McCreadie Honors His Dad, Snaps WoO Late Model Drought

Tim McCreadie celebrates in victory lane at Raceway 7 Thursday night. (Trent Gower photo)

CONNEAUT, Ohio – Tim McCreadie has won everything there is to win in dirt late model racing, but his victory in Thursday night’s Great Lake Showdown at Raceway 7 will forever be one of the most memorable of his illustrious career.

At the start of the season, McCreadie unveiled a throwback to his father, “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie’s No. 9 with one mission in mind – bringing it back to victory lane.

One year to the day after Bob’s passing, McCreadie led every lap on his way to the checkered flag.

McCreadie’s first World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision win of the year coming at Raceway 7 wasn’t a surprise – in four late model starts at the track, he’s won twice and never finished worse than fourth.

“I don’t know, I’ve never really run here that much,” McCreadie said. “Maybe the way the style is, keeping the car straight and not spinning so much kind of lends itself to what I like to do. When I was younger I liked to spin the tires a lot, now that I’ve gotten older, I like to keep the car underneath me.”

A past champion of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision, McCreadie boasts wins at Eldora Speedway, Fairbury American Legion Speedway, Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, and numerous other showplaces of dirt track racing in addition to Raceway 7.

But McCreadie’s new pairing with Boom Briggs didn’t get off to the start that either of them expected, as they finished top 10 just twice in the first 10 races of the year.

A seventh-place run at Talladega Short Track in April signaled that the tide was shifting back in their favor. McCreadie followed that up with a pair of top fives at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, making it clear that his first World of Outlaws win in four years wasn’t far away.

Not only is Conneaut one of McCreadie’s favorite places to race, it’s also one of Briggs’ home tracks and a place he’s been turning laps around for decades. That combination proved to be unbeatable Thursday, as the No. 9M spent the 35-lap, caution-free feature driving away to a 2.6-second margin over the field.

“[Briggs] told me where to be in qualifying, he ran over and told me where he thought I needed to be and it was good,” McCreadie said. “He’s just positive. Since driving with him, the whole deal, it’s been amazing. He keeps me focused, and with everything going on today, he was just there for me.”

Behind McCreadie, Ashton Winger collected his second runner-up finish of the season in his Raceway 7 debut.

The Georgian’s season got off to a nightmarish start, with five missed features at Volusia Speedway Park, but the Jeff Mathews Motorsports team has found its stride lately, with two top fives in Winger’s last three World of Outlaws starts.

“I knew from the heat race, you probably wanted to start on the top, I got a better launch than I thought I’d get here leaving four,” Winger said. “About halfway down the back straightaway, I could kind of hear him [McCreadie]. I knew I had two choices, either block and take a chance on crashing, or just blow off down into three and try to get crossed over.

“I knew I slid getting into [turn] one, but I think we all knew it was going to be important to get out front. It’s cool, though; we’ve needed good runs. Didn’t do anything too stupid tonight, thankfully.”

Much like McCreadie and Shirley, third-place runner Brian Shirley has also been finding his footing after a slow start to the season. Shirley failed to crack the top five in the first eight races of the year, but he’s now done so in four of his last six Outlaws starts.

“I feel like we’ve got to be just a little bit tighter,” Shirley said. “I feel like we’re just really, really loose. Just can’t get in the corner [with his car]. But all in all, it was a good night.”

Drake Troutman extended his MD3 Rookie of the Year lead with a fourth-place run, while Bobby Pierce notched his fifth-straight top five in the fifth spot.

Up next, the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series heads south into Pennsylvania to Marion Center Raceway for the Connor Bobik Memorial on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17.

The finish:

Feature (35 laps): 1. 9M-Tim McCreadie [2]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger [1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley [3]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman [6]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce [4]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman [7]; 7. 2-Cody Overton [13]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen [8]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson [10]; 10. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain [5]; 11. 111-Max Blair [19]; 12. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [12]; 13. 96-Tanner English [14]; 14. 19R-Ryan Gustin [17]; 15. 11-Austin Smith [15]; 16. 9Y-Levi Yetter [11]; 17. 49-Jake Timm [21]; 18. 57-Matt Tifft [20]; 19. B1-Brent Larson [23]; 20. 9S-Breyton Santee [22]; 21. 99B-Boom Briggs [16]; 22. 22B-Darrell Bossard [9]; 23. 555-Brock Pinkerous [24]; 24. 44-Dave Hess Jr. [18].