InsideDirtRacing.com will be providing live updates from the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals-sanctioned $10,053-to-win event at Tazewell Speedway in Tazewell, TN on Sunday, July 30, 2023. These updates will be provided by Richard Allen(@RichardAllenIDR on Twitter and @RichardAllenIDR on Instagram).
Live updates are provided by Smoky Mountain Speedway.
Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy with highs in the 90s with a slight chance for showers.
Time: Drivers meeting set for 6:00pm(Sunday)
Feature Payout: $10,053-to-win(53 laps)
Track Description: Third-mile clay oval
Other Classes: Sportsman, Classic, Street Stocks
Live Stream: FloRacing.com
Pre-race Notes: This will be the eighth and final race on the Southern Nationals Series
Jimmy Owens leads the series standings with two races remaining over Carson Ferguson, Donald McIntosh, Ricky Weiss and Mike Benedum.
*This is the final points-paying race for the series. Each driver gets to drop his lowest finish which means there will have to be some calculation to determine the champion following the race.
As of now, here are the lowest finishes each of the top-3 drivers has posted:
Jimmy Owens finished 10th at Senoia.
Carson Ferguson finished 11th at both Beckley and Screven.
Donald McIntosh finished 14th at Senoia.
***This race was postponed from Saturday due to weather. It is now set for Sunday.
The action is planned to start earlier than had been set for Saturday with the hope of having everything wrapped up by 10:00pm.
6:00- Drivers meeting about to begin
7:00- SLM hot laps underway
Mechanical issues during hot laps have forced points leader Jimmy Owens and crew to unload the backup car.
3rd and 4th in points Donald McIntosh and Ricky Weiss spun in hot laps incurring light damage.
Live Updates:
Car Count: 23 cars
Drivers Here: B00- Josh Henry, 1c- Kenny Collins, 1G- Aaron Guinn, 3- Austin Neely, 3- Steve Smith, 5- Josh Chesney, 7w- Ricky Weiss, 8- David Payne, 8- Chris Chandler, 17- Brian Shockley, 17m- Dale McDowell, 17ss- Brenden Smith, 20-Jimmy Owens, 21k- Dakotah Knuckles, 25- Mike Benedum, 79- Donald McIntosh, 90- John Llewellyn, 90j- Jason Trammell, 93- Carson Ferguson, 97- Michael Chilton, 101- Forrest Trent, 114- Jordan Koehler,187- David McCoy, 329- Travis Fultz
*Driver list is incomplete and unofficial until after the drivers meeting.
Qualifying Results: There will be one group for qualifying
1. Austin Neely (10.996), 2. Ricky Weiss, 3. Donald McIntosh, 4. Dale McDowell, 5. Jason Trammell, 6. Kenny Collins, 7. Josh Henry, 8. Michael Chilton, 9. Jimmy Owens, 10. Dakotah Knuckles
Heat Race Results: There will be three heat races with the top-5 from each transferring to the feature.
Heat 1 Finish- 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Austin Neely, 3. Dakotah Knuckles, 4. Josh Henry, 5. Forrest Trent
*McDowell passed Neely on the last lap.
Heat 2 Finish- 1. Ricky Weiss, 2. Jason Trammell, 3. Jordan Koehler, 4. John Llewellyn, 5. Brenden Smith
*Michael Chilton was running second until he pulled off with two laps to go.
Heat 3 Finish- 1. Donald McIntosh, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Kenny Collins, 4. David McCoy, 5. Bryan Shockley
B-main Results: There will be one B-main taking the top-5.
1. Carson Ferguson, 2. Mike Benedum, 3. Aaron Guinn, 4. Travis Fultz, 5. Chris Chandler, 6. Joshua Chesney, 7. Steve Smith
Feature Notes:
Feature Lineup – 1. McDowell, 2. Weiss, 3. McIntosh, 4. Neely, 5. Trammell, 6. Owens, 7. Knuckles, 8. Koehler, 9. Collins, 10. Henry, 11. Llewellyn, 12. McCoy, 13. Trent, 14. B Smith, 15. Shockley, 16. Ferguson, 17. Benedum, 18. Guinn, 19. Fultz, 20. Chandler, 21. Chesney, 22. S Smith
9:20- Feature rolling out. 53 laps for $10,053.
9:30- Four wide!
9:33- Green flag!
Lap 2 caution for spin by Chandler. McDowell leads. On the start McIntosh, Weiss and Neely were 3-wide for second. Order now- McDowell, Neely, McIntosh, Weiss, Knuckles, Owens, Trammell, Koehler. Ferguson is 15th.
Big wreck on restart. Neely, McIntosh, Knuckles, McCoy, Guinn and Ferguson all involved.
Order is now McDowell, Weiss, Knuckles, Owens, Koehler and Henry
Ferguson in the pit area. McIntosh in the pit area. Neely in the pit area.
McIntosh, Ferguson and Neely will rejoin at the tail. Knuckles also drops to the tail.
Chandler spins on the restart. Back to caution.
Lap 6 caution for Knuckles crash. Trent and Benedum also with damage. McDowell leads Weiss, Owens, Koehler, Henry, Trammell
Multi -car crash before cars even took the green flag on the lap 6 restart. Neely, Collins, Henry and Shockley involved.
Lap 15 caution for spin by Knuckles. McDowell leads Weiss, Owens, Koehler, Trammell, Trent, B Smith, McIntosh. Ferguson is 13th.
Lap 35- McDowell leading in traffic over Weiss, Owens, Trammell and McIntosh. Ferguson is 12th
Once the race got into a rhythm McDowell dominated. He finishes out the Southern Nationals with two straight wins.
Jimmy Owens wins the Southern Nationals championship.
Feature Results: 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Ricky Weiss, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. Donald McIntosh, 5. Jason Trammell, 6. Kenny Collins, 7. Jordan Koehler, 8. Forrest Trent, 9. Dakotah Knuckles, 10. Brenden Smith, 11. Carson Ferguson, 12. Austin Neely, 13. Mike Benedum, 14. Aaron Guinn, 15. David McCoy, 16. John Llewellyn, 17. Travis Fultz, 18. Brian Shockley,, 19. Chris Chandler, 20. Josh Henry, 21. Joshua Chesney, 22. Steve Smith
Carson Ferguson
