JUNCTION CITY, Ky. (Aug. 30) — It had been over a year since Tim McCreadie’s last Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory. But the Watertown, N.Y., driver’s series winless streak finally came to an end on Friday night with a $12,000 triumph at Ponderosa Speedway.

Winning his heat race to start outside the front row of the 50-lap feature, McCreadie led flag-to-flag, outrunning fourth-starting Tanner English of Benton, Ky., for his 15th career Lucas Oil Series victory, his first since Aug. 9, 2018, at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky. McCreadie's victory moved him past Josh Richards into the second spot in the series points chase behind leader Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga.

“It’s aggressive out there,” McCreadie said. “That track was more rough than I’d like it to be. … This car’s a pretty cool car. It’s made a lot of money this year and we keep parking it. I guess we shouldn’t leave it in the stable anymore because it was about time we finally won one of these races.”

Starting alongside Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., McCreadie shot to the front of the field at the drop of the green flag. As the frontrunners approached lapped traffic on the ninth circuit, third-starting Kyle Strickler of Mooresville, N.C., sailed past Moyer Jr., moving to second and challenging McCreadie just a few laps later.

McCreadie survived a string of cautions that knocked several early frontrunners out of contention, including Strickler, Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., and Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio. Unchallenged late-race, he bested English by 1.960 seconds at the checkered flag.

“This place, the fans are like right on top of It,” McCreadie said. “As you’re out there running, you can see when somebody might be coming because all of a sudden the grandstands starts picking it up and people are waving. I could tell (in lapped traffic) they were gaining because (the crowd) was cheering. So I made some quicker moves to try to get by.”

English, who entered the event fresh off a $10,022 victory in the Aug. 24 Harold Hardgrove Memorial at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, Ky., finished runner-up, with Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., advancing from the eighth starting spot to run third. Making his first start since he was sidelined with a leg injury in June, Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., finished fourth, with Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, rallying from the 17th starting spot to round out the top five.

Able to at one point close in on McCreadie in lapped traffic, mid-race cautions slowed English's charge. But English was still pleased with his second-place run, which marked his fifth top-five finish in his last six starts.

“I thought maybe there in lapped traffic we might have had him, he was fading a little bit,” English said. “But I was too. I think I was the only one that made that soft tire work and I was just fading there at the end, didn’t have enough for him. But I’ll take it. Second’s great with these guys.”

Surviving the caution-plagued distance, Davenport held on for a podium finish, extending his Lucas Oil Series points lead.

“We didn’t have the best car tonight,” Davenport said. “We maybe just outlasted a few. I wasn’t that good at the start, so I just took my time, saved my tires and kind of went for it the last 15-20 laps. We kept getting hung behind the wrong person or hung in the wrong lane on those restarts and I’d lose a couple positions.”

Notes: McCreadie notched his third victory of 2019, his previous two wins coming behind the wheel of the Rumley Enterprises No. 6. … Sidelined by a leg injury, fourth-place finisher Don O’Neal made his first start since June’s Lucas Oil Series stop at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. … Runner-up finisher Tanner English won the Aug. 2 special event at Ponderosa. ... The race was slowed by seven cautions. … The first yellow flag waved on lap 13 when Tommy Bailey slowed in turn two. … After running as high as fifth, Mike Marlar slowed with a blown right-rear tire to draw a lap-19 caution. … A yellow flag flew on lap 21 when Kyle Strickler slowed in the top of turn four; he ran as high as second. … Third-running Devin Moran slowed off the pace on the frontstretch to draw a lap-22 caution. …. A yellow flag flew on lap 37 when Austin Burns came to a stop in turn three. … Michael Chilton slid into the infield to draw a caution on lap 39. … The final yellow flag waved on lap 43 when Dustin Linville slowed; he ran as high as fourth. … The series made its third-ever visit to Ponderosa.