SEYMOUR, Tenn. — Call him Gen. Halftrack. No, not the Beetle Bailey character from the comic strips, but dominating Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader Jimmy Owens.
The Newport, Tenn., driver continued his recent success on the national tour, leading by as much as a half-track margin Friday at 411 Motor Speedway in capturing his third series victory in a row and fourth of the season. The flag-to-flag winning polesitter earned $12,000 in taking the checkers 1.145 seconds ahead of fifth-starting Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, Tenn.
Outside front-row starter Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., was third for his first top-five finish on the series in a month while Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., and Shanon Buckingham of Morristown, Tenn., rounded out the top five.
Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., was running a distant second in the final laps but tangled with the lapped car of Kyle Hardy, triggering a late caution and leaving him with a 20th-place finish as he retired after 48 of 50 laps.
Owens scored his 68th career Lucas Oil Series victory and marked his first three-in-a-row winning streak on the tour in 10 years in front of a standing-room only crowd.
"This car just keeps getting better and better every weekend we run it. It's just awesome to come down here and perform like that in front of all of these fans and all of our friends,” the 48-year-old Owens said.
"This car was just on a rail tonight. You know it's just been on a rail for the last month or so and I need to thank my crew Mullet, Cody, Kurt and my family,” added Owens, who lapped all but nine competitors. “It’s been awesome so far this year. If we don't win another race this year it's been one of the greatest years ever so far. (Engine builder) Vic (Hill) and I have gotten along from Day One. He has helped us ever since no matter whose motors we've run. He has always been kind and helped lend a helping hand. Thanks to him for keeping us in tuned.”
Hedgecock posted his best career Lucas Oil finish with his runner-up performance to the No. 20 of Owens at the 3/8-mile oval near Knoxville.
"We are absolutely happy with that finish. We appreciate everyone coming out and supporting us,” Hedgecock said. “Hats off to Jimmy, he was definitely fast. I saw (Brandon) Overton and (Kyle) Hardy wearing each other out and I thought they were going to wreck in front of me and tear my stuff all up. We knew if we could finish behind that 20 car it was going to be a good night.”
Davenport, whose previous top-five finish on the series came May 26 at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., is getting used to chasing Owens.
"I am just glad to be up here” on the podium, Davenport said. “(Owens) is really good right now. Congratulations to them. Jimmy's kind of struggled for a while with a lot of bad luck. When you're fast time, win your heat, and just be that dominate in the feature, it's a heck of a statement to make to the rest of us. We have nothing for him right now, but we will keep on working. We are turning our program around. At least we are up here on the podium tonight. It's really only my second time here, but we are getting better.”
Notes: The Owens-Hedgecock 1-2 finish duplicated the top two finishers of May 16’s unsanctioned Spring Sizzler at 411. … Owens won the previous night at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss., which is where he won twice on the Lucas Oil Series June 19-20 before heading to 411 for more success. … Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., was the first retiree with a broken left-front suspension after five laps, drawing the first of two cautions (the other came on lap 49 for the Brandon Overton-Kyle Hardy tangle). … Chris Ferguson suffered mechanical problems during qualifying that ended his night early.
