Owens Holds Off Challengers
for Smoky Mountain Showdown Win!
(September
2, 2022) Jimmy Owens has been tough to be in World of
Outlaws Case Construction Late Model Series competition at Smoky
Mountain Speedway. He held off some late challenges in a return
trip to victory lane. (MRM
Racing Photo)
Owens started the 40-lap race from the pole position by virtue
of the redraw for the first 3 rows. Chris Ferguson would start
alongside on the outside pole. As the race went green, Owens wasted
no time in taking the lead. Shane Clanton battled Ferguson for
second and would take the spot going down the backstretch.
Following a caution on lap 2, the battle for second through fifth
continued as Clanton held off Ferguson to maintain second while
Hudson O’Neal and Cory Hedgecock battled for fourth. O’Neal
would take third, then track down Ferguson in a battle for third.
O’Neal would take third a few laps later and Hedgecock tried
to take fourth from Ferguson.
A caution on lap 15 would re-rack the field. As Owens retained
the lead back under green. O’Neal used the high line to
take second from Clanton. Hedgecock took fourth from Ferguson.
Dennis Erb Jr. got by Tanner English for sixth.
As the leader maneuvered through slower traffic, O’Neal
caught Owens and pressured him for the lead. O’Neal would
close in on the back bumper of Owens. As O’Neal continued
to pressure Owens, the right, read hub broke off O’Neal
machine to bring out the caution on lap 30. With O’Neal
and Clanton out that moved Ferguson into second and Erb Jr. into
third.
Over the final 10 laps, Ferguson got within a few car lengths
of Owens, but could not get close enough to mount a challenge.
Owens went on to win the race. Ferguson was second and Max Blair
made a late pass on Erb Jr. to finish in third.
The sportsman feature saw Jake Whitehead and Tyler Price start
on the front row. Whitehead held off Price on the opening laps
to take the lead. Jed Emert closed in on Price to battle for second.
Price would later retire from the race. A late restart was Brad
Seagle take second from Emert. Neither driver could chase down
Whitehead who won comfortably over Seagle.
The mini stocks once again provided more excitement for their
20-lap race.Derik Duggan edged Shane Bullock for the pole position
and collected the $100 bonus. But it was Bullock who grabbed the
lead at the start of the race. Duggan applied pressure on Bullock
as Larry Housley and Michael Courtney battled for third. A caution
on lap 8 bunched up the field. Duggan tried to get by Bullock
on the restart. Bullock held off Duggan and pulled away to a several
car length advantage. A late caution allowed Duggan to mount one
more challenge. Duggan and Bullock exchanged slide jobs before
Duggan finally took control of the race and take the win. Bullock
was second and Jeremy Davis rallied to finish third.
Case Construction Feature (40 Laps): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2.
22-Chris Ferguson[2]; 3. 111V-Max Blair[11]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb
Jr[10]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 6. 23-Cory Hedgecock[5]; 7. 81E-Tanner
English[9]; 8. 1-Josh Richards[12]; 9. 99B-Boom Briggs[17]; 10.
76-Brandon Overton[21]; 11. F1-Payton Freeman[14]; 12. B1-Brent
Larson[20]; 13. 995-Dwight Falcon[22]; 14. 28P-Taylor Pucket[16];
15. 71-Hudson O'Neal[8]; 16. 25-Shane Clanton[3]; 17. 23B-John
Blankenship[13]; 18. 116-Cameron Weaver[15]; 19. 16-Sam Seawright[19];
20. 7-Ricky Weiss[4]; 21. 31-Skip Arp[18]; 22. 17M-Dale McDowell[7]
Sportsman Late Models
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 116-Jake Whitehead[1]; 2. 31-Brad Seagle[4];
3. 98-Jed Emert[3]; 4. 50-Adam Mitchell[6]; 5. 55-Duke Lowe[8];
6. (DNF) 22-Jaylon Shannon[5]; 7. (DNF) 27-Cameron Hawkins[7];
8. (DNF) 09-Chris Lewis[9]; 9. (DNF) 7-Tyler Price[2]
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Derik Duggan[1]; 2.
2B-SHANE BULLOCK[2]; 3. D3-Jeremy Davis[6]; 4. D1-Nathan Davis[5];
5. 46-Ricky Harmon[8]; 6. 44-Cordell Collins[10]; 7. (DNF) 30-Larry
Housley[4]; 8. (DNF) 25G-Gracie Duggan[9]; 9. (DNF) C11-Michael
Courtney[3]; 10. (DNF) 25S-Brian Smith[11]; 11. (DNF) 12-Dustin
Stephens[7]
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