TAZEWELL, Tenn. - Donald McIntosh captured the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Championship for the first time on Saturday night at Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway.
And the Dawsonville, Georgia native did it without winning a single event during the season.
While Michael Chilton led wire-to-wire to win the final points paying race of the season, McIntosh drove to a solid fifth place finish to pocket the $10,053 championship.
It’s the first Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series title for McIntosh, who bested fellow Georgian Dale McDowell for the championship.
“I got behind qualifying tonight and put us behind, but we were able to pass some cars, said McIntosh. “When I first started racing here, I didn’t really like this racetrack too much, but it has gotten to be a lot of fun to race on. You can pass on it and run side-by-side. What a great night. I can’t thank these guys enough for standing behind me. It’s been a long road to finally get one of these (Southern Nationals) championships. It means a lot. We’ve been doing it a while and it’s a pretty cool deal.”
Meanwhile, Chilton jumped to the lead on from the outside of the front row on the drop of the green flag, and went on to lead all 53 laps in the feature en route to the win.
“I was watching that scoreboard and I knew that Dale (McDowell) was probably going to be the guy to beat when he got to running that bottom there,” said Chilton, who is the ninth different winner in nine races on the season. “I just knew I needed to try to protect the bottom and save some tire. Dale – he’s the master of saving for the end. I got pretty worried there when I got to a couple of those lapped cars and I felt like they were pulling away from me. I was just trying not to make mistakes and we got it done.”
McDowell came home in second, Zack Mitchell in third, Ross Bailes in fourth and McIntosh in fifth.
Ryan King, Austin Neely, Vic Hill, Jason Trammell, and Jensen Ford rounded out the top 10.
Even though the points have been decided for 2021, there is still one more race on the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series, calendar, as a non-points event at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee is slated for Sunday, August 1 to make-up a July 19 rain-out.
For more information, visit SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, TN
Race Results – July 31, 2021
1. (2) Michael Chilton $10,053
2. (3) Dale McDowell $5,000
3. (9) Zack Mitchell $2,500
4. (1) Ross Bailes $1,800
5. (16) Donald McIntosh $1,250
6. (14) Ryan King $900
7. (18) Austin Neely $800
8. (10) Vic Hill $700
9. (12) Jason Trammell $675
10. (21) Jensen Ford $650
11. (7) Kyle Strickler $625
12. (20) Cody Overton $600
13. (4) Dakotah Knuckles $575
14. (5) Garrett Smith $550
15. (17) Ahnna Parkhurst $525
16. (6) Benjamin Cranford $500
17. (22) Kenny Collins $500
18. (23) Jeff Neubert $75
19. (8) Pierce McCarter $500
20. (11) Matthew Holt $500
21. (13) Brian Shockley $500
22. (19) Jeff Wolfenbarger $500
23. (15) John Llewellyn $500
