Ross Bailes, Austin Horton and Jake Knowles all scored Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series victories this week.
Bailes was victorious on Saturday night at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Georgia, while Horton took the win on Sunday night at Georgia’s Rome Speedway and Knowles scored the victory on Tuesday night at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, North Carolina.
After the series saw rain outs at Georgia’s Toccoa Raceway on Thursday night and at Georgia’s Senoia Raceway on Friday night, the third try at getting a race in the books in the Peach State finally worked out on Saturday night.
Ross Bailes led all 53 laps to score the victory at the 20th annual Rebel Yell at Screven Motor Speedway.
The win gave the Clover, South Carolina driver a $10,000 payday, not to mention his first career series victory.
Bailes would take the lead at the start, with Tanner English, Brandon Overton, Casey Roberts, and Michael Brown giving chase. English and Overton battle for second until Overton spun in turn one on lap five to bring out the caution. One lap later, Michael Page slowed in turn four to draw another caution, and on the next restart, Donald McIntosh slowed in turn two to bring out a third yellow flag.
There was more trouble on the next restart attempt, as eight cars tangled before the flagstand, leaving the track blocked and resulting in a red flag.
Once the track was cleared, Bailes moved back to the lead, but saw the race slowed again on lap eight when Brown slowed in turn one with a flat left-rear tire.
Back underway, Bailes would maintain the lead, with English second and Chris Ferguson third. English and Ferguson battled for the second position until Ferguson spun in turn two on lap 19. He continued racing, falling back to the sixth place but not drawing the caution.
Up front, English began closing the gap to the leader as Bailes began working through lapped traffic on lap 20. The gap disappeared completely on lap 27 when Overton brought out the caution flag. Under caution, English would retire to the pits with mechanical woes.
Six laps later, John Henderson slowed on the track in turn four to bring out another yellow flag.
On the restart, Bailes powers away to the lead, while Jake Knowles and Casey Roberts battled for second. The caution flew again on lap 51 when Ferguson spun in turn two, setting up a sprint to the finish. That sprint was delayed when Ferguson drew the final caution on the restart.
Back under green, Bailes drove away to take the win, with Roberts edging Knowles for second. Trent Ivey finished fourth, with Dennis Franklin fifth.
Anthony Sanders, Michael Brown, Corey Gordon, Cla Knight and Clint Smith rounded out the top ten.
On Sunday night, Austin Horton would lead wire-to-wire to score the victory at Rome Speedway.
It marked the second consecutive win in the event for the Newnan, Georgia racer, who pocketed $5,300 for his efforts.
The initial start of the feature didn’t complete a full lap when Tyler Clem and Bo Eaton tangled in turn three. The second attempted start would be good, with Horton jumping to the lead, followed by Donald McIntosh, Jason Croft, Michael Page and Brandon Overton.
On the point, Horton would stretch his lead, and he began working lap traffic on lap 8. But by lap 13, he found himself battled up in slower traffic, allowing McIntosh to chase him down.
After clearing the slower cars, Horton again pulled away from McIntosh. The final caution of the night flew on lap 21 when Eaton spun in turn two.
Back under green, Horton moved back to the lead, with Page moving to second. Over the closing laps, Page cut into Horton’s advantage, and looked several times to be set to challenge for the position. But each time, Page would slip in the fourth turn, allowing Horton to regain lost ground.
Horton would maintain a comfortable lead, working his way through lap traffic while the rest of the field battled behind him. He went on to score the win, with Page settling for second. Croft finished third, with Overton fourth and McIntosh fifth.
Jake Knowles, Zach Leonhardi, Will Roland, Cla Knight and Austin Smith rounded out the top ten.
Local division winners included Dalton Polston in Steelhead/525, Cruz Skinner in Crate Late Models, Chris Hough in 602 Sportsman, Dan Meadows in Economy Bombers and Rick Ricks in Street Stingers.
On Tuesday night, Jake Knowles drove to the victory at Tri-County Race Track, edging out Kenny Collins in the late stages to secure the win.
The victory – the first of Knowles’ career with the series – not only gave the Rome, Georgia driver a $3,500 payday, but also secured him at the top of the series points standings.
Knowles took the lead from the drop of the green flag, trailed by Collins, Tanner English, Brandon Overton, and David Payne. Overton would drive past English on lap two for the third position, but disaster would strike Overton two laps later when he pulled his machine to the infield with a broken rear-end gear. The only caution of the event would wave on lap six when Kip Cochran made contact with the outside guardrail on the back stretch.
Back under green, Knowles would maintain the top spot, followed by Collins and English. After building a comfortable lead, Knowles lost ground to Collins while working lap traffic on lap 25. The duo began battling for the lead, with Collins momentarily taking the lead in turn four on lap 30. Knowles reclaimed the top spot as the pair crossed the start/finish line.
The final five laps saw the duo continue to battle side-by-side, but Knowles would use the top groove of the track in the final laps to claim the victory.
Collins settled for second position, with Michael Chilton in the third, Casey Roberts in fourth and Tanner English in fifth.
Payne, Donald McIntosh, Shawn Chastain, Kurt English and Jamie Oliver rounded out the top ten.
The Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals returns to action on Thursday, July 25 at Tennessee’s Crossville Speedway. For more information, visit SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals
Screven Motor Speedway – Sylvania, GA
Race Results – July 20, 2019
1. Ross Bailes – Clover, SC
2. Casey Roberts – Toccoa, GA
3. Jake Knowles – Rome, GA
4. Trent Ivey – Union, SC
5. Dennis Franklin – Gaffney, SC
6. Anthony Sanders – Spartanburg, SC
7. Michael Brown – Lancaster, SC
8. Corey Gordon – Charlotte, NC
9. Cla Knight – North Augusta, SC
10. Clint Smith – Senoia, GA
11. Austin Smith – Rome, GA
12. Chesley Dixon – Swainsboro, GA
13. Chris Ferguson – Mount Holly, NC
14. John Henderson – North Augusta, SC
15. Tanner English – Benton, KY
16. Brandon Overton – Evans, GA
17. Ryan Crane – Panama City, FL
18. Kenny Collins – Colbert, GA
19. Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA
20. Michael Page – Douglasville, GA
21. Brian Conner – Martinez, GA
22. Tyler Clem – Ocala, FL
23. Steven Roberts – Sylvester, GA
24. Aaron Ridley – Chatsworth, GA
25. Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals
Rome Speedway – Rome, GA
Race Results – July 21, 2019
1. Austin Horton – Newnan, GA
2. Michael Page – Douglasville, GA
3. Jason Croft – Woodstock, GA
4. Brandon Overton – Evans, GA
5. Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA
6. Jake Knowles – Rome, GA
7. Zach Leonhardi – Cartersville, GA
8. Will Roland – Jasper, GA
9. Cla Knight – North Augusta, SC
10. Austin Smith – Rome, GA
11. Tanner English – Benton, KY
12. Matt Dooley – Brooks, GA
13. Ahnna Parkhurst – Evans, GA
14. Cody King – McDonough, GA
15. Tyler Clem – Ocala, FL
16. Aaron Ridley – Chatsworth, GA
17. Tyler Millwood – Kingston, GA
18. Bo Eaton – Blue Ridge, GA
19. Craig Greer – Cleveland, TN
20. Buster Goss – Rome, GA
21. Joey Armistead – Senoia, GA
22. Mark Page – Douglasville, GA
Steelhead/525
1. 00 – Dalton Polston
2. 03 – Oliver Gentry
3. 9 – Cass Fowler
4. 23 – Ahnna Parkhurst
5. 1 – Chris Fennell
6. 18 – Mike Bruner
7. 32 – Jason Manley
8. 21 – Mario Gresham
9. 59 – Dale Thurman
10. 79 – Jimmy Price
11. 57 – John Williams
12. 22 – Alec Morgan
13. 89 – Van Casey
14. 49 – Wee Wee Reed
15. 18x – Michael Page
16. 11 – Jason Partin
17. 222 – Rusty Hatfield
DNS: 07 – Scott Hall
Crate Late Models
1. 85 – Cruz Skinner
2. 05 – T.J. Brittain
3. 29 – Christian Hanger
4. 20 – Devin Stuart
5. 3 – Luther Jenkins
6. 44 – Colby Kilgore
7. 92 – Rodney Martin
8. 29 – Dustin Rogers
9. 2 – David Duplissey
10. 00 – A.J. Carlisi
11. 42 – Don Jenkins
12. 4 – Shane Smith
13. 71 – Danny Richards
14. 7 – Jason Deal
15. 18 – Mitchell Keaton
16. 151 – David Turner
17. 17 – Jake Pilgrim
602 Sportsman
1. 24 – Chris Hough
2. 55 – Lance Harris
3. 97 – Cody Overton
4. 21 – Nick May
5. 17 – Matthew Knight
6. 13 – Jesse Goss
7. 34 – Jason Smith
8. 22 – Alan Brewer
9. 4m – Andrew Moody
10. 98 – Jackie Waites
11. 7 – Seth Lacey
12. 27 – Joey Hazelwood
13. 27 – Pete Cochran
14. T1 – Darrell Tucker
15. 721 – Dawson Martin
16. 9 – Brian Womack
17. 31 – David Burtz
18. 5 – Russell Schell
19. 25 – Alden Morgan
20. 18 – Josh Martin
21. 17 – Ryan Knight
22. D22 – Daniel Brewer
DNS: 66 – Taylor Cole
DNS: 12 – Tim Bennett
DNS: 20 – Jake Rainey
Economy Bomber
1. 07 – Dan Meadows
2. 10 – Dylan Armstrong
3. 21 – Eric Hamby
4. J21 – Justin Begley
5. 23 – Travis Smith
6. 54 – Garrett Williams
7. 04 – David Kirkland
8. 17 – Logan Johnson
9. 22 – Brandy Brewer
10. 12 – Tim Bennett
11. 07 – Andrew Findley
12. 98 – Matt Janssen
13. 14 – Jeremy Williams
14. 29 – Daniel Floyd
15. 15 – Derek Young
16. 1 – Vernon Smith
17. 24 – Donnie Smith
Street Stingers
1. 4 – Rick Ricks
2. 16 – Chris Bragg
3. 3 – Jason Young
4. 14 – Kirk Ghorley
5. 27 – Daniel Turner
6. 3 – Cole Barrett
7. 3 – Seth Minter
8. c77 – Kenny Clark
9. 96 – Allen Goodfriend
10. 32 – James Drummond
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals
Tri-County Race Track - Brasstown, NC
Race Results – July 23, 2019
1. Jake Knowles – Rome, GA
2. Kenny Collins – Colbert, GA
3. Michael Chilton – Salvisa, KY
4. Casey Roberts – Toccoa, GA
5. Tanner English – Benton, KY
6. David Payne – Murphy, NC
7. Donald McIntosh – Dawsonville, GA
8. Shawn Chastain – Murphy, NC
9. Kurt English – Murphy, NC
10. Jamie Oliver – Murphy, NC
11. Tyler Clem – Ocala, FL
12. Jacob Anderson – Murphy, NC
13. Levi Hicks – Murphy, NC
14. Cody King – McDonough, GA
15. Cla Knight – North Augusta, SC
16. Rusty Jordan – Cannon, GA
17. Craig Greer – Cleveland, TN
18. Steve “Hot Rod” LaMance – Six Mile, SC
19. Kip Cochran – Franklin, NC
20. Danny Ledford – Warren, NC
21. Brandon Overton – Evans, GA
22. Glenn Barnett – Murphy, NC
