311 Motor Speedway
Jeff Smith earns $4,000 in Clash victory at 311
MADISON, N.C. (March 31) — Jeff Smith of Dallas, N.C., overtook polesitter Dennis Franklin of Gaffney, S.C., on lap 20 of Saturday night’s Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series event at 311 Motor Speedway on his way to a $4,000 victory at the half-mile oval.
Brandon Overton of Dalton, Ga., charged from the 14th starting position to finish second with Franklin, the tour’s reiging champion, settled for third at the finish. Scott Autry of Autryville, N.C., finished fourth after starting 10th with Chris Meadows of Beckley, W.Va., rounding out the top five.
Series points leader Luke Roffers of Concord, N.C., finished sixth after winning the tour’s opening event at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, N.C., March 10.
Smith, the 2009 series champion, earned his first Super Late Model victory since also winning at 311 in the tour’s second-to-last race in 2011. Saturday’s triumph is his 26th overall on the tour.
Among cautions was a lap-four accident that took out Wayne Hughes of Ghent W.Va., and Doug Sanders of Springwood, N.C. Travis Yo of Fayetteville, N.C., earned the races Shell Racing Solutions Hard Luck Award after he had engine troubles on the first lap of the feature.
Carolina Clash @ 311: (1) Jeff Smith, (2) Brandon Overton, (3) Dennis Franklin, (4) Scott Autry, (5) Chris Meadows, (6) Luke Roffers, (7) Dustin Mitchell, (8) Johnny Pursley, (9) Ross Bailes, (10) Mike Gault, (11) Gary Mabe, (12) Billy Hicks, (13) Justin Labonte, (14) Ricky Weeks, (15) Ray Tucker, (16) Kyle Strickler, (17) David Watts, (18) Ronnie Hoover, (19) Donald Bradsher, (20) Steve Blackburn, (21) Michael Marlowe, (22) Wayne Hughes, (23) Doug Sanders, (24) Travis Yow. Fast qualifier (among 33 cars): Franklin, 16.684 seconds. Consolation race winners: Mabe, Hoover, Sanders.
