Moran rallied from the 11th starting spot and into the lead by overtaking Thornton on the 13th lap, but Thornton went back ahead four laps later and Moran didn't catch him again until crunch time in the 50-lapper.

"The line was changing and (Thornton) started railing that top of (turns) one and two, and I was still trying to do that little diamond deal and hit the bottom, and there just wasn't enough off the bottom off (turn) two, so I finally got going around that top," Moran said. "I started making ground on Ricky and then got into lapped traffic. And I knew down the back straightaway I was gonna have to go for it and I did and just finally won at All-Tech."

Thornton, the winner of $10,000 and $12,000 in the previous two races who led laps 10-12 and then 17-42, was running second with two laps remaining but got sideways and made contact with Garrett Alberson and an infield tire barrier, sending him into the frontstretch wall and ending his race.

That set up a final dash to the checkers, but 14th-starting Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., couldn't challenge Moran in finishing 2.315 seconds back at the line. Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, came from the eighth row to finish third while Las Cruces, N.M.'s Alberson, who led laps 3-9, was fourth with Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., rounding out the top five.

A track surface prepared by track owner Wendell Durrance that frustrated, challenged and tied drivers in knots for three nights produced a race with six lead changes among four drivers and many dramatic moments.

"Everybody's been been talking about the track this and that, and Wendell's been working his ass off, and I don't think you can get a much better racetrack than that," said Moran, who has eight top-five finishes in 10 career All-Tech starts in Lucas Oil competition. "It was just so wild. It was like we were running sprint car lines, you know? I love watching sprint cars and like you go in and bend it and come back down the hill, and then we started ripping ... This place is so fun. It's so underrated and my opinion it's a top-five track in the country without a doubt."

While Moran was in command late, he didn't mind the late caution for Thornton's demise because he was facing some hairy lapped traffic with two laps remaining.

"I didn't really have anywhere to go, and I was going into (turn) one and I left myself in no man's land, and they said, 'Caution,' and I was like, 'Thank God,' " said Moran, the early Lucas Oil points leader

While Davenport, whose team has replaced three driveshafts among other components while at All-Tech, couldn't challenge Moran on the final restart. But a fourth runner-up finish of the season wasn't a bad outcome.

"Another second, but I just keep tearing that thing up all through the week," the three-time Lucas Oil champion said. "We about ran out of parts. We had to call (Longhorn Chassis co-owner Steve) Arpin and get him to send a trailer down here. I've tore up so much stuff and we kept finding more stuff that we did bend. So as we progressed through the night we got better, putting good parts on."

Davenport had his hands full trying to figure out where to find traction.

"It's so slick and slimy ... nobody really knows where you're going. You just kind of hope and aim and point and then just mash the gas," he said. "You kind of drive like sideways — maybe kind of like a non-wing sprint car at some point because you ain't got no front tires — so you just try to aim for a little bit of grip that is either throwed out of a hole or you aim for a hole. Definitely a lot of fun. You just kind of gotta maneuver yourself around and try to just pick off a car whenever you can."

Erb, who finished sixth or better all three nights, "just battled through" in coming from 17th to third. The track is "so hard to drive, so technical, the lane moves so much. I really enjoyed it," he said. "I'm happy. We have a really fast race car. We're getting closer and closer to winning, but we're consistent, and that's more than half of it."

The feature was slowed by five cautions, four in the first 15 laps and the final one on lap 49 for Thornton's demise.

The first yellow dropped on the sixth lap for Ross Robinson's turn-two spin. A lap-nine caution appeared for Tyler Bruening's spin (Hudson O'Neal spun out of contention two laps before that and retired). Lap 14-15 cautions fell, the second for Drake Troutman's turn-four spin.

Notes: The checkers on the feature fell at 12:20 a.m. ... After a lengthy track reworking and prelims for the 604 Crate Late Model division, Lucas Oil heats didn't start until after 9:30 p.m. and the Lucas Oil feature started about 11:45 p.m. ... Polesitter Brandon Overton led the first two laps but faded to finish seventh. ... Several drivers made wall contact during prelim action and loaded up for the night: Mike Marlar (second time trial lap); Michael Brown (second time trial lap); Brian Shirley (hot laps); and Beckham Malone (hot laps). ... Carson Ferguson slapped the turn-three wall on his second qualifying lap. ... Tyler Millwood slammed the turn-two wall on his second lap. ... Floridians Jackson Hise and Kyle Bryant (battery) both slowed with apparent mechanical trouble in hot laps. Hise continued, while Bryant scratched for the night. ... Brandon Overton's younger brother Cody Overton won the $5,000 Steve Whitener Memorial in the Crate Late Model division on the undercard.

Correction: Fixes Davenport's starting spot to 14th sted 15th.