After the Checkers
Overton's staying fast, calm amid win streak
By Kevin Kovac
DirtonDirt senior writer
Winner Brandon Overton (left) and runner-up Cody Overton. (joshjamesartwork.com)
BARBERVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 9) — Instant reaction and analysis from Monday’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals opener at Volusia Speedway Park, a $7,000-to-win non-touring event under DIRTcar Racing sanction won by Brandon Overton (RaceWire):
THE BEAT ROLLS ON: Brandon Overton told everyone after winning his third straight Georgia-Florida Speedweeks feature Saturday at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., that the real test of his resurgence would come at Volusia Speedway Park. Could he keep the wheels of success turning with the stakes higher and the competition more intense? Overton resoundingly passed the first test, scoring a flag-to-flag victory worth $7,000 in Monday’s 25-lap DIRTcar Nationals opener. Judging by the smile on his face, it was obvious that his latest Speedweeks checkered flag gave him a deep dose of personal satisfaction. He’s acting and thinking again like the driver who burst into stardom just a few years ago. “I felt exactly how I used to feel,” said Overton, whose fourth win of 2026 matched his victory total from all of ’25. “Like I drove straight and didn’t get crazy, and yeah, I was just counting (the laps) off in my head, just like staying calm.”
BATTLE FOR SECOND: Cody Overton — Brandon’s younger brother — might have played a key role in helping his sibling reach victory lane. Just seconds after the 12th-starting Devin Moran broke into second place at lap 20 running the extreme bottom of the track, his hopes of carrying his momentum forward to challenge Brandon were dashed by Cody’s slider through turns one and two that moved him back into the runner-up spot and effectively left Moran insufficient time to recover. Brandon jokingly called his brother “a team player” for running some interference for him (Brandon beat Cody to the finish line by 3.098 seconds), but Cody admitted he was actually trying to snatch second back as quickly as possible so he could make a final run at his big bro but ended up cutting off Moran, who settled for third and wasn’t exactly pleased with Cody afterward.
KEEP AN EYE ON HIM: Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., is looking like a solid bet to reach victory lane at Volusia sooner than later. He’s been flirting with a breakthrough repeatedly over the past three seasons, finishing as high as second (2023 DIRTcar Nationals) while recording four podium placings over the span. He finished fourth in Friday’s 25-lapper, but he might have been able to get even closer to the front if the restarts would have gone better for him.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., who won last year’s DIRTcar Nationals opener, accentuated his favorite’s status with a runaway heat victory. He needed just four laps to reach second place behind Brandon Overton in the feature and appeared primed to bid for the win, but he ended up getting shuffled back to a fifth-place finish after being unable to keep up following two late restarts. Hoffman said he simply didn’t tighten up his Tye Twarog-owned car enough; he also wondered if a difference in tires — he noted that he ran a newer-style Hoosier right-rear while Overton used the older-style option — played a role in blunting his speed compared to the winner.
PAT ON THE BACK: It’s no easy task for a young driver to crack a DIRTcar Nationals starting field in their first Super Late Model start at Volusia. But 21-year-old Dallon Murty of Chelsea, Iowa, did it Monday, transferring through a heat race with a third-place finish just behind his Skyline Motorsports teammate Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa. He was the last driver on the lead lap in the feature with a 22nd-place finish, but he made noise in his first start in a Greg Bruening-owned AK Race Car.
LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER: A quiet seventh-place finish for Bobby Pierce marked the fourth time in as many Volusia starts this season that he’s failed to log a top-five run. He described the challenge presented by the tricky Volusia surface: “Like, lap after lap, like, you might run one line, and it’s really good, right? And then the next lap you’re running it and now it feels greasy. So it’s just tough in that sense. It’s just weird Florida dirt.”
PROLIFIC START: Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals has traditionally followed a busy stretch of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series action, but this year, with the rival national tour pushing its Speedweeks swing to after the Daytona 500, teams aren’t rolling into Volusia tired from heavy racing. In fact, only 10 drivers in Monday’s field even competed in a Dirt Late Model event the previous weekend. The 56 cars signed in for Monday’s program, meanwhile, is up five machines from last year’s DCN opener and represents the largest turnout to kick off Volusia’s miniseries 2012’s week began with 73 entries. What’s more, at least a half-dozen drivers are expected to join the field as the week progresses, including Garrett Alberson, Ethan Dotson, Carson Ferguson, Clay Stuckey, Mike Marlar and Daniel Hilsabeck.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Brandon Overton became the first driver to win four consecutive Georgia-Florida Speedweeks events since 2019 when Brandon Sheppard captured the last four races of Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals. No driver has won five in a row.
