Donald McIntosh cruised to the Ultimate win at SMS
The Ultimate Super Late Model Series and its sister tour, the fledgling Battle of Bluegrass Series, co-sanctioned Saturday night’s Super Late Model racing event at the Smoky Mountain Speedway and offered up a $5,000 first prize in so doing. And when the dust had settled, it was Donald McIntosh who came away with the win, but not before having to suffer through some personal struggles in the process.
The Dawsonville, GA driver battled sickness throughout much of the evening but was able to put that aside long enough to earn his the third Ultimate Super Late Model Series win of his career on a cool and breezy evening in Maryville, Tenn.
McIntosh made it known right away that he would be a force to be dealt with on the home track of his Blount Motorsports team when he posted the fastest lap on qualifying with a time of 16.359 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. The Ultimate SLM Series locks in the top-10 qualifiers in time-trials so Dylan Ames, Casey Roberts, Vic Hill, Chris Ferguson, Mark Douglas, Riley Hickman, Mack McCarter, Cory Hedgecock and Shanon Buckingham joined the pole winner in being locked onto the starting grid for the feature.
Tommy Kerr and Dustin Linville won the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the field for the main event.
At the start of the 40-lap feature, McIntosh went straight to the front of the field with Ames. Roberts, Ferguson, Hickman and Hill trailing. However, it did not take long before some drivers would begin to move forward. Roberts and Ferguson each passed by Ames to take second and third respectively on the second circuit while Hickman moved around Ames for fourth just one lap later.
Ferguson spun while challenging McIntosh for the lead
Soon after claiming the runner-up position, Roberts closed in on McIntosh and appeared poised for a challenge when his car suddenly slowed on lap 7 of the race. That left Ferguson to take up the challenge of wresting the lead away from McIntosh, and on lap 11 he appeared set to do that. However, the Mt. Holly, NC driver found himself tangled with a slower car in the middle of turns 1 & 2 and spun sideways as a result. Eventually, Hickman was also collected in the mishap as well.
Hickman was placed in second by series officials but would ultimately retire from the race as the right side body damage from the incident slowed his car. Ferguson would be sent to the tail of the field after being ruled to have caused the yellow flag.
With his most serious threats eliminated, McIntosh appeared to be on cruise control for much of the remaining laps. The No. 7 ride built sizable leads during green flag runs, leaving his competitors to race for second.
Derek Ellis(99) and Cory Hedgecock(23) battle at SMS
The race became a Blount Motorsports celebration after its final caution on lap 28 when Kerr moved into second and took up the pursuit of his teammate. However, the ailing McIntosh would not be seriously challenged over the final laps of the race on his way to the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Donald McIntosh, 2. Tommy Kerr, 3. Dylan Ames, 4. Aaron Ridley, 5. Cory Hedgecock, 6. TJ Reaid, 7. Kenny Collins, 8. Derek Ellis, 9. Chris Ferguson, 10 Jason Croft, 11. Glenn Elliott, 12. Vic Hill, 13. Nick Latham, 14. Roger Best, 15. Dustin Linville, 16. Bobby Giffin, 17. Riley Hickman, 18. Shanon Buckingham, 19. Mack McCarter, 20. Dusty Carver, 21. Dennis Franklin, 22. Robby Moses, 23. Casey Roberts, 24. Mark Douglas
BMS teammates share a moment in victory lane
