IMPERIAL, Pa. (Oct. 3) — After Saturday’s 38th Pittsburgher, Devin Moran stated what was quite obvious to everyone who watched him absolutely dominate the 70-lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.

“This is the best race car I’ve ever had,” Moran said.

Debuting a new Double Down Motorsports Longhorn Chassis, the 32-year-old star from Dresden, Ohio, was untouchable. He shot off the outside pole to assume command at the initial green and never looked back, running unchallenged for the entire distance to capture the long-running race for the first time in his eighth career feature start. He earned $55,000, including a $5,000 bonus from Sunoco Race Fuels, as he joined his Hall of Fame father Donnie on the event’s winner’s list.

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who started eighth, overtook fellow World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., for second place on a lap-34 restart and held the runner-up spot for the remainder of the race but wasn’t able to threaten Moran. The 52-year-old veteran crossed the finish line 7.502 seconds behind the victor.

Hoffman, who ran second for laps 25-34, settled for third in his first-ever visit to the sprawling half-mile oval. Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., hustled from the 11th starting spot to fourth by lap 40 and stayed in fourth to the checkered flag while polesitter Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., slipped as far back as seventh before rallying late to finish fifth with a lap-69 pass of Sarver, Pa.’s Michael Norris.

Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., who started 22nd, finished sixth to maintain his Lucas Oil Series points lead but experienced a scare when he was lapped by Moran on the 21st circuit. He received the Lucky Dog award to return to the lead lap during a lap-39 caution period and took advantage of the break to salvage a critical top-10 finish.

Sheppard actually increased his lead in the Lucas Oil standings to 40 points over Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., who struggled to a 10th-place finish. But Moran closed within 65 points of Sheppard with three races remaining on the 2026 schedule as he pursues a second straight title on the national tour.

Moran came from behind over the final races of the ’25 season to claim the Lucas Oil championship and appears primed for another surge. His performance at PPMS gave him the look of a driver building momentum.

“We’ve been kind of struggling, like, on consistency all year,” said Moran, who tallied his seventh Lucas Oil Series triumph of ’26 but first since his $50,000 win in June 27’s Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. “Just a great feeling to come out here … this is a place that really shows you your problems with your race car. Tonight, we didn’t have too many of them.”

Moran entered Saturday’s action feeling very good about his chances — and not merely because over the past three years he won two Pittsburgher preliminary features (2024 and ’25) and registered finishes in the finale of second in ’23 and ’24 and third last season.

“I knew two days ago” that the new car was very stout, Moran remarked. “When we were testing at Muskingum County Speedway (his family’s track in Zanesville, Ohio), we had Keith Berner coming down with AfterBurner (performance), and then (crew chief) Chuck (Kimble) and my crew guys, my dad was there … these guys work their asses off.

“Longhorn Chassis, they’re on the top of the Late Model world for a reason. Steve Arpen, Kevin Rumley, Matt Langston, everybody down at Longhorn, they worked their tails off … there are so many good people down there, and this (win) right here proves it.”

Moran was thrilled to finally break through in PPMS’s marquee event, especially in a season where he also won major races in the area at Lernerville and West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells, where he captured Sept. 6’s Hillbilly Hundred.

“Man, I grew up coming here every now and again, and starting my career, I was never any good (at PPMS),” said Moran, whose father won the Pittsburgher in 1986, 1991 and 2005. “And then, the last couple years, we’ve just really figured it out.

“I love coming here. I have an amazing fan base up here. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, all this area, they love me, and I love them, so it’s just awesome to win this race in front of this great crowd.”

The flawless outing had Moran eyeing a repeat Lucas Oil Series title.

“We’re definitely not done yet, I can promise you that,” Moran said of the championship battle. “Sheppy and Hud are great racers, and I’d say me and Ricky got a good points battle going on in this final five races for the Big River Steel Challenge (bonus miniseries). So yeah, we’re not done.

“We’ve got Eldora next week (for two Lucas Oil nights). We had a horrible week at the World (100), probably the worst I’ve had in probably five or six years, so we’re gonna get back, get this baby cleaned up, treat it right, and go to Eldora.”

McCreadie wasn’t able to mount a serious bid for the lead during the race’s second half, but the Briggs Transports team’s driver was pleased with his $20,000 payday for second place. He logged a career-high Pittsburgher finish in his 11th start, besting third-place runs he had in 2021 and ’23.

“We’re trying to get to the front,” McCreadie said. “Hats off to the guys. This car’s real comfortable to drive. It needs a little bit different things than maybe what I know to do, so to run good as we did with feeling the way I did, it’s a positive for our team to hopefully go forward.”

Hoffman, 34, bowed down to Moran’s dominance after finishing third in his Tye Twarog-owned machine.

“We just got our teeth kicked in, our asses kicked, you know?” Hoffman said. “Devin was way better than all of us. His balance of his race car, he could go anywhere, and I wasn’t quite good enough to do that.

“Timmy snookered me on that restart, got clear of me, and I could fight back a little bit but just couldn’t get back to his inside. So yeah, our race car was good, just not good enough.”

Hoffman was very impressed with the PPMS oval.

“I was glad I was able to come out here,” said Hoffman, who joined fellow WoO regulars McCreadie, Bobby Pierce and Logan Zarin at at PPMS after the WoO tour’s weekend doubleheader at Boothill Speedway in Greenwood, La., was rained out. “I watched this race every single year, and this place is just awesome. It just races so well.

“And I was telling (Lucas Oil Series director Rick) Schwallie right there, like, if your race car’s good, like Devin’s … he could have started 12th or 15th in that race and still drove to the lead. You can just go anywhere. So that’s all we look for, you know, as a race car driver, is a racetrack we can spread out and race all over it, and they did a great job.”

Two caution flags slowed the feature. Josh Rice triggered the first slowdown on lap 34 due to a flat right-rear tire while Chris Madden slowed on lap 39 with rearend trouble.

Notes: Moran recorded his 29th career full-field victory on the Lucas Oil Series. … Moran was the third consecutive Pittsburgher winner to lead the entire 70-lap distance, joining Jonathan Davenport’s flag-to-flag efforts in 2024 and ’25. … Michael Norris made two giant leaps during the feature — from the 16th starting spot to the top 10 by lap two, and from ninth to fourth in the two circuits after a lap-34 restart — and appeared headed toward a top-five finish until slipping from fifth to eighth over the final two laps. … Bobby Pierce, making his first start at PPMS since winning the 2018 Pittsburgher in his debut at the track, was never a factor. He qualified through a B-main, went down a lap early in the feature and retired during the lap-39 caution period. … Jonathan Davenport was a non-qualifier in his bid for a third straight Pittsburgher victory. His car sustained heavy nose damage at the start of the first heat when he hit the rear of Drake Troutman’s car as the Pennsylvania driver slid in front of him in turn two; after switching to a backup car, Davenport missed transferring by three spots in the first B-main. … Clay Harris scratched from time trials because of battery issues and used a provisional to start the feature. … The 44-car field was the Pittsburgher’s largest turnout since 2016. … The feature ended at 11:26 p.m.

Feature lineup

(70 laps)

Row 1: Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran
Row 2: Mason Zeigler, Josh Rice
Row 3: Hudson O'Neal, Dan Ebert
Row 4: Nick Hoffman, Tim McCreadie
Row 5: Drake Troutman, Carson Ferguson
Row 6: Max Blair, Logan Zarin
Row 7: Brian Shirley, Brandon Overton
Row 8: Chris Madden, Michael Norris
Row 9: Ross Robinson, Alex Ferree
Row 10: Gregg Satterlee, Bobby Pierce
Row 11: Kyle Bronson, Brandon Sheppard
Row 12: Garrett Alberson, Clay Harris
Row 13: Dillon McCowan, Daniel Hilsabeck

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Ross Robinson, Gregg Satterlee, Kyle Bronson, Colton Flinner, Dillon McCowan, Jonathan Davenport, Jared Miley, Brenden Smith, Tyler Wyant, Clay Harris, Brody Smith, Shawn Shoemaker, John Weaver. Scratched: Paul Jablonski.

Second consolation: Alex Ferree, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Levi Yetter, Boom Briggs, Daniel Hilsabeck, Brock Pinkerous, Lane Snook, Dan Angelicchio, Kyle Lukon, Chris Schneider, Jon Hodgkiss, Greg Diehl, Garrett Alberson.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O'Neal, Drake Troutman, Brian Shirley, Dillon McCowan, Kyle Bronson, Gregg Satterlee, Shawn Shoemaker, Tyler Wyant, Jonathan Davenport. Scratched: Paul Jablonski.

Second heat: Mason Zeigler, Nick Hoffman, Max Blair, Chris Madden, Ross Robinson, Brenden Smith, Colton Flinner, Brody Smith, Jared Miley, Clay Harris, John Weaver.

Third heat: Devin Moran, Dan Ebert, Carson Ferguson, Brandon Overton, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Garrett Alberson, Daniel Hilsabeck, Boom Briggs, Dan Angelicchio. Scratched: Chris Schneider.

Fourth heat: Josh Rice, Tim McCreadie, Logan Zarin, Michael Norris, Alex Ferree, Levi Yetter, Lane Snook, Kyle Lukon, Brock Pinkerous, Greg Diehl, Jon Hodgkiss.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 17.924
2. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 17.948
3. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 17.993
4. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa., 18.012
5. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 18.029
6. Nick Hoffman (9H), Mooresville, N.C., 18.102
7. Drake Troutman (5T), Hyndman, Pa., 18.285
8. Chris Madden (44m), Gray Court, S.C., 18.330
9. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 18.384
10. Brenden Smith (17ss), Dade City, Fla., 18.433
11. Dillon McCowan (8), Urbana, Mo., 18.476
12. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., 18.520
13. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 18.630
14. Jared Miley (10), Pittsburgh, Pa., 18.709
15. Gregg Satterlee (22G), Indiana, Pa., 18.726
16. Colton Flinner (48F), Allison Park, Pa., 18.828
17. Tyler Wyant (24), Oil City, Pa., 18.918
18. Brody Smith (17sr), Dade City, Fla., 19.244
19. Shawn Shoemaker (44s), Mount Union, Pa., 19.309
20. John Weaver (w3), Commodore, Pa., 20.539
21. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., no time
22. Paul Jablonski (82), Carnegie, Pa., no time
Group B
1. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 18.002
2. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., 18.255
3. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 18.410
4. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 18.418
5. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 18.419
6. Michael Norris (72), Sarver, Pa., 18.467
7. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 18.485
8. Tim McCreadie (9), Watertown, N.Y., 18.591
9. Carson Ferguson (93F), Lincolnton, N.C., 18.592
10. Alex Ferree (1c), Saxonburg, Pa., 18.661
11. Dan Angelicchio (14), Mount Pleasant, Pa., 18.759
12. Brock Pinkerous (555), Ellenville, N.Y., 18.760
13. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 18.811
14. Levi Yetter (10*), Cabot, Pa., 18.844
15. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 18.845
16. Kyle Lukon (184), Burgettstown, Pa., 18.869
17. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 19.119
18. Jon Hodgkiss (69), Pittsburgh, Pa., 19.151
19. Boom Briggs (95), Bear Lake, Pa., 19.157
20. Lane Snook (23), Port Royal, Pa., 19.224
21. Chris Schneider (55), Lower Burrell, Pa., 19.301
22. Greg Diehl (80D), New Cumberland, Pa., 19.537

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
Noon - Pits open
2:15 p.m. - Tech and registration open
3 p.m. - Grandstands open
4:30-5:15 p.m. - Driver autograph session
5:15 p.m. - Tech and registration close
5:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- Crate Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Crate Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Pro stock group qualifying
Opening ceremonies
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Crate Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Pro stock heats (8 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Crate Late Model dash (6 laps)
- Crate Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Feature events
- Pro stocks (15 laps)
- 38th annual Pittsburgher (70 laps)
- Crate Late Models (40 laps)
- Crate Late Model non-qualifiers’ race (20 laps)