Dale McDowell led all 60 laps on his way to a $10,000 victory
The Ray Cook promoted Spring Nationals mini-series took to the Senoia Raceway on Saturday night for the second part of a big racing weekend at the track located just southwest of Atlanta. At the end of the night it was Dale McDowell who completed a weekend sweep for Sweet-Bloomquist Race Cars and left the gumbo covered racing surface with the winner’s trophy and a check for $10,000.
Clint Smith began the night by setting fast time in Group A qualifying with a lap of 16.382 seconds around the 3/8 mile facility. That time beat out Cody King, Aaron Ridley, Austin Smith, Friday night feature winner Scott Bloomquist and Shane Clanton.
McDowell was the best in Group B time-trials as he posted a quick lap in 16.398 seconds to beat out Zach Leonhardi, Mason Massey, Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., Riley Hickman and Shanon Buckingham.
Clint Smith earned the pole for the feature when he outran Ridley, Bloomquist and Michael Page to the checkered flag in the night’s first heat race while Austin Smith won the second preliminary of the night over Cody King, Eric Wells and John Ownbey.
McDowell would start the main event from the outside of the front row by virtue of the fact that he beat out Riley Hickman, Joseph Joiner and Mason Massey in the third heat just before Leonhardi finished ahead of Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., Kyle Hardy and Shanon Buckingham in the fourth and final heat.
Dalton Cook and Austin Horton won the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting grid for the main event.
McDowell went to the early lead when the green flag waved to start the 60-lap feature with Clint Smith, Ridley, Leonhardi and Austin Smith trailing just behind. But it was Bloomquist who proved to be the early mover as he roared from his ninth starting position to fourth by the second lap and all the way up to third by the end of the third circuit.
Clint Smith, Ridley and Bloomquist fought for top-5 spots, sometimes going three-wide, as the lead car of McDowell slipped away from the battle in the early laps. Bloomquist would seize second on the seventh lap and would set off to track down McDowell.
Clint and Austin Smith continued their battle for position as they contested third while McDowell and Bloomquist worked their way toward slower traffic. Further back, Page and Hickman kept each other busy as each sought to gain possession of seventh in the running order.
On lap 14 Bloomquist looked to take advantage of the lapped machines holding McDowell up. The No. 0 machine moved to the outside and briefly drew alongside the No. 17m but McDowell would ultimately hold the top spot.
The race’s only caution other than a botched initial start came on lap 28 when Page slowed on track. McDowell and Bloomquist regained control of the race once the green flag was displayed again. From that point, the track became bottom lane dominant with most of the field running in single-file order around the speedway.
McDowell and Bloomquist had driven away from the rest of the pack by lap 40. Bloomquist spent the remainder of the race trailing closely behind McDowell waiting for a mistake that might provide an opportunity to make a move for the lead but that opportunity never came.
Feature Finish: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Scott Bloomquist, 3. Aaron Ridley, 4. Clint Smith, 5. Zach Leonhardi, 6. Eric Wells, 7. Kyle Hardy, 8. Austin Smith, 9. Riley Hickman, 10. Shane Clanton, 11. Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., 12. Joseph Joiner, 13. Shanon Buckingham, 14. Mason Massey, 15. Cody King, 16. Jason Croft, 17. Ryan King, 18. Brandon Kinzer, 19. John Ownbey, 20. Casey Roberts, 21. David Payne, 22. Dalton Cook, 23. Michael Page, 24. Payton Freeman, 25. Austin Horton
