If Tim McCreadie had a rear view mirror, it probably would’ve been difficult for the Watertown, N.Y., driver to focus on what was ahead of him over the final two laps of Saturday’s Dirt Late Model Stream Invitational at Eldora Speedway.

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Fortunately McCreadie had clear vision — and clear sailing — in front of him for a green, white checkered restart following the fourth and final caution of the 67-lap, $50,000-to-win main event. Pointing his Donald and Gena Bradsher-owned Longhorn Chassis toward the top of the track on the restart, McCreadie pulled away from a wild battle for the runner-up spot and beat Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., back to the line by 0.629 of a second for his second career big-money payday at the Big E.

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McCreadie, who started 13th, drove to the inside of a high-flying Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., to take the lead on lap 64 and pulled away. But as he zipped down the backstretch on the white flag lap toward almost certain victory, the caution appeared for Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, who shredded a right rear tire, leaving debris strewn around the track.

That set up a one-mile sprint to the finish and left the veteran McCreadie on the defense against two of sports hardest charging young talents, Sheppard in second and Pierce in third.

“I just figured you know, you got two of the best behind you on the cushion (Sheppard and Pierce) and the last thing I wanted to do was get beat because I didn’t at least try to go up there,” said McCreadie, who had primarily stuck to the low grove as he moved through the field. “I know I didn’t get all the way in the cushion, but I figured if I drove in hard enough and kept my speed up they wouldn’t be able to get that huge run off the corner because, you know, I was in their way.

“For 50-plus laps, I ran arced into the guardrail, arced into the guardrail and you know I was riding around there under the yellow and I thought, man, you know if I get beat because I don’t … you know, granted, I didn’t lay right on the cushion … but if I don’t just fly it off in there and try to do something, I just wouldn’t feel good about myself.

“So I just figured, well, if he’s under me, I can see him and then I can knock the deck out on the last lap if I got to to try and do something. I never seen him off of (turn) two so I did my normal line through (turns) three and four and in one and two I just tried to carry speed. Like I said, the two guys behind me are probably the two best at doing that.”

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McCreadie beat both Sheppard and Pierce back to turn one and again darted away. As Pierce floated up the track ahead of Sheppard, Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., turned under to make a bid for the runner-up spot. Pierce, who started 17th, managed to drive back around the outside of McDowell, who settled for third.

“The last restart I was a little patient and those guys were hustling pretty good, so I was able to get me a few spots,” said McDowell, who started sixth and was running fifth with two laps remaining. “All in all, it was a good weekend for the EZ-GO hot rod. We’re pleased with a podium finish.”

After leading laps 1-17 and 36-63 for a race-high 45 circuits, Sheppard, the 2019 Dream winner, finished fourth, a half-second behind McDowell, the 2019 Dream runner-up. Sheppard was slated to start third, but inherited the pole position when fourth heat winner and scheduled polesitter Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., couldn’t get his engine to fire in the staging grid. Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., the event’s overall fast qualifier on Thursday, rallied from 18th to complete the top five.

Pierce, who led the Stream’s points tally after two nights of preliminary features, was primed for a solid starting spot in the feature after leading the first eight laps of his heat. But then disaster. Mechanical failure while leading the 15-lap heat and a subsequent DNF forced him to use a provisional to start the main event. Stuck back on row nine in a race scheduled 33 laps shorter than the typical Eldora crown jewel, Pierce knew he had to try to move forward in a hurry.

He was in the top 10 by lap 17, entered the top five on lap 22 and moved into second on lap 38. His march toward the front wasn’t without its bumps though. He made contact with Kyle Strickler of Mooresville, N.C., resulting in Strickler getting into the fence in turn four while leaving Thursday’s $10,000 prelim winner a bit miffed.

“I know Kyle Strickler, he was mad, but like, that’s just the racing deal. When I got Devin (Moran’s) dirty air, I just slid a lot faster, right up, than I wanted to,” said Pierce. “I figured he’d probably been there, but at that point there was nothing I could do. I was trying to come to the front and I knew I had to get by guys. Any little chance I had, I had to take it because the track started taking rubber there right at the end.

“I told my crew it was gonna happen and they’re like, ‘You think?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ It’s been way too hot today and the sun was beating on it. The track’s been getting drier and drier as the week went on. But all in all, the racetrack was really good … to provide racing like that. There’s nothing like Eldora Speedway. That’s why I love coming here.”

Pierce thought once he tracked down Sheppard, the two Illini drivers would be able to settle things themselves. Then McCreadie entered the fray. Running well down the track from the board-banging duo up front, the 2018 World 100 winner made up a lot of ground in a hurry.

“I really didn’t think (McCreadie) was gonna come from nowhere,” added Pierce. “I didn’t watch my dad the last five laps with the (signaling) sticks and then all of the sudden I seen a car there and I was like, ‘Well.’ I mean, there’s nothing I could do anyway ‘cause that wasn’t the line I was running. Honestly I was hoping there was a caution and I could have a chance like we did on that restart to do something with Brandon because (otherwise) I couldn’t with the air.”

Click here for full Feature results from the Eldora Dirt Late Model Stream

While Pierce doggedly chased Sheppard — and the two youngsters navigated precariously on the edge of the treacherous cushion — McCreadie was licking his chops as he began to run them both down.

“To all the fans at home, man, I hope you were jumping up and down like I was the last few laps,” McCreadie said in victory lane. “I kept seeing them guys and keep thinking, ‘Man, they’re coming back to me.’ It was just our night.

“I really don’t know what to say. Thanks to Phil (Snellen) and Jeff (McGee) and Kevin (Rumley) that do all this. I don’t really do a lot anymore on these cars. These guys, they hear my upset part, where I’m thinking the car don’t roll right or there’s major issues with this or that and they just put their heads down and work and they ignore what I say half the time, so that’s probably why we’re good.”