RINGGOLD, Ga. — The inside groove was the smoother way around Boyd's Speedway on Thursday evening. The middle and outside grooves were, well, quite a bit rougher.

But riding around during a lap-13 caution period in third place, Sam Seawright figured he might as well give the outside lane a shot in trying to overtake Schaeffer's Southern Nationals points leader Donald McIntosh and Hall of Famer Dale McDowell.

It couldn't have worked out any better.

The 17-year-old Rainsville, Ala., driver went around outside front-row starter McDowell on the backstretch on the 14th lap, then overtook the polesitter and race-long leader McIntosh exiting turn four on the 15th lap to grab a lead he'd never give up.

"The car was great," said Seawright, who earned $4,053 for his first career Southern Nationals victory. "I could see in those ruts, there was so much grip through 'em. Trust me, I didn't want to run through 'em, but I knew that was probably the best way around."

Seawright became the seventh winner in seven series races in 2021 in taking the checkers a half-second ahead of Dawsonville, Ga.'s McIntosh, who recorded his third consecutive runner-up finish in bolstering his points lead on the Ray Cook-promoted tour. McDowell settled for third with 10th-starting Jadon Frame of Decherd, Tenn., and Cody Overton of Evans, Ga., rounding out the top five.

Seawright wasn't seriously challenged after grabbing the lead, building his margin over McIntosh to nearly three seconds with 10 laps remaining before a couple of late cautions bunched the field.

"It feels amazing," Seawright said. "I got by McIntosh there, he was really good in the bottom. I just got that top blowed off over there in (turns) one and two. I knew I could probably make it stick for one lap up there. That was an awesome race. I can't thank all these guys enough."

McIntosh wasn't very tempted to move out of his low groove after leading the first 14 laps relatively comfortably.

When he heard Seawright's challenge from the outside, McIntosh had one thought: "Damn, I waited too late."

"I kinda knew there'd be speed (outside). It's just a little treacherous. (Crew members) were telling me (to stay on the) bottom. Whew, what do you do? I'm worn out," McIntosh said. "Definitely a physical race, to say the least, but hat's off to him, working it through traffic and keeping it in a straight line. There's some fun in that every now and again.

"Sam, I'm proud of him. He did good. He told me he was going to load up earlier — I'm a little disappointed he didn't. But hat's off to him, glad they had a good run."

McDowell was worn out, too, after the rugged 40-lapper.

"That was a young man's racetrack. I thought I was going to have stop for oxygen halfway through," McDowell said. "We've kept this E-Z-Go hot rod at least in contention ... we haven't had consistency in this series like we did this (winning the Schaeffer's Spring Nationals), so we're a little bit behind. That's just the way it is. So we'll keep digging and see what we can pull out of it."

Three cautions slowed the race, two of them on lap 38.

The first yellow flew on the 13th lap when Josh Walker's car went up in smoke and came to a stop while the lap-38 yellows were for Jeff Neubert's turn-two spin and when Benjamin Cranford got into the turn-three wall."

Notes: Seawright was the third first-time winner on the tour in 2021. ... Josh Rice and Kenny Collins, who finished seventh at Boyd's, were the others. ... Eight of 22 starters finished on the lead lap at Boyd's.

Feature lineup

Row 1: Donald McIntosh, Dale McDowell
Row 2: Cody Overton, Sam Seawright
Row 3: Jensen Ford, Cory Hedgecock
Row 4: Stacy Boles, Garrett Smith
Row 5: Corey Roulette, Jadon Frame
Row 6: Tod Hernandez, David Payne
Row 7: Heath Hindman, Dalton Polston
Row 8: Josh Walker, Kenny Collins
Row 9: Chase Oliver, Scott Cook
Row 10: Dusty Carver, Brian Burke
Row 11: Jeff Neubert, Benjamin Cranford
Row 12: Ahnna Parkhurst

Pre-feature notes

Neither of Thursday’s front row starters — Dale McDowell nor polesitter Donald McIntosh — have won a Southern Nationals race at Boyd’s Speedway. … Vic Hill (2018) of Mosheim, Tenn., is the most recent series winner at the 1/4-mile oval just south of Chattanooga, Tenn. … Only two off the five previous winners — Hill, Brandon Overton, David Payne, Casey Roberts and Randy Weaver — are in attendance. … Payne starts on the sixth row, while Weaver, the tour’s July 25 winner at Rome (Ga.) Speedway, decided not to compete due to the track’s rough surface. … Of the choppy track, series director Ray Cook told drivers in the consolation races that the good thing about a hole is that it doesn’t move and suggested if they hit one they remember where it’s at. … Weaver was one of four drivers in the second group who scratched for the night, joining Zach Leonhardi, Joe Denby and Michael Page. … Page took a qualifying lap but slowed with a broken rearend and loaded up for the night. … Denby of Tullahoma, Tenn., was signed in and his car was in the pit area, but he never made it to the track. Denby’s teammate Jaden Frame of Winchester, Tenn., hit a rut after his qualifying lap and folded the bumper and nose under on his Capital Race Car. With Denby a no-show, the crew robbed the bumper from Denby;’s No. 27 and bolted it to Frame’s No. J8. … There was little passing in the heats, but Dusty Carver did make an important last-lap move that got him into the main event. Carver stepped to the outside in turns one and two and passed Bill Mahan for the final transfer spot. … Shelbyville, Tenn.’s Scott Cook had fuel pressure issues before time trials, but got the problem corrected and finished third in the consolation race to transfer into the feature. … Thursday’s provisionals went to Jeff Neubert, Benjamin Cranford and Ahnna Parkhurst (emergency provisional).

Heat race results

First heat (top five transfer): Tod Hernandez, Heath Hindman, Josh Walker, Chase Oliver, Dusty Carver, Bill Mahan, Ahnna Parkhurst, Benjamin Cranford, Jeff Neubert, Gary McPherson.

Second heat (top five transfer): David Payne, Dalton Polston, Kenny Collins, Scott Cook, Brian Burke, Craig Greer. DNS: Michael Page, Joe Denby, Randy Weaver, Zach Leonhardi.

Heat race lineups

(8 laps, top five transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Heath Hindman, Tod Hernandez
Row 2: Chase Oliver, Josh Walker
Row 3: Bill Mahan, Gary McPherson
Row 4: Shun Thomas, Dusty Carver
Row 5: Ahnna Parkhurst, Jeff Neubert,
Row 6: Benjamin Cranford
Second heat
Row 1: David Payne, Dalton Polston
Row 2: Dalton Cook, Kenny Collins
Row 3: Brian Burke, Craig Greer
Row 4: Michael Page, Scott Cook
Row 5: Joe Denby, Randy Weaver
Row 6: Zach Leonhardi

Time trial results

Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
First group
Donald McIntosh (4T), Dawsonville, Ga., 14.141
Cody Overton (2), Evans, Ga., 14.193
Jensen Ford (83), Johnson City, Tenn.,14.235
Stacy Boles (11B), Clinton, Tenn., 14.300
Corey Roulette (05), Cumming, Ga., 14.545
Heath Hindman (91), Signal Mountain, Tenn., 14.552
Josh Walker (2W), Ringgold, Ga., 14.672
Tod Hernandez (T6), Rossville, Ga., 14.801
Chase Oliver (5), Crossville, Ala., 14.809
Bill Mahan (M1), Lacey’s Spring, Ala., 14.866
Gary McPherson (29m), Dalton, Ga., 14.999
Shun Thomas (99), Greenwood, S.C., 15.084
Dusty Carver (9), Englewood, Tenn., 15.109
Ahnna Parkhurst (23), Evans, Ga. 15.167
Jeff Neubert (86), Knoxville, Tenn., 15.475
Benjamin Cranford (93), Thomson, Ga.,15.687
Second group
Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., 14.143
Sam Seawright (16), Rainsville, Ala., 14.182
Cory Hedgecock (23), Loudon, Tenn., 14.235
Garrett Smith (10), Eatonton, Ga., 14.456
Jadon Frame (J8), Decherd, Tenn., 14.485
David Payne (8), Murphy, N.C., 14.512
Dalton Polston (00), Douglasville, Ga., 14.923
Dalton Cook (44D), Columbus, Ga., 15.231
Kenny Collins (1c), Colbert, Ga., 15.302
Brian Burke (B39), Dalton, Ga.,. 15.503
Craig Greer (7G), Cleveland, Tenn., 16.421
Michael Page (18X), Douglasville, Ga., 16.449
Randy Weaver (85), Crossville, Tenn., no time
Scott Cook (13), Shelbyville, Tenn., no time
Joe Denby (27), Tullahoma, Tenn., no time
Zach Leonhardi (24), Cartersville, Ga., no time

Thursday’s schedule

3 p.m. - Pit Gates open
4:30 p.m. - Grandstands open
6:45 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
7 p.m. - Hot laps/time trials
- B-hobby hot laps
- Crate Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model hot laps
- 602 sportsman hot lap/qualifying
- Front-wheel drive hot laps
- Pony hot laps
- Beginner hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials
- Crate Late Model time trials
Opening ceremonies
- B-hobby heats (6 laps)
- 602 sportsman heats (6 laps)
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Front-wheel drive heats (6 laps0
- Pony heats (6 laps)
- Beginner time trials
- B-hobby feature (15 laps)
- Super Late Model feature (40 laps)
- Crate Late Model feature (20 laps)
- Front-wheel drive feature (15 laps)
- 602 sportsman feature (20 laps)
- Pony feature (15 laps)
- Beginner (15 laps)