BARBERVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 24) — Three decades into his racing career, Tim McCreadie doesn’t like to waste time putting his first victory of the season on the board.

So after the 51-year-old star from Watertown, N.Y., captured Saturday’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned Sunshine Nationals finale at Volusia Speedway Park in his third start of the 2026 season, he was looking at everything to come as gravy.

“When you race as long as I have, you want to make sure you get at least one (win),” McCreadie said. “When you can get it done this early, the rest is all cake and ice cream after that, that’s for sure.”

McCreadie, who needed 14 starts to record the first of his six WoO triumphs last year, was in vintage form in the 50-lap feature. Marching forward from the 10th starting spot, he grabbed the lead from Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, on lap 21 and fought off Gustin’s brief comeback bid following a lap-33 restart to secure the $20,000 top prize.

Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., wrestled second place from Gustin on lap 38 and finished in the runner-up spot, 1.687 seconds behind McCreadie. Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., placed third after overtaking Gustin on lap 42, leaving the polesitting Gustin, who led laps 1-20 and 34-35, to settle for fourth. Drake Troutman of Hyndman, Pa., completed the top five after starting 12th.

McCreadie’s 40th career WoO victory — bringing him back into a tie for seventh on the tour’s all-time win list with Thursday’s Sunshine Nationals winner Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C. — culminated a season-opening weekend that saw him rebound from a subpar 14th-place in Thursday’s 35-lapper.

“Practice night (Wednesday) was amazing. Testing here was amazing,” McCreadie said. “We were off the first night and just kind of went to work. Gotta thank everybody that works on this. It’s all hard work.”

After McCreadie’s Briggs Transport Longhorn Chassis came alive with his third-place finish in Friday’s A-main, he broke through completely in the tripleheader’s richest event. But after appearing ready to set sail unchallenged once in command on lap 21, he was pushed hard by the outside-running Gustin, who sailed aroundt the top of the half-mile oval to surge ahead of McCreadie on lap 34.

McCreadie calmly stuck to the bottom lane, however, to regain control on lap 35 and then kept the competition at bay over the remaining distance.

“This place is different and you got to build a balance,” McCreadie said. “Last night I couldn’t steer in the bottom, even though I was there the whole time, and we worked on that tonight and the track kind of came to us.

“I felt like I was sitting duck (on the lap-33 restart), but I moved back to the middle and I didn’t hear nobody anymore so it must have been good.”

McCreadie’s victory was the 11th of his career in Dirt Late Model action at Volusia. It was his third in WoO action at the track, where he won his first-ever WoO event in 2005 and also scored a victory in ’18.

While Sheppard wasn’t able to seriously threaten McCreadie after he regained second place from Gustin on lap 38, the bridesmaid run in the Rocket Chassis house car gave him the Sunshine Nationals points title. He finished third in the opener and fourth in Friday’s feature.

“I think most of it is that we had a really fast race car all weekend,” said Sheppard, who ran second for laps 27-33 before briefly losing the spot to Gustin. “We were really contemplating putting a 3 (compound right-rear tire) on tonight and we didn’t just because we’d been so good around the bottom and been so maneuverable in the race even with a soft tire on. The bottom just never quits throwing crumbs out on the track, so it really never hurts the tire, at least on our car anyway.

“Just super thankful to have a really good start to my Speedweeks, especially after as bad as my Arizona (Wild West Shootout performance) was. I’m pretty embarrassed about that, but, you know, all in all we had some bad luck (running his family-owned car) and hopefully we got it out of the way early in January.

“My confidence is really high right now, especially in my team in this race car,” he added. “I told the guys at the end of the year last year that I was really looking forward to coming back and starting the year off strong and seeing what we could do. We’ve shown a lot of speed this weekend and I think that they know we’re here anyway.”

The race was slowed by four cautions, the first for a lap-12 spin by Dustin Sorensen, who continued until getting caught up in the next incident a lap later when Brent Larson spun down the backstretch, collecting Sorensen and Eli Johnson. Larson and Johnson retired while Sorensen finished 18th, the final starter to complete 50 laps.

Kyle Bronson slowed from 13th with a shredded right-rear tire on the 33rd lap to draw a caution flag. He changed the tire but pulled off with eight laps remaining.

Mark Whitener triggered the final caution on lap 40 when he slowed with a flat right-rear tire.

Feature lineup

(50 laps)

Row 1: Ryan Gustin, Brandon Overton
Row 2: Bobby Pierce, Chris Madden
Row 3: Hudson O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard
Row 4: Dennis Erb Jr., Daulton Wilson
Row 5: Mark Whitener, Tim McCreadie
Row 6: Kyle Bronson, Drake Troutman
Row 7: Allen Styck, Brent Larson
Row 8: Logan Zarin, Donald McIntosh
Row 9: Josh Rice, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 10: Tristan Chamberlain, Nick Hoffman
Row 11: Cody Overton, Jordan Koehler
Row 12: Dustin Sorensen, Jake Timm
Row 13: Tyler Erb, Trey Mills
Row 14: Eli Johnson

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Josh Rice, Tristan Chamberlain, Cody Overton, Tyler Erb, Clay Stuckey, Jackson Hise, Trey Mills, Beckham Malone, Blair Nothdurft, Matthew Larson, Jason Riggs, Todd Morrow, Dustin Sorensen. Scratched: Cory Hedgecock.

Second consolation: Ricky Thornton Jr., Nick Hoffman, Jordan Koehler, Boom Briggs, Tyler Wyant, Michael Leach, Eli Johnson, Stacy Boles, Glenn Styres, Max Blair, Jake Timm. Scratched: Ethan Dotson, Kyle Strickler, Dale McDowell.

Heat race recap

Brandon Overton dominated the first heat race, leading all eight laps from the pole and crossing the line 1.150 seconds ahead of Friday’s feature winner Hudson O’Neal, who trailed Overton the entire way. Fourth-starting Mark Whitener held third the entire distance with Allen Styck hanging on for fourth, qualifying for his first career World of Outlaws main event. Josh Rice and Tyler Erb were among notable non-transfers and will need to qualify through one of the night’s consolations. … Third-starting Bobby Pierce passed early leader Daulton Wilson on the fifth lap and paced the final four circuits to win heat two by 1.460 seconds over Wilson, who led the opening four laps from the pole. Fourth-starting Kyle Bronson briefly held the runner-up spot before settling in third and Logan Zarin held on for the fourth and final transfer position into Saturday’s 50-lap Sunshine Nationals finale. The night’s first yellow flag flew on the third lap when Dustin Sorensen and Jackson Hise made contact exiting turn four, sending Sorensen spinning and making light contact with the inside wall; Sorensen continued to finish 10th and will need to qualify through a consolation. … Second-starting Ryan Gustin launched off the outside pole and led the entire distance in winning the night’s third heat, taking the checkers 2.120 ahead of polesitter Dennis Erb Jr., who trailed Gustin all the way. Tim McCreadie and Brent Larson held serve in rounding out the top-four finishers. Ricky Thornton Jr. challenged Larson in the closing stages, settling for fifth and will need to transfer through a consolation. Ethan Dotson and Kyle Strickler made contact after the checkers, sending Strickler spinning down the backstretch on the race's cool down lap; he needed a tow back to the pits. The lone caution came on the opening lap when Jake Timm and Max Blair made contact, sending Timm spinning at the exit of turn two; Timm continued and was credited 11th. … Chris Madden led all eight laps from the pole to win the fourth and final heat race by 3.257 seconds over third-starting Brandon Sheppard, who took second from Drake Troutman on the third lap, relegating Troutman to finish third. Dale McDowell slowed from fourth on the seventh lap and retired, handing the final transfer position to eighth-starting Donald McIntosh, who held off Nick Hoffman and beat him by 0.379 of a second at the line.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Brandon Overton, Hudson O'Neal, Mark Whitener, Allen Styck, Josh Rice, Tyler Erb, Matthew Larson, Clay Stuckey, Trey Mills, Jason Riggs, Cory Hedgecock.

Second heat: Bobby Pierce, Daulton Wilson, Kyle Bronson, Logan Zarin, Tristan Chamberlain, Jackon Hise, Beckham Malone, Cody Overton, Blair Nothdurft, Dustin Sorensen, Todd Morrow.

Third heat: Ryan Gustin, Dennis Erb Jr., Tim McCreadie, Brent Larson, Ricky Thornton Jr., Ethan Dotson, Kyle Strickler, Boom Briggs, Max Blair, Stacy Boles, Jake Timm.

Fourth heat: Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard, Drake Troutman, Donald McIntosh, Nick Hoffman, Jordan Koehler, Tyler Wyant, Michael Leach, Eli Johnson, Glenn Styres, Dale McDowell.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 15.294
2. Daulton Wilson (58v), Fayetteville, N.C., 15.666
3. Hudson O’Neal (6), Martinsville, Ind., 15.703
4. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 15.860
5. Allen Styck (11s), Americus, Ga., 15.934
6. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 15.948
7. Mark Whitener (5), Middleburg, Fla., 15.983
8. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 16.001
9. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 16.006
10. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 16.010
11. Clay Stuckey (15), Shreveport, La., 16.029
12. Beckham Malone (23), Rock Hill, S.C., 16.053
13. Matthew Larson (8L), Lake Elmo, Minn., 16.117
14. Jackson Hise (388), Ocala, Fla., 16.159
15. Josh Rice (11R), Crittenden, Ky., 16.175
16. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., 16.220
17. Trey Mills (14), St. Augustine, Fla., 16.384
18. Todd Morrow (T1), Penton, Ala., 16.400
19. Cory Hedgecock (79), Loudon, Tenn., 16.508
20. Blair Nothdurft (76n), Renner, S.D., 16.629
21. Jason Riggs (81), College Grove, Tenn., no time
22. Cody Overton (97), Evans, Ga., no time
Group B
1. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 15.552
2. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 15.579
3. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 15.608
4. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., 15.702
5. Tim McCreadie (9m), Watertown, N.Y., 15.713
6. Brandon Sheppard (1s), New Berlin, Ill., 15.719
7. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 15.725
8. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., 15.728
9. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 15.759
10. Jordan Koehler (114), Mount Airy, N.C., 15.771
11. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., 15.833
12. Tyler Wyant (24), Oil City, Pa., 15.959
13. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 15.961
14. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 15.989
15. Kyle Strickler (8), Mooresville, N.C., 16.081
16. Donald McIntosh (7m), Dawsonville, Ga., 16.095
17. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 16.254
18. Michael Leach (09), Sun River, Mont., 16.386
19. Jake Timm (49), Winona, Minn., 16.503
20. Eli Johnson (55E), Clewiston, Fla., 16.643
21. Stacy Boles (11B), Clinton, Tenn., 16.694
22. Glenn Styres (0), Ohsweken, Ontario, 17.469

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
Noon - Pits open
3 p.m. - Grandstands open
4 p.m. - On-track activity
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- 602 Crate consolations (10 laps)
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- 604 Crate consolations (10 laps)
WoO redraw
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- 602 Crate non-qualifier race (12 laps)
- Super Late Model feature (50 laps)
- 604 Crate non-qualifier race (12 laps)
- 602 Crate feature (20 laps)
- 604 Crate feature (30 laps)