Brandon Overton claimed another big payday
The two-night ‘King of the Sandbox’ event concluded on Saturday at the Southern Raceway with the most lucrative event in the history of the Milton, Florida track. At the end of a dominating performance, it was Brandon Overton who came away with the big prize. The Longhorn Chassis driver from Evans, Georgia collected a payout valued at $20,000 in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 17 cars were signed in for competition.
Bo Slay was fastest in Group A qualifying after posting a new track record with a time of 14.002 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval besting Ryan Crane, Brandon Overton, Payton Freeman and Josh Putnam.
Ashton Winger set quick time in Group B qualifying with an effort of 14.252 seconds topping G.R. Smith, Max Blair, Joseph Joiner and Chad Thrash.
Bo Slay earned the pole for the feature by winning the first heat race of the night ahead of Brandon Overton, Ryan Crane, Josh Putnam and Payton Freeman.
Ashton Winger beat out G.R. Smith, Max Blair, Chad Thrash and Robbie Stuart in the second preliminary event.
And the start of the 60-lap main event it was Slay who went to the initial lead of the race with Winger, Overton, Blair and Crane trailing. Unfortunately, trouble came early on for Smith as he rolled to a stop after the completion of the first circuit to bring out a caution.
On the restart, Slay maintained the lead ahead of Winger and Overton. Further back, Blair and Crane fought for fourth with Crane eventually emerging with the spot. However, a second caution flag was displayed to the field when second running Winger stopped on track with mechanical issues.
When green flag racing resumed, Slay continued to lead with Overton keeping him in his sights. Crane, Blair and Putnam mixed it up further back for positions 3-5.
On lap 12, Slay tangled with a slower car opening the door for Overton to grab the race lead. However, Slay stayed within a few car lengths of the winner of multiple crown jewels during 2021 until a caution flag waved when Michael Arnold slowed on lap 18.
On the ensuing restart, Blair got by Slay to claim the runner-up spot while Putnam jumped to fourth. At the front of the field, Overton began to pull away from his pursuers, opening up a lead of more than three seconds as the race approached the halfway mark.
Putnam continued to move forward as he passed Slay for third on lap 27. However, those early moves proved to be all for naught as Putnam pulled off the track just after halfway with smoke trailing from his car.
Joiner slowed to bring out a yellow flag on lap 39 but he was able to return to action. At that time, Overton led Blair, Slay, Freeman and Crane. Crane was sent for a spin on the restart which then sent him to the pit area for a tire change.
With less than 20 to go, Overton began to drive off into the sunset leaving Blair, Slay and Joiner behind. Ultimately, Overton would maintain control of the event and sail under the checkered flag to claim another big payday in a season that has been filled with big paydays.
Feature Finish: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Max Blair, 3. Bo Slay, 4. Joseph Joiner, 5. Ryan Crane, 6. Robbie Stuart, 7. Payton Freeman, 8. Josh Putnam, 9. Chad Thrash, 10. Luke Bennett, 11. Michael Arnold, 12. Tim Anderson, 13. G.R. Smith, 14. Ashton Winger, 15. James Gilmore, 16. Jeffrey Cooper
