BULLS GAP, Tenn. (July 25) — Tommy Kerr of Maryville, Tenn., notched his first career O'Reilly Southern Nationals victory at Volunteer Speedway while Dennis Franklin inched ahead of Chris Madden in the title chase with one race remaining in the 10-race series. Kerr, who started outside the front row at the 4/10-mile oval, earned $5,300 for leading all 53 laps on the ninth-leg of the miniseries. Rick Rogers of Knoxville, Tenn., was second followed by Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., and Franklin, of Gaffney, S.C. Madden, a four-time winner on the series in 2008 and the winningest all-time series driver, finished eighth. | Slideshow

“Oh man, you just don’t know what it means to me personally and to this Blount Motorsports race team to be able to pull this big victory off tonight,” said a smiling Kerr in victory lane. “I guess winning a race like this is what you dream of, it’s by far the biggest win of my racing career. Just look who finished behind me tonight, I was able to outrun some very good race cars.

“I race with Rogers in the Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series full-time, and he’s tough. And to be able to beat Jimmy Owens here at Volunteer Speedway, that’s awesome. He’s hard to handle here at the Gap. Then you have Rambo Franklin and Vic Hill, those are two hard-nosed competitors. When you beat Vic here, you’ve done something."

Kerr began lapping slower competitors after just 10 laps but never missed a beat while leading Rogers and a charging Owens, who started eighth. The No. 20 of Owens was showing smoke beginning on the 30th lap but he stayed on the track was the top four of Kerr, Rogers, Owens and Franklin ran in a tight pack with 13 laps remaining. But Kerr successfully maneuvered through traffic to stay in control all the way to the checkered flag.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever driven a better race car than what I had tonight,” Kerr said. “In the times we’ve run here at the Gap this season we’ve run pretty well, and I really feel we learned some things that we applied to tonight. We were good in practice and then we backed it up with a strong qualifying run that put us on the front row. And then in the race, I could run anywhere I needed on the track … whether it be down on the bottom, through the middle of the corners or up top riding the cushion.

“From what my crew told me after the race, even when we were working lapped traffic, once I’d clear a car I would then put some breathing room between myself and Rogers, Owens, Franklin and Hill. This is definitely a team victory for Blount Motorsports, and I want to thank Larry Garner, Steve Garner, Gary Winger, B.J. Hillman, Will Bobo and Kevin Roulette. We’ve all been waiting to get us a big win like this one, and hopefully now this will just get us over the hump and more wins will follow. But one thing is for certain, and that’s I’ll never forget this win tonight.”�

Notes: Kerr's Custom-powered Rocket is sponsored by Turner Industrial Supply Inc., Explosive Specialists, Stowers CAT and Insurance Partners. ... Shon Flanary started on the pole but was the race's first dropout. ... Dale Ball won the Crate feature. ... The series wraps up with Saturday's $5,300-to-win event at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway.