To finish first, first you must finish. But sometimes, finishing first does not equate to a win.
That was the case at Lavonia Speedway on Saturday night in the Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series. Brent Dixon initially appeared to be the winner of the race but his car proved to be light at the scales in post-race inspection which handed the victory to Kenny Collins.
This was the second of a two-race weekend for the mini-series. Collins, who hails from Colbert, Georgia, drove his Longhorn Chassis to a $5,000 win in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total 22 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Watkins(15.689), 2. Payton Freeman, 3. Ethan Wilson, 4. Brent Dixon, 5. Daulton Wilson, 6. Pearson Lee Wilson, 7. Kenny Collins, 8. Carson Ferguson, 9. Daulton Cook, 10. John Henderson
Heat 1 Finish(All transfer): 1. Brent Dixon, 2. Ben Watkins, 3. Kenny Collins, 4. John Henderson, 5. Corey Roulette, 6. Will Harris, 7. David Yandle, 8. Cory Lawler
Heat 2 Finish: 1. Payton Freeman, 2. Ross Bailes, 3. Daulton Wilson, 4. Carson Ferguson, 5. Cla Knight, 6. Anthony Sanders, 7. Tim Vance
Heat 3 Finish: 1. Ethan Wilson, 2. Pearson Lee Williams, 3. Dalton Cook, 4. Adam Yarbrough, 5. Blake Craft, 6. Cody Overton, 7. Eli Beets
Xtreme DIRTcar Redraw: 1. Dixon, 2. Freeman, 3. Watkins, 4. Wilson, 5. Williams, 6. Bailes
Feature Account: At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Dixon who went to the lead with Watkins and Freeman trailing.
Just after the completion of the first lap, there was a multi-car incident that began with contact between Williams and Daulton Wilson. Ferguson suffered significant damage in the mishap and was retired from the event.
On the lap 1 restart, Dixon maintained the lead while Watkins, Collins, Roulette and Freeman ran in his tire tracks. Freeman got by Roulette for fourth just before a yellow flag came out for a spin near the tail of the field.
Dixon continued to lead the pack after the lap 5 restart with Watkins, Collins, Freeman and Cook trailing. However, another caution period occurred when Roulette tangled with Cook as the pair raced for fifth. On that restart, Freeman came up to third but eventually found himself spinning as he and Watkins fought for third.
When the race returned to green flag action, Collins took the runner-up position away from Watkins as Dixon drove away from his pursuers. Collins and Watkins would spend much of the remainder of the feature fighting for second. At the same time, Dixon held onto the lead as he worked through slower traffic in a race that would go caution free over the last 32 circuits.
In the end, Brent Dixon won the race to the checkered flag but his car came up 20 pounds too light at the scales. Collins then passed post-race tech to claim his first Xtreme DIRTcar Series victory.
“I really hate that for Brent,” Collins declared in his victory lane interview with DirtVision.com. “He was way better than us, he drove an excellent race. Man, i hate to see anybody lose a race like that but if somebody’s go to be the beneficiary of it, I’ll take it.”
Feature Finish: 1. Brent Dixon, 2. Kenny Collins, 3. Ben Watkins, 4. Cla Knight, 5. Ross Bailes, 6. Daulton Wilson, 7. Ethan Wilson, 8. John Henderson, 9. Cody Overton, 10. Anthony Sanders, 11. Payton Freeman, 12. Adam Yarbrough, 13. Cory Lawler, 14. David Yandle, 15. Tim Vance, Blake Craft, 17. Will Harris, 18. Dalton Cook, 19. Corey Roulette, 20. Eli Beets, 21. Pearson Lee Williams, 22. Carson Ferguson
Cody Overton claims first SLM win in Xtreme feature at Lavonia
Respond to this post on Twitter by following @RichardAllenIDR and @MichaelRMoats or by liking the InsideDirtRacing.com Facebook page.
Also, NASCAR and pavement racing fans can check out InsideCircleTrack.