Randy Weaver set fast time and won the race at Boyd’s on Saturday night
Randy Weaver made it two-for-two in Super Late Model starts for 2015 when he won the Southern Nationals Bonus race at Boyd’s Speedway on Saturday night after earlier in the season capturing the Bama Bash in his only previous start of 2015. The Crossville, Tenn. driver picked up $4,000 for a hard fought victory over a solid field of 36 cars and drivers.
Weaver began the night by setting fast time in Group A qualifying and overall with a lap of 13.810 seconds around the third-mile oval. Also advancing to a dash race that would determine the first three rows of the feature starting grid from that group were Dale McDowell and Jason Hiett.
Austin Smith led the way in Group B time-trials ahead of David Payne and Nick Latham. Those three drivers also advanced to the dash preliminary.
McDowell earned the pole for the main event by winning the dash ahead of Hiett, Smith, Weaver, Latham and Payne.
Donald McIntosh, Riley Hickman, Bub McCool and Billy Ogle, Jr. each won heat races that were used to set the remainder of the starting lineup.
McDowell went to the early lead when the 40-lap main event got underway with Weaver quickly grabbing the second spot followed by Hiett and Smith. Two early movers in the field were McIntosh and McCool who broke into the top-5 by the fifth lap from their respective 7th and 9th starting positions.
During the early circuits, McDowell and Weaver distanced themselves from the rest of the pack and looked as if they would settle the matter among themselves. However, they would not be the only ones to play a role in determining this outcome. As early as lap 8, the two lead cars found themselves fighting through slower traffic that would ultimately play the deciding role.
It was in that traffic where Weaver began his most determined assault on the top spot. The Crossville, Tenn. driver began to maneuver his car to the inside lane and then the outside lane in hopes of finding enough racing room that might allow him to move around the Boyd’s Speedway co-owner.
On lap 16, the opportunity Weaver had been searching for finally presented itself. When McDowell’s No. 17 got pinned behind a slower car on the inside lane of turns 3 & 4, Weaver shot to the lead on the high side.
But just because he had dropped a position did not mean McDowell was about to give up. He immediately fought back as he looked for a way to return the favor on his rival. But before any more racing could take place, a caution waved on lap 18 for the slowing car of Jason Croft.
It was on the restart where the pivotal moment of the race occurred. As the two cars worked their way through turns 3 & 4, McDowell made a move to go under Weaver. However, the No. 17 machine spun in the tight quarters while Weaver continued on. McDowell pulled his car to the infield and retired from the race following the mishap.
With his chief adversary out of the event, Weaver faced little opposition over the race’s second half. However, McIntosh was not finished moving up. The Dawsonville, GA driver was able to finally wrest the second position away from Hiett on lap 35 after stalking for a number of laps. But he was never able to mount a challenge to Weaver’s leadership of the race.
Feature Finish: 1. Randy Weaver, 2. Donald McIntosh, 3. Jason Hiett, 4. Bub McCool, 5. David Payne, 6. Mike Tinker, 7. Riley Hickman, 8. Billy Ogle, Jr., 9. William Thomas, 10. Derek Ellis, 11. Austin Smith, 12. Ryan Gifford, 13. Nick Latham, 14. John Owenby, 15. Chad Ogle, 16. Jerry Coffman, 17. Dylan Ames, 18. Dusty Carver, 19. Dale McDowell, 20. Jason Welshan, 21. Jason Croft, 22. Chris Wilson, 23. Stacy Boles, 24. Skip Arp
Randy Weaver and crew celebrate their victory
