Jimmy Owens took the lead on lap 17 then cruised to the win
The Schaeffer’s Oil Iron-Man Late Model Series contested its final race of the 2020 season on Saturday as part of the 411 Motor Speedway 5th annual Leftover event. At the end of the day it was Jimmy Owens who would take the lead in the early going then go on to earn the victory and the winner’s trophy. The Newport, TN driver was awarded $5,000 for his twentieth feature win of the season.
Ryan King was crowned as the 2020 Iron-Man Late Model Series champion at the conclusion of the feature.
Robby Moses was fastest in Group A qualifying and overall with a lap of 14.816 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval to outperform Jimmy Owens, David Seibers and Donald McIntosh.
Cory Hedgecock was quickest in Group B time-trials with a mark of 15.089 topping Dustin Linville, Randy Weaver and Clay Coghlan.
The top-4 from each qualifying group were locked into the feature.
Austin Horton won the first B-main of the night over Jensen Ford and Joe Leavell while Riley Hickman took the second preliminary ahead of Chad Wallace and Colton Flinner.
Michael Chilton defeated Jordan Rodabaugh and Camaron Marlar in the third heat just before Mike Marlar won the fourth and final heat over Forrest Trent and Josh Rice.
Jimmy Owens came from 3rd to win the race.
At the start of the 50-lap feature it was Hedgecock who darted to the early lead ahead of Moses, Linville, Owens and Weaver. Owens quickly went on the move as he took third away from Linville on the second circuit. Then just one lap later, the reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion took the runner-up spot away from Moses.
Hedgecock had a lead of ten car lengths by lap 5 but Owens began cutting into that advantage as the laps clicked away. By lap 8, Owens had closed to the rear of the No. 23 machine and began to apply pressure.
Further back, Weaver climbed past Linville to take fourth on the ninth lap.
Randy Weaver (85) takes fourth from Dustin Linville (D8).
Owens moved in and began to challenge Hedgecock for the lead on lap 13 as the lead duo worked through slower traffic. On lap 17, the No. 20 made its move and swept by Hedgecock for the race lead.
Weaver jumped one more spot in the running order on lap 20 when he took third away from Moses. Linville also passed by Moses on lap 24 to stake claim to the fourth position.
But over the second half in a race that ran caution free, Owens motored away from the pack and cruised to the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Cory Hedgecock, 3. Randy Weaver, 4. Dustin Linville, 5. Mike Marlar, 6. Michael Chilton, 7. Robby Moses, 8. Donald McIntosh, 9. Riley Hickman, 10. Austin Horton, 11. Jensen Ford, 12. Josh Rice, 13. Clay Coghlan, 14. Forrest Trent, 15. Camaron Marlar, 16. Ryan King, 17. Jordan Rodabaugh, 18. Chad Wallace, 19. Jason Cardwell, 20. Joey Standridge, 21. Colton Flinner, 22. David Seibers, 23. Joe Leavell
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Robby Moses (21) and Dustin Linville (D8) split a lapped car.
Jimmy Owens and crew celebrate their 20th win of 2020.
