{"id":2592,"date":"2021-02-16T11:59:34","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T11:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/volusiaspeedwaypark.com\/?p=2592"},"modified":"2022-09-13T19:32:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T19:32:40","slug":"unexpected-gator-moran-claims-first-big-gator-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcarnationals.com\/divisions\/late-models\/unexpected-gator-moran-claims-first-big-gator-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"UNEXPECTED GATOR: Moran Claims First Big Gator Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

WITH THE HELP OF A FLORIDA COUPLE, MORAN MADE THE TRIP TO FLORIDA FOR A CAREER WEEK<\/p>\n

A trip to Volusia Speedway Park for the 50th DIRTcar Nationals wasn\u2019t initially on Devin Moran\u2019s 2021 itinerary. His new gator-wide smile signified his joy of that change.<\/p>\n

Moran, 26, of Dresden, OH, claimed his first DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator championship on Saturday after an impressive display of consistency through the five rounds of Late Model races. If it wasn\u2019t for a broken driveshaft on Wednesday, he could\u2019ve finished on the podium in each event \u2013 he had finishes of third, second, 31st, first (his first Volusia win) and second.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Moran said about claiming his first Big Gator title. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty unexpected, to be honest. At the start of the week, we weren\u2019t even planning on coming down here. Then to run top three even night, except for that one DNF, which I think we had a shot to win, it just gives us a lot of confidence\u2026 To start out the year the way we have, it\u2019s been a lot of fun and like I said, it gives us a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it wasn\u2019t for Florida-residents Terry and Marry Ann Wright \u2013 who have been friends with Moran\u2019s car owner for a while \u2013 Moran and his team would\u2019ve skipped the prestigious event. They\u2019ve been trying to get the team to come down for a couple of years and this year helped make it affordable for them, Moran said.<\/p>\n

Bobby Pierce was his closest competitor in the championship hunt going into the final race \u2013 before Saturday\u2019s event was canceled due to rain. He entered the night only nine points behind Moran and was on track to cut into that lead after setting Slick Woody\u2019s Quick Time and starting on the outside pole of the Feature.<\/p>\n

However, as fate would have it, he suffered a motor issue and the team was unable to get a new one in before the Feature started. Pierce hoped in Reid Millard\u2019s car for the Feature but pulled in early and was unable to finish, unofficially handing the Big Gator championship to Moran who finished second that night. He earned his first golden gator trophy the night before.<\/p>\n

Defending Big Gator champion and three-time defending World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion Brandon Sheppard finished second in over Big Gator points.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, it\u2019s so unexpected,\u201d Moran said. \u201cFirst of all, with us not coming and then winning the whole week. It sucks with what happened with Bobby that he had to change motors and couldn\u2019t\u2026 It\u2019s a bummer that he couldn\u2019t race. But we had a really consistent fast car all week. It\u2019s a special thing to take home this gator with as unexpected as it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

UP NEXT
\nThe World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series, on Friday, March 5, will return to Duck River Raceway<\/a> Park in Lewisburg, TN.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WITH THE HELP OF A FLORIDA COUPLE, MORAN MADE THE TRIP TO FLORIDA FOR A CAREER WEEK A trip to Volusia Speedway Park for the 50th DIRTcar Nationals wasn\u2019t initially on Devin Moran\u2019s 2021 itinerary. His new gator-wide smile signified his joy of that change. Moran, 26, of Dresden, OH, claimed his first DIRTcar Nationals … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[137,9,12],"class_list":["post-2592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-late-models","tag-devin-moran","tag-dirtcar-nationals","tag-volusia-speedway-park"],"yoast_head":"\nUNEXPECTED GATOR: Moran Claims First Big Gator Championship - DIRTcar Nationals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dirtcarnationals.com\/divisions\/late-models\/unexpected-gator-moran-claims-first-big-gator-championship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNEXPECTED GATOR: Moran Claims First Big Gator Championship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WITH THE HELP OF A FLORIDA COUPLE, MORAN MADE THE TRIP TO FLORIDA FOR A CAREER WEEK A trip to Volusia Speedway Park for the 50th DIRTcar Nationals wasn\u2019t initially on Devin Moran\u2019s 2021 itinerary. His new gator-wide smile signified his joy of that change. Moran, 26, of Dresden, OH, claimed his first DIRTcar Nationals ... 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