What won the race: Fending off a late-race challenge from Ryan Gustin, pole-starting Ethan Dotson led all 40 laps to win Thursday's $7,553 Schaeffer's Spring Nationals season opener at Waycross Motor Speedway. Dotson crossed the checkers 0.325 of a second ahead of the third-starting Gustin, collecting his first career Spring Nationals feature victory in the series debut at Waycross.

Quotable: “We went soft on tires and I figured that the track would get one lane, so I just wanted to get the lead early and just kinda maintain,” Dotson explained. “We got lucky, cautions fell at the right times and everything. I was just too tight to circle around the bottom, I couldn’t keep it coming off of (turn) four and I was melting my tires off. I could feel them going away, so I was praying for that checkered flag.”

Key notes: Dotson notched his second victory for Coltman Farms Racing after winning his first career Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series race last fall at Talladega Short Track; Thursday's triumph is Dotson's fourth career Late Model win after adding two Comp Cams Series trophies last summer aboard a Chris Bragg-owned Longhorn. ... After pursuing Dotson for the opening 21 circuits, Gustin, of Marshalltown, Iowa, moved back into the runner-up spot for good on lap 32 when fifth-starting Brandon Overton slowed with ignition trouble on the frontstretch, drawing the race's fourth and final caution; Overton was able to rebound for a seventh-place result after resetting his ignition box. ... Donald McIntosh and Pearson Lee Williams each improved six positions, finishing third and fourth; McIntosh held third for the final eight laps, while Williams grabbed fourth with a last-lap pass on eighth-starting Clay Harris, who settled for fifth. ... David McCoy gained three spots and finished ninth. ... The race's third incident was the largest and necessitated a 10-minute red flag for cleanup after Todd Cooney, Caden Mullinax and Royce Bray tangled at turn-two exit on a lap-28 restart attempt; all drivers were unhurt and opted not to continue. ... Mark Whitener fought mechanical issues all night and pulled off on lap two. ... After being delayed for two hours following an area-wide power outage, Thursday's feature lasted 32 minutes, with 11 drivers completing the distance and 12 running at the finish. The checkered flag flew at 11:42 p.m. local time. ... Morrie West scratched from the main event lineup after losing an engine in hot laps.

On the move: Caleb Gay of Dublin, Ga., started 13th and finished sixth.

Winner's sponsors: Dotson’s Brett Coltman-owned Longhorn Chassis carries sponsorship from Coltman Farms Racing, Autism Awareness, Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett, ProFabrication, MPM Marketing, DirtCarLift.com, Boswell Oil, VP Racing Fuels, SRI Performance, Swift Springs and Bilstein Shocks.

Points chase: After Waycross: 1. Ethan Dotson (200); 2. Ryan Gustin (196); 3. Donald McIntosh (194); 4. Pearson Lee Williams (192); 5. Clay Harris (190).

Current weather: Scattered Clouds, 54°F

Car count: 22

Fast qualifier: Ethan Dotson

Time: 16.568 seconds

Polesitter: Ethan Dotson

Next series race: March 2, Senoia Raceway (Senoia, GA) $10,053