Donald McIntosh led all 44 laps of the Buddy Rogers Memorial
The Schaeffer’s Oil Fall Nationals and Iron-Man Late Model Series hit the high banks of the Tazewell Speedway on Sunday night as part of the co-sanctioned Buddy Rogers Memorial event. At the end of a high speed evening, it was defending Fall Nationals champion Donald McIntosh who claimed the win. The Dawsonville, GA driver took $4,400 home as a result for his triumph.
The top-5 from each of two qualifying groups would be locked into the feature.
Donald McIntosh was fastest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 11.653 seconds around the third-mile clay oval to better the efforts of Vic Hill, Michael Chilton, Pierce McCarter and Brian Shockley.
Ryan King led the way in Group B time-trials with a lap of 11.800 seconds to top Brian Smith, Dakotah Knuckles, Greg Estes and Jason Trammell.
David Payne won the B-main race ahead of Aaron Guinn, Steve Smith, Lynn Leach and Wade Howerton.
At the start of the 44-lap feature it was McIntosh who went to the early lead with King, Hill, Chilton and Smith trailing. Chilton went after Hill for the third spot on the second circuit but Hill fought off the challenge as McIntosh began to sneak away from his pursuers.
A lap 8 caution slowed the pace of the action and allowed the field catch up to McIntosh. On the ensuing restart contact between King and Hill allowed Chilton to move by Hill and close onto the rear spoiler of King’s car before a second yellow flag waved on lap 9 for a multi-car incident at the rear of the field.
Vic Hill (1) and Michael Chilton (97) battle for third.
Hill got back around Chilton for third and Knuckles followed through the open door to gain the fourth position. However, the improvements by Hill and Knuckles were nullified when another caution came out on lap 10 when Jimmy Johnson spun.
Numerous cars were involved in a pileup in turn two when the green flag waved to restart the event on lap 10. With the track completely blocked, the red flag had to be displayed to the field.
Series officials then called for sing;e-file restarts. When the race went back to green conditions, the top-5 running car of Knuckles slipped out of the groove and lost several positions while McIntosh drove away from the pack.
Hill and Chilton fought over the third spot for several laps until Chilton slowed with a flat tire, which brought out a caution on lap 21. Trammell, McCarter and Joey Standridge were involved in a mishap on the restart with Trammell suffering enough damage to bring about his retirement from the event.
McIntosh built another big lead over King by lap 30 while King, in turn, enjoyed a relatively comfortable margin over Hill. But the lead car appeared to visibly slow just before a yellow flag was displayed for debris on lap 33.
Aaron Guinn (97) passes Brian Smith (7) toward a 3rd place finish.
On the lap 33 restart Guinn moved around Smith to take fourth and shortly afterward Chilton rallied to fifth by passing Smith. Meanwhile, King kept pace with McIntosh as the laps clicked away but a lap 40 caution for a flat tire on the third-running car of Hill slowed the action once again.
Over the final laps McIntosh held onto his lead and sailed under the checkered flag to score the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Donald McIntosh, 2. Ryan King, 3. Aaron Guinn, 4. Dakotah Knuckles, 5. Pierce McCarter, 6. Michael Chilton, 7. David Payne, 8. Vic Hill, 9. Brian Shockley, 10. Brian Smith, 11. Joey Standridge, 12. Jason Trammell, 13. Lynn Leach, 14. Steve Smith, 15. Greg Estes, 16. Clyde Overholt, 17. Jimmy Johnson, 18. Wade Howerton, 19. Stacy Boles
Donald McIntosh and crew in victory lane.
