What won the race: Slipping by Dennis Erb Jr. down the backstretch on a lap-12 restart, fourth-starting Cody Overton of Evans, Ga., led the rest of Friday's 40-lap National 100 opener at East Alabama Motor Speedway. Overton knifed through lapped traffic in the closing laps and beat 16th-starting Mark Whitener by 4.366 seconds for the $10,000 payday, his 13th overall feature win of the 2026 season.

Quotable: "The (new) track (surface) was awesome. Man I hate it for Wil (Herrington)," Overton said. "Me and him got into it, of course everybody on Facebook and the world is gonna know, we don’t get along the best. But, that (lap-four spin) was 100 percent my fault. I knew better than that. I should be really happy about this, but I’m kinda disappointed at the same time that I even did something that dumb."

Key notes: Overton muscled his way by Wil Herrington on the fourth lap, with resulting contact sending Herrington spinning in turn one and drawing the race's third caution; Herrington, who led the previous lap, showed displeasure with Overton under yellow and continued until retiring on lap 21. ... Overton was largely unchallenged over the final 29 laps and notched his sixth feature win over his last eight starts dating back to Sept. 19's WISSOTA 100 at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn. ... Sticking primarily to the bottom line, Mark Whitener prevailed in finishing second after a back-and-forth battle with Ryan Gustin over the final 15 circuits; Gustin, who shaved two seconds off Overton's lead from laps 26-31, settled for third. ... Jimmy Owens, fresh off an Oct. 22 FloRacing Night in America Series win at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., took fifth from Ethan Dotson on lap 33, dropping Dotson to sixth. ... The third-starting Dotson overcame contact with Richie Stephens that sent him pitside with a flat left-rear tire on the opening lap. ... Brody Smith climbed 12 spots to place seventh. ... Brandon Overton finished eighth after tagging the field aboard a backup car. ... Polesitter Brenden Smith led the opening lap before fading to finish ninth as the final starter to complete 40 laps. ... Dennis Erb Jr. led twice for nine laps (2, 4-11) before lap-12 contact with a slowing Griffin Smith resulted in heavy nose damage, leaving him in 12th. ... Spencer Hughes retired from 14th on lap 28 aboard Shane Clanton's No. 25 Capital Race Car. ... The race was slowed by seven cautions in the first 21 laps, most notably for an opening-lap tangle involving Brandon Overton, Brody Smith, Michael Page and Ricky Culpepper; all drivers continued, though Page retired on lap 24. ... Tucker Anderson had a turn-four spin on lap 19 and continued for a couple more laps before retiring. ... Fast qualifier Austin Bloodworth also spun in turn four on the ensuing restart. ... Herrington and Todd Morrow tangled on the next restart for the seventh and final stoppage before pulling off. ... The prelim lasted 40 minutes with 16 starters running at the finish. ... The 53rd annual National 100 wraps up with Saturday's 60-lap, $25,000-to-win finale.

On the move: Runner-up Mark Whitener of Middleburg, Fla., started 16th.

Winner's sponsors: Overton’s Triple B Motorsports Longhorn Chassis is sponsored by Collins Brothers Towing, Budweiser, M&M Painting & Construction, The Kicklighter Company General Contractors, Tribble Electric, M&S Concrete, Granite Grading & Hauling, Clearwater Auto Parts, Code Red Rentals & Sales, JT3 Farms, S&S Fishing & Rental, Boswell Oil and Bilstein Shocks.

Current weather: Clear, 70°F

Car count: 33

Fast qualifier: Austin Bloodworth

Time: 17.106 seconds

Polesitter: Brenden Smith

Heat race winners: Brenden Smith, Ethan Dotson, Dennis Erb Jr., Cody Overton

Consolation race winners: Michael Page, Spencer Hughes

Next series race: October 31, East Alabama Motor Speedway (Phenix City, AL) $25,000