McDowell, Arp, Emert,
& Dalton Score Smoky Mountain Wins!
(August 8, 2020) The Schaeffer’s Iron
Man Championship Series visited Smoky Mountain Speedway for the
16th annual Iron Man Classic. Dale McDowell came from 7th starting
spot to win and claim the $5,000 top prize. Donald McIntosh and
Cory Hedgecock were the quickest qualifiers in each respective
group of qualifying and earned the front row for the 40-lap feature.
McIntosh fought off Hedgecock to take the initial lead. By lap
2, McDowell was already in third place and was looking for more
after a quick caution. Back under green, McIntosh pulled away
from Hedgecock while McDowell maintained third. The front three
cars stayed close to each other even as the lead trio negotiated
slower traffic. (MRM
Racing Photos)
Just after the halfway mark, McDowell passes Hedgecock for second.
McDowell closed in on McIntosh and the two began swapping the
lead back and forth. As the front two cars were trading the lead,
Hedgecock used a burst of momentum to try to pass both McIntosh
and McDowell. Hedgecock tried to pull a slider in a bid for the
lead. But McIntosh and McDowell had their momentum and resumed
their battle. McDowell finally grabbed the lead on lap 34 and
went on to grab the win. McIntosh held off Hedgecock for second.
(MRM
Racing Photos)
IRON-MAN SUPER LATE MODELS
1. Dale McDowell # 17m
2. Donald McIntosh # 7m
3. Cory Hedgecock # 23
4. Ryan King # 1g
5. Dakotah Knuckles # 21k
6. Robby Moses # 21
7. Tommy Kerr # 4t
8. Riley Hickman # R1
9. Michael Chilton # 97
10. Joey Standridge # 56
11. Tim Rucker # 47
12. Jay Scott # J27
13. Pearson Lee Williams # 2
14. Zach Leonhardi # 24
Skip Arp made his way to victory lane in the limited late model
division. Driving one of Stanley Best’s cars, Arp was second
in fast time just behind Kyle Courtney. As the race went to green,
Arp used the outside line to take the early lead. Courtney remained
close behind Arp, but could not shake up the veteran driver. Arp
brought home the win with Courtney finishing second and Austin
Neely taking the third spot.
(MRM
Racing Photos)
LIMITED LATE MODELS
1. Skip Arp # 31
2. Kyle Courtney # 171
3. Austin Neely # 3
4. Taylor Puckett # 28
5. Jason Manley # 32
6. Bobby Giffin # 97
7. Mike Price # 77
8. David Crabtree # C5
9. Tyler Price # 7
Jed Emert claimed another win in the sportsman late model division.
Emert earned the pole in qualifying and started alongside Jake
Whitehead on the front row. Emert quickly shot to the lead with
Whitehead close behind. Whitehead eventually lost second to Brandon
Miller. Emert cruised to the win with Miller finishing second
and Whitehead come home in third.
(MRM
Racing Photos)
SPORTSMAN LATE MODELS
1. Jed Emert # 98
2. Brandon Miller # 89
3. Jake Whitehead # 116
4. Adam Mitchell # 50
5. Kip Sawyer # 44
6. Brad Seagle # 31
7. Warren McMahan # 33
8. Dustin Ratliff # 10
9. Dereck Blair # 28
10. Austin Atkins # 14
11. Chad McLemore # EZ1
12. Kris Pauley # B54
13. Phillip Correll # 11
DID NOT START: Jason Wyres (18)
Twenty-one front wheel drive cars from across the region were
on hand for the $2,000 to win race. Dustin Duncan won the pole
for the race. As the field took the green, Duncan took the lead.
Brandon Dalton quickly moved to second. Dalton and Isaac Gipson
closed in on Dalton in the closing laps. Dalton appeared to have
the fastest car, bumping on Duncan’s rear bumper lap after
lap. As the field took the white flag, Duncan made contact with
the turn one wall that knocked him out of the race. Dalton and
Gipson raced each other for the win coming to the checkered flag.
Both drivers banged each other coming to the line with Gipson
narrowly edging Dalton at the line. Both drivers continued the
contact and both cars had to be towed off the track to the scales.
Once both cars made it to the scales, it was determined Gipson’s
engine was bigger than what was claimed, thus disqualifying him.
That made Dalton the winner with Jacob Sharp and Cody Rector rounding
out the top 3.
(MRM
Racing Photos)
FRONT WHEEL DRIVES
1. Brandon Dalton # 54
2. Jacob Sharp # 1
3. Cody Rector # 46
4. Mike Jones # 7
5. Nathan Adams # A93
6. James Burnett # 18
7. Josh Davis # 526
8. John McCloud # 19
9. Fabe Herbert # 33h
10. Kane Pelfrey # 01
11. Andy Wilson # 11w
12. Dustin Duncan # 21
13. Ryan Harness # 04
14. Shane Poplin # 2
15. Brandon Crawford # 00
16. Daniel Lawson # 69
17. Amelia McClain # 717
18. Travis Sands # 32
19. Joey Kelly # 88
20. Aaron Herbert # A33
DISQUALIFIED: Issac Gipson (10)
DID NOT START: Issac Slaton (20)
NEXT EVENT:
Saturday, September 5th
Schaeffer’s Oil Fall Nationals (WIMZ Rockin’ with
the Stars Hall of Fame 100)
Super Late Models - $5000 to win
Limited Late Models - $1200 to win
Sportsman Late Models - $800 to win
Kajun Mini Stocks - $1500 to win
IRON-MAN CLASSIC
PHOTO GALLERY
(MRM
Racing Photos)
