Dale McDowell
Carson Ferguson controlled Friday night’s Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals event at North Georgia Speedway for 52 laps. Unfortunately for him, the feature was 53 laps in length. Dale McDowell used slower traffic to his advantage as Ferguson got caught up behind lapped cars on the final circuit which allowed McDowell’s No. 17m to fly by on the outside and drive on to the victory.
The Team Zero Race Cars driver from Chickamauga, Georgia earned $10,053 for his efforts on the track located in Chatsworth, Georgia.
A total of 36 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Carson Ferguson (13.932), 2. Sam Seawright, 3. Kenny Collins, 4. Will Roland, 5. Dale McDowell, 6. David Payne, 7. Jensen Ford, 8. Corey Roulette
Group B Results- 1. Ricky Weiss (13.973), 2. Pearson Lee Williams, 3. Booger Brooks, 4. Donald McIntosh, 5. Jimmy Owens, 6. Michael Page 7. John Ownbey, 8. Jordan Koehler
Heat 1 Results: 1. Carson Ferguson, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Kenny Collins, 4. Mike Benedum
Heat 2 Results: 1. Sam Seawright, 2. David Payne, 3. Will Roland, 4. Chase Oliver
Heat 3 Results: 1. Booger Brooks, 2. Ricky Weiss, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. John Ownbey
Heat 4 Results: 1. Donald McIntosh, 2. Pearson Lee Williams, 3. Michael Page, 4. Tyler Clem
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Rob Mayea, 2. Jensen Ford
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Josh Henry, 2. Heath Hindman
Feature Re-cap: The 53-lap feature took the green flag with Ferguson leading Brooks, McDowell, McIntosh and Seawright. Weiss looked to improve his position when he passed Seawright for fifth on the second lap but Seawright fought back as the two exchanged to spot over the couple of laps.
Both McIntosh and McDowell got around Brooks for second and third in the early going. By lap 9, the top-3 of Ferguson, McIntosh and McDowell ran in tight formation as the battled for the lead. Just behind, Brooks and Weiss were caught up in a fight of their own for fourth.
The race’s only caution flag waved on lap 16 when Joey Tanner spun. On that restart, McDowell emerged as the greatest threat to Ferguson’s dominance as he grabbed second away from McIntosh. The top-3 would remain in tight nose-to-tail order for numerous laps as the contested the top spot on the leaderboard.
As the laps clicked away, Ferguson and McDowell separated themselves from McIntosh and looked to settle the issue among themselves. It appeared as if Ferguson had complete control until just after the white flag waved. Ferguson entered turn one on the low side only to discover that slower cars had opted to run that same line. With his path blocked he was forced to slow which allowed McDowell to power by on the outside.
Click the play button below to hear our post-race interview with Dale McDowell:
Feature Results: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Carson Ferguson, 3. Donald McIntosh, 4. Michael Page, 5. Ricky Weiss, 6. Jimmy Owens, 7. Kenny Collins, 8. Will Roland, 9. Pearson Lee Williams, 10. Tyler Clem, 11. John Ownbey, 12. Mike Benedum, 13. Josh Henry, 14. Brenden Smith, 15. Jordan Koehler, 16. Rob Mayea, 17. Booger Brooks, 18. David Payne, 19. Jensen Ford, 20. Chase Oliver, 21. Joey Tanner, 22. Sam Seawright, 23. Heath Hindman
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