PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., doesn't get to race very close to home on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, but he'll take it when the track closest to home gives him a victory.

Leading all but the first of 40 laps, the series points leader stretched his lead after a caution-plagued stretch in the second half of Friday's event at Port Royal Speedway and earned a $12,000 payday. McCreadie notched his fourth victories of the season and 26th of his career in the second of three rounds of Rumble by the River action at the half-mile oval that's four hours from home.

"Any time you can stand in front of Pennsylvania/New York people," McCreadie said in victory lane, "it's a good day, that's for sure."

Reigning series champ Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., finished 2.339 seconds behind at the finish with 10th-starting Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, in third. Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., improved eight spots for his second straight fourth-place finish and Thursday's winner Hudson O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., saw his two-race series win streak end with a fifth-place run.

Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., led the first lap and ran second for 25 laps before his right-front tire went flat during a lap-26 slowdown. Among other drivers falling from contention, Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., gave up the fourth spot just after Davenport's problem with a deflating right-rear tire.

McCreadie felt pressure from Davenport amid traffic just before and after the halfway point, but he stayed in control for his first series victory since July 3 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio.

"I'm still nervous. I was nervous the whole race," McCreadie said after accepting hugs and congratulations from members of his Donald and Gena Bradsher-owned team. "I'm not getting any younger. There's not many chances to be up front as you get older, so you cherish every moment, man.

"I hate it for J.D. He might've got me in traffic there. I know (he got close) and I didn't know where to be on the track. I hate that he had problems. And then Hudson, these two have been probably a little bit better than us the last little bit, so it's amazing (the Paylor Motorsports team) just band together and try things and try things. I just, once I got out in clean air, it felt comfortable and I just tried to stay smooth. I felt so good in the middle of (turns) three and four, I didn't think anybody could roll (past) me. But if they did, I would've shook their hand and told 'em great job."

McCreadie might've had a scare when he appeared to hit a piece of sheetmetal at speed on the 26th lap, but he wasn't aware he'd hit it.

"I didn't see it, but I also thought I saw the checkered in the heat the other night. So maybe my eyes aren't working like they should," he said. "You know, I laid up the other night on the white-flag lap, so tonight, I know I saw the checkered tonight, but I went another lap because the damn (green) lights are still one, so I just figured I'd better keep going."

Owens regained second from Erb on the final restart with 12 laps remaining, but he couldn't seriously challenge the winner.

"We had a good car, especially in the middle. I wasn't as good as those guys was up on that (high-side) cushion, so I just stayed down yonder. We was able to maintain with 'em there a little bit, so I thought when we get to some traffic there, we might be able to do something with 'em," Owens said. "We could gain in on 'em. We're happy to bring this car home in a good second-place finish, and maybe we'll have something for 'em tomorrow night.

"We was a little bit tight through the center (of the corner). I could get through (turns) one and two really, really good, and it felt like I could make up some ground on McCreadie, but then he'd gain it all back in (turns) three and four there. But this Ramirez Motorsports Rocket's been really, really good tonight."

Erb hated to lose the second spot to Owens, but saying he's "historically awful" at Port Royal, he was glad to see improvement after Thursday's 12th-place finish.

"Sometimes you just need a little pep talk and figure out how to race the racetrack more than anything. We're making more laps here, and that's what's going to get us better. So hopefully there's enough cushion for us tomorrow," he said. "We're definitely on the right track. We'll just go over this thing tomorrow and make sure everything's good, and if we can get a hair better, I think we might be dangerous."

Four slowdowns from laps 25-28 plagued the race.

A red flag appeared on a lap-25 restart when Ricky Thornton Jr. spun, collecting Stormy Scott and Jason Covert in turns three and four while Josh Richards went spinning away from the mess. The cars of Richards and Scott were towed away with Thornton's car significantly damaged.

Two cautions also slowed the action on lap 25 for debris (the yellow preceding the red flag) and then a lap-26 yellow when Gregg Satterlee needed a hook after front-end damage. The final caution appeared lap 28 for a slowing Kyle Bronson, who had two flat rear tires.

The three-day weekend concludes with Saturday's $30,000-to-win finale, a 50-lap feature at Port Royal.

Notes: McCreadie also won last year at the Rumble by the River. ... Fifteen of 25 starters completed 40 laps. ... The start of time trials for Friday's event was delayed because the track safety personnel had to respond to two fans who were injured after falling in the stands, which were slick following a light late-afternoon shower. ... Kyle Lee changed a tire before the race and had to give up his 19th starting spot, dropping to the tail and becoming the first retiree after 12 laps.

Feature lineup

Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie
Row 2: Chris Ferguson, Jimmy Owens
Row 3: Josh Richards, Hudson O’Neal
Row 4: Stormy Scott, Michael Norris
Row 5: Andy Haus, Tyler Erb
Row 6: Ricky Thornton Jr., Shane Clanton
Row 7: Jason Covert, Kyle Bronson
Row 8: Colton Flinner, Trever Feathers
Row 9: Earl Pearson Jr., Gregg Satterlee
Row 10: Kyle Lee, Gary Stuhler
Row 11: Jeff Rine, Spencer Hughes
Row 12: Mike Marlar, Matt Cosner
Row 13: Ross Robinson

Consolation results

(10 laps; top 3 transfer)

First consolation finish: Earl Pearson Jr., Kyle Lee, Jeff Rine, Brian Booze, Mike Marlar, Matt Cosner, Dylan Yoder, Dillan Stake, Logan Zarin, Tim Smith Jr., Shaun Jones, Jason Miller, Pancho Lawler, Scott Flickinger (DNS) Kyle Hardy.

Second consolation finish: Gregg Satterlee, Gary Stuhler, Spencer Hughes, Michael Brown, Rick Eckert, Tyler Bare, Mike Lupfer, Dan Stone, Johnny Scott, Dale Hollidge, Brett Schadel, Austin Berry, Chris Casner, Deshawn Gingerich, Ross Robinson.

Heat race results

(8 laps; top 4 transfer)

First heat finish: Jonathan Davenport, Josh Richards, Andy Haus, Jason Covert, Kyle Le, Earl Pearson Jr., Jeff Rine, Matt Cosner, Mike Marlar, Shaun Jones, Pancho Lawler, Scott Flickinger.

Second heat finish: Chris Ferguson, Stormy Scott, Ricky Thornton Jr., Colton Flinner, Brian Booze, Dylan Yoder, Tim Smith Jr., Logan Zarin, Jason Miller, Dillan Stake, Kyle Hardy.

Third heat finish: Tim McCreadie, Hudson O’Neal, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, Gary Stuhler, Spencer Hughes, Ross Robinson, Mike Lupfer, Dan Stone, Dale Hollidge, Johnny Scott, Chris Casner.

Fourth heat finish: Jimmy Owens, Michael Norris, Shane Clanton, Trever Feathers, Gregg Satterlee, Michael Brown, Rick Eckert, Tyler Bare, Deshawn Gingerich, Austin Berry, Brett Schadel.

Time trials

First group   
Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 18.616
Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., 18.805
Andy Haus (76), Hamburg, Pa., 19.182
Colton Flinner (48), Allison Park, Pa., 19.214
Kyle Lee (2T), Mercersburg, Pa., 19.218
Stormy Scott (2), Las Cruces, N.M., 19.235
Josh Richards (14), Shinnston, W.Va., 19.244
Brian Booze (11B), Greencastle, Pa., 19.297
Jason Covert (72), York Haven, Pa., 19.352
Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., 19.369
Jeff Rine (2J), Danville, Pa., 19.461
Dillan Stake (D19), Mapleton, Pa., 19.511
Earl Pearson Jr. (1), Jacksonville, Fla., 19.516
Tim Smith Jr. (39T), Long Hollow, Pa., 19.530
Matt Cosner (66C), Ridgeley, W.Va., 19.553
Dylan Yoder (24), Selinsgrove, Pa., 19.609
Pancho Lawler (93), Glenville, Pa., 19.662
Kyle Hardy (45), Stephens City, Va., 19.667
Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn.,, 19.671
Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 19.720
Shaun Jones (32J), Shermans Dale, Pa., 19.758
Jason Miller (94), Winchester, Va., 19.795
Scott Flickinger (15F), Elliottsburg, Pa., 19.849
Second group   
Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 18.727
Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 18.783
Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 19.138
Michael Brown (24D), Lancaster, S.C., 19.201
Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 19.242
Shane Clanton (25), Zebulon, Ga., 19.264
Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 19.269
Trever Feathers (20F), Winchester, Va., 19.307
Spencer Hughes (11H), Meridian, Miss., 19.312
Tyler Bare (43A), Rockbridge Baths, Va., 19.351
Gary Stuhler (4), Greencastle, Pa., 19.390
Michael Norris (72), Sarver, Pa., 19.433
Johnny Scott (1ST), Las Cruces, N.M., 19.491
Rick Eckert (0E), York, Pa., 19.510
Ross Robinson (7R), Georgetown, Del., 19.512
Brett Schadel (22S), Herndon, Pa., 19.580
Dale Hollidge (0), Mechanicsville, Md., 19.609
Austin Berry (86B), South Mifflin, Pa., 19.627
Mike Lupfer (06), Shermans Dale, Pa., 19.676
Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., 19.688
Dan Stone (2), Thompson, Pa., 19.734
DeShawn Gingerich (0g), Dover, Pa., 19.845
Chris Casner (C33), Mifflintown, Pa., 19.892