SEYMOUR, Tenn. — Jimmy Owens notched his 68th Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory on Friday night at 411 Motor Speedway in dominant fashion.
Owens, the series championship points leader led all 50 laps before a standing-room-only crowd.
On lap 49, the final caution came out. On the restart of the race, Owens pulled away once from fellow Tennessee racer Cory Hedgecock, who finished second to Owens. It was a best career finish in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition for Hedgecock. Jonathan Davenport came home in third followed by Shane Clanton and Shanon Buckingham.
Owens’ fourth series win extended his point lead heading to Talladega Short Track in Alabama on Saturday night.
“This car just keeps getting better and better every weekend we run it. It’s just awesome to come down here and perform like that in front of all of these fans and all of our friends,” said the 48-year-old racer. “This car was just on a rail tonight. You know it’s just been on a rail for the last month or so and I need to thank my crew Mullet, Cody, Kurt and my family. It’s been awesome so far this year. If we don’t win another race this year it’s been one of the greatest years ever so far.”
Hedgecock was pleased with his finish considering he was second behind the newly ranked No. 1 dirt late model driver in the country.
“We are absolutely happy with that finish,” Hedgecock said. “We appreciate everyone coming out and supporting us. Hats off to Jimmy, he was definitely fast. I saw Overton and Hardy wearing each other out and I thought they were going to wreck in front of me and tear my stuff all up. We knew if we could finish behind that 20 car it was going to be a good night.”
Davenport returned to the podium by taking third place at the end.
“I am just glad to be up here. He [Owens] is really good right now. Congratulations to them. Jimmy’s kind of struggled for a while with a lot of bad luck. When you’re fast time, win your heat, and just be that dominate in the feature, it’s a heck of a statement to make to the rest of us. We have nothing for him right now, but we will keep on working. We are turning our program around. At least we are up here on the podium tonight. It’s really only my second time here, but we are getting better.”
The finish:
Jimmy Owens, Cory Hedgecock, Jonathan Davenport, Shane Clanton, Shanon Buckingham, Donald McIntosh, Dale McDowell, Zack Mitchell, Josh Richards, Hudson O’Neal, Kyle Strickler, Tyler Erb, Tanner English, Josh Rice, Devin Moran, Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer Jr., Tim McCreadie, Tyler Bruening, Brandon Overton, Kyle Hardy, Logan Roberson, Ryan King, Michael Chilton, Christian Hanger, David Crabtree, Kyle Bronson.