Vic Hill charged from 8th to 1st to win the Southern Nationals finale.
The Southern Nationals finale at the Tazewell Speedway on Saturday night was not lacking for story lines. A local hero won the richest payout ever to be given out in series history and a dramatic ending to a close points battle wasn’t settled until the final lap was completed.
Vic Hill of Mosheim, Tenn. charged from his eighth starting position to win the feature and collect the $10,050 first prize while Casey Roberts of Toccoa, GA had to survive a late race entanglement to claim his first Southern Nationals Series championship.
Donald McIntosh led the way in qualifying as he beat out a field of 19 cars with a lap of 11.212 seconds around the high-banked third-mile oval. Also earning spots in the dash race that would set the first two rows on the starting grid for the feature were Mack McCarter, Austin Smith and Roberts.
Roberts was awarded the pole for the feature after he won the dash race ahead of Smith, McIntosh and McCarter.
Title contender Billy Ogle, Jr. and Jeff Wolfenbarger were the winners in the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
Casey Roberts started the feature from the pole and led 23 laps.
Roberts took the lead in the 50-lap feature at the drop of the green flag but not without a strong challenge from McIntosh during the early circuits. At the same time, Ogle wasted no time making known that he would be a factor as he surged into the third spot from his fifth starting position at the outset of the race.
With the feature running under green flag conditions for the first 20 laps, slower traffic became a significant factor. The leading Roberts machine had contact with another car on lap 17 but was able get away relatively unscathed.
Cautions on lap 20 and 23 served to bunch the lead cars back together and give those drivers a brief reprieve from traffic. It was during this time that Hill really began to make his move.
On lap 21 the No. 1 machine moved around McCarter for third, and one circuit later, he passed McIntosh for the runner-up spot. Using a lower groove than most other competitors, Hill quickly closed on and passed Roberts for the top spot on lap 24. Shortly afterwards, McIntosh and McCarter swept by Roberts, pushing the series points leader back to fourth.
Coming into the night with an 8 point lead, Roberts was still secure in his position, even after having dropped back on the leader board. But on lap 38, the No. 101 car tangled with a slower machine and came to a halt on the track.
After a tire change and with damage to the nose of the car, Roberts returned in the ninth position while Ogle ran fourth. This running order suddenly brought the championship battle into question. However, Roberts was able to move around Ogle teammate Stacy Boles and then Craig Vosbergen to work himself up to 7th, which provided him with a safer working margin.
Meanwhile, Hill pulled out to a lead of several car lengths ahead of McCarter and McIntosh and went essentially unchallenged over the final laps to claim the victory.
Hill pocketed over $10,000 on Saturday at Tazewell
Feature Finish: 1. Vic Hill, 2. Mack McCarter, 3. Donald McIntosh, 4. Billy Ogle, Jr., 5. Austin Smith, 6. Jeff Wolfenbarger, 7. Casey Roberts, 8. Craig Vosbergen, 9. Stacy Boles, 10. Jeff Neubert, 11. Chad Ogle, 12. Josh Collins, 13. Philip Thompson, 14. Mark Dotson, 15. Anthony Arnwine, 16. Bo Eaton, 17. Randy Davis, 18. Mitchell Burke, 19. Bobby Mays
Roberts celebrates his Southern Nationals title with family and crew.
