SWEETWATER, Tenn. - John Ownbey of Cleveland, Tenn. drove the Auto Depot Special to victory Friday night in the first visit for the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series to I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn.
Ownby passed Riley Hickman for the lead on lap 13, and then held off challenges by Tim Busha and Ryan King for the $3,000 win.
It was the first National Touring dirt late model race ever held at the track, and it was Ownbey’s first night out with a dirt late model powered by the LS3 production-based, economical Chevrolet Performance CT525 All-Aluminum Racing Engine.
“The Chevrolet Performance CT525 Engine put down good power, but we just have to do some tweaking on the carburetor to get better restarts,” Ownbey said. “Once we got going, the engine just seemed to keep pulling and pulling. We’re real happy with it, and even happier with the results tonight.”
King finished second and Hickman took the third spot, with Busha in fourth and Cory Hedgecock in fifth.
Ownbey, King, Hickman, and Busha all qualified for the Hoosier Racing Tire “Road To Dega” Bonus Money and a chance to win $10,000 at the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series season-finale on October 3 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala.
Brandon Williams came home in the sixth spot to earn the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race honors. Defending National Champion and current point leader Ronnie Johnson finished seventh and increased his lead to ten points over Tyler Crowder in the $10,000 Championship battle.
Matt Henderson drove to an eighth-place finish with Adam Martin in ninth and Mario Gresham of Rome, Ga. in tenth.
In preliminary action, Hickman was the Sellers Brothers Fast Qualifier among the 28 entrants with a lap around the 3/10-mile clay oval in 13.066 seconds. The two ten-lap B-Main Races were won by Gresham and Ross Martin.
Hickman took the lead at the start of the race followed by King, Ownbey, Hedgecock and Brad Coffey. Trevor Thompson brought out the first caution flag on lap four.
Hickman led King, Ownbey, Hedgecock, Williams and Jake Knowles of Rome, Ga., Busha, Ross Martin, Gresham, and Coffey doubled up behind him for the Dixie-Style Double-File Restart. King chose the inside for the restart, but Ownbey drove by him on the outside to take over the second spot, when the green bulb came back on.
Pierce McCarter spun in turn two on lap seven to bring out the second caution flag. This time, Hickman had Ownbey behind him in second, followed by King, Knowles, Hedgecock, and Williams. The field went one more lap under green before the next slowdown of the race.
Jeff Smith of Dalton, Ga. flipped down the front straightaway to bring the field to a complete stop with the red flag. The I-75 Raceway fire and rescue team was quick to arrive on the scene and help Smith from his car uninjured after it landed back on all four wheels in the infield.
On the next restart, Hedgecock dove under King to take over the third spot, and by lap ten, King had fallen back to the sixth spot. Oliver Gentry of Newnan, Ga. spun in turn four on lap 12 to bring out the fourth caution flag of the race.
The next restart saw Ownbey get to the inside of Hickman, and the top two cars race side-by-side for the lead until Ownbey cleared Hickman to take the lead on lap 13. There was also plenty of position changing going on behind the battle for the lead, as Busha moved up to the third spot. Busha was a man on a mission, as he used the outside groove to pass Hickman for second on lap 15.
Lavon Sparks brought out the caution flag for a fifth time on lap 18 when he stalled on the front chute. A three car tangle on the restart in turn two led to Chevy Super Series officials doing away with the double-file restarts and going to single-file restarts. Ownbey led Busha, Hickman, Hedgecock, and King for the restart.
When the green flag came out, most of the drivers stayed on the bottom groove of the track, but a few went to the outside, and a couple of drivers made it work. Billy Ogle Jr. put his race car in the top lane and moved from tenth to seventh by lap 30.
Ownbey began to encounter lapped traffic by lap 27, and Busha closed in to camp out on his back bumper by lap 32. Ownby stayed down on the inside of the track, giving Busha the outside, but lapped cars would cover the ground the second place driver needed to challenge for the lead. That would all change on lap 42 when Knowles spun in turn two to bring out the final caution flag.
When the green flag came back out for the nine lap dash to the finish, Hickman dove underneath Busha to take over the second spot, and King drove around the outside of Busha coming off the fourth turn to move up to third. On lap 48, King was on the outside and caught Hickman going into turn one.
Hickman moved up trying to use a lapped car as a pick to hold off King, but King made a hard left and pulled off the crossover move to dive under Hickman and take the second spot. King was closing fast on Ownbey on the final lap of the race, but it was Ownbey making his maiden voyage with the Chevy Super Series a successful one with a .511 second margin of victory.
For more information on the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visit the series web site at 525SuperSeries.com.
Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series
I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, TN
Race Results – Aug. 14, 2015
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 2 44 John Ownbey Cleveland, TN 50 $3,000
2. 3 30 Ryan King Seymour, TN 50 $1,500
3. 1 1v Riley Hickman Cleveland, TN 50 $1,000
4. 8 15 Tim Busha Boaz, AL 50 $850
5. 5 23h Cory Hedgecock Lenoir City, TN 50 $750
6. 7 95 Brandon Williams (R) Crossville, TN 50 $700
7. 13 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $650
8. 19 H2 Matt Henderson Loudon, TN 50 $600
9. 15 47a Adam Martin (R) Talladega, AL 50 $550
10. 11 21 Mario Gresham (R) Rome, GA 50 $500
11. 23 47c Tyler Crowder Lamont, FL 50 $475
12. 4 88 Brad Coffey Maryville, TN 50 $450
13. 12 47r Ross Martin Talladega, AL 50 $425
14. 16 29 Rusty Ballenger Sevierville, TN 50 $400
15. 6 66 Jake Knowles Rome, GA 50 $375
16. 14 66b Billy Ogle Jr. Knoxville, TN 50 $350
17. 18 J8 Jadon Frame Winchester, TN 49 $325
18. 21 33 David Brannon Elora, TN 49 $300
19. 9 24 Barry Goodman Spring City, TN 49 $300
20. 22 23 Trevor Thompson (R) Dallas, GA 39 $300
21. 24 03 Oliver Gentry Newman, GA 33 $300
22. 20 11 Lavon Sparks Phenix City, AL 16 $300
23. 16 85 Jeff Smith Dalton, GA 7 $300
24. 17 71 Pierce McCarter Gatlinburg, TN 6 $300
Entries: 28
Fast Qualifier: Hickman, 13.066 Seconds
Provisionals: Crowder and Thompson
Lead Changes: 1
Lap Leaders: Hickman, 1-12; Ownbey, 13-50
Laps Led: Ownbey, 38; Hickman, 12
