2/24/2026
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Moran Repeats Wieland Winter Nationals Opening Night Win at Ocala
OCALA, FL (February 24, 2026) – Devin Moran repeated his performance from one year ago, capturing the opening night of the 2026 Wieland Winter Nationals at Ocala Speedway on Tuesday night. The caution-free 30-lap feature took just eight minutes to complete.
Moran, the defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion, took the lead on lap 14 from race-long leader Brandon Sheppard and went on to pace the final 16 circuits, earning his fourth career victory at Ocala.
Sheppard, who was seeking his first Ocala win since 2017, finished second, followed by Clay Harris, Brandon Overton, and Hudson O’Neal.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 26th time in his career, Moran earned $7,000 for the win.
“No, honestly, Sheppy took off hard there. The dirt’s not hard, but it’s definitely a little gritty. I feel like you build a little bit of heat, so I was just trying to bide my time,” Moran said. “I know how this place is when you get to lapped traffic, and if you can maneuver, you’re going to be really good. My guys provided me with a Longhorn Chassis that could move anywhere on the race track, on either end. So, it was really cool.”
Regarding his second win of the season — both coming in caution-free features — Moran discussed his approach to long green-flag runs.
“Honestly, I’ve always been better on long green-flag runs. I’m able to find a rhythm and places on the track where I can make speed, and that’s what I did the whole race,” he said. “When you have a car you can maneuver through traffic, it’s so fun. If you have one you can’t, it just makes it tough. Bubba (Clem) and those guys did a great job giving us a track you could move around on. I just love being in Florida for the month.”
Sheppard, who set overall fast time and won his heat race, was looking to complete a clean sweep of the night but settled for the runner-up finish.
“I think we had a really fast car capable of winning the race,” Sheppard said. “Congrats to Devin — he did a really good job there. I pretty much gave it away in lapped traffic. I was trying to figure out where I could pass those guys because I hadn’t passed anyone yet. I went to the top one lap, and Devin was on me and made the most of it.”
Harris, who scored two podium finishes last week at All-Tech, opened the week at Ocala by rounding out the Big River Steel Podium in third.
“It’s a lot more fun when you can run up front to start off the year,” Harris said. “We definitely struggled last year — switching cars, switching teams — and I didn’t have much crew help at the beginning of the season. We’ve got a good team this year, good equipment, and good cars. I could run the bottom and kind of maintain, but I couldn’t really make the top work — it would just fall off.”
The winning Roger Sellers, Double Down Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Big River Steel, Millwood Plumbing, C&W Trucking, Phillips CPA, Anthony’s Pizza, Bomag, CarSourceAuto.com, Hazen Services, McHugh Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Elliott Farms, Haulin’ Haskell’s, and Pee Wee’s Wrecker Service.
Rounding out the top ten were Brian Shirley, Daulton Wilson, Tyler Erb, Max Blair, and Drake Troutman.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Wieland Winter Nationals
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Ocala Speedway | Ocala, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Brandon Sheppard | 14.040 seconds (Overall)
Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran | 14.227 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[6]; 7. 12M-Ryan Montgomery[8]; 8. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 9. 32J-Justin Weaver[7]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 6-Clay Harris[1]; 2. 111-Max Blair[5]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 5. 81F-Jadon Frame[8]; 6. 13-Dallon Murty[4]; 7. C4-Freddie Carpenter[7]; 8. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 9. (DNS) 12L-Dave Loudin
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 99-Devin Moran[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 4. 77-Preston Luckman[6]; 5. 10-Garrett Smith[9]; 6. 22*-Drake Troutman[5]; 7. 15-Clay Stuckey[7]; 8. 79-Cory Hedgecock[8]; 9. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 58V-Daulton Wilson[1]; 2. 19M-Brenden Smith[2]; 3. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[3]; 4. 11-Josh Rice[6]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[4]; 6. 15K-Cody Overton[8]; 7. 17SR-Brody Smith[5]; 8. 8-Dillon McCowan[7]; 9. 6B-Adam Boyd[9]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 81F-Jadon Frame[2]; 3. 13-Dallon Murty[4]; 4. 12M-Ryan Montgomery[5]; 5. 32J-Justin Weaver[9]; 6. C4-Freddie Carpenter[6]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[7]; 8. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 9. (DNS) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr; 10. (DNS) 12L-Dave Loudin
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[3]; 3. 7-Ross Robinson[2]; 4. 15K-Cody Overton[4]; 5. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 6. 79-Cory Hedgecock[7]; 7. 17SR-Brody Smith[6]; 8. 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 9. 6B-Adam Boyd[10]; 10. (DNS) 93-Carson Ferguson
Wieland Winter Nationals Feature Finish (30 Laps):
Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Earnings
1 - 2 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $7,000
2 - 1 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - $3,500
3 - 3 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $2,000
4 - 6 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - $1,500
5 - 11 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $1,400
6 - 5 - 3S - Brian Shirley - Chatham, IL - $1,300
7 - 4 - 58V - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - $1,200
8 - 9 - 1T - Tyler Erb - New Waverly, TX - $1,100
9 - 7 - 111 - Max Blair - Centerville, PA - $1,000
10 - 20 - 22* - Drake Troutman - Hyndman, PA - $950
11 - 13 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - $900
12 - 8 - 19M - Brenden Smith - Dade City, FL - $850
13 - 10 - 28 - Dennis Erb Jr - Carpentersville, IL - $800
14 - 12 - 76N - Blair Nothdurft - Renner, SD - $750
15 - 17 - 40B - Kyle Bronson - Brandon, FL - $725
16 - 16 - 11 - Josh Rice - Crittenden, KY - $700
17 - 15 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - $700
18 - 14 - 77 - Preston Luckman - Coos Bay, OR - $700
19 - 21 - 13 - Dallon Murty - Chelsea, IA - $650
20 - 18 - 10 - Garrett Smith - Madison, GA - $625
21 - 24 - 15K - Cody Overton - Thomson, GA - $625
22 - 22 - 7 - Ross Robinson - Georgetown, DE - $600
23 - 23 - 12M - Ryan Montgomery - Fairmont, WV - $600
24 - 19 - 81F - Jadon Frame - Winchester, TN - $600
Race Statistics
Entrants: 36
Bilstein Shocks Pole Sitter: Brandon Sheppard
MD3 Lap Leaders: Brandon Sheppard (Laps 1-13); Devin Moran (Laps 14-30)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Devin Moran
Wieland Feature Winner: Devin Moran
Margin of Victory: 1.225 seconds
Hellraizer Jacks Cautions: n/a
MyRacePass Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, Clay Harris
Penske Shocks Top 5: Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, Clay Harris, Brandon Overton, Hudson O’Neal
Behrent’s One-Lap-to-Go Top 3: Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, Clay Harris
PEM 4th Place Feature: Brandon Overton
Diversified Machine 5th Place Feature: Hudson O’Neal
Wilwood Brakes 7th Place Feature: Daulton Wilson
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Garrett Alberson
Velocity Manufacturing 13th Place Feature: Dennis Erb, Jr.
XS Power Batteries 15th Place Feature: Kyle Bronson
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Drake Troutman (Advanced 10 positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Devin Moran (17 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Brandon Overton
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/a
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Brandon Sheppard | Lap 1 | 15.098 seconds
FK Rod Ends Hard Luck Award: Michael Leach
Victory Fuel Power Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Chuck Kimble
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Devin Moran | 14.5937 seconds
Time of Race: 8 minutes 00 seconds
Article Credit: James Essex
Submitted By: Jeremy Shields
