Cherokee Speedway
Owens nabs 2nd straight victory at Cherokee
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Dennis Franklin lowered the track record. (DirtonDirt.com)
GAFFNEY, S.C. (March 2) — Polesitter Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., made it two straight victories at Cherokee Speedway as he led the final 44 laps of the March Madness 60 for his first career victory on the O'Reilly Southern All Star East Series. Owens, who took the lead when Randy Weaver's broken rear end caused him to spin on the 16th lap, earned $10,000 for a victory that follows his November triumph at Cherokee's Blue-Gray 100. March Madness notebook | Slideshow
Fifth-starting Dennis Franklin, the new track record-holder, finished second while eighth-starting Scott Bloomquist finished third, but no one challenged Owens. Chris Madden charged from 20th to finish fourth and seventh-starting Shannon Babb rounded out the top five in a race plagued by 10 cautions, none for serious incidents.
Weaver started outside the front row and took command early, running comfortably ahead of Owens, Randle Chupp and Franklin through the early laps. But it all unraveled in turn three on the 16th lap when Weaver spun as his three pursuers blew past. Weaver saved his car at the last moment, but officials charged him with a caution. When he tried to restart, Weaver realized his mechanical problems and pulled off.
Owens took command and while Bloomquist and Madden made up ground on the many double-file restarts, no one got within striking distance of the leader the rest of the way. During the final 20 laps of caution-free racing, Owens pulled away by more than a straightaway while Bloomquist tried to catch the second-running Franklin.
The falling of the checkered flag ended a long, dusty day that saw track officials take a mid-day break to rework a rough track surface. Hot laps were scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., but action started late and the break pushed the racing program past the seven-hour mark.
Finish: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Dennis Franklin, (3) Scott Bloomquist, (4) Chris Madden, (5) Shannon Babb, (6) Randle Chupp, (7) Casey Roberts, (8) Ricky Elliott, (9) Jeff Cooke, (10) Monk Gulledge, (11) Brent Dixon, (12) Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (13) G.R. Smith, (14) Travis Pennington, (15) Dillon Wood, (16) Dan Schlieper, (17) Steve Lucas, (18) Chris Ferguson, (19) Clint Smith, (20) Jeff Smith, (21) Randy Weaver, (22) Tony Knowles, (23) Damon Eller, (24) John Pursley.
Preliminary results with unofficial finishes:
Second consolation
Finish: (1) Dillon Wood, (2) Chris Madden, (3) G.R. Smith, (4) Dion Deason, (5) Monk Gulledge. (6) Mike Hill.
First consolation
Finish: (1) Chris Ferguson, (2) Casey Roberts, (3) Jeff Smith, (4) Tommy Kerr, (5) Vic Hill, (6) Petey Ivey, (7) Shon Flanary, (8) Freddy Smith, (9) Bodine Massengill, (10) Ethan Hunter, (11) Jared Hawkins.
Fourth heat
Steve Lucas made it a sweep for outside front-row starters as he topped Scott Bloomquist in an eight-lap victory. Ricky Elliott finished a distant third and John Blankenship won a tight battle with Austin Hubbard for the fourth and final transfer spot, but Blankenship was disqualified for being light at the scales. Hubbard, however, spun in turn four on the final lap, giving the final transfer spot to Travis Pennington. Shane Clanton, running third early, was knocked out on an aborted second-lap restart when he got together with Bloomquist in turn two and suffered apparent left-front suspension damage.
Finish: (1) Steve Lucas, (2) Scott Bloomquist, (3) Ricky Elliott, (4) Travis Pennington, (5) Dillon Wood, (6) Kevin Tessner, (7) Austin Hubbard, (8) Jimmy Ivester. Disqualified: John Blankenship (lost fourth spot when he weighed in light at scales).
Third heat
Trying to become the first driver to win a heat from the pole, Shannon Babb slapped the turn-two wall on the sixth lap and allowed early leader Randle Chupp to regain the lead and take the victory. Chupp, who started outside the front row, grabbed the early lead but lost it to Babb on a lap-four restart. Babb settled for second.Fifth-starting Dan Schlieper moved up quickly to finish third and Jeff Cooke was fourth to round out the feature transfers. Four cautions slowed the action, including when Shon Flanary spun to bring out a fourth-lap caution and Jared Hawkins got into the turn-two wall on the restart. Vic Hill got turned around in turn four on one of the restarts.
Finish: (1) Randle Chupp, (2) Shannon Babb, (3) Dan Schlieper, (4) Jeff Cooke, (5) Chris Ferguson, (6) Vic Hill, (7) Ethan Hunter, (8) Shon Flanary, (9) Jared Hawkins.
Second heat
Randy Weaver started outside the front row and fought off early challenges from polesitter Brent Dixon for an eight-lap victory. Dixon held on to finish second ahead of second-row starters Damon Eller and Tony Knowles. Chris Madden, who started on the tail after being disqualified in time trials for weighing in too light, rallied to finish a distant fifth ahead of G.R. Smith.
Finish: (1) Randy Weaver, (2) Brent Dixon, (3) Damon Eller, (4) Tony Knowles, (5) Chris Madden, (6) G.R. Smith, (7) Monk Gulledge, (8) Mike Hill, (9) Steve Phillips, (10) Dion Deason.
First heat
Starting outside the front row, Jimmy Owens got the jump on new track record-holder Dennis Franklin and led all eight laps. Franklin took a shot at Owens in turn two on the third lap, but Owens edged away for the victory. Clint Smith and Ivedent Lloyd Jr. grabbed the final two transfer positions.
Finish: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Dennis Franklin, (3) Clint Smith, (4) Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (5) Casey Roberts, (6) Tommy Kerr, (7) Jeff Smith, (8) Petey Ivey, (9) John Pursley, (10) Bodine Massengill.
Qualifying
Dennis "Rambo" Franklin of Gaffney, S.C., was talking with team members recently about a track where he'd like to improve. "I told 'em earlier in the week the only track we struggle at is that track over the hill, our hometown track," Franklin said.
Franklin made strides toward changing that at Cherokee Speedway in time trials for the O'Reilly Southern All Star East-sanctioned March Madness on Sunday afternoon. Franklin blistered the 4/10-mile oval with a lap of 14.829 seconds to lower the track record and top all 41 qualifiers for the weekend's biggest Super Late Model event.
Franklin will start on the pole of a heat race as SAS East employed a group qualifying format that pits him among the same cars he qualified against. Other drivers topping their groups were Brent Dixon (14.898) of Elberton, Ga., Scott Bloomquist (15.222) of Mooresburg, Tenn., and Shannon Babb (14.986) of Moweaqua, Ill. Heat race lineups will start straight up according to time trials.
Dixon was the first to break the track record, a 14.998-second mark set by Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., last November, but Franklin beat Dixon's time.
Pre-race notes
Scott Bloomquist, the fastest qualifier in the third group, made his first appearance at Cherokee since the track was shortened to its current configuration from its previous half-mile setup. ... Randle Chupp and Ricky Elliott were both driving Starrette Trucking-backed No. 22s. ... Jeff Cooke entered in the No. 11 PPM house car. ... Johnny Pursley slowed and pulled off on his first qualifying lap with apparent engine problems. ... Vic Hill lost a right rear wheel while going down the backstretch on his first qualifying lap. ... The event drew a packed house.
