ROSSBURG, Ohio — After Donnie Moran’s stellar Eldora Speedway career of four World 100 victories, a Dream triumph and the Eldora Million, much has been made of the fact that his talented son Devin Moran had never made his way to victory lane at the legendary half-mile oval.

Not surprisingly, the younger Moran’s first triumph at Eldora after leading all 50 laps of Friday’s Dream XXX preliminary feature came with a fitting reaction from the 29-year-old driver from Dresden, Ohio.

"It's about damn time!” the tearful winner proclaimed to a home-state crowd with a Moran visiting victory lane for the first time since 2001.

Triggering a celebration that continued when fans flooded Moran’s pit area to congratulate him long after the checkered flag flew, Moran turned back a mid-race challenge from Jonathan Davenport and pulled away for a $25,000 payday, a precursor to Saturday’s $100,030-to-win Dream that he’ll chase with Thursday’s prelim winner Ricky Thornton Jr. among others. Before that, Moran had some celebrating to do at the Earl Baltes-founded track where the Moran name is woven into the history from Donnie’s dominating 100-lappers to his sister Savanna’s duties as a longtime Miss Eldora.

“We’re finally up here! It's taken so long,” said Moran, who celebrated on the victory stage with Dad, Mom, siblings and more. “From 2001 to now has been a long time.”

Moran took the checkers 2.431 seconds ahead of fast qualifier Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who spent most of the second half of the race battling for second place with third-finishing Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Blairsville, Ga.’s Davenport, who pressured Moran before the race’s lone caution on lap 21 but slipped back to finish fourth.

On the restart just before halfway, Davenport made a high-side run at Moran down the backstretch with Moran and Davenport making slight contact before entering turn three. Moran rebuilt the two-second margin he held early in the race and stretched it further in closing out the popular victory.

“It obviously wasn't like the most exciting race in the world, but I wasn’t going to let anything stop me,” Moran said. “I was trying to block a little bit on the restart, because I know J.D. was going to rip the top. I felt like my car was really good. This win is 100 percent because of my crew guys.”

Moran was determined to maintain the lead on the restart, keeping the all important “clean air” in fending off Davenport, last year’s Dream winner and a favorite this year.

"I knew if he got out in front,” Moran said, “it was gonna be hard to get back by him.”

After securing the runner-up spot amid the position-swapping battle with Sheppard and Davenport, the 58-year-old McDowell knows he’ll be battling an array of younger drivers again Saturday.

"I mean, these guys, they make it tough,” said the runner-up who started inside the second row. “You’re chasing balance on the car. I’m sure they’ll do a little bit of track prep, and that'll throw us a little bit of curve so hopefully we can get it up front. It should be a great show for the fans. I mean, they’re racing all over the place.”

Sheppard improved four positions in his Longhorn Chassis factory car.

“We've been really good ever since we unloaded this thing this week and the team has been working really hard in the past couple of months here to get some consistency in this thing. We're starting to get there. We’ve just really had our heads down and working hard,” he said. "I think we had a pretty good car there. I was fairly maneuverable. I knocked the deck out a little bit earlier than I would have liked to, but even after that, I could kind of roll around the middle-bottom there a little bit if I needed. So I’m excited for tomorrow to see what we’ve got.”

The race’s lone slowdown came when Ryan Gustin blew a right-rear tire and slowed with significant rear body damage on the 21st lap.

Notes: The feature began at 9:30 p.m. and ended 20 minutes later. … Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., started 23rd and finished ninth. … Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., rallied from his 18th starting spot to round out the top 10. … Dale McDowell’s fast time made him the Dream’s overall fast qualifier for the first time.

Feature lineup

(50 laps)

Row 1: Devin Moran, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Dale McDowell, Garrett Smith
Row 3: Trent Ivey, Jonathan Davenport
Row 4: Brandon Sheppard, Mike Marlar
Row 5: Stormy Scott, Ryan Gustin
Row 6: Nick Hoffman, Ashton Winger
Row 7: Ricky Weiss, Garrett Alberson
Row 8: Billy Moyer, Brian Shirley
Row 9: Austin Smith, Devin Gilpin
Row 10: Ryan Payne, Cody Overton
Row 11: Spencer Hughes, Jason Feger
Row 12: Jimmy Owens, Jason Jameson

Consolation race results

(12 laps; top two transfer)

First consolation: Spencer Hughes, Jimmy Owens, Tim Lance, Dustin Nobbe, Seth Daniels, Tyler Millwood, John Henderson, Jeff Babcock, Allen Styck, Casey Noonan, Jake Elam, David McCoy, Mason Zeigler, Haiden Cowan, Jensen Ford. Scratched: Jeff Robertson.

Second consolation: Jason Feger, Jason Jameson, Zack Dohm, Austin Kirkpatrick, Max McLaughlin, Terry Rushlow, Daniel Hilsabeck, Mike Provenzano, Andrew Reaume, Trey Mills, Christian Hanger, Brandon Moore, Freddie Carpenter, Billy Denby, Mike Myers.

Consolation race lineups

(12 laps; top two transfer)
First consolation
Row 1: Spencer Hughes, John Henderson
Row 2: Jimmy Owens, Seth Daniels
Row 3: Tim Lance, Jeff Babcock
Row 4: Jensen Ford, David McCoy
Row 5: Dustin Nobbe, Allen Styck
Row 6: Mason Zeigler, Tyler Millwood
Row 7: Haiden Cowan, Casey Noonan
Row 8: Jake Elam, Jeff Robertson
Second consolation
Row 1: Jason Feger, Austin Kirkpatrick
Row 2: Zack Dohm, Daniel Hilsabeck
Row 3: Max McLaughlin, Terry Rushlow
Row 4: Freddie Carpenter, Andrew Reaume
Row 5: Jason Jameson, Mike Provenzano
Row 6: Brandon Moore, Christian Hanger
Row 7: Trey Mills, Mike Myers
Row 8: Billy Denby

Heat race notes

Tyler Erb turned back a lap-four restart challenge from Dale McDowell en route to capturing the first heat. … The first heat ended with two last-lap passes: Ryan Gustin overtook McDowell to finish second and Cody Overton slipped past Spencer Hughes for fifth. … After changing his car’s radiator following time trials, Hughes experienced a rough heat run. He started slow off the outside pole at the original green flag, slapped the turn-two wall and fell to the back of the pack, but a caution flag for Jake Elam put him back on the front row for the complete restart before he ultimately missed transferring by one spot. … Jensen Ford and Dustin Nobbe tangled and spun off turn four to trigger a caution on lap four on the first heat. … Executing a slider through turns three and four on the opening lap of Heat 2, Trent Ivey overtook Ashton Winger and Brandon Sheppard to take command and roll to victory. “Go big or go home baby,” Ivey said of his aggressive move. “We didn’t come here to run second.” … Sheppard was bounced around several times and scraped the turn-two wall on lap four on his way to a fourth-place finish. … Upstart Ryan Payne advanced from the ninth starting spot in Heat 2 to finish fifth and transfer to the feature in his Eldora debut. … Defending Dream champion Jonathan Davenport overtook Stormy Scott for the lead on lap three and went on to win the the third heat by 2.512 seconds over the New Mexico driver. “It’s OK,” Davenport said of his Eldora car he completely reworked for 2024 action. “We still got a little work to do. I’m not happy with it yet.” … Jason Jameson slowed on lap seven to bring out a caution in Heat 3 due to nose damage on his Rattliff Motorsports car. … Mike Marlar dominated the fourth heat, beating Devin Moran by 2.276 seconds. … Moran grabbed second on lap two when he surged ahead of Nick Hoffman, who scraped the backstretch wall as he ran out of room with Moran sliding up the track. … Two-time Dream winner Billy Moyer picked up two spots in the final three circuits to finish fourth in Heat 4. … The final heat race was checkered at 8:28 p.m.

Heat race results

(10 laps; top five transfer)

First heat: Tyler Erb, Ryan Gustin, Dale McDowell, Brian Shirley, Cody Overton, Spencer Hughes, Jimmy Owens, Tim Lance, Jensen Ford, Dustin Nobbe, Mason Zeigler, Haiden Cowan, Jake Elam.

Second heat: Trent Ivey, Ashton Winger, Ricky Weiss, Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Payne, John Henderson, Seth Daniels, Jeff Babcock, David McCoy, Allen Styck, Tyler Millwood, Casey Noonan. Scratched: Jeff Robertson.

Third heat: Jonathan Davenport, Stormy Scott, Garrett Smith, Garrett Alberson, Devin Gilpin, Jason Feger, Zack Dohm, Max McLaughlin, Freddie Carpenter, Jason Jameson, Brandon Moore, Trey Mills, Billy Denby.

Fourth heat: Mike Marlar, Devin Moran, Nick Hoffman, Billy Moyer, Austin Smith, Daniel Hilsabeck, Austin Kirkpatrick, Terry Rushlow, Andrew Reaume, Mike Provenzano, Christian Hanger, Mike Myers.

Heat race lineups

(10 laps; top five transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Ryan Gustin, Spencer Hughes
Row 2: Tyler Erb, Dale McDowell
Row 3: Tim Lance, Haiden, Cowan
Row 4: Brian Shirley, Dustin Nobbe
Row 5: Jensen Ford, Cody Overton
Row 6: Jimmy Owens, Mason Zeigler
Row 7: Jake Elam
Second heat
Row 1: Ashton Winger, Allen Styck
Row 2: Trent Ivey, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Ricky Weiss, John Henderson
Row 4: David McCoy, Tyler Millwood
Row 5: Ryan Payne, Seth Daniels
Row 6: Jeff Babcock, Seth Daniels
Row 7: Jeff Robertson
Third heat
Row 1: Stormy Scott, Jonathan Davenport
Row 2: Zack Dohm, Garrett Smith
Row 3: Jason Jameson, Garrett Alberson
Row 4: Jason Feger, Max McLaughlin
Row 5: Devin Gilpin, Freddie Carpenter
Row 6: Trey Mills, Brandon Moore
Row 7: Billy Denby
Fourth heat
Row 1: Mike Marlar, Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Austin Kirkpatrick, Devin Moran
Row 3: Daniel Hilsabeck, Billy Moyer
Row 4: Austin Smith, Mike Provenzano
Row 5: Christian Hanger, Andrew Reaume
Row 6: Mike Myers, Terry Rushlow

Pre-qualifying notes

Friday’s weather has been spectacular: partly sunny skies, a high in the upper 70s with a steady breeze and no rain in the forecast. … Fifty-one cars are ready for action in the second preliminary program, putting the total car count for the 2024 Dream at 100 entries. It’s second time since 2011 that the field has hit the century mark; there were 114 cars in 2022 when the event was run in conjunction with the Eldora Million. … Two drivers not on the pre-entry list are Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., and Jeff Babcock of Wayne, Ohio. … To maintain consistency with Thursday’s preliminary show, Friday’s feature lineup will be determined using the same two-car inversion that was employed last night by a spin of the numbered wheel. The top two drivers in event points after time trials and heats will share the front row for the 50-lap A-main with the next 18 starters aligning straight up in the order they sit in the event points. … Early in Wednesday’s hot laps before the postponement of the Castrol FloRacing Night in America card, an unidentified device was causing static on the primary Raceiver channel, forcing race director Matt Curl to switch to a secondary channel and alert drivers to switch to that frequency for the remainder of the weekend. Curl suspects it was an accidental incident and not someone trying to hijack one-way radio communication to drivers. … Former Dream winners in Friday’s field are Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga. (two), Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark. (two), Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., and Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill. … Two relatives of former Dream victors are also Friday competitors: Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio (son of 1996 winner Donnie Moran) and Cody Overton (younger brother of three-time winner Brandon Overton). … Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., and his crew spent the entirety of Friday changing the engine in his Longhorn Chassis after he was knocked from the lead on lap 38 of Thursday’s feature because of a powerplant meltdown resulting from his oil cooler cover being left on. His team unloaded his backup car to transfer the carburetor and some oil system parts to his primary machine. … World of Outlaws rookie Max McLaughlin of Mooresville, N.C., is making his Dream debut in a G.R. Smith-owned car after experiencing a scare during Wednesday’s brief hot-lap session. He rolled into the pit area with steam wafting from underneath his machine’s hood, but his crew found that it was only the result of coolant overflow blowing back on the headers. … Zack Dohm of Cross Lanes, W.Va., is racing one day after his son, Will, celebrated his sixth birthday. The youngster received several small diecast Late Model cars from fellow racers — Bobby Pierce, Chris Madden, Devin Moran — while walking the souvenir area and Zack and his wife, Veronica, had a postrace party in the pits for their little guy that offered cupcakes to attendees.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)

1. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., 15.060
2. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., 15.093
3. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 15.139
4. Trent Ivey (88), Union, S.C., 15.215
5. Spencer Hughes (19m), Meridian, Miss., 15.265
6. Allen Styck (11), Americus, Ga., 15.301
7. Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, 15.307
8. Ashton Winger (12), Hampton, Ga., 15.343
9. Tim Lance (48), Brimfield, Ill., 15.377
10. Ricky Weiss (7), Headingley, Manitoba, 15.395
11. Haiden Cowan (14), Rincon, Ga., 15.561
12. John Henderson (2x), Aiken, S.C., 15.573
13. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 15.583
14. David McCoy (187), Franklin, N.C., 15.680
15. Dustin Nobbe (5N), Batesville, Ind., 15.736
16. Tyler Millwood (31), Kingston, Ga., 15.767
17. Jensen Ford (83), Johnson City, Tenn., 15.796
18. Ryan Payne (12), Salem, W.Va., 15.880
19. Cody Overton (97), Evans, Ga., 15.902
20. Seth Daniels (s21), Jackson, Ohio, 15.933
21. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 15.974
22. Jeff Babcock (9P), Wayne, Ohio, 15.978
23. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa., 16.111
24. Casey Noonan (1N), Sylvania, Ohio, 16.352
25. Jake Elam (24), Senatobia, Miss., 16.601
26. Jeff Robertson (P3), Defiance, Ohio, no time

Group B

1. Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., 15.319
2. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 15.428
3. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 15.467
4. Zack Dohm (17), Cross Lanes, W.Va., 15.506
5. Austin Kirkpatrick (11), Harrisburg, N.C., 15.646
6. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 15.690
7. Stormy Scott (2s), Las Cruces, N.M., 15.694
8. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 15.711
9. Jason Jameson (12), Lawrenceburg, Ind., 15.730
10. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 15.747
11. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 15.773
12. Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., 15.805
13. Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 15.841
14. Austin Smith (11), Cedartown, Ga., 15.934
15. Max McLaughlin (22*), Mooresville, N.C., 15.969
16. Mike Provenzano (M27), Marseilles, Ill., 15.990
17. Devin Gilpin (1G), Columbus, Ind., 16.079
18. Christian Hanger (29), Winchester, Tenn., 16.158
19. Freddie Carpenter (c4), Parkersburg, W.Va., 16.193
20. Andrew Reaume (88), Blenheim, Ontario, 16.295
21. Trey Mills (14jr), St. Augustine, Fla., 16.421
22. Mike Myers (48), Ruleville, Miss., 16.597
23. Brandon Moore (39), Bryan, Ohio, 16.774
24. Terry Rushlow (63), Holland, Ohio, 16.965
25. Billy Denby (45), Tullahoma, Tenn., 17.619

Friday’s schedule

(All times local, subject to change)
11 a.m.: Ticket office opens (ticket and pit pass sales)
Noon: Pits open
12:30 p.m.: Technical inspection begins
1 p.m.: Grounds cleared and secured
2 p.m.: All gates, suites and concessions open
5 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting (infield)
6:30 p.m.: Hot laps followed by time trials
8 p.m.: Opening ceremonies
Competition
- Late Model heats (10 laps)
- Late Model consolations (12 laps)
- Late Model feature (50 laps)
Postrace: Live music in Fan Zone