Dale McDowell led wire-to-wire in the Leftover at 411
The 411 Motor Speedway extended its racing season by hosting the first annual Leftover event on Saturday evening. Georgia driver and soon-to-be National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Dale McDowell was able to beat out the competition and feast on the $5,000 top prize for Super Late Models offered by the Seymour, TN track.
McDowell led the way in Group A qualifying when he turned a lap around the 3/8 mile clay oval in 14.802 seconds. Donald McIntosh, Jackie Boggs, Jason Cardwell and Layne Clifton joined McDowell in being locked into the feature via time-trials.
Jimmy Owens, driving car owned by Richard Austin, was fastest in Group B qualifying and overall when he toured the track in 14.763 seconds. Jason Hiett, Michael Chilton, Jason Welshan and Brandon Williams were also locked into the feature from this group.
Bobby Mays and Ryan King won the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
McDowell used the inside front row starting position earned in qualifying to his advantage as he took the lead when the green flag waved over the 50-lap feature with Owens, McIntosh, Hiett and Boggs trailing behind. Welshan made an early move as he seized the sixth spot away from Chilton on the third circuit of the event.
McDowell broke away from the pack by lap 5 but had just encountered slower traffic when a caution flag waved over the speedway on lap six.
On the ensuing restart, McIntosh took the runner-up spot away from Owens while Boggs, Welshan and Hiett found themselves in a three-wide battle for fourth just behind the lead trio. However, these battles proved to be short-lived as the race’s second and final yellow flag of the night was displayed to the field on the eighth circuit as multiple cars spun in turn three.
Owens regained second on the following restart and set about the task of pursuing the race leader in front of a good crowd who enthusiastically cheered the east Tennessee native.
The race ran under green conditions for the final 42 laps with McDowell seemingly in total command throughout much of that run. However, Owens was able to drastically close the gap late in the going as McDowell found himself mired in slower traffic with the laps winding down.
At the same time, drivers Clifton, Chilton and Cardwell waged a war that saw them go three-wide on occasion as they battled for positions within the top-10.
With three laps remaining, Owens made a bid for the lead as the cars raced through turns one and two when he took his car to the inside lane but was unable to make the move stick and ultimately had to settle for second behind the Team Dillon Racing machine of McDowell.
Feature Finish: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Donald McIntosh, 4. Jackie Boggs, 5. Jason Hiett, 6. Jason Welshan, 7. Layne Clifton, 8. Jason Cardwell, 9. Michael Chilton, 10. Ryan King, 11. Mitchell Childress, 12. Bobby Mays, 13. Tim Damron, 14. Josh Henry, 15. Levi Ashby, 16. Scott Shelton, 17. Doug Smith, 18. Walker Arthur, 19. Brandon Williams, 20. Chicky Barton, 21. Harrison Hall, 22. Mack McCarter
