What won the race: Surviving an abrasive surface that caused heavy tire wear, Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., completed a flag-to-flag run to victory in Saturday’s 50-lap Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series feature at East Alabama Motor Speedway. He beat Zack Mitchell to the finish line by 1.508 seconds for the $10,000 winner’s check.

Quotable: “Lapped traffic was really kind of a battle there early,” Owens said. “I think I run (Zack Mitchell) off the back straightaway. Those (slower) guys were battling and I just cut to the outside real quick and (Mitchell) was there … he just snuck up on me and I was like, ‘Oh!’ ”

Key notes: Owens calmly paced himself upon reaching lapped traffic, keeping Mitchell behind him in a race that went to single-file restarts on lap 31 due to the surface taking rubber. … The triumph was Owens’s second of the season on the first-year Hunt the Front circuit and four overall of 2023. … Owens was the second repeat winner in 10 Hunt the Front events. ... Mitchell reached second place on lap seven with a pass of Joseph Joiner and stayed there to the finish; he drew close to Owens several times — once even slipping slightly off the backstretch — but couldn't pull off a pass. ... Donald McIntosh lost fifth to Austin Horton on lap 40 when he slid high attempting to overtake Carson Ferguson. ... Six caution flags slowed the race, including four for drivers with flat right-rear tires: Cla Knight (lap 27), Payton Freeman (lap 31), John Henderson (lap 42) and Ryan Crane (lap 46). … Other drivers felled by flat right-rears included Wil Herrington and Sam Seawright. ... The most serious accident occurred on a lap-27 restart when Pearson Lee Williams spun off turn two — he blamed Seawright for help with his twirl — and collected Trey Mills.

On the move: Josh Putnam of Florence, Ala., started 16th and finished eighth.

Winner's sponsors: Owens drives a Koehler Motorsports Rocket Chassis powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Reece Monument Company, Tim Short Auto Group, Red Line Oil, Georgia Arms Ammunition, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, Five Star Metal Buildings, Capital Waste, Midwest Sheet Metal and Penske Racing Shocks.

Points chase: After EAMS: 1. Josh Putnam (802); 2. Wil Herrington (796); 3. Joseph Joiner (776); 4. Trey Mills (730); 5. Dalton Cook (686).

Current weather: Clear, 82°F

Car count: 27

Fast qualifier: Austin Horton

Time: 14.388 seconds

Polesitter: Jimmy Owens

Heat race winners: Austin Horton, Jimmy Owens, Zack Mitchell, Joseph Joiner

Consolation race winners: Wil Herrington

Provisional starters: Bo Slay, Jason Garver

Next series race: August 25, Needmore Speedway (Norman Park, GA) $5,000