Jimmy Owens swept weekend action with a win at 411 Motor Speedway.
Super Late Model competitors descended on 411 Motor Speedway on Saturday evening to contest an event in front of empty grandstands that was broadcast live by DirtonDirt.com. At the end of the night it would be Jimmy Owens who would leave the Seymour, TN track with the $5,000 first prize along with other bonus awards.
The Newport, TN native had won three consecutive World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series races at Volusia Speedway Park just before the coronavirus shutdowns took hold then returned to action with a win on Friday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
Cory Hedgecock was fastest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.086 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval beating out Devin Gilpin, Casey Roberts, Kyle Strickler and Jackie Boggs.
Kent Robinson proved to be fastest in Group B time-trials with a time of 14.218 seconds topping Jimmy Owens, Josh Rice, Donald McIntosh and Chase King.
The top-3 from each group went to a dash race that would set the first three rows on the starting grid for the main event.
Casey Roberts won the dash followed by Jimmy Owens, Kent Robinson, Cory Hedgecock, Josh Rice and Devin Gilpin.
Logan Roberson took the win in the first heat race of the night ahead of Kyle Strickler, Hudson O’Neal and Josh Putnam while Zack Dohm was the winner of the second preliminary over Jackie Boggs, Zach Leonhardi and Travis Stemler.
David Payne beat the pack in the third heat to the line as Mike Benedum, Donald McIntosh and Cameron Marlar just before Chase King outran Jensen Ford, Dalton Cook and Heath Hindman.
Josh Rice (11) battles Casey Roberts (101) for third.
Owens used his outside front row starting spot to his advantage at the start of the 40-lap feature as he won the drag race with Roberts to the first turn. Hedgecock, Robinson and Rice trailed the lead duo during the first circuit around the track.
Gilpin moved up to challenge Rice for fifth in the early going while Hedgecock took the runner-up spot from Roberts on lap 4. Meanwhile, Rice eventually broke away from his battle with Gilpin and engaged in a fight for fourth with Robinson.
Owens began to slip away from the field during the race’s first quarter but slower traffic would intervene on lap 12 the leader found himself among a pack of slower machines. Further back, Rice continued his climb as he moved around Roberts to assume the third position in the running order.
Cory Hedgecock (23) and Josh Rice (11) in close action.
Owens managed to keep slower traffic between himself and Hedgecock as the feature neared the halfway mark but even heavier traffic would bottle up the lead duo on lap 23.
A lap 26 restart saw Hedgecock and Rice exchange slide jobs as they battled for second as Owens again got away from his pursuers.
However, Hedgecock broke free from Rice and moved his car to the high line with ten laps remaining and began to reel Owens in. But the veteran driver moved up into the lane being employed by Hedgecock and then held his advantage.
Casey Roberts (101) tries to hold off Kent Robinson (7R).
A lap 37 restart proved to be no problem for Owens as he drove on to victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Cory Hedgecock, 3. Josh Rice, 4. Kent Robinson, 5. Casey Roberts, 6. Logan Roberson, 7. David Payne, 8. Devin Gilpin, 9. Jensen Ford, 10. Mike Benedum, 11. Chase King, 12. Kyle Strickler, 13. Hudson O’Neal, 14. Zach Leonhardi, 15. Zack Dohm, 16. Josh Putnam, 17. Travis Stemler, 18. Jackie Boggs, 19. Donald McIntosh, 20. Heath Hindman, 21. Camaron Marlar, 22. Dalton Cook
Jimmy Owens and crew celebrate their win at 411.
