Moran Narrowly Edges Thornton in Georgetown Thriller

GEORGETOWN, DE (April 25, 2026) – Devin Moran beat Ricky Thornton Jr. to the finish line by 0.077 seconds to win the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial on Friday night at Georgetown Speedway.

The two drivers entered the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing's third-ever visit to the track tied atop the points, but after the thrilling $20,049 victory, Moran leads Thornton by 10 points heading to Hagerstown Speedway on Saturday night.

Garrett Alberson registered another strong finish, coming from the 12th starting spot to secure a third-place finish in the Big River Steel Podium. Brandon Sheppard, who started 14th, finished fourth, while Hudson O’Neal recovered from a pit stop to finish fifth.

Brandon Overton led the first 21 laps from his outside front row starting spot. Overton, who was seeking his first series win of the season, was in control of the first 21 laps of the race until a restart on lap 22 saw Daulton Wilson bolt to the lead.

Wilson stayed in front until Moran, who had started sixth, swept by him to become the third different leader of the race on lap 18. Moran opened up a sizable lead over the field until a caution with 43 laps complete bunched the field up.

Another caution with 46 laps complete would delay Moran’s trip to victory lane as he was narrowly hanging onto the lead with Thornton applying heavy pressure. With three laps to go in the race, the two fought it out; Moran edged Thornton at the finish line as Thornton tried a cross-move on him that fell just short.

In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 20th time in his career, Moran registered his fifth series win of 2025.

“That took a lot of hard work to win. I was super good early and bidding my time, and I knew I had hard tires. There was a big hole getting into one, and you couldn’t hardly see it until you were right on it. After I got the lead, it was about five laps after I smoked it and demolished the whole right front. I don’t know what’s wrong with it. I was hanging on there at the end without a doubt.”

“I knew he (Thornton) was there. I was trying to enter wide and sweep down the hill. I knew with the front end messed up, it was just too tight to run up there on that cushion, so I just committed myself to the bottom. To be honest, I was just blocking at the end, so that way I could get to the finish line first. I knew it was close because I could see all of the fans standing on the frontstretch. It was a fun race for sure.”

Thornton, who had captured the previous two Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing events at Georgetown, was looking for a clean sweep of the night after setting a new track record in time trials and easily winning his heat race to earn the Victory Fuel pole.

“I don’t know. I tried to dive behind Overton at the start, but I got a bad restart and was buried back to about fifth or sixth. I messed up the next restart and nearly wrecked the field. After that, I started to throw it into the top of one and two. I thought in three and four you could move out, but it was so treacherous that you had to hit it right. I didn’t want that last yellow to come out. I felt like he (Moran) was stuck behind those two lapped cars, and I was able to get all the way to him.”

Alberson, who ran well at Georgetown a year ago finished third this time around.

“We just went back to our notes from a year ago here because we had a similar scenario. I think we went from 10th to third. I think we were on the podium with the same guys there, so I don’t know what it is about this track. I always enjoy coming here, and it always races really well in the feature. I was a little too tight to get in there with them guys, unfortunately, because they were having a heck of a battle. I wish I could have gotten in there to battle with them.”

The winner’s Double Down Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Lazydays RV, C&W Trucking, BOMAG, Anthony’s Pizza, CarSourceAuto, McHugh Chrysler Dodge, Jeep and Ram, Haulin’ Haskell’s Refuel Wellness, Millwood Plumbing, Eibach Springs, VP Fuels, Smoky Mountain Speedway, and Phillips CPA.

Daulton Wilson, Brandon Overton, Rick Eckert, Dan Ebert, and Trevor Collins completed the top ten.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 

Race Summary 

The Melvin L. Joseph Memorial

Friday, April 25, 2025

Georgetown Speedway – Georgetown, DE

Allstar Performance Time Trials

Fast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | 16.868 seconds (overall | new track record)

Fast Time Group B: Brandon Overton | 16.936 seconds

Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 3. 24-Rick Eckert[6]; 4. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 6. 3-Brent Robinson[4]; 7. 0-Dale Hollidge[5]

Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[3]; 5. 55L-Donald Lingo Jr[6]; 6. 01-Matt Glanden[5]; 7. 4S-Danny Snyder[7]

Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 5. 2J-Justin Weaver[6]; 6. 11-Trevor Collins[7]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[4]

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 2. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 4. 4-Amanda Robinson[7]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 6. 93L-Cory Lawler[6]; 7. (DNS) 22G-Gregg Satterlee

Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 60-Dan Ebert[1]; 2. 2J-Justin Weaver[2]; 3. 6-Clay Harris[4]; 4. 55L-Donald Lingo Jr[3]; 5. 3-Brent Robinson[5]; 6. 11-Trevor Collins[6]; 7. 22G-Gregg Satterlee[12]; 8. 01-Matt Glanden[7]; 9. 66C-Matt Cosner[10]; 10. 93L-Cory Lawler[8]; 11. 0-Dale Hollidge[9]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder[11]

The Melvin L. Joseph Memorial Feature Finish (49 Laps):

Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Pay

1 - 6 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $21,149

2 - 1 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - $8,200

3 - 12 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - $5,700

4 - 14 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - $4,700

5 - 11 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $3,800

6 - 3 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - $3,300

7 - 2 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - $3,100

8 - 9 - 24 - Rick Eckert - York, PA - $2,300

9 - 17 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - $3,000

10 - 22 - 11 - Trevor Collins - Seaford, DE - $2,100

11 - 10 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - $2,700

12 - 18 - 2J - Justin Weaver - Clearspring, MD - $1,800

13 - 24 - 66C - Matt Cosner - Ridgeley, WV - $1,600

14 - 16 - 4 - Amanda Robinson - Georgetown, DE - $1,500

15 - 5 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - $2,500

16 - 15 - 79 - Donald McIntosh - Dawsonville, GA - $2,000

17 - 8 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - $1,900

18 - 23 - 93L - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - $1,100

19 - 7 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - $1,700

20 - 13 - 19M - Spencer Hughes - Meridian, MS - $1,700

21 - 19 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $1,700

22 - 21 - 3 - Brent Robinson - Smithfield, VA - $1,000

23 - 4 - 1T - Tyler Erb - New Waverly, TX - $1,000

24 - 20 - 55L - Donald Lingo Jr - Millsboro, DE - $1,000

Race Statistics  

Entrants: 28

Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

MD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton (Laps 1-21); Daulton Wilson (Laps 22-27); Devin Moran (Laps 28-49)

Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Daulton Wilson

Wieland Feature Winner: Devin Moran

Margin of Victory: 0.076 seconds

Coltman Farms Racing Cautions: Carson Ferguson (Lap 7); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 9); Tyler Erb (Lap 9 restart); Carson Ferguson, Spencer Hughes (Lap 21); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 23); Ross Robinson (Lap 26); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 43); Cory Lawler (Lap 46)

Series Provisional: Cory Lawler

Fast Time Provisional: Matt Cosner

Emergency Provisionals: n/a

Track Provisional: n/a

Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Garrett Alberson

Penske Shocks Top 5: Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Garrett Alberson, Brandon Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal

PEM 4th Place Feature: Brandon Sheppard

DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Hudson O’Neal

Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Brandon Overton

Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Daniel Hilsabeck

Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Matt Cosner

MD3 24th Place Feature: Donald Lingo, Jr.

Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Trevor Collins (Advanced 12 Positions) 

MD3 Most Laps Led: Devin Moran (22 Laps)

Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Ricky Thornton, Jr.

Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr. | Devin Moran

O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Dan Ebert

Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Overton (Lap 5 | 17.891 seconds)

Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Devin Moran

Hard Luck Award: Jonathan Davenport

Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Chuck Kimble

ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines

Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis

Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brandon Overton (16.842 seconds)

Time of Race: 43 minutes 31 seconds

Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standing:

Pos - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Points - Pay

1 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - 1890 - $117,749

2 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - 1880 - $84,200

3 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - 1740 - $64,400

4 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - 1645 - $33,550

5 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - 1575 - $31,275

6 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - 1560 - $29,750

7 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - 1500 - $31,125

8 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - 1490 - $26,300

9 - 1T - Tyler Erb - New Waverly, TX - 1445 - $22,700

10 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - 1285 - $13,500

11 - 19M - Spencer Hughes - Meridian, MS - 1280 - $15,400

12 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - 1275 - $19,475

13 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - 1250 - $16,700

14 - 79 - Donald McIntosh - Dawsonville, GA - 1245 - $12,100

15 - 16 - Tyler Bruening - Decorah, IA - 1230 - $25,000

16 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - 1170 - $9,650

17 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - 1125 - $13,525

18 - 93L - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - 1025 - $6,675