CONCORD, N.C. — Donnie Moran made history again Saturday night, holding off 2007 World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Steve Francis to take the second night of the inaugural World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Moran, known as “the Million Dollar Man” for his 2001 victory in a $1 million-to-win dirt-late-model event at Eldora Speedway, beat Francis by .154 second on the four-tenths-mile clay oval.
Starting from the pole, Moran lost the lead when Brian Shirley jumped to the point on the first lap and fell back as far as fifth as Earl Pearson, Jr., Francis and Shannon Babb passed the No. 99m PBM Performance Products MasterSbilt.
The slip up was only temporary, as the Dresden, Ohio-native battled back on the low side in turns three and four to retake the lead from Pearson on lap 18. Pearson made another try at Moran and the lead in turn two after a lap 20 caution, but Moran held on, leaving Pearson to fend off a hard-charging Shane Clanton.
Clanton made easy work of Pearson, and set his sights on Moran after a lap-24 caution. Clanton took his No. 25 RSD Enterprises/SAE Parts Rocket high into turn four, gaining the momentum to pull ahead of Moran in turn two. Moran, though, dug deep and clipped a Styrofoam “banana box” in turn four and couldn’t get back to Clanton.
Just as Darrell Lanigan began to pressure Moran for second, Moran took another shot at Clanton, pulling ahead of the No. 25 in turn two on lap 37. Moran took the lead for the final time coming off turn four as Clanton unsuccessfully tried to get back to him.
With 12 laps to go, the battle heated up for the runner-up spot. Francis made his way to second, leaving Lanigan and Clanton to battle for third. Heading into turns one and two, Lanigan slid up into Clanton, opening the door for three more competitors to pass.
Francis pulled closer to Moran with each passing lap but couldn’t get around the No. 99m. In a final attempt, Francis drove the No. 15 Mopar Performance Parts/Valvoline Rocket high into turn four, but Moran shut the door and beat him to the line.
“Great place to race,” Moran said. “I figured he (Francis) was there. You could kind of hear him out there a little bit, but I was just trying to keep my composure, run my line and hopefully we had it there until the end.”
The $10,000 victory was officially Moran’s third career WoO Late Model score, but was his first since 2004 and his first at The Dirt Track.
Francis, who clinched the 2007 title Friday night with a fourth-place finish, blamed a series of cautions for his inability to the lead.
“That was kind of a hail Mary there at the end. Our car was really good around the bottom,” Francis said. “I didn’t need all those cautions because I kept getting stuck in the outside lane and losing ground.
“I knew Donnie was going to come across the track and I was going to try to cross back under him, but there wasn’t time.”
Rookie of the Year Tim Fuller came home in third, followed by Steve Shaver and Lanigan.
The summary:
First Heat (10 laps): Shane Clanton, Josh Richards, Ricky Elliott, Steve Shaver, Randy Weaver, Jeremy Miller, Clint Smith, Doug Dodd, Austin Hubbard, Chris Combs, Tim Dohm, Larry Blankenship.
Second Heat (10 laps): Earl Pearson, Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Scott James, Matt Miller, Chub Frank, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Randy Korte, Ben Adkins, Jeep VanWormer, Matt Lux, Jordan Bland, Bob Gordon.
Third Heat (10 laps): Brian Shirley, Dan Schlieper, Ricky Weeks, Freddy Smith, Brian Ledbetter, Jared Hawkins, Chuck Harper, David Scott, Alex Ferree, Tommy Kerr, Austin Dillon, Dan Stone.
Fourth Heat (10 laps): Donnie Moran, Steve Francis, Chad Ruhlman, Rick Eckert, Jeff Smith, Tim Fuller, Jeff Cooke, Wayne Chinn, Jay Smith, Tony Knowles, Damon Kotke, Jason Dunn.
Fifth Heat (10 laps): Shannon Babb, Steve Lucas, Eric Jacobsen, Rodney Combs, Ronnie DeHaven, Jr., Mike Balzano, Tim Allen, Jerry Bowersock, Jayme Zidar, Junior Pearce, John Lewellyn.
Sixth Heat (10 laps): Michael England, Jackie Boggs, Scott Bloomquist, Jeff Rine, Jonathan Davenport, Brian Barber, Kerry Jones, Anthony Huber, Ken Schrader, Steve Blackburn, Walker Arthur, Troy Erickson.
First B Main (12 laps): Shaver, M. Miller, Frank, F. Smith, Carrier, C. Smith, J. Miller, Hawkins, Korte, Weaver, Dodd, Scott, Adkins, VanWormer, Harper, Hubbard, Ledbetter.
Second B Main (12 laps): Eckert, Fuller, Je. Smith, Rine, Chinn, Combs, DeHaven, Balzano, Barber, Davenport, Zidar, Cooke, Allen, Huber, Jones, Ja. Smith.
Feature (50 laps): Moran, Francis, Fuller, Shaver, Lanigan, Pearson, Bloomquist, Babb, Clanton, Lucas,  Richards, Eckert, Schlieper, Elliott, James, M. Miller, England, Scott, Jacobsen, Weeks, Shirley, Adkins, C. Smith, Frank, Boggs, Ruhlman.