October 21
Sugar Creek Raceway,
Blue Ridge, GA
Sanction: Southern All Star Series (Apple Fest Finale) - $5,000
Information provided by: Series and track reports (last updated October 27, 9:21 pm)
Payne powers to $5,000 SAS win at Sugar Creek
Apple Fest Finale
- David Payne
- Kenny Collins
- Jamie Oliver
- Jordy Nipper
- Shawn Chastain
- Haiden Cowan
- Caleb Gay
- Matthew Brocato
- Austin Fox
- Rodney Weeks
- Dante Curtis
- Will Hicks
- Skip Freeman
- Gray Parton
- Stanton Davis
- Bo Eaton
- Shay Miller
Austin Thomason/Ducklens Photography
David Payne raced to a $5,000 victory at Sugar Creek Raceway.
What won the race: Taking the point from early race leader Haiden Cowan on a lap-three restart, fourth-starting David Payne led the rest of the way to win Saturday's $5,000 inaugural Apple Fest Finale at Sugar Creek Raceway. Payne secured his second career Southern All Star Series feature victory and his first since Oct. 27, 2012, at Toccoa (Ga.) Raceway.
Quotable: “We’ve been working awful hard and I been really tuning on this thing and I had a well-balanced race car,” Payne said. “I was good on (the initial start) there right before (the lap-three restart) and I could go across that bottom, so I really felt like whichever (lane Haiden Cowan) chose, we were gonna be okay. I (want to) send a shoutout to Frank Ingram’s family, (we) lost that racer this week in a terrible accident, so prayers for his family and Freddy Smith passing away this week, a legend in our sport, so those families need our prayers.”
Key notes: Sixth-starting Kenny Collins followed Payne into second on the lap-three restart and trailed him the rest of the way, finishing 1.060 seconds back. ... Jamie Oliver battled Jordy Nipper for third for several laps, prevailing to round-out the podium, while Nipper settled for fourth. ... Haiden Cowan led the first two laps from the pole before giving way to Payne and slipping to finish sixth. ... Caleb Gay started and finished seventh, clinching his first career Southern All Stars series championship. ... Matthew Brocato improved two positions and finished eighth, the last driver to complete 40 laps. ... Saturday's feature was slowed by four cautions, all within the first nine laps, before the remaining 31 circuits were completed without further incident; the feature lasted 27 minutes, with 12 drivers running at the finish. ... Payne won on American Racer tires, marking the first time in the tour's 40-year history that a tire brand other than Hoosier visited victory lane.
On the move: Jamie Oliver of Murphy, N.C., started eighth and finished third.
Winner's sponsors: Payne’s Gibson Motorsports Capital Race Car is powered by a Jay Dickens Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from Payne Excavating, SFP Performance Systems, Hardison Suspension Technologies, Penske Racing Shocks, Modern Images, PPM Racing Products, VP Racing Fuels, American Racer Tires and John Boy Exterminating.
Points chase: After Sugar Creek: 1. x-Caleb Gay (1,362); 2. Dan Cox (888); 3. Billy Franklin (712); 4. Matthew Brocato (590); 5. Dalton Cook (554).
X = clinched series championship
Current weather: Clear, 57°F
Car count: 18
Fast qualifier: Haiden Cowan
Time: 14.929 seconds
Polesitter: Haiden Cowan
Next series race: November 17, Buckshot Speedway (Clanton, AL) $5,000
Editor's note: Results and race details are unofficial.