Vic Hill charged from the eighth starting spot to take home the $10,050 victory Saturday Night at Tazewell Speedway in the West Chevrolet-sponsored 50th Anniversary race.
Hill drove the Landair Transport, Orthopedic Institute of Western Kentucky, Pilot Travel Centers, American Race Tires, Preferred Sandblasting & Painting and Fastlane sponsored Longhorn Chassis with a Vic Hill Racing Engine to his fifth career series victory.
Casey Roberts and Austin Smith brought the field down to Bruce Caylor’s green flag and the 50 lapper was underway with Roberts out to the lead early. Austin Smith, Donald McIntosh and Mack McCarter would tuck in behind the leaders as the race went green for the first 20 laps before the first caution.
Eighth place starter Vic Hill would work on leader Casey Roberts before lap 20 but the caution that came on lap 20 slowed Hill’s progress. Hill would take another shot at the lead on the bottom side of the track after the field went back green and would eventually make the pass for the lead on lap 24 coming off turn two and officially lead on lap 25. McIntosh would make his presence known and take the second spot away from Roberts on lap 28 but he wouldn’t hold the position long as McCarter would challenge McIntosh and take the runner-up position on lap 33.
Hill held the top spot in the remaining laps and go on for the win over McCarter, McIntosh, Ogle and Smith.
Three yellow flags slowed the 50-lapper. The first yellow came on lap 20 for debris in turn three. The next yellow would wave for a spinning Bo Eaton on lap 27 yellow would wave on lap 38 as Casey Roberts came to a stop in turn three after contact with a lapped car. Roberts returned to the tail after he went pitside for repairs.
After the victory lane celebrations took place, Casey Roberts was honored as becoming the 2015 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Champion and clinching the championship by just four markers after a seventh place finish in the main event. Roberts became the sixth different series champion in 11 seasons. Billy Ogle Jr. finished second in the points while Donald McIntosh finished third, Austin Smith finished fourth in the points and Vic Hill came home fifth in the final totals. Craig Vosbergen finished sixth, Mark Dotson finished seventh and Stacy Boles finished eighth in the final points rounding out the list of eight drivers who traveled to all nine events. A total of 94 drivers competed in at least one series event during the series that suffered one rainout at Rome Speedway. The series had six different winners in nine races.
In post-series awards, Mark Dotson was awarded the AR Bodies Rookie of the Year championship and $1,000 cash. The Wiles Driveshaft went to Mark Dotson and the Dyer’s Top Rod’s “Champions Award” for a $500.00 product certificate went to Casey Roberts.
Southern Nationals Series presented by West Chevrolet
1. Vic Hill-Mosheim, Tenn.
2. Mack McCarter-Gatlinburg, Tenn.
3. Donald McIntosh-Dawsonville, Ga.
4. Billy Ogle Jr.-Knoxville, Tenn.
5. Austin Smith-Cedartown, Ga.
6. Jeff Wolfenbarger-Clinton, Tenn.
7. Casey Roberts-Toccoa, Ga.
8. Craig Vosbergen-Perth, Western Australia
9. Stacy Boles-Clinton, Tenn.
10. Jeff Neubert-Rockford, Tenn.
11. Chad Ogle-Sevierville, Tenn.
12. Josh Collins-New Tazewell, Tenn.
13. Philip Thompson-Knoxville, Tenn.
14. Mark Dotson-Cameron, Mo.
15. Anthony Arnwine-New Tazewell, Tenn.
16. Bo Eaton-Blue Ridge, Ga.
17. Randy Davis-New Tazewell, Tenn.
18. Mitchell Burke-Tazewell, Tenn.
19. Bobby Mays-Jonesborough, Tenn. (Did Not Start)
The wild action kept right on going into the Sportsman feature with $800 on the line for the winner. Points leader Clyde Overholt of Tazewell was looking for his third win in a row. Matt Tharp of Luttrell was hoping to end a winless streak that stretched back to the middle of June.
In time trials Overholt turned the fastest lap among seventeen entries with a lap of 12.338 seconds with Tharp turning in the second quickest time. Overholt would draw the poe position for the feature in the invert draw with Tharp starting on the outside of the front row.
With the drop of the green Overholt shoved his way into the lead as Tharp and Jonathan Miracle of Tazewell raced side by side for second. By lap three Overholt started putting distance between himself and Tharp. Meanwhile Warren McMahan of Dandridge and David Clark were battling hard for the fourth spot. By lap nine Overholt had caught up with lap traffic which allowed Tharp to shorten the gap and on the next circuit put himself back into contention for the lead.
The caution would fly on lap fourteen as Rodney Kiker of Greeneville and Warren McMahan tangled on the back stretch sending McMahan spinning. On the restart Tharp starting putting the pressure on Overholt for the top spot. On lap seventeen Tharp dove to the inside of turn one and raced only inches from Overholt’s door going down the back streatch. On the next lap Tharp repeated the move shotting down to the bottom groove and clearing Overholt for the lead. Tharp would hold off Overholt for his third win of the season and the $800 paycheck in the Hickory Star Resort & Marina, Satterfield Truck Service, Jovida Enterprises, C&C Landscaping, Stealth Carburetors, Warrior 1G Shock Service sponsored GRT Race car with a powerplant from Phantom Race Engines.
Sportsman
1. 35 Matt Tharp
2. 4 Clyde Overholt
3. 50 Jonathan Miracle
4. 1 David Clark
5. 4 Rodney Kiker
6. 3 Michael Boyd
7. XXX Josh Chesney
8. 21 Bryan Howerton
9. 61 Kenny Ford
10. 53 Floyd Branham
11. 22 Anthony Liford
12. 34 Phillip Shockley
13. 33 Warren McMahan
14. 119 Josh Evans
15. 24 Andy Wilder
DNS 11 Cody Smith
DNS 92T Travis Crosby
Tazewell Speedway’s Super Stocks were also on showcase as $700 was on the line for the winner. By virtue of a blind draw Jamie Whitt of Wise, VA and Austin Neely of Tazewell would start on the front row of the twenty lap feature. Whitt would lead the first lap trailed by Brad Davis, who started third, and Greg Estes of Jonesville, VA who started fifth. On lap three Davis started using the low groove to move up alongside Whitt and took the lead away on the next lap.
Meanwhile Kurt Owens of Newport, who started started on the last row in tenth, had raced his way up into the fifth spot. In front of him Estes was working on taking second away from Whitt. Austin Neely of Tazewell would bring out the caution on lap thirteen and he spun on his own coming out of turn four. On the restart Estes put the pressure on Davis for the lead as Owens, who moved into third on the eighth lap, was lurking in the shadows. As the trio entered turn three Davis’ car slid high tagging the wall which let Estes take the lead and Owens taking over second. Davis would retire with a broken power steering belt. Owens would take the lead from Estes with five laps to go for his third Super Stock win of the season.
Super Stock
1. 14 Kurt Owens
2. 31 Greg Estes
3. 56 Tony Horton
4. 1 Jamie Whitt
5. P21 Robbie Buchanan
6. 3. Austin Neely
7. 55 Brad Sturgill
8. 88 Brad Davis
9. 38 Cody Thompson
10. 33 Rocky Nichols
Philip Thompson of Knoxville took the lead away from Coldiron, Kentucky’s Hayston Collett on the fourth lap of the 4 Cylinder feature to collect his twelfth win of the season in the Skyline Transportation ,Vyve Broadband Crockett Creek Beef Jerky, Hooker Harness Filmax Filtration, Eagle Race Engine powered Radioactive Race Car .
Classic Car
1. 24 Philip Thompson
2. 07 Hayston Collett
3. 7 John Stevens
4. 5 Logan Dukes
With a season high car count the 4 Cylinders were awarded with time trials to determine the starting field for their feature. Points leader Chuck McMahan of Dandridge turned in the fastest lap but would draw the three on the invert draw. This would give the pole position to Bubby Braden of Luttrel with Joey Allen of Cosby starting on the outside of the front row. Allen would take the point on the first lap and fight off a pesky McMahan to end his winless streak that went all the way back to April. It would be Allen’s third win of the season in the Allen’s Railroad Contracting, Norton’s Body Shop, New Vision Graphics Ford Mustang.
4 Cylinder
1. 00 Joey Allen
2. 99 Chuck McMahan
3. 25 David Singleton
4. 7 Bubby Braden
5. 13 Eddie Collett
6. 72 Rufus Collett
7. 23 Sam Burgess
8. 17 John Haynes
9. 1 Mark Wallace
DNS 7UP Kurt Owens
