Jensen Ford scored his first Super Late Model win
The Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series concluded a two-race weekend on Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway. The ‘Rockin With the Stars’ event was won by Jensen Ford after leading flag-to-flag in earning his first career Super Late Model triumph. The Johnson City, TN driver collected $5,000 for his efforts at the Maryville, TN facility.
A total of 30 cars were signed in for competition.
Jensen Ford led the way in Group A qualifying to earn the pole starting position for the feature after posting a time of 17.105 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval to top Sam Seawright, Cory Hedgecock, David Crabtree, and Donald McIntosh.
It was Dale McDowell who was fastest in Group B time-trials after touring the track in 17.028 seconds to beat out Ricky Weiss, Pierce McCarter, Tommy Kerr, and Dean Bowen.
The top-5 in each qualifying group were locked into the feature.
Will Roland won the first B-main of the night ahead of Chase King, Jadon Frame, Jay Scott, Tyler Millwood, and Robby Moses.
Austin Kirkpatrick defeated Payton Freeman, Dalton Cook, Josh Putnam, Ellery Leake, and Austin Franklin in the second B-main of the evening.
At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Ford who bolted to the early lead with McDowell, Seawright, Weiss and Hedgecock trailing in his wake. Weiss stepped forward early on as he took third away from Seawright on the third lap.
After just five circuits around the high speed track, the leading duo of Ford and McDowell began to separate themselves from the pack. Further back, Hedgecock gained a spot as he got by Seawright to claim fourth on lap 6. Meanwhile, McIntosh and McCarter fought for the sixth position just behind the Hedgecock and Seawright tussle.
Will Roland spun on lap 14 to bring out the only caution flag of the race. On that restart, Weiss bolted to second and began his own pursuit of Ford. At the same time, Hedgecock moved in to challenge McDowell for third in a battle that would go on for several laps.
Eventually, Hedgecock would get by McDowell just before the halfway mark leaving the veteran driver to then fight with Seawright for fourth.
As the laps clicked off, Ford found himself having to work through slower traffic as Weiss closed to his rear spoiler. Ultimately, however, the No. 83 TNT Race Car would sail under the checkered flag to score the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Jensen Ford, 2. Ricky Weiss, 3. Cory Hedgecock, 4. Dale McDowell, 5. Sam Seawright, 6. Chase King, 7. Pierce McCarter, 8. Jadon Frame, 9. Payton Freeman, 10. Dalton Cook, 11. Robby Moses, 12. Tommy Kerr, 13. Manny Falcon, 14. Jay Scott, 15. Tyler Millwood, 16. Ellery Leake, 17. Austin Franklin, 18. Austin Kirkpatrick, 19. Will Roland, 20. Donald McIntosh, 21. David Crabtree, 22. Josh Putnam, 23. Dean Bowen
