SEYMOUR, Tenn. (July 26) — Brandon Overton gave it everything he had in the final laps of Friday’s Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals Series stop at 411 Motor Speedway. But the Evans, Ga., driver would finish a narrow runner-up, as Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., edged ahead at the checkered flag to score a $10,000 victory.

Starting on the pole of Friday’s 53-lap feature, McDowell charged to the front of the field at the drop of the green flag, fighting back mid-race challenges from Overton as the pair worked through lapped traffic. Outdueling Overton again in the final circuits, McDowell took the checkered flag 0.418 second ahead of his fellow Georgia driver to notch his fourth career Southern Nationals victory.

“I really wasn’t expecting it to go caution-free because I knew lapped traffic was going to be a bear,” McDowell said. “Then when you’re out front, you don’t know where to run. I knew Brandon (Overton) was pretty good. (Crew chief) Shane (McDowell) was giving me signals. So I was just trying to bide my time and not over-charge in lapped traffic. It all worked out for us.”

With the race’s frontrunners approaching the rear of the field on the eighth circuit, Overton began reeling in McDowell, just inches separating the pair as they crossed the line on lap 25. Working the bottom groove, Overton pulled alongside McDowell as the two raced through turns three and four on lap 30, the advantage going to McDowell as lapped traffic continued to be a factor.

Overton closed the gap between himself and McDowell again in the final circuits, with less than a car-lengths distance separating the pair on lap 44. But McDowell successfully worked his way though late-race lapped traffic, holding off Overton to capture his fifth victory of the 2019 season, his first since April.

“These little tight-cornered racetracks produce so much good racing for the race fans,” McDowell said. “And we don’t know where to go. Running second is a little easier because they can go where we’re not to see if they’re going to make ground. We’ve been pretty good here the past couple times and just haven’t been able to put it together (until now).”

Overton settled for a runner-up finish, but it was good enough to regain the points lead from Jake Knowles, who finished 15th. Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga., was third, eighth-starting Kyle Strickler of Mooresville, N.C., finished fourth and Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C., rallied from his 12th starting spot for fifth.

“We were pretty good,” Overton said. “Right there at the beginning (McDowell) was stroking us. The racetrack kind of died a little bit leaving off of (turn) two and I could make some time up then. He was staying just wide enough where I was scared if I slid him I’d have took his whole left front off. I wouldn’t want him to do that to me, so I wasn’t going to do it to him.

“The top up there was just a little too thin. I seen Jake (Knowles) and I kind of quit thinking about it a little bit. But it’s always in the back of my mind. If I’d have done something stupid and parked her in the fence, we’d still be behind (in points). All in all it was a good points night. The car was really good, just need a little bit of tweaking.”

After suffering a flat tire while running among the top three in Thursday’s show at Crossville (Tenn.) Speedway and scraping the wall during Friday’s qualifying session, McIntosh said his third-place finish felt nearly as good as a win.

“We’ve had so much bad luck on this tour,” McIntosh said. “It’s been hard to keep going but I’m glad to finally get a finish in the top three. I can’t thank these guys enough for staying behind me, especially after hitting the wall in qualifying. This deal is a lot of work. It’s fun but it’s hard on you. So it’s really cool to get a top three run for them.”

Notes: McDowell scored his fourth career Southern Nationals victory, his first since July 14, 2018, at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va. … The 53-lap feature ran caution-free. … Hometown driver Rusty Ballenger won the Crate Late Model feature.

Blog-style reports:

Feature lineup

Row 1: Dale McDowell, Brandon Overton
Row 2: Donald McIntosh, Ryan King
Row 3: Jason Jameson, Dakotah Knuckles
Row 4: Michael Chilton, Kyle Strickler
Row 5: Cla Knight, Cory Hedgecock
Row 6: Tanner English, Ross Bailes
Row 7: Jake Knowles, Vic Hill
Row 8: Aaron Ridley, Tyler Clem
Row 9: John Ownbey, Camaron Marlar
Row 10: Kenny Collins, Mack McCarter
Row 11: Craig Greer, David Payne

Consolation

Outside pollster John Ownbey shot ahead of fellow front-row starter Camaron Marlar out of turn two to take an early lead, with David Crabtree advancing from the seventh starting spot to run in fifth at the halfway mark. Jackie Boggs was on the move just past the halfway point, charging rom the final row to run seventh on lap eight. With Ownbey holding a comfortable lead, a yellow flag waved on lap 10 when Eric Webber spun in turn two. Ownbey led the final two laps to win the consolation, with Marlar finishing second. Collins ran third, with Mack McCarter taking the fourth and final transfer spot.

Finish (top four transfer): John Ownbey, Camaron Marlar, Kenny Collins, Mack McCarter, David Crabtree, Jackie Boggs, Brandon Kinzer, Benji Hicks, Walker Arthur, Dusty Carver, Eric Webber, Craig Greer. Scratched: David Payne, Bobby Giffin.

Consolation lineup

(12 laps; top four transfer)
Row 1: Camaron Marlar, John Ownbey
Row 2: Mack McCarter, Kenny Collins
Row 3: Brandon Kinzer, Eric Webber
Row 4: David Crabtree, Dusty Carver
Row 5: Craig Greer, Benji Hicks
Row 6: Walker Arthur, David Payne
Row 7: Jackie Boggs, Bobby Giffin

Fourth heat

Outside polesitter Ryan King edged ahead of fellow front-row starter Ross Bailes out of turn four to lead the opening lap. Bailes and third-starting Kyle Strickler raced door-to-door on the third lap, with Strickler nosing ahead at the line to take second. Strickler then set his sights on King, challenging for the lead at the halfway mark. Strickler again attempted to slip under King on the eighth lap, but King fought back the challenge. King won the heat, with Strickler, Bailes and Tyler Clem transferring to the feature.

Finish (top four transfer): Ryan King, Kyle Strickler, Ross Bailes, Tyler Clem, Kenny Collins, Dusty Carver. Scratched: David Payne.

Third heat

Polesitter Brandon Overton edged ahead of fellow front-row starter Dakotah Knuckles out of turn two to take an early lead. Overton stretched his lead at the halfway point, as Vic Hill challenged Cory Hedgecock for third. Holding nearly a full straightaway lead, Overton won the heat, with Knuckles finishing second. Hedgecock ran third, with Hill taking the fourth and final feature transfer spot.

Finish (top four transfer): Brandon Overton, Dakotah Knuckles, Cory Hedgecock, Vic Hill, John Ownbey, Eric Webber. Scratched: Benji Hicks, Bobby Giffin.

Second heat

Rolling around the high side, outside polesitter Donald McIntosh shot ahead of fellow front-row starter Michael Chilton in turns one and two to take an early lead. McIntosh extended his lead at the halfway mark, with third-running Tanner English attempting to close the gap between himself and Chilton. McIntosh won the heat, with Chilton, English and Aaron Ridley grabbing feature transfer spots.

Finish (top four transfer): Donald McIntosh, Michael Chilton, Tanner English, Aaron Ridley, Mack McCarter, David Crabtree, Walker Arthur.

First heat

Polesitter Dale McDowell charged to the front of the field at the drop of the green flag, stretching his lead in the early running. A yellow flag waved on the fourth lap when third-running Jackie Boggs got into the turn-two wall, retiring to the pit area. McDowell maintained his lead on the restart, with Camaron Marlar overtaking Brandon Kinzer for fifth. Unchallenged out front, McDowell won the head, with Jason Jameson finishing second and Cla Knight running third.

Finish (top four transfer): Dale McDowell, Jason Jameson, Cla Knight, Jake Knowles, Camaron Marlar, Brandon Kinzer, Craig Greer, Jackie Boggs.

Heat race lineups

(10 laps; top four transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Dale McDowell, Jason Jameson
Row 2: Cla Knight, Jackie Boggs
Row 3: Jake Knowles, Brandon Kinzer
Row 4: Camaron Marlar, Craig Greer
Second heat
Row 1: Michael Chilton, Donald McIntosh
Row 2: Aaron Ridley, Tanner English
Row 3: David Crabtree, Mack McCarter
Row 4: Walker Arthur
Third heat
Row 1: Brandon Overton, Dakotah Knuckles
Row 2: Vic Hill, Cory Hedgecock
Row 3: John Ownbey, Benji Hicks
Row 4: Eric Webber, Bobby Giffin
Fourth heat
Row 1: Ross Bailes, Ryan King
Row 2: Kyle Strickler, Kenny Collins
Row 3: Tyler Clem, Dusty Carver
Row 4: David Payne

Qualifying

Tripping the clock with a time of 13.762 seconds, Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., was Friday’s overall fast qualifier at 411. He’ll start on the pole of the evening’s third heat race. Clocking the quickest time in his respective time trial group, Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., will start on the pole of the first heat race. Joining Overton and McDowell as heat race polesitters are Michael Chilton of Salvisa, Ga., and Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C.

Pre-race setup

The Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals Series moves to 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn., on Friday for the second event in its weekend tripleheader. The McCarter family-owned oval, located just outside of Knoxville, hosts the tour for the sixth consecutive season.

Local standout Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, Tenn., was the winner of last year’s Southern Nationals stop at 411. Winning Thursday’s series stop at Crossville (Tenn.) Speedway, Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., sits a close second to Jake Knowles of Rome, Ga., in the points standings heading into Friday’s show.

Friday’s program will include hot laps, group time trials, four heat races (top four transfer), one consolation (top four transfer) and the 53-lap, $10,000-to-win feature. Provisionals will make up the final row of the feature lineup. Crate Late Models are among other divisions that will be in action.

Time trial results

Driver (car no.), hometown, time
Group A
Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., 13.780
Michael Chilton (97), Salvisa, Ky., 13.883
Jason Jameson (12), Lawrenceburg, Ind., 13.926
Donald McIntosh (7), Dawsonville, Ga., 13.958
Cla Knight (42), North Augusta, S.C., 13.998
Aaron Ridley (81), Chatsworth, Ga., 14.024
Jackie Boggs (4B), Grayson, Ky., 14.027
Tanner English (58), Benton, Ky., 14.051
Jake Knowles (66), Rome, Ga., 14.065
David Crabtree (C5), Maryville, Tenn., 14.089
Brandon Kinzer (18), Allen, Ky., 14.175
Mack McCarter (51), Gatlinburg, Tenn., 14.293
Camaron Marlar (57m), Winfield, Tenn., 14.481
Walker Arthur (87), Forest, Va., 14.539
Craig Greer (7G), Cleveland, Tenn., 15.439
Group B
Brandon Overton (2), Evans, Ga., 13.762
Ross Bailes (87), Clover, S.C., 13.952
Dakotah Knuckles (21K), Ewing, Va., 13.966
Ryan King (1G), Seymour, Tenn., 13.996
Vic Hill (1), Mosheim, Tenn., 14.006
Kyle Strickler (8), Mooresville, N.C., 14.028
Cory Hedgecock (23), Loudon, Tenn., 14.038
Kenny Collins (1C), Colbert, Ga., 14.163
John Ownbey (0), Cleveland, Tenn., 14.179
Tyler Clem (58), St. Petersburg, Fla., 14.504
Benji Hicks (55), Mount Airy, N.C., 14.751
Dusty Carver (9), Englewood, Tenn., 14.807
Eric Webber (25), Morristown, Tenn., 15.697
Bobby Giffin (97), Florence, S.C., no time
David Payne (8), Murphy, N.C., no time

Friday’s schedule

6:30 p.m. Drivers meeting
6:45 p.m.: Hot laps
- Crate Late Models
- Classic
- Late Models
- Modifieds
- Front wheel drives
Time Trials
- Crate Late Models (1 lap)
- Classic (1 lap)
- Late Models (2 laps)
- Modifieds (1 lap)
- Front wheel drives (1 lap)
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heat races (10 laps)
- Crate Late Model feature (25 laps)
- Classic feature (20 laps)
- Late Model consolation (12 laps)
- Modified feature (20 laps)
- Late Model feature (53 laps)
- Front wheel drive feature (20 laps)