ROSSBURG, Ohio — Gregg Satterlee led all 25 laps of Friday's second preliminary feature for the 50th annual World 100. The 37-year-old Indiana, Pa., driver was glad he was leading, but he was glad when it was over, too.

"I was glad to see the checkered flag fly," Satterlee said while picking up his $10,000 paycheck. "Nothing's for sure at these races, but it's fun getting up on this stage. It's awesome to see a big huge crowd ... there's nothing like this place (other than) Eldora."

The pole-starting Satterlee turned back challenges from his high-flying fellow front-row starter Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., whose failed slide-job stab on the 23rd lap gave Satterlee breathing room over the last lap and a half as he took the checkers by 1.309 seconds at the historic half-mile oval.

Pierce's Scooby Doo-themed car — sidelined Thursday because his team was disqualified because of a crew member's altercation with a track worker — came home second ahead of fellow Illinois driver Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin. Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., drove his Scott Bloomquist Racing entry to a fourth-place finish and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., Thursday's runner-up in the 51st annual World 100, rounded out the top five.

Satterlee, who also earned a Dream preliminary victory at Eldora in June, drove a smooth, middle-of-the-track line to victory while the wall-hugging Pierce gave chase throughout the race, pulling to within a few tenths of a second on a couple of occasions.

"I was a little worried. I know he's really good here," Satterlee said. "All the 10 or 12 cars behind me are all really good here. I was just trying to make smooth laps. I knew getting out front and having clean racetrack was going to be huge, cautions definitely fell at the right time. It just gave me the clean racetrack.

"I've gotta thank crew chief Robby Allen. We were working really hard at making this race car faster, and we wound up and swung for the fence in this feature, and I think we definitely got a hold of something. Hopefully we have something for tomorrow. It's a whole new night tomorrow. Nothing's for sure."

Satterlee dealt with little lapped traffic with spaced out cautions that played to his favor as he continually edged away from the field when the green flag reappeared.

"I was getting really good restarts, so I was glad to see the cautions," he said. "I was starting on the inside and was able to get a lot of grip off the front straightaway. This Clements Racing Engine, it just pulls all the way down the straightaway. I knew all I had to do was not get broke loose before I got to the brown (parts of the surface), and get back in front of 'em. I knew I had a couple of laps to work with."

Pierce thought his timing might've been off in making his bid for the lead, but finishing second was better than being towed off the racetrack.

"That's what my crew said, maybe (the slide job) was one lap too soon," Pierce said. "But the air here is so, you know, it's too treacherous getting in behind somebody, that I felt like I might've stuffed it in the wall if I tried to wait behind him one more lap. All in all, a great finish. Congrats to Gregg on the win."

For the first- and second-place finishers, the conversation obviously turned to the winner of the night's first preliminary feature winner: Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., whose remarkable Eldora record in 2021 includes six feature victories with two Dreams (at more than $125,000 a pop) and Friday's 51st annual World 100 ($54,000) among them.

Can Satterlee or Pierce beat Overton in Saturday's $53,000-to-win World 100?

"I don't know. He looks pretty fast," Satterlee said. "But I feel like our car is about as good as it's ever been here. We're going to give 'er hell."

Pierce was somewhat less confident, hoping he'd have outrun Satterlee "because I feel like that's the only race we (could've won) this weekend," he said.

"I don't think anyone's got anything for (Overton). He's just too fast in the slick," Pierce said. "Unless the track changes drastically, I just don't see it happening. We're going to give it our all like we did tonight. You definitely can't be beating the wall down for 100 laps tomorrow; 25 laps, you can kind of do that, but not for 100, so we're going to have to try to get a little bit better and see what we can do."

Three cautions slowed the action in the second 25-lapper, most significantly when the first start was called back as Tyler Erb and Darrell Lanigan came together down the backstretch with onrushing cars able to mostly avoid the mess. Erb was able to continue but Lanigan drove his tattered No. 29 — its nose was thoroughly smashed — to the pits while Erb retired during a lap-18 slowdown with significant rear deck damage.

Sixth-running Brian Shirley slowed on the eighth lap for the second yellow, dropping fluid on the track as he cruised to the infield pits with rearend trouble. The final caution was for a Josh Richards flat tire on lap 18 in a race where 21 drivers completed 25 laps.

Feature lineup

(25 laps)
Row 1: Gregg Satterlee, Bobby Pierce
Row 2: Ricky Weiss, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards
Row 4: Nick Hoffman, Brian Shirley
Row 5: Chris Ferguson, Chris Madden
Row 6: Tyler Erb, Rick Eckert
Row 7: Hudson O’Neal, Darrell Lanigan
Row 8: Zack Dohm, Johnny Scott
Row 9: Ashton Winger, Boom Briggs
Row 10: Kyle Hammer, Joseph Joiner
Row 11: Ryan Gustin, Alex Ferree
Row 12: Chad Simpson, Steven Roberts

Pre-feature notes

Gregg Satterlee, who won a preliminary feature during June’s Dream doubleheader, will start the 25-lap feature from the position with Bobby Pierce alongside. … Chris Ferguson relentlessly pressured Pierce for the lead in the third heat, ducking underneath the Illinois driver through the corners virtually every lap but failing to pull off a pass. Finally, off the fourth corner with the checkered flag flying, Ferguson slid ahead of Pierce to steal the victory by a half car length. “That was fun,” said Ferguson, who starts ninth in the feature with Heat 1 winner Chris Madden to his outside. “We’ve got a real fast hot rod.” … Rebounding well from a Thursday-night DNQ, Ricky Weiss captured the second heat. “We’re finally getting closer,” said the Canadian, who experienced trouble necessitating extra work on his Sniper Chassis on both Wednesday and Thursday. … Florida’s Joseph Joiner started the fourth heat uncertain of his chances for success because his motor wasn’t running at full RPM during qualifying, but he scored a fifth-place finish to transfer to the feature for the third consecutive night in his first-ever Eldora appearance. ... Travis Stemler's car sustained significant front and rear damage when he slid sideways off turn four on a restart during the B-main, triggering a multi-car tangle in which Stemler slammed into the barrels protecting the opening in the inside wall. A delay followed as safety crew members had to refill several barrels with sand.

B-main

Finish (top four transfer): Ryan Gustin, Alex Ferree, Chad Simpson, Steven Roberts, Mason Zeigler, Mark Whitener, Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Josh Morton, Kent Robinson, G.R. Smith, Dale Markham, Travis Stemler, Gordy Gundaker, Mike Provenano, Steve Casebolt, Dustin Nobbe, Ryan King, Caleb Burgess, Garrett Smith.

B-main lineup

(12 laps; top four transfer)
Row 1: Ryan Gustin, Alex Ferree
Row 2: Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Ryan King
Row 3: Mark Whitener, Chad Simpson
Row 4: Mason Zeigler, Garrett Smith
Row 5: Travis Stemler, G.R. Smith
Row 6: Steve Casebolt, Gordy Gundaker
Row 7: Steven Roberts, Dale Markham
Row 8: Dustin Nobbe, Kent Robinson
Row 9: Mike Provenzano, Josh Morton
Row 10: Caleb Burgess

Heat race results

First heat (top five transfer): Chris Madden, Josh Richards, Tyler Erb, Hudson O’Neal, Ashton Winger, Ryan Gustin, Mark Whitener, Travis Stemler, Steven Roberts, Mike Provenzano.

Second heat (top five transfer): Ricky Weiss, Brian Shirley, Tim McCreadie, Darrell Lanigan, Boom Briggs, Alex Ferree, Chad Simpson, G.R. Smith, Dale Markham, Josh Morton.

Third heat (top five transfer): Chris Ferguson, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Zack Dohm, Kyle Hammer, Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Mason Zeigler, Steve Casebolt, Dustin Nobbe, Caleb Burgess.

Fourth heat (top five transfer): Nick Hoffman, Gregg Satterlee, Rick Eckert, Johnny Scott, Joseph Joiner, Ryan King, Garrett Smith, Gordy Gundaker, Kent Robinson.

Heat race lineups

(10 laps; top five transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Ryan Gustin, Josh Richards
Row 2: Mark Whitener, Chris Madden
Row 3: Ashton Winger, Hudson O’Neal
Row 4: Travis Stemler, Tyler Erb
Row 5: Steven Roberts, Mike Provenzano
Second heat
Row 1: Ricky Weiss, Tim McCreadie
Row 2: Brian Shirley, Darrell Lanigan
Row 3: Chad Simpson, G.R. Smith
Row 4: Boom Briggs, Alex Ferree
Row 5: Dale Markham, Josh Morton
Third heat
Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Zack Dohm, Chris Ferguson
Row 3: Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Kyle Hammer
Row 4: Steve Casebolt, Mason Zeigler
Row 5: Dustin Nobbe, Caleb Burgess
Fourth heat
Row 1: Gregg Satterlee, Rick Eckert
Row 2: Nick Hoffman, Johnny Scott
Row 3: Joseph Joiner, Ryan King
Row 4: Garrett Smith, Kent Robinson
Row 5: Gordy Gundaker

Pre-race notes

Race officials announced a slight change to tire limit rule during Friday’s drivers’ meeting.  Teams will be allowed five new tires for the entire program on Friday plus any of the marked tires they used during Wednesday or Thursday’s program. … The ongoing tire shortage was once again an issue at Eldora on Friday when a shipment of tires coming directly from Hoosier that was scheduled to be at the track by 4 p.m. was delayed by more than an hour. When the truck did arrive at approximately 5:15, drivers and crew members made a fireman line to help get the tires unloaded from the delivery truck and onto the truck staying at the track. The truck’s delayed arrival had many drivers worried as some faced the prospect of having to make it through Friday’s program on tires they ran Wednesday and Thursday. “We’re literally down to nothing,” said Milton, Fla., driver Joseph Joiner, who made Thursday’s 51st World 100 main event in his first Eldora appearance. “What we do have is barely good enough to hot lap on.” … Among the drivers departing Eldora after competing in the 51st World 100 are Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, Calif. (NASCAR Cup Series commitments in Richmond, Va.) and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis. (hard crash during Thursday’s heat action). … Mark Whitener of Middleburg, Fla., blamed his drop from the pole of Thursday’s first heat race to ninth on a driver mistake. “I just messed up and got into the wall,” said Whitener, who scratched from the consolation race in order to save his Big Frog Motorsports ride for Friday and Saturday’s action. “But the good news is we’ve got a really fast race car. If I do my job this time, I think we’ll be pretty good.” … Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba, is another driver looking for redemption after a miscue on Thursday. He was running second early in the night’s first consolation race when he slipped over the cushion and tagged the wall exiting turn two. A bent spindle from the contact eventually forced Weiss to head to the pits before the end of the 20-lap prelim. … Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., will be driving the car that he finished second in at June’s second Dirt Late Model Dream after switching cars during Friday’s program. Madden, who recovered to finish 15th in Thursday’s feature, started the week in a new Rocket this, but had mechanical issues that forced him to switch cars. The new car is repaired in case he needs a backup again. … Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., is back in the saddle of his Scooby Doo-themed No. 32 after being set down from competing in Thursday’s program because one of his crewmen was involved in a late-night four-wheeler infraction and altercation with a track official. … Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., was a non-factor in Thursday’s World 100 finale, finishing a distant 18th as his Rocket Chassis house car wasn’t set up for the rubbered surface that developed. … Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., was in contention for a top-10 finish in the 51st World 100 until his car “just didn’t go” following a lap-58 restart; surmising it was a sealed-up tire, he retired early. Nevertheless, Shirley felt his night was fruitful because his notebook for 100-lap races at Eldora isn’t very extensive; running much of the distance — and having another crown jewel event to run tonight and Saturday rather than waiting nine months until June’s Dream — will hopefully “make us better.” … Three new entries are in Friday’s Group B: Alex Ferree of Saxonburg, Pa., and Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind. Work commitments prevented them from competing in the first half of the World 100 twinbill.

Time trial results

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

1. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 15.566
2. Darrell Lanigan (29), Union, Ky., 15.606
3. Chris Ferguson (22F), Mount Holly, N.C., 15.689
4. Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., 15.810
5. Mark Whitener (58), Middleburg, Fla., 15.814
6. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 15.820
7. Zack Dohm (17), Cross Lanes, W.Va., 15.843
8. Nick Hoffman (0NH), Mooresville, N.C., 15.856
9. Josh Richards (14), Shinnston, W.Va., 15.858
10. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 15.870
11. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 15.872
12. Rick Eckert (0), York, Pa., 15.918
13. Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, 15.920
14. Ricky Weiss (7W), Headingley, Manitoba, 15.920
15. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 15.967
16. Gregg Satterlee (22), Indiana, Pa., 16.033
17. Ashton Winger (6), Hampton, Ga., 16.098
18. Chad Simpson (25s), Mount Vernon, Iowa, 16.120
19. Jimmy Sharpe Jr. (26jr), Vidalia, Ga., 16.120
20. Joseph Joiner (10), Milton, Fla., 16.131
21. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 16.136
22. G.R. Smith (89), Cornelius, N.C., 16.149
23. Kyle Hammer (45), Clinton, Ill., 16.171
24. Ryan King (1G), Seymour, Tenn., 16.215
25. Travis Stemler (4), Ionia, Mich., 16.244
26. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 16.267
27. Steve Casebolt (C9), Richmond, Ind., 16.375
28. Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., 16.442
29. Tyler Erb (1T), New Waverly, Texas, 16.481
30. Alex Ferree (1c), Saxonburg, Pa., 16.487
31. Mason Zeigler (25z), Chalk Hill, Pa., 16.489
32. Kent Robinson (7R), Bloomington, Ind., 16.526
33. Steven Roberts (111), Jesup, Ga., 16.590
34. Dale Markham (3), Maple Park, Ill., 16.616
35. Dustin Nobbe (5N), Batesville, Ind., 16.679
36. Gordy Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., 16.904
37. Michael Provenzano (M27), Grand Ridge, Ind., 16.922
38. Josh Morton (20M), Piqua, Ohio, 17.185
39. Caleb Burgess (29B), Batavia, Ohio, 17.288

Friday's schedule

6 a.m.-6 p.m.: Showers open (front of Lot 2)
9 a.m.: Turn one camping load-in
10 a.m.: Turn-three race registration opens (pit passes and media credential sign-in)
10 a.m.: Main gate ticket office opens (tickets, pit passes and will call)
10 a.m.: Turn-four ticket office opens (tickets and pit passes)
11 a.m.: Turn-three pit gate opens
11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: Technical inspection for Late Models
11 a.m.: All ADA parking opens (permit required)
11 a.m.: Grandstand cleared and secured for grand opening
Noon: All admission gates/suites/concessions open
5 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
6:30 p.m.: Hot laps
- Time trials
8 p.m.: Racing begins
- Heats
- Consolation races
- Two $10,000-to-win 25-lap features