Cory Hedgecock won on his home turf at I-75
The Schaffer’s Oil Southern Nationals made its first ever visit to the I-75 Raceway on Tuesday night to contest the fourth of its twelve race mini-series events. At the end of the night it was local hero Cory Hedgecock who left the Sweetwater, TN track as the winner. The Loudon, TN driver earned $3,500 for the triumph in a race that was shown live by DirtonDirt.com.
The top-5 from each qualifying group would be locked into the feature.
Ross Bailes was fastest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 12.348 seconds around the third-mile clay oval outpacing Ryan King, Kyle Courtney, Brandon Overton and Ahnna Parkhurst.
Cory Hedgecock led the way in Group B qualifying by posting a lap of 12.221 seconds to top Tyler Millwood, Chris Madden, Jadon Frame and Jensen Ford.
Jake Knowles won the first B-main of the night ahead of David Payne, Colton Proffitt, John Ownbey and Ruben Mayfield.
Donald McIntosh took the second B-main over Dusty Carver, Pearson Lee Williams, Cody Overton and Gary McPherson.
After multiple attempts to get the race underway, Bailes was able to bolt into the lead once the race remained green with Hedgecock, King, Millwood and Courtney following. On the fourth lap Hedgecock made an inside move on Bailes but the No. 58 held the spot.
By lap 7 the lead duo found themselves in and among slower traffic. One lap later, Hedgecock slipped to the inside of Bailes and seized the lead of the race. However, Bailes fought back as he worked back to the inside of Hedgecock, but after contact, the No. 23 held on.
Overton began to move toward the front of the field on a lap 9 restart as he went to the outside and swept by Madden and Courtney to assume fifth. Two laps later, Overton went around Millwood and King to take third.
With Hedgecock well ahead of the field, Overton took the runner-up position away from Bailes on lap 13. Further back, series points leader Madden was making his presence felt as he moved around teammate Millwood to enter the top-5 of the running order.
Using a high line around the normally bottom dominant track, Overton closed in on Hedgecock and appeared poised to make a move until a caution flag waved on lap 27. By that time, Madden had worked his way up to third and looked to join the fight for the lead.
On the restart, Madden did in fact get around Overton to claim second. However, Hedgecock pulled away and appeared headed for certain victory until Bailes slowed with a flat tire to bring out the final yellow flag of the night.
Hedgecock would not be challenged as he powered under the checkered flag to score the second Southern Nationals win of his career.
Feature Finish: 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Chris Madden, 3. Brandon Overton, 4. Donald McIntosh, 5. Ryan King, 6. Tyler Millwood, 7. Kyle Courtney, 8. Ahnna Parkhurst, 9. Jake Knowles, 10. Colton Profitt, 11. Pearson Lee Williams, 12. Ross Bailes, 13. Ruben Mayfield, 14. Ryan Crane, 15. Dusty Carver, 16. Cody Overton, 17. John Ownbey, 18. Gary McPherson, 19. Craig Greer, 20. Jensen Ford, 21. Jadon Frame, 22. David Payne
