Dale McDowell (left) scored Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series victories at North Georgia Speedway and Tazewell Speedway over the weekend, while Jimmy Owens (right) won at Tri-County Race Track and took home the 2023 series championship. Photos: Michael Moats
Jimmy Owens and Dale McDowell closed out the 2023 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series season with victories over the weekend.
Owens also netted the big prize at the end of the season finale on Sunday – the 2023 series championship.
Owens kicked off the final sprint to the championship on Thursday, as he drove to the victory at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, North Carolina.
The Newport, Tennessee native hounded early race leader Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Georgia until lap 17, when he moved to the point. From there, Owens held off Ricky Weiss for his second series win of the season.
“You know the high side was there and it was just timing McIntosh just right to be able to get by him because he kept sliding out,” said Owens. “The corner entry was just so narrow getting in that it was just really hard to get by him. There was a lot of clean racing. We had a good time. I have to thank all of my great sponsors on this Koehler Motorsports machine.”
McIntosh finished in third, with Carson Ferguson in fourth, and Dale McDowell in fifth.
On Friday night, the tour moved to North Georgia Speedway in Chastworth, Georgia, where Dale McDowell used a last lap pass to secure his second series win of the season.
The Chickamauga, Georgia speedster was in pursuit of race leader Carson Ferguson most of the night, and finally moved within striking distance as Ferguson became mired in lap traffic.
Heading into turns one and two on the final lap, McDowell got the break he needed when a lapped car slowed abruptly on the bottom of the track in front of Ferguson. That allowed McDowell to power around the top side of the track to take the lead. From there, he went on to score the victory and the $10,053 first place prize money.
“Man it’s so hard to win these things and Carson (Ferguson) is becoming a heck of a little racer and was doing everything good,” said McDowell. “It’s just you don’t know where to go (to get by lapped traffic). I had been playing with the top down there (in turns one and two) just to try to get a run if we got to lapped traffic and really couldn’t do anything down here (in turns three and four). We just got a little lucky there, you know he got pinned down there on the bottom. I just have to thank all my guys that work on this thing, all of our great sponsors that are involved with Shane McDowell Racing, and of course these awesome fans.”
Ferguson, who led the first 52 laps from the pole, finished in second, with Donald McIntosh in third, Douglasville, Georgia’s Michael Page in fourth, and Ricky Weiss in fifth.
After rains moved into the area on Saturday, the season finale was postponed to Sunday night at Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway.
The delay made didn’t matter to McDowell, who led flag-to-flag to record his 13th career series victory.
“I’m very, very blessed to drive a car like this and it’s so good – things are going our way,” McDowell said. “I can’t emphasize that enough. I’m blessed to drive it when it’s no good and when I’m not doing a good job, but I’m super blessed right now and I feel really fortunate. Everything is just clicking, we qualified fourth and got in the right heat race. I can’t emphasize how much it takes for the whole ingredients to go together.”
Ricky Weiss finished in second. Jimmy Owens, who was forced to a back-up car after losing an engine earlier in the night, finished in third to secure his first Southern Nationals Series Championship.
Owens racked up two wins, four top fives, and eight top 10s in the eight series point races that escaped the wrath of Mother Nature over the past two weeks. Owens pocketed an extra $10,053 for the title.
McIntosh and Jason Trammell rounded out the top five on Sunday night.
For more information on the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series, visit SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series
Tri-County Race Track – Brasstown, NC
Race Results – July 27, 2023
1. (5) Jimmy Owens
2. (1) Ricky Weiss
3. (2) Donald McIntosh
4. (6) Carson Ferguson
5. (8) Dale McDowell
6. (10) Payton Freeman
7. (7) Tyler Clem
8. (16) Joey Tanner
9. (4) Kenny Collins
10. (15) Will Roland
11. (13) Brenden Smith
12. (20) Mike Benedum
13. (14) Jordan Koehler
14. (11) David McCoy
15. (12) Adam Yarbrough
16. (21) Ty Giles
17. (3) Brent Dixon
18. (9) Jamie Oliver
19. (19) Rob Mayea
20. (17) Jensen Ford
21. (18) David Payne
22. (22) Chuck Southard
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series
North Georgia Speedway – Chatsworth, GA
Race Results – July 28, 2023
1. (5) Dale McDowell
2. (1) Carson Ferguson
3. (4) Donald McIntosh
4. (12) Michael Page
5. (6) Ricky Weiss
6. (10) Jimmy Owens
7. (9) Kenny Collins
8. (11) Will Roland
9. (8) Pearson Lee Williams
10. (16) Tyler Clem
11. (14) John Ownbey
12. (13) Mike Benedum
13. (18) Josh Henry
14. (22) Brenden Smith
15. (21) Jordan Koehler
16. (17) Rob Mayea
17. (2) Booger Brooks
18. (7) David Payne
19. (19) Jensen Ford
20. (15) Chase Oliver
21. (23) Joey Tanner
22. (3) Sam Seawright
23. (20) Heath Hindman
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, TN
Race Results – July 30, 2023
1. (1) Dale McDowell
2. (2) Ricky Weiss
3. (6) Jimmy Owens
4. (3) Donald McIntosh
5. (5) Jason Trammell
6. (9) Kenny Collins
7. (8) Jordan Koehler
8. (13) Forrest Trent
9. (7) Dakotah Knuckles
10. (14) Brenden Smith
11. (16) Carson Ferguson
12. (4) Austin Neely
13. (17) Mike Benedum
14. (18) Aaron Guinn
15. (12) David McCoy
16. (11) John Llewellyn
17. (19) Travis Fultz
18. (20) Chris Chandler
19. (15) Bryan Shockley
20. (10) Josh Henry
21. (21) Joshua Chesney
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