BARBERVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 20) — Devin Moran has quickly made himself right at home with Double Down Motorsports.

The 28-year-old standout from Dresden, Ohio, extended his spectacular start with Roger Sellers’s team on Friday at Volusia Speedway Park, capturing the 25-lap World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series feature for his second victory in as many nights during the Sunshine Nationals.

This time Moran seized control much earlier than he did in his triumphant debut the previous evening, grabbing the lead from Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C. — the driver who replaced Moran in the seat of the Tye Twarog Racing No. 9 — on lap eight and never looking back. He survived a furious last-lap challenge from Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., to clinch the $8,000 top prize.

McCreadie finished 0.779 of a second behind in the runner-up spot, followed Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., Hoffman and Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C. Thornton led the race’s first lap and Hoffman paced laps 2-7 before Moran moved in front for good.

“Man, this is awesome,” said Moran, who won Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals points title in each of the last two years driving for Twarog. “For Roger, Double Down Motorsports, Casey (Moses, Sellers’s daughter) and all them … they believed in me and they gave me a chance in this ride and I just want to thank them so much.”

Starting third for the second straight night, Moran fell to fourth at the initial green flag but didn’t take long to regain his footing. He surged past Kyle Strickler of Mooresville, N.C., for third on lap three, snatched second from Thornton on lap six and slid underneath Hoffman to assume command on lap eight just before the race’s second and final caution flag was displayed.

“It’s a short 25-lap race so you pretty much just go from the start,” Moran said of his early aggressiveness in his Longhorn Race Car. “Nick didn’t rail that top on the start (following a lap-seven caution flag) and I about passed him coming off of four, but I didn’t know if it was a jump-start or not so I let off and slid him into one.”

Moran extended his advantage to nearly 2 seconds at one point during the 17-lap run of green-flag action that ended the feature, but his edge shrank in the closing circuits as he negotiated lapped traffic and his “tires started definitely giving away.” His position became even more tenuous when McCreadie lurched ahead of Thornton for second at the white flag and barreled toward Moran, reaching the leader’s rear bumper entering turn three on the final lap.

But McCreadie, 48, lost some traction between turns three and four, allowing Moran to get away just enough to emerge victorious.

“I saw the 39 (McCreadie) on the board right there at the end and I dove down into three really hard and I got caught up behind those lapped cars,” Moran said. “I assumed he was curling right around that bottom there and I was just still too tight. I’ve been too tight since we got this car to be able to circle that bottom and I know Timmy’s really good at that, so that’s kind of why I ran that slider line in three and four, to try and slow down his momentum a little bit.

“Lapped traffic got wild so it was just cool to get across that line first.”

McCreadie ultimately didn’t have enough time to make more than a last-ditch run at Moran. He was ultimately hampered by his starting spot (seventh) and some trouble on a lap-seven restart that slowed his progression forward.

“We were good from the drop,” McCreadie said of his Paylor Motorsports Longhorn car. “(But) out of the top three cars that have been here all week, two of ‘em were in the same heat race together, me and Chris (Madden), and he knows what he’s doing and he beat me into (turn) one (to win the prelim) and that started us seventh or eighth or whatever.

“I just had a bad restart (on lap seven) when (Kyle) Strickler and them had a little issue off of four. If I could’ve been in (Max) Blair’s spot for the next restart who knows, but it put me back a row.

“I think we were way better tonight than we were last night, but unfortunately we were in the same (finishing) spot,” he added. “But hey, this place was real racy tonight. The track guys did a phenomenal job. This is what makes us shine, when we see slick/traction on the bottom. It was just a ton of fun to race.”

The 32-year-old Thornton started from the pole position but couldn’t stay at the front of the pack for more than one circuit. His third-place finish, though, was his second top-five run in as many nights with his SSI Motorsports Longhorn mount.

“I didn’t really know where I needed to be right off the bat,” Thornton said. “I figured the top was gonna be better but I was a little too tight to get up there.”

Two caution flags slowed the event. Mark Whitener brought out the first on lap seven when he slowed with body and suspension damage while Jimmy Owens triggered the second on lap eight when he spun between turns three and four and was towed off with a broken steering rack.

Notes: Moran’s victory was the 11th of his career with the WoO, seventh during Speedweeks and third at Volusia. … Garrett Smith retired from the feature during the lap-seven caution period because of a broken oil pump. … Chris Ferguson started the night in the Big Frog Motorsports No. 58 as a replacement for Scott Bloomquist, who stepped out of the seat reportedly because of a return of numbness in his right foot and leg. After Ferguson failed to qualify, the Rocket car was driven in the feature by Bobby Pierce, who received a provisional spot after his own Longhorn car was sidelined by engine problems. … Pierce, who advanced from 28th to 17th in the feature, plans to swap motors in his No. 32 for Saturday’s $20,000-to-win finale. … New entries on Friday included Daulton Wilson and Jack Riggs. … Ross Robinson withdrew from further Sunshine Nationals competition in protest of the deck-height ruling that cost him a transfer spot in a Thursday heat. The Delaware driver said his next Speedweeks action will be Jan. 26-28’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series weekend at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga.

Feature lineup

(25 laps)
Row 1: Ricky Thornton Jr., Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Devin Moran, Kyle Strickler
Row 3: Chris Madden, Max Blair
Row 4: Tim McCreadie, Tyler Bruening
Row 5: Dennis Erb Jr., Mark Whitener
Row 6: Brian Shirley, Garrett Smith
Row 7: Johnny Scott, Gordy Gundaker
Row 8: Brandon Sheppard, Chase Junghans
Row 9: Brent Larson, Kyle Bronson
Row 10: Daulton Wilson, Ryan Gustin
Row 11: Tanner English, Shane Clanton
Row 12: Frank Heckenast Jr., Boom Briggs
Row 13: Payton Freeman, Cade Dillard
Row 14: Jimmy Owens, Bobby Pierce

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top two advance)
First consolation: Daulton Wilson, Shane Clanton, Todd Cooney, Blair Nothdurft, Chris Ferguson, Logan Martin, Ashton Winger, Jack Riggs, Mike Benedum, Drake Troutman.

Second consolation: Ryan Gustin, Frank Heckenast Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Stewart Friesen, Will Roland, Austin Kirkpatrivk, Stacy Boles, Dustin Walker. Scratched: Blake Spencer.

Third consolation: Tanner English, Boom Briggs, David Breazeale, Cade Dillard, Payton Freeman, Jason Garver, Jordan Koehler, Jeff Choquette. Scratched: Bobby Pierce, Kyle Hardy.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top three advance)
First heat: Chris Madden, Tim McCreadie, Johnny Scott, Daulton Wilson, Shane Clanton, Todd Cooney, Logan Martin, Jack Riggs.

Second heat: Max Blair, Dennis Erb Jr., Brandon Shepard, Chris Ferguson, Blair Nothdurft, Ashton Winger, Mike Benedum, Drake Troutman.

Third heat: Nick Hoffman, Brian Shirley, Brent Larson, Ryan Gustin, Stewart Friesen, Frank Heckenast Jr., Austin Kirkpatrick. Scratched: Blake Spencer.

Fourth heat: Ricky Thornton Jr., Tyler Bruening, Gordy Gundaker, Jimmy Owens, Will Roland, Hudson O’Neal, Stacy Boles, Dustin Walker.

Fifth heat: Kyle Strickler, Mark Whitener, Chase Junghans, Tanner English, Payton Freeman, Boom Briggs, Kyle Hardy. Scratched: Bobby Pierce.

Sixth heat: Devin Moran, Garrett Smith, Kyle Bronson, Cade Dillard, David Breazeale, Jeff Choquette, Jason Garver, Jordan Koehler.

Time trials

Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
First group
Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 15.812
Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 15.859
Brian Shirley (8), Chatham, Ill., 15.861
Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 15.931
Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 15.937
Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 15.966
Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., 16.001
Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., 16.015
Austin Kirkpatrick (2), Harrisburg, N.C., 16.015
Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 16.037
Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., 16.041
Blair Nothdurft (76), Renner, S.D., 16.049
Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 16.050
Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., 16.084
Mike Benedum (25), Salem, W.Va., 16.127
Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, 16.134
Logan Martin (36), West Plains, Mo., 16.160
Chris Ferguson (58), Mount Holly, N.C., 16.242
Stewart Friesen (44), Sprakers, N.Y., 16.324
Todd Cooney (30), Des Moines, Iowa, 16.597
Ashton Winger (12), Hampton, Ga., 16.624
Jack Riggs (81J), Nolensville, Tenn., 16.715
Drake Troutman (7T), Hyndman, Pa., 16.977
Blake Spencer (6s), St. Augustine, Fla., no time
Second group
Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 15.813
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 15.835
Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 15.951
Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 15.984
Tanner English (96v), Benton, Ky., 16.014
Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., 16.020
Will Roland (22), Jasper, Ga., 16.035
Kyle Strickler (8), Mooresville, N.C., 16.039
Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 16.056
Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 16.092
Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 16.221
Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., 16.294
Gordy Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., 16.299
Mark Whitener (5), Middleburg, Fla., 16.382
David Breazeale (54), Four Corners, Miss., 16.383
Stacy Boles (11B), Clinton, Tenn., 16.384
Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., 16.487
Jordan Koehler (114), Mount Airy, N.C., 16.551
Hudson O’Neal (1), Martinsville, Ind., 16.612
Kyle Hardy (00), Stephens City, Va., 16.627
Jeff Choquette (89), Loxahatchee, Fla., 16.659
Dustin Walker (14w), Polk, Mo., 16.833
Payton Freeman (22), Commerce, Ga., 17.107
Jason Garver (01), Starke, Fla., 17.524