GEORGETOWN, Del. (April 26) — As Garrett Alberson headed toward the front of Friday night’s 49-lap Melvin L. Joseph Memorial at Georgetown Speedway, he didn’t explicitly consider the possibility the run would culminate with his elusive first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory. He actually didn’t think his advance would even reach his ultimate finishing position of third.

“I was kind of impressed how long and into the race we kept going forward,” Alberson said. “I didn’t know the track would race (well) that long. Even the last restart (on lap 39) there was still moving around to a degree on the entries (to the corners) a little bit.”

A 35-year-old native of Las Cruces, N.M., now living in Dubuque, Iowa, Alberson found a route around the top of the half-mile oval’s turns that carried him from the 10th starting spot to third by lap 34. He wasn’t able to overcome the final two drivers ahead of him — flag-to-flag winner Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., and runner-up Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio — but he was fine with a podium finish.

“There was just the tiniest bit of brown (moisture) all the way out until almost the backstretch off of (turn) two that you could kind of get ahold of,” Alberson said. “And you were carrying so much speed you could kind of get your car pushed down to the racetrack, and I think the air was just good. I mean, you had the lane to yourself so you had good air anyways.

“I don’t know if it was that much faster, but everybody else was just laned-up in dirty air (around the bottom) and I could just kind of carry momentum.”

The primary takeover of the outing for Alberson: “Tonight it just felt good to finish going forward rather than finish going backwards.”

That has been a problem Alberson has been trying to rectify throughout the early 2024 campaign. The third-year Lucas Oil Series regular has shown some impressive speed with his Roberts Motorsports Longhorn Chassis, but converting the strength into the results has often proven challenging. Several scrapes and mistakes he’s blamed on himself have held him back from logging more than the two top-five finishes in Lucas Oil Series action he had during February’s Wieland Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.

There have definitely been some moments this season when frustration over his performance delivered blows to Alberson’s morale.

“I probably caught myself riding the waves a little bit too much, because you would have an excellent night, or maybe have a car you feel like could win the race, and not get the finish you wanted,” said Alberson. “I think that’s what bums me out sometimes, is when I take something really good and mess it up or something like that.

“I’m still working on that part. So much of this at this level is a mental game, just trying to keep yourself upbeat, keep yourself confident.”

Alberson has leaned on his support system on the road — his wife Dani, car owner Ken Roberts, recently-hired crew chief (and fellow Southwest racer) R.C. Whitwell and brother-in-law/crew member Thomas Grinzic — to push him through the rough stretches.

“This year, in general, I feel real fortunate,” said Alberson, who matched his career-best Lucas Oil Series finish of third achieved four times previously since 2022, most recently on Feb. 8 at East Bay. “We focused really hard, after the last couple years putting this group together right here, on attitudes, just to make sure something you had is sustainable because it is so hard to have good nights every night.

“I’m still learning so I make big mistakes sometimes. And on the bad nights, I’ve been the only one down as a whole. The whole group’s been good about picking me up. They all seem to believe in me and it helps a lot. It’s really good.”

Moran has fun

Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, made the most of the eastern-most trip on the 2024 Lucas Oil Series schedule. His second-place finish in Georgetown’s 49-lap feature capped an enjoyable visit to Delmarva for the 29-year-old driver.

“We really don’t see this part of the country but once a year,” Moran said. “We never really get to go to (nearby) Ocean City (Maryland) or anything, so it’s cool to come over and hang out and vacation a little bit.

“We got here Tuesday night. Some friends took us over (to the beach town). There were a couple bars open, and the casino. And the go-karts. We’re racers. What do you expect? We had to ride them.

“It was a good start to the week,” he added, “and we’re just trying to keep it rolling.”

Moran started and finished second in the Friday’s headliner, but he nearly lost the position to Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., on a mid-race restart.

“The restarts were just sketchy,” Moran said. “The problem was, there was a little bit of cushion on the top of (turns) three and four, and the very bottom was flat and super slick so you didn’t really know where the better place was.”

There was only one brief moment when Moran thought he might have a shot to battle wire-to-wire winner Ricky Thornton Jr. for the lead.

“I really would’ve been better off without the cautions,” Moran said. “I got to Ricky one time and then the caution came out. There was a chance — I started running the top and then (the crew) moved Ricky up, so then I finally got to the bottom and I was still making up time in the middle part of the race. It just didn’t work out and he was really good.”

Long drive

After making a long haul of over 700 miles from his home in Bowling Green, Ky., to Georgetown Speedway — just 20 minutes or so away from the Atlantic Ocean — Lucas Oil Series pit official Doug Wells marveled at the track’s location.

“I don’t know how Ross does,” Wells said with a laugh, referring to Ross Robinson, the Lucas Oil tour’s only Delaware driver.

Robinson resides virtually in the shadow of the track, which means Friday’s event offered all his fellow series regulars an opportunity to experience the travel itinerary that he does.

“I give that team props,” Devin Moran said of Robinson’s operation when asked about making the sojourn to Georgetown. “They definitely do a lot of (extra) driving.”

Garrett Alberson had the same feeling after taking two days to make a 17-hour trip to Delmarva from his team’s home base in eastern Iowa.

“We were just talking about this yesterday,” Alberson said. “We were pulling in here and were like, ‘Ross has to do this drive (in the other direction) every weekend.’ It gives you a big appreciation for what those guys do.

“I’m sure he’s just like me and gets down on himself sometimes, but then on top of all that they have to drive even farther (to Lucas Oil races). All the credit in the world to them guys to keep pushing. It was good to seem them get a good finish tonight.

Odds and ends

Tackling a sprawling half-mile oval like Georgetown might not please a large portion of drivers, but Ricky Thornton Jr. isn’t one of them. “It’s different, but at the same time I like coming to half-miles,” he said. “It’s on the edge of out of control, but if you’re not scared a little bit then you’re not going fast enough. That’s kind of what I’ve always heard.” … The Lucas Oil tour’s Mid-Atlantic weekend was a homecoming of sorts for Thornton’s tire specialist D.J. Williams, a native of Maryland who traveled to the region’s tracks crewing for his father, David, before hitting the road with SSI Motorsports. Williams posed in victory with a contingent of nearly a dozen family members who came to Georgetown to visit with him. “My dad, step mom, step sister, dad’s parents, cousins, cousins’ wives — they’re all here,” he said. … After his weekend schedule opened up with the cancellation of World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series events in Oklahoma and Kansas, Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., made an overnight 14-hour haul to Georgetown after attending his daughter’s first spring concert on Thursday night. He finished a quiet 15th. … WoO rookie Max McLaughlin of Mooresville, N.C., also joined the weekend’s field with his G.R. Smith-owned team. The big-block modified transplant finished 13th in his first-ever Lucas Oil Series feature start. … NASCAR Cup Series star Ross Chastain failed to qualify driving a car provided by Rick Eckert of York, Pa., a 2-year-old Rocket that Eckert last drove early last year. … Eckert was added to the feature field in his new machine as a provisional and climbed from the 26th starting spot to place 12th. … Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., saw his primary car sidelined when its engine locked up coming to the green flag in time trials. He switched to his backup, a Rocket that Max Blair drove several times last year but Briggs had never piloted until hitting the Georgetown clay. … Hot off his first-ever Carolina Clash Series triumph two weeks ago, Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., fell one spot short of transferring to the feature in the second B-main. It would have been his first Lucas Oil feature appearance since February 2011 at East Bay. … Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., missed hot laps due to an electrical problem that shut off his car. He qualified poorly and never recovered en route to a DNQ. … Trever Feathers of Winchester, Va., loaded up after struggling in his heat to save his equipment. … Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md., contended for a transfer spot in his heat until fading and dropping out with what he thought was a flat tire tire. … Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch made the short trip south from Dover International Speedway to catch Georgetown’s action. He was invited into the tower to get out of the chilly evening weather and ended up calling the feature with Lucas Oil Series announcer James Essex. … Georgetown promoter Brett Deyo was very happy with the large crowd and 40-car field that turned out for the event, which was crisply run with the Lucas Oil feature ending at 9:22 p.m.