil line after he retired from his heat race, did all he could to get into contention.

"It was methodical I guess," the 2018 World 100 said. "The bottom just didn't fire very good on restarts and we just kept getting stuck down there. Every little bit of hay I would make, you'd give it all back the first few laps on restarts. I just needed a couple (of restarts) where I could roll the middle or the top."

Rallying from the 10th row was just too much to ask, he said, and it was too late to reach Overton for a late-race battle on a surface that developed a rubber strip.

"It would've been cool to race a little at the end, but it was tough. The lapped cars, once it rubbered they got in there, too. I was thinking if one of 'em could just cut me a break I'd get a chance," McCreadie said. "I could probably have never passed (Overton), but it would've been cool to take a picture of us side-by-side because he was going really easy into (turn) one.

"I surely could've got beside him, at least, to make it look good. They did a great job. Hat's off to them and we'll take second and work on (the car) ... we've got to really work hard on our invert program and get better."

The feature was slowed by three cautions, the most serious on the 15th lap when Ashton Winger and Chris Ferguson tangled exiting turn two, sending Ferguson into a 360-degree spin. Ferguson twirled without coming to a stop, allowing him to restart where he blended in (13th) and rally to finish seventh.

The only other cautions appeared for the lap-10 flat left-rear tire for Jimmy Owens and a slowing Tyler Erb on the 58th lap.

With the 51st World 100 in the books, most drivers will stay around for, paradoxically, the 50th annual World 100 for Friday prelims and Saturday's main event as Eldora makes up last year's race postponed by pandemic restrictions. The milestone event puts $53,000 up for grabs to the winner of the main event as Overton will try for his fourth crown jewel in the same season at Eldora — a feat never before possible and thought by most to be impossible when the Roger Slack-managed track announced its plans for Dream and World 100 twinbills earlier this year.

Overton will be glad to take a shot at Saturday's race to keep his Wells & Sons Motorsports team smiling.

"I always say, it makes me happy to make people happy," he said. "I just want to thank him so much for trusting me with this, him and Eric, you know? Eric's a big part of this. He works hard back at the shop making sure we've got everything we need to race. So to do it for the Wells family and for them, for them to trust me and let me take this (equipment) and hire the team and hire all the people, I can't thank them enough. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

An opportunity that Heather Curry knew would come some day.

"Man, she's been with me through it all. When we sucked or whatever, she's seen all the highs and all the lows, and like I said, she works a lot so she don't get to come all the time. For her to be here with me ... Like I said, I can relax tomorrow and the next day. I got me one, she was here to enjoy it with me."

Notes: Before Overton, among drivers who came closest to winning three straight crown jewels at Eldora were Jeff Purvis (three of four World 100s from 1983-'86); Billy Moyer winning his Dream-World combo in 2021 and finishing second at 2011's Dream; and Donnie Moran winning a Dream and two World 100s in 1996-97. ... Nineteen drivers completed 100 laps. ... Because Scott Bloomquist was late to the starting grid (the team feared they had a slow leak in a tire; he indeed ended up changing a tire), the Mooresburg, Tenn., driver lost the 22nd starting spot and had to drop to the tail for the start of the 100-lapper. He finished 17th, five spots behind teammate Nick Hoffman ... Kyle Bronson suffered right-rear damage early in the race and was the first retiree on lap 27 shortly after being lapped.

Correction: Fixes that Ferguson restarted 13th after spin instead of restarting on the tail.

51st annual World 100 finish
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., Longhorn, $54,000
2. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $20,000
3. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Tenn., Team Zero, $12,500
4. Hudson O'Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Rocket, $10,000
5. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $8,750
6. Devin Moran (9), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $7,500
7. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., Team Zero, $6,500
8. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $6,000
9. Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa. Rocket, $5,500
10. Kyle Strickler (8), Mooresville, N.C., Longhorn, $5,000
11. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Rocket, $4,000
12. Nick Hoffman (0H), Mooresville, N.C., Team Zero, $3,750
13. Kyle Larson (6), Elk Grove, Calif., Longhorn, $3,500
14. Darrell Lanigan (29), Union, Ky., Club 29, $3,350
15. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., Rocket, $3,325
16. Ashton Winger (6), Hampton, Ga., Team Zero, $3,300
17. Scott Bloomquist (0), Mooresburg, Tenn., Team Zero, $3,275
18. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $3,250
19. Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., Capital, $3,225
20. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, Rocket, $3,200
21. Joseph Joiner (10), Milton, Fla., Capital, $3,175
22. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., Rocket, $3,150
23. Michael Chilton (97), Salvisa, Ky., Rocket, $3,125
24. Ryan King (1G), Seymour, Tenn., Warrior, $3,100
25. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., Rocket, $3,075
26. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa., Rocket, $3,050
27. Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, Rocket, $3,025
28. Kyle Bronson (66), Brandon, Fla., Rocket, $3,000
Lap leaders: Thornton 1-23; Overton 24-58, 72-100; McDowell 59-71
Fast qualifier (among 80 cars): Strickler, 15.426 seconds
Heat race winners: Satterlee, Bronson, McDowell, Overton, Thornton, Strickler
Consolation winners: Joiner, Bloomquist
Scramble winners: King, Heckenast
Provisional starters: McCreadie, O'Neal
Preliminary feature winners: Johnny Scott, McCreadie

11:07 p.m. | Overton wins

Regaining the lead from Dale McDowell on lap 71, Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., led the rest of the way to win his first career World 100. Overton, who won back-to-back Dreams at Eldora Speedway in June, continued his mastery of the Rossburg, Ohio, half-mile. Tim McCreadie finished second, with Dale McDowell third.

Lap-by-lap:

Lap 100: Overton wins ahead of McCreadie.

Lap 97: Overton leads McCreadie by a full second.

Lap 85: Overton leads McCreadie by 2.9 seconds, with McDowell third, followed by O'Neal and Davenport.

Lap 80: Overton leads by more than 2 seconds, with McCreadie up to second.

Lap 74: McCreadie takes third from O'Neal.

Lap 71: Overton back into the lead.

Lap 70: McDowell leads with Overton, O'Neal, McCreadie and Davenport all within striking distance.

Lap 59: McDowell shoots into the lead around the top.

Lap 58: Tyler Erb slows to draw the race's third caution. Erb has made contact with the wall as his right rear has a little damage. Overton leads McDowell by a full second, with Davenport third followed by O'Neal and Thornton. McCreadie is up to sixth.

Lap 55: Davenport slides ahead of O'Neal as they race with the lapped car of Joseph Joiner, making sliught contact with Joiner as he goes to third.

Lap 50: Overton extends lead to 1.259 seconds at the halfway mark with at least six cars one lap down or more.

Lap 40: Overton leads McDowell by 1.235 seconds with O'Neal, Thornton and Jonathan Davenport in the top five

Lap 33: Provisional starters Hudson O'Neal up to third from 20th and Tim McCreadie up to ninth from 19th.

Lap 28: Overton leads McDowell, Thornton and a charging O'Neal.

Lap 24: Overton takes the lead from RTJ.

Lap 20: Thornton leads Overton, McDowell, Kyle Strickler and Devin Moran.

Lap 15: Overton challenges RTJ on the restart but settles back into second.

Lap 14: Second caution waves for Chris Ferguson, who spins after contact from behind from Ashton Winger. Kyle Bronson pits during the caution. Hudson O’Neal up to eighth from 20th. Thornton still leads with Brandon Overton second and Dale McDowell third.

Lap 10: Jimmy Owens slows on lap 10 with a flat left rear tire. … Thornton still leads.

10:26 p.m. 51st annual World 100 goes green. Ricky Thornton Jr. grabs the lead.

10:03 p.m. | Feature field stats

Stats for the 51st annual World 100 starting field:
• Rocket Chassis leads the way among chassis manufacturers with 12 entries. Longhorn is second with seven drivers while Team Zero has five entries. Capital Race Cars has two entries with one apiece for Club 29 and Warrior.
• Tennessee and Georgia have the most feature starters among states with four apiece. Illinois and North Carolina had three apiece while there were two starters from Florida, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. One driver apiece represented Arizona, Ohio, California, Iowa, South Carolina, New York, Indiana and Texas.
• Six drivers are making their first World 100 starts: Kyle Strickler, Ashton Winger, Kyle Larson, Ryan Gustin, Joseph Joiner and Ryan King.

9:45 p.m. | Feature lineup

(100 laps)
Row 1: Kyle Strickler, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 2: Brandon Overton, Dale McDowell
Row 3: Kyle Bronson, Gregg Satterlee
Row 4: Chris Ferguson, Jimmy Owens
Row 5: Devin Moran, Ashton Winger
Row 6: Brian Shirley, Shane Clanton
Row 7: Darrell Lanigan, Kyle Larson
Row 8: Ryan Gustin, Brandon Sheppard
Row 9: Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden
Row 10: Tim McCreadie, Hudson O'Neal
Row 11: Joseph Joiner, Scott Bloomquist
Row 12: Michael Chilton, Tyler Erb
Row 13: Mason Zeigler, Nick Hoffman
Row 14: Ryan King, Frank Heckenast Jr.

9:35 p.m. | Heckenast Jr. is in

Frank Heckenast Jr. wrestled the lead away from Cory Hedgecock to win the second five-lap scramble and earn entry into the feature.

9:26 p.m. | Bloomquist wins second B-main

Four-time World 100 winner Scott Bloomquist won the second B-main. Bloomquist took the lead from Tyler Erb midway through the 20-lapper. Erb finished second, with Bloomquist’s teammate Nick Hoffman finishing third. Fourth-running Mike Marlar smacked the wall on lap 12, ending his bid. Just like Dennis Erb Jr. in the first scramble, fourth-finishing Zack Dohm, who should have started from the pole of the scramble, pulled to the scales and was sent to the back of that five-lap last-chance race.

Finish (top three transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Tyler Erb, Nick Hoffman, Zack Dohm, Cory Hedgecock, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jason Feger, Jason Papich, Chris Simpson, Rick Eckert, Boom Briggs, Robby Hensley, Kyle Hammer, Travis Stemler, Freddie Carpenter, Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Chris Nash, Mike Marlar, Michael Page, Spencer Hughes, Max Blair, Josh Richards, Austin Kirkpatrick.

9:11 p.m. | Strickler’s big move

Kyle Strickler wasn’t going to hold back. Not with so much on the line.

So when Zack Dohm and Chris Madden slid ahead of him through turns one and two on the opening lap of the sixth heat, Strickler saw the slightest of openings between the two and filled it going down the backstretch. The daredevil maneuver worked as he shot ahead to grab the lead and kept it all the way to finish, earning him the right to lead the 51st World 100 to the green flag from the number one starting spot.

“It was crazy,” Strickler said of the heat’s frenetic start. “I knew it was for the pole of the World 100. I got real nervous when I got in there and Zack kind of … he was doing what he had to do to try and get there (to the lead) and he kind of got into the fender and it shot me up the hill, and then Madden blasted in there. And then they were both coming up to close the hole, and I knew if I could turn it down the hill … that was my one shot. If you don’t have momentum getting into (turn) three (and grab the lead), unless you have another restart, you’re screwed.

“That was the move there. (The hole) was closing up as I was coming. I think I got there just in time to where they knew I was there. That was nerve-racking for sure.”

Strickler said his 3-race-old Longhorn race was “really balanced for sure” once he assumed command, a vast improvement from Wednesday night when he struggled in the feature while searching for a fast setup. Landing the pole for the headliner — the third straight year that he’s started a major Eldora event from the front row — raised his hopes for an emotional turnaround from last year’s Intercontinental Classic, the World 100 replacement race in which he led until blowing a right-rear tire on the final lap.

“We got one more to go to for redemption, a Cinderella story, from last year,” Strickler said with a smile.

9:08 p.m. | King wins first scramble

Second-starting Ryan King of Seymour, Tenn., won the first five-lap scramble ahead of Chad Simpson and Stormy Scott to put the Warrior Race Cars house car into the main event. It will be King’s first-ever World 100 start. Dennis Erb Jr., was slated to start from the pole of the scramble after finishing fourth in the B-main, but was relegated to the rear of the field after pulling off the track to cross the scales following the consy. He made his way up to 10th.

9:05 p.m. | Joiner joins the show

Finishing 3.872 seconds ahead of Michael Chilton, Joseph Joiner of Milton, Fla., won the first B-main to transfer into the feature, along with Chilton and Zeigler. Dennis Erb Jr. finished fourth and was slated to start the scramble from the pole, but pulled to the scales and was subsequently sent to the rear of the five-lap scramble.

Finish (top three transfer): Joseph Joiner, Michael Chilton, Mason Zeigler, Dennis Erb Jr., Chad Simpson, Ryan King, Shannon Babb, Jerry Bowersock, Stormy Scott, Scott James, Gordy Gundaker, Jensen Ford, Kody Evans, Billy Franklin, Jon Hodgkiss, Tim Lance, Mike Provenzano, Dustin Nobbe, Casey Noonan, G.R. Smith, Ricky Weiss, Kyle Lear, Duane Chamberlain, Mark Whitener.

8:50 p.m. | B-main lineups

(20 laps; top three transfer)
First B-main
Row 1: Ryan King, Michael Chilton
Row 2: Ricky Weiss, Joseph Joiner
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Shannon Babb
Row 4: Scott James, Mason Zeigler
Row 5: G.R. Smith, Chad Simpson
Row 6: Jerry Bowersock, Kody Evans
Row 7: Duane Chamberlain, Jensen Ford
Row 8: Stormy Scott, Mark Whitener
Row 9: Billy Franklin, Casey Noonan
Row 10: Gordy Gundaker, Kyle Lear
Row 11: Jon Hodgkiss, Dustin Nobbe
Row 12: Tim Lance, Mike Provenzano
Second B-main
Row 1: Scott Bloomquist, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Zack Dohm, Chris Simpson
Row 3: Mike Marlar, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 4: Jason Feger, Nick Hoffman
Row 5: Josh Richards, Robby Hensley
Row 6: Freddie Carpenter, Cory Hedgecock
Row 7: Rick Eckert, Jason Papich
Row 8: Austin Kirkpatrick, Travis Stemler
Row 9: Kyle Hammer, Boom Briggs
Row 10: Chris Nash, Max Blair
Row 11: Spencer Hughes, John Blankenship
Row 12L Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Michael Page

8:36 p.m. | Stricker earns pole for 51st World

Kyle Strickler of Mooreville, N.C., earned the pole for the 51st annual World 100 with his win in the sixth heat. After drivers fanned out to go four wide on the start, the night’s final heat settled down and Strickler finished a comfortable 1.352 seconds ahead of Shane Clanton. Chris Madden, chasing his first-ever World 100 win, finished a distant third, but grabbed the last transfer spot to make the feature.

Sixth heat finish (top three transfer): Kyle Strickler, Shane Clanton, Chris Madden, Zack Dohm, Frank Heckenast Jr., Josh Richards, Cory Hedgecock, Austin Kirkpatrick, Boom Briggs, Spencer Hughes, Michael Page, Steven Roberts, Garrett Smith.

8:30 p.m. | Fifth heat goes to Thornton Jr.

Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., turned back an early challenge from Brian Shirley to win the fifth heat race. After Shirley had to defend his position from a charging Jonathan Davenport, RTJ  was able to pull away to win by 0.847 of a second. Shirley turned back Davenport to finish runner-up, while Davenport, a three-time World 100 winner, settled for third. Tyler Erb was fourth ahead of Mike Marlar and modified ace Nick Hoffman.

Fifth heat finish (top three transfer): Ricky Thornton Jr., Brian Shirley, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb, Mike Marlar, Nick Hoffman, Freddie Carpenter, Jason Papich, Kyle Hammer, Max Blair, Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Jason Riggs, Josh Morton.

8:29 p.m. | Johnny Scott’s letdown

Johnny Scott’s elation over winning one of Wednesday’s two prelim features became a distant memory in his heat race. Running fourth on lap 10 of the fourth heat, Scott slowed and pulled to the infield pit area where a puddle of fluid started building directly under the rear end of his car.

Scott said his crew had to repair a broken lower gear shaft in his rear end after hot laps and estimated that whatever caused the broken shaft was also to blame for his heat race troubles. Finishing 12th in the heat and with both provisionals already gone, Scott is likely done for the evening.

8:23 p.m. | Mars crashes out

Jimmy Mars found himself in the middle of a couple hairy scrapes during the first heat. One of them might have led to his ultimate demise with two laps remaining in the prelim.

Entering turn one on lap 13, Mars’s MB Customs car veered into the outside wall due to a cut right-front tire. The Wisconsin veteran wasn’t injured, but his machine sustained both front and rearend damage was hauled back to the pit area dangling between two wreckers.

Mars said said the tire trouble was “probably” a result of the contact he made with the turn-four wall three laps earlier when he slid high while bidding for a transfer spot. “Or maybe it was over here (off turn two),” he added. “I got (contact) on the bottom and the top (during the heat).”

After seeing his week at Eldora for June’s Dreams come to an early end due to mechanical trouble during the first half of the doubleheader, it appeared Mars’s World 100s trip could suffer the same fate as his team began assessing the damage to the car.

8:22 p.m. | Big sexy back to form

Dominating the fourth heat race, Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., who won back-to-back Dreams in June, finished 2.576 seconds ahead of runner-up Ashton Winger. Winger took the second spot from Brandon Sheppard on a late restart. Sheppard settled for the third and final transfer spot. Scott Bloomquist held the second position after passing Sheppard on a restart, but the four-time event winner was docked two positions during the second caution after he pulled out of line on a lap-10 restart. He finished fourth.

Fourth heat finish (top three transfer): Brandon Overton, Ashton Winger, Brandon Sheppard, Scott Bloomquist, Chris Simpson, Jason Feger, Robby Hensley, Rick Eckert, Travis Stemler, Chris Nash, John Blankenship, Johnny Scott, Bryant Dickenson.

8:21 p.m. | O’Neal’s setback

Hudson O’Neal’s run in heat two came to an early end when he tagged the turn-one wall on lap six then slowed to cause the race’s only caution. O’Neal said he misjudged his entry to the corner, making it too close to Mason Zeigler, causing an aero push that forced him over the cushion and into the wall.

Fortunately for O’Neal the damage to his No. 71 machine was only cosmetic. As the second highest driver in points from Wednesday’s prelim action, he’ll use a provisional to start 20th in tonight’s main event.

8:12 p.m. | McDowell takes third heat

Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., led flag-to-flag to win the third heat finishing a second ahead of Devin Moran. Moran grabbed the runner-up spot from Ryan Gustin late in the 15-lap prelim as those three advance to the 100-lap main event. Ricky Weiss finished fourth in the caution-free heat.

Third heat finish (top three transfer): Dale McDowell, Devin Moran, Ryan Gustin, Ricky Weiss, Shannon Babb, G.R. Smith, Kody Evans, Stormy Scott, Casey Noonan, Jon Hodgkiss, Mike Provenzano, Dale Markham. Disqualified (pre-race for crew misbehavior): Bobby Pierce.

8:06 p.m. | Uphill climb for T-Mac

Tim McCreadie thought a strong starting spot for the 51st World 100 — perhaps as high as the sixth position — was in his future as he slid quickly from fifth to third in Heat 1. But he’ll instead take the green flag from the 19th spot thanks to a points provisional after retiring 10 laps into the prelim with mechanical trouble.

Smoke that began wafting from his Paylor Motorsport No. 39 signaled a broken power-steering servo, prompting him to stop on the track to draw a caution that allowed him to head to his trailer in the upper pit area to begin making repairs.

“The power steering kept getting worse and worse as it ran out of fluid,” McCreadie said. “Once I got passed for third I figured there was no use staying out there since we had the provisional. I was worried it might be the motor because of the smoke, but we’re OK. We’ll just have to come from the back now.”

8:05 p.m. | Bronson cruises in second heat

Kyle Bronson pf Brandon, Fla., cruised to victory in the second heat, a 15-lapper slowed by only one caution. Jimmy Owens finished second ahead of NASCAR start Kyle Larson, who grabbed the third spot from Michael Chilton with a turn-three pass on lap seven. The race was slowed only by Hudson O’Neal’s lap-five caution when O’Neal got into the wall in turn one.

Second heat finish (top three transfer): Kyle Bronson, Jimmy Owens, Kyle Larson, Michael Chilton, Dennis Erb Jr., Mason Zeigler, Jerry Bowersock, Jensen Ford, Billy Franklin, Kyle Lear, Tim Lance, Jeff Curl, Hudson O’Neal. DNS: Steve Casebolt.

7:50 p.m. | Satterlee wins first heat

Continuing his season-long success on big, high-speed tracks, Gregg Satterlee of Indian, Pa., won the night’s opening heat race. Sattterlee kept Chris Ferguson at bay on a lat restart. Ferguson settled for second, while Darrell Lanigan was third to grab the final transfer spot, while 10th starting Ryan King improved six spots to finish fourth. Polesitter Mark Whitener slipped to ninth. Both Ferguson and Satterlee dispatched Whitener early in the 15-lapper.

Third-running Tim McCreadie’s car began trailing smoke on lap seven and McCreadie slowed to draw a caution on lap 10 with apparent power steering trouble. McCreadie, who is pitted in the outside pit area behind turn three, pulled straight off the track and headed to his pits to address the issue. Jimmy Mars tagged the turn-four wall on the restart before getting hard into the turn-two wall two laps later. Mars was running sixth at the time after briefly challenging Lanigan for third.

First heat finish (top three transfer): Gregg Satterlee, Chris Ferguson, Darrell Lanigan, Ryan King, Joseph Joiner, Scott James, Chad Simpson, Duane Chamberlain, Mark Whitener, Gordy Gundaker, Dustin Nobbe, Jimmy Mars, Tim McCreadie, Caleb Burgess.

7:20 p.m. | Scott’s luck turns bad

Johnny Scott basked in the glow of his first-ever Eldora Speedway victory for less than 24 hours. By the end of Thursday’s hot laps, the 31-year-old driver from Las Cruces, N.M., and his Rancho Milagro Racing crew found themselves in full scramble mode after the lower shaft in the rearend of Scott’s car broke during hot laps.

As Scott was participating in pre-race ceremonies as the New Mexico representative in the procession of state flags, his team members were in the upper pit area beginning the process of installing a new rearend assembly in his winning Longhorn machine.

“They just got started (on the repairs),” said Scott, who is scheduled to start fourth in Heat 4. “I was in one of the last (practice) groups, and I had to wait to get pushed across the track (until hot laps were completed).”

6:32 p.m. | Overton feels good

Brandon Overton’s hopes of repeating his spectacular four-race, double Dreams sweep in June was ended with his sixth-place finish in Wednesday’s first 25-lap feature, but he heads into Thursday’s 51st World 100 finale with his confidence still soaring.

“I feel good,” said Overton, who hit the invert perfectly to land the pole position for Thursday’s fourth heat. “I’m telling you, I was greedy qualifying. I bounced up my first lap, and usually I say, ‘I’ll just whip it in there and get it this time,’ but I messed (the second lap) up and it put me behind (with the 24th-fastest time).

“But I passed cars all night long, good cars. I didn’t win, but who really cares? The thing’s balanced, it runs good. I felt like if we just keep going, we’ll keep getting better. Like, I was just pacing myself, and catching ’em and passing ’em. Honestly, a couple more laps I feel like I would’ve drove by J.D. (Jonathan Davenport) and Bobby (Pierce).

“All we need is some laps. I’m really, really happy with it.”

Overton was also smiling about Wednesday’s first feature winner, Johnny Scott of Las Cruces, N.M.

“That’s cool, man,” Overton said of Scott’s first-ever Eldora victory. “I like s— like that. That makes me so happy to see people like that win. Johnny and (twin brother) Stormy, they’re good guys, they’re my friends. I’m happy for ’em.”

6:23 p.m. | James slims down

Making an engine change in the afternoon sun shining down on the Eldora pit area was likely easier for Scott James on Thursday than it would’ve been if he had to do the same thing at the Dream in June. Slimming down more than 40 pounds in the three months since the double Dreams, James said he feels better overall and doesn’t get as tired from the rigors of maintaining a race team.

“It’s just completely different going about things without all that extra weight,” James said. “It’s crazy how much of a difference it makes.”

James, the veteran racer from Bright, Ind., who will start from the tail of a heat race after losing an engine during his qualifying run Wednesday, said his hard crash during a consolation race at June’s Dream, and the concussion he suffered from the wreck’s impact, was what motivated to him start exercising — a regimen of mostly swimming up to a half-mile each day — and eating healthier.

“I had a concussion, and it really took me a month to get over it,” James, a former college football athlete, said of the wreck at the Dream. “It was just kind of a wakeup for me after all that. I felt like one of the things I had to do was get in better shape. Just work on being healthier. It was just time, and after that wreck I just decided it was something I needed.”

James added the only downside to his weight loss is that the new seat he purchased earlier this season no longer fits without significant amounts of padding.

6:10 p.m. | Joiner hunting the front

Joseph Joiner of Milton, Fla., didn’t have much time to get comfortable in his first-ever start at Eldora Speedway before he found himself in a challenging position. After just a handful of hot laps and two qualifying circuits, the 27-year-old World 100 rookie started from the pole in a Wednesday heat race.

“I honestly didn’t know what to do,” Joiner said of leading a prelim to the green flag with so little Eldora experience. “I think I would’ve been better off if I started in the second or third row.”

Joiner noted that he “ended up fourth by the flagstand anyway” after lighting up his tires off turn four at the initial start, but he did manage to hold to finish fifth and transfer to the 25-lap feature. He went on to finish 19th in the preliminary, gaining valuable lap time in the process.

“My race car was probably better than I was last night,” Joiner said of his Capital machine. “By the end of the feature I found a little bit of a groove, so I think we’ll be better tonight.”

Joiner starts sixth in this evening’s first heat race, but for a fleeting few moments this morning he thought he might end up as a polesitter for the second straight night when he learned of Bobby Pierce’s disqualification. The Floridian was 31st in points on Wednesday, so he would have moved into the heat-race invert if Pierce was removed.

Alas, officials announced that the heat lineups would not be redone with Pierce’s DQ; his absence from the fifth starting spot would merely move up the drivers scheduled to start behind him by one row.

6:08 p.m. | No worries about tires

Thursday’s amended tire rule that will only allow drivers four new tires plus the tires they ran during Wednesday’s program doesn’t seem to be changing drivers’ strategies going into the night’s program.

Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, said some drivers may use their new tires at different times than others, but he doesn’t expect that to make a difference in who’s running up front.

“Some guys may try different things, but it really depends on how hard the track is on the tires,” said Moran, who’s scheduled to start fourth in Thursday’s third heat race. “Luckily it really didn’t hurt them last night so those tires are still good. And if it doesn’t hurt tires tonight, I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference at all.”

Former World 100 winner Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., said the only thing he would do differently because of the tire rule amendment is not run Wednesday night’s tires during hot laps.

“Normally we’d bolt those on there to practice on, but since we’ll need them you just don’t want to risk running over something and cutting one of them down,” said Clanton.

5:58 p.m. | No more ATVs

Eldora Speedway general manager Roger Slack addressed Thursday’s drivers’ meeting in response to the early-morning incident in the upper pit area involving a Bobby Pierce crew member that led to Eldora officials disqualifying the Oakwood, Ill., driver from this evening’s racing program.

Reports indicate that the Pierce crewman was involved in an altercation with a track official after being caught riding a four-wheeler against Eldora’s facility rules; Pierce did not provide details of the incident and was not awake at the time of the incident, but he acknowledged in a Facebook post that he was responsible for his team member’s actions and apologized to his fans for not being able to race in Thursday’s 51st World 100 finale. In that vein, Slack told the assemblage that all participants agree to be responsible for the actions of their team members upon filing their World 100 entry form and also pointed out that there’s an Ohio law that makes it a punishable crime to “assault a sports official.”

Slack went on to announce that effective immediately, “all ATVs are parked until you hear different.” He said this is the “second event in a row we’ve had (official) posts in place” and ended up with an incident involving one of the vehicles and the track has decided to impose more regulations to avoid liability issues. Slack noted that teams in the upper pit area can bring tools down into the infield with their four-wheelers but must park them them after that.

5:40 p.m. | Tire rule altered

With the supply of Hoosier tires an acute issue for Eldora’s big week, DIRTcar director Sam Driggers announced during Thursday’s drivers’ meeting that officials were forced to make a change in the evening’s tire rule in response to the shortage.

Originally, the rule for Thursday’s program specified that teams could start the night with four new tires and then use one new one for a B-main and another four new tires for the 100-lap feature. But Driggers said Hoosier “can’t supply all the cars in the pits with enough tires to get through the event here all week” if the 80 entrants were permitted to use up to nine new tires as expected, so the rule was reset to allow teams to use only four new tires this evening.

According to Driggers, teams can use any of the used tires that were marked with pink paint on Wednesday night but only bolt on four new tires during the show. It’s up to them if they use the new tires during heat or feature action.

“They have to pick ‘em wisely,” said World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series director Casey Shuman, who is assisting DIRTcar officials throughout the week.

Heat race lineups

(After five-car inversion from points accrued Wednesday; 15 laps; top three transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Mark Whitener, Gregg Satterlee
Row 2: Darrell Lanigan, Chris Ferguson
Row 3: Tim McCreadie, Joseph Joiner
Row 4: Jimmy Mars, Chad Simpson
Row 5: Duane Chamberlain, Ryan King
Row 6: Dustin Nobbe, Gordy Gundaker
Row 7: Caleb Burgess, Scott James
Second heat
Row 1: Michael Chilton, Kyle Bronson
Row 2: Kyle Larson, Jimmy Owens
Row 3: Hudson O'Neal, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 4: Jensen Ford, Mason Zeigler
Row 5: Billy Franklin, Jerry Bowersock
Row 6: Tim Lance, Kyle Lear
Row 7: Jeff Curl, Steve Casebolt
Third heat
Row 1: Dale McDowell, Ryan Gustin
Row 2: Shannon Babb, Devin Moran
Row 3: Kody Evans, Ricky Weiss
Row 4: Casey Noonan, Stormy Scott
Row 5: Jon Hodgkiss, G.R. Smith
Row 6: Mike Provenzano, Dale Markham
x-Bobby Pierce was scheduled to start inside the third row but was disqualified after an apparent altercation between a Pierce crew member and a track worker
Fourth heat
Row 1: Brandon Overton, Scott Bloomquist
Row 2: John Blankenship, Johnny Scott
Row 3: Brandon Sheppard, Ashton Winger
Row 4: Rick Eckert, Robby Hensley
Row 5: Chris Simpson, Travis Stemler
Row 6: Jason Feger, Chris Nash
Row 7: Bryant Dickinson
Fifth heat
Row 1: Tyler Erb, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 2: Mike Marlar, Nick Hoffman
Row 3: Jonathan Davenport, Brian Shirley
Row 4: Jason Papich, Freddie Carpenter
Row 5: Max Blair, Josh Morton
Row 6: Jason Riggs, Kyle Hammer
Row 7: Jimmy Sharpe Jr.
Sixth heat
Row 1: Zack Dohm, Kyle Strickler
Row 2: Chris Madden, Spencer Hughes
Row 3: Shane Clanton, Josh Richards
Row 4: Frank Heckenast Jr., Austin Kirkpatrick
Row 5: Boom Briggs, Garrett Smith
Row 6: Cory Hedgecock, Steven Roberts
Row 7: Michael Page

Thursday's schedule

6 a.m.-6 p.m.: Showers open (front of Lot 2)
7-11 a.m.: Breakfast at turn four concessions
9 a.m.: Turn one camping load-in
10 a.m.: Turn-three race registration opens (pit passes and media credential sign-in)
10 a.m.: Main gate ticket office opens (tickets, pit passes and will call)
10 a.m.: Turn-four ticket office opens (tickets and pit passes)
11 a.m.: All ADA parking opens (permit required)
11 a.m.: Grandstand cleared and secured for grand opening
Noon: Turn-three pit gate opens
Noon: All admission gates/suites/concessions open
Noon-4:30 p.m.: Technical inspection for Late Models
5 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m.: Hot laps
7 p.m.: Opening ceremonies followed by on-track competition
- Heat races
- Consolation races
- 51st annual World 100