Dale McDowell in Rome victory lane
There’s nothing unusual about Dale McDowell winning a feature race as he has been doing quite a bit of that this season. However, the circumstances surrounding Saturday night’s Hunt the Front Dirt Racing Series affair at the Rome Speedway were a bit unusual. A mid-race misunderstanding that caused the No. 17m machine to slow and ultimately surrender the lead was not enough to keep the determined Hall of Fame member out of victory lane.
The Team Zero Race Cars driver from Chickamauga, Georgia earned $15,000 for his efforts from the track located in Rome, Georgia.
A total of 26 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results: 1. Dale McDowell (14.349), 2. Wil Herrington, 3. Ashton Winger, 4. Jason Hiett, 5. Zack Mitchell, 6. Joseph Joiner, 7. Dalton Cook, 8. Jason Croft, 9. Ryan Crane, 10. Michael Page, 11. Tyler Millwood, 12. Austin Smith
Heat 1 Results: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Jason Hiett, 3. Michael Page, 4. Dalton Cook, 5. Austin Kirkpatrick, 6. John Henderson
Heat 2 Results: 1. Wil Herrington, 2. Zack Mitchell, 3. Jason Croft, 4. Austin Horton, 5. Tyler Millwood, 6. Jay Scott
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ashton Winger, 2. Joseph Joiner, 3. Austin Smith, 4. Ryan Crane, 5. Josh Putnam, 6. Cla Knight
Feature Re-cap: The 50-lap feature got underway with McDowell jumping to the lead followed by Herrington, Winger, Mitchell and Hiett. By lap 3, McDowell had already begun to pull away from the single-file line that ran in his wake.
Winger closed in to pressure Herrington for second on lap 6 as the leaders began to catch up with the tail of the field. With McDowell continuing to lead, Herrington, Winger and Mitchell ran in tight formation as they worked through slower traffic.
The first yellow flag of the night waved on lap 9 when second running Herrington slowed with a flat tire. McDowell continued to show the way following the restart with Winger and Mitchell trailing.
Fourth running Hiett brought out a lap 18 caution when he stopped on track.
The race took a strange turn at the halfway mark when McDowell slowed on the backstretch allowing Winger and Mitchell to pass. The caution flag then waved slowing the entire field.
McDowell then moved back to the head of the field as the cars circulated at slow speed. Officials then ruled that McDowell would have fall in behind Winger and Mitchell because that is where he was at the time the yellow was called for.
McDowell would later insist during his victory lane interview that he had heard officials over the Raceceiver call for a caution which is why he slowed down. Ultimately, the No. 17m was made to restart third behind Winger and Mitchell.
On the restart, McDowell immediately bolted to second and then moved in to challenge Winger.
A lap 42 yellow for Roland and then a lap 47 caution for fourth running Mitchell’s slowing car set up a final dash to the finish.
With Winger leading and McDowell harassing as they contested the lead of the race coming to the white flag, Winger’s car suddenly slowed with a flat tire. McDowell rushed past then sailed under the checkered flag one lap later to score the win.
Feature Results: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Joseph Joiner, 3. Tyler Millwood, 4. Austin Horton, 5. Dalton Cook, 6. Ashton Winger, 7. Josh Putnam, 8. Wil Herrington, 9. Jay Scott, 10. Jason Croft, 11. Bo Slay, 12. Trey Mills, 13. Zack Mitchell, 14. Todd Morrow, 15. Austin Kirkpatrick, 16. Will Roland, 17. Michael Page, 18. Austin Smith, 19. John Henderson, 20. Tate McCollum, 21. Jason Hiett, 22. Ryan Crane, 23. Cla Knight, 24. Joey Armistead Jr.
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