Randy Weaver continued his hot streak on Friday at SMS.
Randy Weaver came into Friday night’s Southern All Stars event at Smoky Mountain Speedway sporting a perfect five-for-five record in the Dirt Late Model races he had entered so far in 2015. That record now stands at six-for-six after a dominating performance that netted the Crossville, Tenn. driver $5,000 on the the first night of a scheduled doubleheader weekend at the Maryville, Tenn. facility.
Weaver began the night on both a positive and negative note when he ripped off the fastest time in Group A qualifying and overall by posting a lap of 15.318 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. However, the No. 116 machine tagged the outside wall in turn one on its second circuit, causing minor damage to the right rear of the car. Also locking into the feature from that group were Dale McDowell, Chad Ogle, Mark Douglas and Skylar Marlar.
Mike Marlar led the way in Group B qualifying when he turned a lap of 15.522 seconds. Joining him in earning guaranteed starting spot in the feature from that group were Casey Roberts, Skip Arp, Stacy Boles and Billy Ogle, Jr.
Blount Motorsports drivers Tommy Kerr and Donald McIntosh won the two consolation races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
From the start of the 40-lap feature it was obvious that Weaver had the car to beat. Despite and number of early cautions, the Longhorn Chassis driver was able to continuously jump out to big leads at the drop of each green flag. Even on short runs, the red and white machine would build leads of a half straightaway or more in an instant.
Meanwhile, however, there was tremendous racing behind the leader as McDowell, Marlar, Roberts and Arp traded positions within the top-5 during the early going.
On lap 16, one of those contenders was lost when Arp banged the turn two wall while running in the third spot. At that same time, the 13th starting Chris Madden was making his way up through the field and seized a place in the top-5 after Arp’s misfortune.
The top-10 running McIntosh brought out the night’s final yellow flag on lap 25 when he encountered the turn one wall and came to a stop on the track.
During the second half of the feature, Marlar and Madden tried to make the bottom groove work on a track that had been top-side dominant for much of the night. Their efforts would pay off to some degree as Marlar took third away from Roberts with fewer than ten laps remaining.
No one ever seriously threatened Weaver over the closing laps as he cruised to his third consecutive Southern All Stars win in the process.
Weaver and crew in Victory Lane
Feature Finish: 1. Randy Weaver, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Mike Marlar, 4. Casey Roberts, 5. Chris Madden, 6. Tommy Kerr, 7. Stacy Boles, 8. Billy Ogle, Jr., 9. Riley Hickman, 10. Skylar Marlar, 11. Jason Welshan, 12. Roger Best, 13. Chris Wilson, 14. Jeff Neubert, 15. Donald McIntosh, 16. Todd Morrow, 17. Skip Arp, 18. Chad Ogle, 19. Mark Dotson, 20 Dillon Tidmore, 21. Vic Hill, 22. Steve Smith, 23. Mark Douglas
Smoky Mountain Speedway is set to host the Ray Cook promoted Spring Nationals on Saturday night in a $6,000-to-win race.
