BULLS GAP, Tenn. — Early in Saturday’s World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series event at Volunteer Speedway, four accomplished drivers in the top five owned a combined 15 national touring titles.

And then there was 24-year-old Zack Mitchell of Enoree, S.C. The outside front-row starter was pedaling as hard as he could in chasing the first national touring victory of his career.

“I think I held my breath the whole 50 laps,” Mitchell said.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief at the checkers in collecting a $10,000 victory at the slick, high-banked 4/10-mile oval, pulling away over the final 10 laps to win by 1.349 seconds over Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga.

“Man, if you’d have told me I’d have won this way on our way up here, I’d have told you you was a liar,” the flag-to-flag winner said in victory lane, his voice cracking in front of a huge Volunteer Speedway crowd. “This is just surreal to be able to do this against this competition right here. We did what we had to do. We qualified good, and I’ve been telling my help all year, I said, 'That’s what it’s going to take to win one of these big races.'”

Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., was third followed by Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., and Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., as the national tour wrapped up a two-race weekend. Friday’s winner Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., WoO’s dominating points leader, ran as high as fourth but settled for eighth.

Running the high side most of the race, Mitchell found the going a little dicey when Lanigan, McDowell, Sheppard and Bloomquist were pressuring him amid traffic as the race headed for halfway. A trio of cautions between laps 29-31 gave him some breathing room and the two-time and reigning Ultimate Southeast Series champion built his lead to more than two seconds with 10 laps remaining to close out the biggest victory of his career.

“I was just aiming that thing when I got to the corner. This thing was flawless. It’d go around the top, go around the bottom,” Mitchell said. “This Barry Wright Race Car and Clements horsepower, everything ran great tonight … this is just something else man. This is awesome to race on one of these racetracks like this. We don’t get to race on anything slick around home. Man, this is awesome.”

McDowell, who worked the low groove and peeked under Mitchell a few times, couldn’t keep up late in the race.

“I wanted to see us be in that lapped traffic a little longer when we were racing there and battling,” McDowell said. “I felt like I was a probably maybe a little better on the bottom side of the racetrack in managing tires, and those guys were a little better up in the middle of the racetrack. It just wasn’t our night. So congratulations to Zack, I know it’s a big win for him. He drove an awesome race.”

Lanigan, whose best series finish in three months was seventh, posted his first podium finish since Feb. 14 at Florida Speedweeks.

“(The car) was really good here tonight,” the Barry Wright house car driver said. “I just lacked a little bit (with getting) traction there, but all in all, we had a good car all night and won a heat race. I’m definitely proud (of the team). We struggled the last month and went home and worked on it and got it better.”

Back-to-back-back cautions on laps 29, 30 and 31 slowed the action, first when Boom Briggs and Chris Madden tangled in turn four, then when top-10 runners Ricky Weiss and Cory Hedgecock got together in turn two. Cade Dillard brought out the final yellow with a turn-two spin.

Notes: The series ran its 700th all-time event in front of what was announced as the largest crowd in the history of Volunteer Speedway. … Mitchell joined two other first-time WoO winners in 2020: Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., at Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park and Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway. … Lanigan’s heat race victory was the 185th of his WoO career, tying Josh Richards for the all-time series lead. … Cade Dillard, who finished third on Friday, got into the turn-two wall while holding a transfer spot in his heat race and ran his backup car in the feature. … Chris Madden's rough night included a slap of the wall during hot laps that sidelined his 1-race-old Bloomquist car and problems that left his backup car unable to fire for his heat race. After scurrying to diagnosis the situation — the same headache that prevented him from starting the car in June 6's Stream Invitational at Eldora Speedway — his crew replaced the car's distributor with the one in the crashed mount and he had no trouble in the B-main and feature, though he finished 14th after his lap-29 tangle with Boom Briggs. … Kyle Strickler’s car also suffered damage when he got into the wall in practice but he repaired the right-side damage and finished seventh in the A-main. … Donald McIntosh climbed the wall in time trials and didn’t get a qualifying lap.