BARBERVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 19) — Would moving to a new team dull the Georgia-Florida Speedweeks momentum Devin Moran gained in 2022?

Judging by his opening act of the ’23 campaign with Double Down Motorsports, Moran is picking up right where he left off in the Southeast one year ago.

The 28-year-old standout from Dresden, Ohio, made a victorious debut with Roger Sellers’s operation on Thursday night, gliding by race-long pacesetter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., for the lead on lap 20 en route to capturing the 25-lap World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series season opener at Volusia Speedway Park.

Moran’s $8,000 triumph in the first of three Sunshine Nationals programs at the half-mile oval kicked off a month-long Speedweeks odyssey that will give Dirt Late Model teams the opportunity to run as many as 23 events at six tracks.

Making his first start since Sellers hired him as Hudson O’Neal’s replacement, Moran heeded his new boss’s words of encouragement to aggressively power around the outside lane in seizing control of the race. He bolted from second to fourth following a lap-eight restart and then ran down McCreadie to assume command.

“Well Roger Sellers, he’s been telling me, ‘Run the top all weekend,’ and I’ve been trying to avoid it,” Moran said with a chuckle. “There at the end I was just trying to do what I could to run that.”

Moran mastered two lap-21 restarts with McCreadie breathing down his tailpipes to beat the reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion and feature polesitter by 1.544 seconds. Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., settled for third after starting from the outside pole and ceding second to Moran on lap nine while Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, advanced from 10th to finish fourth and 13th-starter Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., completed the top five.

Moran, who started third in his Longhorn Race Car, wasn’t quick out of the starting gate. He fell to fourth on lap two, but his machine — carrying the iconic No. 99 that his father, Donnie, used throughout his Hall of Fame career and Devin ran for the first half of his — and the racetrack came to him.

“I was just way too tight to run that very top and Timmy was really good up there,” Moran said of the race’s early stages. “I just changed my line up and figured out how to carry as much speed as I could.

“The new dirt they’ve got on this track is kind of like the rest of Florida now, where you can’t really steer, and you gotta be on the gas but you gotta be sideways. I don’t know, I just run really good at these kind of tracks.”

Indeed, Moran’s performance was further evidence of his serious Speedweeks strength he’s developed. Last year he put together arguably one of the best Speedweeks ever, piloting Tye Twarog’s car to three wins — including one at Volusia during the DIRTcar Nationals — seven runner-up finishes, 15 top-five and 18 top-10s in 20 starts.

The only blemishes on Moran’s 2022 Speedweeks ledger came in the first and last races — finishes of 22nd and 12th, both at Volusia — so he’s already ahead of last year’s pace.

“I just want to thank Roger, and Casey, Robbie and Connor (Moses),” Moran said, referring to his car owner and Sellers’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson. “I know (the Moses are) at home watching and they’re excited to come down next week.”

McCreadie, 48, led by nearly a straightaway at one point early in the feature but lost ground as the halfway point was passed. He couldn’t turn back the fleet Moran.

“We missed it on tires,” McCreadie said after leading laps 1-19. “He had a stiffer right-rear than I did and I just got super tight getting in because the more the track started opening up and getting a lip, the more it just started getting stickier and stickier. Sometimes you can make that decision and it just gets you a little neutral getting in so you don’t lose the right-front mid-corner. I tried throwing it in harder and harder and it just made it worse.

“Hat’s off to them guys. We just gotta keep doing what we’re doing. We got a real fast race car … this is a brand new (Paylor Motorsports) Longhorn, first time out of the gate this weekend with it, and it shows a lot of speed.”

The 47-year-old Madden, meanwhile, needed more laps to show his Rocket mount’s full potential.

“We learned a lot tonight,” said Madden, who is planing to chase the WoO title this season. “We definitely made some wrong adjustments there and just got way too tight. I wasn’t able to cut the corner like I wanted to cut the corner and those guys were a little better for awhile.

“I think the last three laps we were really actually starting to come on right there, so it might be a package we run for a long race. Too tight for a short race there.”

Three caution flags slowed the feature, all for cars that stopped on the track with bodywork damage. Jordan Koehler, who qualified for his first-ever WoO A-main in just his fifth career Super Late Model start and first as Jimmy Owens’s teammate, brought out the first caution on lap eight. Two more cautions followed on lap lap 21, first for Will Roland in turn two and then on the restart for Shane Clanton on the homestretch.

Notes: Moran recorded the 10th WoO victory and sixth Speedweeks triumph of his career. … Nick Hoffman, who made his debut driving the Tye Twarog Racing No. 9 vacated by Moran, finished eighth after running third for the race’s first eight circuits. … Defending WoO champion Dennis Erb Jr. pitted to change a right-rear tire during the lap-eight caution period and finished 17th. … Bobby Pierce was running fifth when he retired during the lap-eight caution due to mechanical trouble. … Tanner English, last year’s WoO Rookie of the Year, used a provisional to start the feature after he slapped the turn-two wall during the B-main and his Viper Motorsports car was towed off. He salvaged a 13th-place finish. … Ross Robinson appeared headed to the feature redraw after crossing the finish line second in Heat 2, but he was penalized four positions for failing the post-race droop measurement for deck height. He scratched from competition in the first B-main. … David Breazeale withdrew from further action due to engine problems during qualifying. ...Despite finishing third, Madden ended the night as the WoO points leader thanks to new season-opening procedures instituted by the tour. The 23 drivers who signed contracts and paid "loyalty deposits" were given 300 bonus points, ensuring that the drivers with plans to attempt running the full schedule start ahead of those entrants who are not.

Feature lineup

(25 laps)
Row 1: Tim McCreadie, Chris Madden
Row 2: Devin Moran, Nick Hoffman
Row 3: Frank Heckenast Jr., Bobby Pierce
Row 4: Hudson O’Neal, Max Blair
Row 5: Brian Shirley, Ryan Gustin
Row 6: Jordan Koehler, Shane Clanton
Row 7: Ricky Thornton Jr., Will Roland
Row 8: Brent Larson, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 9: Mark Whitener, Jimmy Owens
Row 10: Kyle Bronson, Payton Freeman
Row 11: Johnny Scott, Cade Dillard
Row 12: Brandon Sheppard, Tanner English
Row 13: Boom Briggs, Gordy Gundaker

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation: Mark Whitener, Kyle Bronson, Johnny Scott, Scott Bloomquist, Gordy Gundaker, Kyle Hardy, Kyle Strickler, Stewart Friesen, Blair Nothdurft, Logan Martin, Austin Kirkpatrick, Mike Benedum, Jason Garver, Boom Briggs. Scratched: Ross Robinson, David Breazeale.

Second consolation: Jimmy Owens, Payton Freeman, Cade Dillard, Brandon Sheppard, Ashton Winger, Chase Junghans, Jeff Choquette, Tyler Bruening, Stacy Boles, Blake Spencer, Dustin Walker, Todd Cooney,  Drake Troutman, Garrett Smith, Tanner English.

Heat race results

(Eight laps, top four transfer)

First heat: Nick Hoffman, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley, Ricky Thornton Jr., Kyle Bronson, Johnny Scott, Mike Benedum, Gordy Gordon, Kyle Hardy, Blair Nothdurft, Jason Garver. Scratched: David Breazeale.

Second heat: Chris Madden, Frank Heckenast, Jordan Koehler, Brent Larson, Mark Whitener, Ross Robinson*, Scott Bloomquist, Stewart Friesen, Kyle Strickler, Boom Briggs, Austin Kirkpatrick, Logan Martin. (Robinson penalized four positions for deck-height violation.)

Third heat: Devin Moran, Hudson O’Neal, Ryan Gustin, Will Roland, Jimmy Owens Cade Dillard, Payton Freeman, Chase Junghans, Jeff Choquette, Stacy Boles, Blake Spencer, Drake Troutman.

Fourth heat: Tim McCreadie, Max Blair, Shane Clanton, Dennis Erb Jr., Todd Cooney, Ashton Winger, Brandon Sheppard, Tanner English, Tyler Bruening, Garrett Smith, Dustin Walker.

Time trials

Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
First group

1. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 15.578
2. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 15.620
3. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 15.645
4. Ross Robinson (7), Georgetown, Del., 15.684
5. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 15.744
6. Jordan Koehler (114), Mount Airy, N.C., 15.766
7. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 15.808
8. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 15.848
9. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 15.887
10. Frank Heckenast Jr. (99jr), Frankfort, Ill., 15.927
11. Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., 15.928
12. Stewart Friesen (44), Sprakers, N.Y., 15.952
13. Mike Benedum (25), Salem, W.Va., 15.954
14. Scott Bloomquist (58), Mooresburg, Tenn., 15.955
15. Blair Nothdurft (76), Renner, S.D., 15.972
16. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 15.985
17. Kyle Hardy (00), Stephens City, Va., 16.127
18. Mark Whitener (5), Middleburg, Fla., 16.131
19. Gordy Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., 16.244
20. Austin Kirkpatrick (2), Harrisburg, N.C., 16.285
21. David Breazeale (54), Four Corners, Miss., 16.326
22. Logan Martin (36), West Plains, Mo., 16.331
23. Jason Garver (01), Starke, Fla., 16.333
24. Kyle Strickler (8), Mooresville, N.C., no time

Second group

1. Devin Moran (9), Dresden, Ohio, 15.507
2. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 15.603
3. Will Roland (22), Jasper, Ga., 15.623
4. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 15.663
5. Hudson O’Neal (1), Martinsville, Ind., 15.732
6. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 15.782
7. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 15.822
8. Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., 15.867
9. Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, 15.875
10. Todd Cooney (30), Des Moines, Iowa, 15.900
11. Jeff Choquette (89), Loxahatchee, Fla., 15.903
12. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., 15.946
13. Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., 15.960
14. Tanner English (96v), Benton, Ky., 15.965
15. Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., 15.981
16. Ashton Winger (12), Hampton, Ga., 16.054
17. Payton Freeman (F1), Commerce, Ga., 16.071
18. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 16.126
19. Stacy Boles (11B), Clinton, Tenn., 16.164
20. Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., 16.262
21. Blake Spencer (6s), St. Augustine, Fla., 16.408
22. Dustin Walker (14w), Polk, Mo., 16.719
23. Drake Troutman (7T), Hyndman, Pa., 16.937

Thursday's schedule

(All times local)
11 a.m.: Pits open
3:30 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
4 p.m.: Grandstands open
5 p.m.: Hot laps
Qualifying
- World of Outlaws (2 laps)
- 602 Crate Late Models (2 laps)
- 604 CRUSA vs. Pro Late Models (2 laps)
7 p.m.: Opening ceremonies
Heat races
- World of Outlaws (8 laps)
Qualifying features
- 602 Crate Late Models (15 laps)
- 602 Crate Late Models (15 laps)
Consolation races
- World of Outlaws (10 laps)
Qualifying features
- 604 Crate Late Models (20 laps)
- 604 Crate Late Models (20 laps)
Features
- World of Outlaws (25 laps)
Qualifying features
- 604 Crate Late Models (20 laps)
- 604 Crate Late Models (20 laps)