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Mike Benedum survives to take Southern Nationals finale

Mike Benedum survived a lap 17 mele to go on to win the finale of the Schaffer's Southern Nationals presented by Ray Varner Ford. Benedum started the race on the pole only to see Camaron Marlar take the initial lead. Marlar had to pit at lap 7 to see Jimmy Owens inherit the lead. Owens paced the field until Dale McDowell took the lead on lap 14.

Following a caution on lap 17, the restart turned the race and the series championship battle. McDowell broke a drive shaft in turn 2. McDowell's car turned sideways and collected Owens, Marlar, and Zack Mitchell. Owens' car rolled and landed on its top. Owens was uninjured. The race resumed with Benedum taking over as the leader followed by Kaede Loudy. Benedum held off a late challenge from Loudy but hung on to win the biggest race of his career. By finishing second, Loudy claimed the series championship.

Adam Mitchell, Colby Long, and Richie Overholser were the other winners on Saturday.

Schaeffer's Southern Nationals: 1. 25-Mike Benedum[1]; 2. 126-Kaede Loudy[7]; 3. 23-Beckham Malone[5]; 4. 79-Josh Sneed[17]; 5. 28N-Jeff Neubert[14]; 6. 56J-Jody Horton[19]; 7. 3D-Dakota Smith[13]; 8. 17M-Dale McDowell[6]; 9. 58V-Jimmy Owens[4]; 10. 57-Zack Mitchell[12]; 11. 57M-Camaron Marlar[2]; 12. 35-Dillon Daves[15]; 13. 83-Jensen Ford[8]; 14. 1C-Kenny Collins[10]; 15. 10-Garrett Smith[3]; 16. B00-Josh Henry[20]; 17. 8-David Payne[9]; 18. C5-David Crabtree[11]; 19. (DNS) 101-Forrest Trent; 20. (DNS) 3-Steve Smith

Sportsman late models: 1. 50-Adam Mitchell[1]; 2. 00-Chris Raines[3]; 3. 17-Logan Seal[4]; 4. 54-Mitchell Burke[5]; 5. 2-AJ Ferguson[7]; 6. 52-Troy Eads[8]; 7. 28-Richard Cox[9]; 8. 5C-Jacob Sutton[13]; 9. 33-Chris Hickman[14]; 10. 3C-Jimmy Calloway[12]; 11. 11-Tim Bounds[6]; 12. 000-Greg Goins[2]; 13. 15-Chris Griffin[11]; 14. 22B-Tyson Britt[10]

Street stocks: 1. 10-Colby Long[2]; 2. 69-Gary Blanken[1]; 3. 23-Austin Maples[3]; 4. 11-Tim Stevens[6]; 5. 44-Clyde Overholt[8]; 6. 206-Allen Vaughn[9]; 7. 5-Greg Harville[11]; 8. 88-Chris Nix[10]; 9. 26Z-Zach Campbell[5]; 10. 2-John Stevens[4]; 11. H2-Glen Hankins[13]; 12. 8-Eli Keck[7]; 13. 01-Luke Sharp[12]; 14. 69H-Jesse Hickman[14]; 15. (DNS) 7-Dylan Boggs

Classic cars. 1. 44-Richie Overholser[1]; 2. 00-Mac Lockhart[2]; 3. 16-Will Carey[4]; 4. 14-Lee Merritt[3]; 5. 28-Ryan Bailey[9]; 6. 31-Brandon Muncey[7]; 7. XXX-Josh Chesney[5]; 8. 22-Hunter Graybeal[6]; 9. 20-Preston Atkins[8]

 

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