Brian Smith walked away with the victory in Sunday night’s Buddy Rogers Memorial for the Southern Nationals Bonus Series at Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway.
It marked the first-ever Super Late Model feature win for the Barbourville, Kentucky driver, who took home $4,400 for his efforts.
Billy Ogle, Jr. would jump to the lead at the start of the event, while Jonathan Rowan and Mack McCarter fought for second. The first caution of the event flew on lap two when Daniel Shelton spun in turn one. Before he could get slowed, Ogle, Jr. clipped the rear of Shelton’s car, damaging his right-rear quarter panel and spoiler.
The restart would see fourth place Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Georgia get sideways in turn two and draw the caution. The next restart would see Ogle, Jr. in control, while Rowan and McCarter continued to duel for the second position. Austin Neely spun his machine in turn two on lap five to again draw the caution and negate McCarter’s quick pass of Rowan for second.
Ogle, Jr. would again control the restart, with Rowan, McCarter, Dakotah Knuckles, and Brian Smith in pursuit. Disaster would strike McCarter on lap six after contact with another car sent him into the outside retaining wall. The following restart would again see Ogle, Jr. in control, while McIntosh had charged his way back to the front, moving to third by lap eight.
Second place running Rowan would see his night end on lap nine when his car slowed exiting turn two and rolled to a stop at the entrance to turn three. On this restart, Ogle, Jr. would maintain the lead, five laps later, was bypassed by McIntosh to take the race lead.
McIntosh would set a torrid pace, and b lap 30 had opened up a half lap advantage on the field. The next caution flew on lap 35 when Chad Ogle made contact with the wall off of turn four and damage his steering. Levi Ashby made contact with Ogle and the pair slid down the frontstretch. Race leader McIntosh would have no place to go and would slide into the incident, with all three drivers finished for the night.
The restart would see Ogle, Jr.’s machine slow as Knuckles grabbed the lead. Knuckles would hold the lead on the restart, only to see David Payne drive by him for the lead off of turn four. The seventh caution of the contest flew on lap 39 when Knuckles spun in turn two while battling with Brian Smith for the second position. The restart would see Payne’s machine pull up lame in turn four before another lap was completed with a broken driveshaft.
This turn of events would put Brian Smith in the race lead, where he would stay for the rest of the event.
Steve Smith finished second, while Knuckles recovered to finish third. Carder Miller came home in fourth with Austin Neely in fifth.
Joey Standridge, Phil Helton, Jeff Neubert, Payne and Clyde Overholt rounded out the top ten.
The Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series returns to action on Saturday, September 23 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee. For more information, visit SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, TN
Race Results – September 3, 2017
1. Brian Smith – Barbourville, KY
2. Steve Smith – Powell, TN
3. Dakota Knuckles – Ewing, VA
4. Carder Miller – Salem, VA
5. Austin Neely – New Tazewell, TN
6. Joey Standridge – Tellico Plains, TN
7. Phil Helton – Clinton, TN
8. Jeff Neubert – Rockford, TN
9. David Payne – Murphy, NC
10. Clyde Overholt – Tazewell, TN
11. Billy Ogle, Jr. – Knoxville, TN
12. Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA
13. Levi Ashby – Cumberland Furnace, TN
14. Chad Ogle – Sevierville, TN
15. Jonathan Rowan – Jackson, TN
16. Mack McCarter – Gatlinburg, TN
17. Chicky Barton – Middlesboro, KY
18. Jody Horton – Sneedville, TN
19. Daniel Shelton – Berea, KY
20. Mitchell Burke – Tazewell, TN
DNS: Greg Johnson – Bedford, IN
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/9/578979/brian-smith-scores-southern-nationals-victory-at-tazewell