Donald McIntosh did not drive his usual ride at Boyd’s
It remains to be seen whether or not a particular guy who is often referred to as ‘The Donald’ will win anything in 2016 or not. But another Donald has already scored two Super Late Model victories this year and the calendar has yet to turn to February.
Donald McIntosh turned in a dominating performance on Saturday afternoon on his way to victory the traditional season opener at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, GA. The Blount Motorsports No. 7 grabbed the lead on lap 7 and was never seriously threatened on his to picking up a $3,500 payday for his efforts in the Cabin Fever 40.
Ethan Hunter led the way in Group A qualifying and overall as he posted a lap of 15.214 seconds around the third-mile clay oval. With the top-3 from each of the two qualifying groups being made eligible for a dash race to determine the first three rows in the feature, he was joined by Riley Hickman and Jason Hiett for that honor.
Dale McDowell led the way in Group B time-trials when he turned a lap in 15.447 seconds around the track located just south of Chattanooga. McIntosh and Tyler Millwood also earned spots in the dash race with their qualifying efforts from this group.
McDowell claimed the pole position for the main event by winning the dash over McIntosh, Hunter, Hickman, Hiett and Millwood.
Michael Page, Jason Manley, Ray Cook and Matt Larson won the four heat races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
McDowell shot to the early lead of the 40-lap feature with McIntosh, Page, Millwood, Hunter and Hickman right in his tire tracks. Almost immediately, McIntosh began applying pressure to the leader as he ducked inside of the veteran driver at virtually every turn.
Finally, McIntosh’s efforts would be rewarded when he moved low down the front stretch and bolted to the lead as he and McDowell made their way to turn one.
The race pace was slowed by caution twice. The first yellow flag waved on lap 8 when Cory Hedgecock slowed with apparent mechanical issues while the second interruption occurred on lap 16 when the top-5 running cars of Millwood and Page tangled. The Millwood machine actually ended up on top of Page’s ride and had to extricated by track officials.
Once he went to the front, McIntosh’s only concern was for the slower cars he was to lap. On more than one occasion the Dawsonville, GA native had to force his way under the cars running at the tail of the pack in order to get around on the bottom dominate track.
Meanwhile the action was much tighter about a straightaway behind the front runner. The second running McDowell was almost constantly pressured by those who would want to take his spot. Manley worked his way up to third after the Millwood/Page incident and attempted to get under McDowell several times. However, the Limited Late Model winner at the Ice Bowl in Talladega earlier this month would surrender third on lap 18 when he slipped up out of the racing groove allowing Cook to seize the spot.
Tod Hernandez, Hickman, Jake Knowles and David Brannon staged a fight for positions 5 through 8 throughout much of the race’s second half as each hoped to achieve a top-5 finish in the final rundown.
In the end, however, it would be McIntosh in his Larry Garner-owned ride who celebrated in victory lane with the trophy and the check, following up his earlier triumph in the Hangover at 411 Motor Speedway on New Year’s Day.
Donald McIntosh
Feature Finish: 1. Donald McIntosh, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Ray Cook, 4. Jason Manley, 5. Tod Hernandez, 6. Jake Knowles, 7. Riley Hickman, 8. David Brannon, 9. Robby Mason, 10. Derek Ellis, 11. Tyler Millwood, 12. Brian Jackson, 13. Ashton Winger, 14. Lucas Burns, 15. David Gentry, 16. Josh Johnson, 17. Matt Larson, 18. Clint Nichols, 19. Zack Dunsmore, 20. Scott Shelton, 21. Ethan Hunter, 22. Michael Page, 23. Jason Hiett, 24. Cory Hedgecock
