RPW Exclusive: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provides Fast, Technical and Exciting Racing During Steve Whitener Memorial at All-Tech
Column By: JACOB DOVE / RPW – LAKE CITY, FL – The Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series kicked off the 2026 season in Lake City, FL at All-Tech Raceway for three nights of racing action. 35 Super Dirt Late Models took on the 1/2 mile track for the Steve Whitener Memorial Winter Nationals presented by Wieland. Race fans and families packed the stands to be a part of one of the biggest events of the year that All-Tech hosts.
Thursday saw an exciting night of racing with multiple lead changes and battles. It started off as the Brandon Overton show, but quickly turned into a Brandon Sheppard, Clay Harris, Devin Moran, and Hudson O’Neal party. Sheppard would find his way to the front with Harris trailing in his tire tracks. The 2nd place runner of Harris eventually overstepped the boundaries and crashed in turn 2 while trying to track down Sheppard. Moran would take over the runner-up position and started a late race charge. It wasn’t enough at the end, as Sheppard would hold on to get his 2nd victory of 2026. Moran and O’Neal would round out the podium.
Friday night added the 604 Crate Late Models to the program, along with some new additions to the Super Late Model car count with Cody Overton and Frank Heckenast Jr. joining the competition. This time around, Devin Moran would dominate the night as the rest of the field tried to keep up. Clay Harris was the only driver that had anything for Moran and was hoping for a caution to have a shot for the lead. With the feature going green flag to checkered, Harris never got that opportunity but still respectfully finished 2nd. Brandon Overton would round out Friday night’s program with another strong run.
Saturday featured the finale of the Steve Whitener Memorial, along with 604 Crate Late Models and Crown Vics as the supporting classes. Local driver Mark Whitener out of Middleburg, Florida started out the night strong. However, Whitener would burn his tires up and result in a 19th place finish. Once again, another Florida driver had a chance at taking home the $15,000 payday with Clay Harris running up front. While Harris did have a strong car it just wasn’t enough to compete with two of the top dirt late model drivers in the country right now. Hudson O’Neal and Brandon Overton would eventually finish on top of the podium, with O’Neal capping off a consistent week with a win.
Overall, congratulations to all three winners on three different nights of racing. The battles on track were awesome to watch and for the race fans who haven’t been to All-Tech Raceway yet, they definitely need to go see a race in-person. Thank you to Joe Kelly for allowing us to cover this event. We are glad the Steve Whitener Memorial presented by Weiland was a great success and look forward to being back at All-Tech again soon.
