(MOUNT HOPE, WEST VIRGINIA) At an early morning hour when most people in the Eastern Time Zone were fast asleep, Jimmy Owens was giving his competition a Nightmare by sweeping the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series lid lifter at Beckley Motor Speedway in Mount Hope, West Virginia! After a several hour rain delay pushed the start of the program to around 10:15pm local time, Jimmy not only laid down the quickest times in hot laps and qualifying, but he also emerged victorious in his heat race and the 53-lap headliner. The popular driver known as the “Newport Nightmare” was well in command for most of the early morning main event, but was forced to hold on late after a caution bunched up the field with a handful of circuits remaining in the contest.
Jimmy, who hails from Newport, Tennessee, repelled eighth starting Henry Hornsby III and beat the hometown Beckley driver to the checkered flag by 0.201 of a second to bag the $10,053 first place prize money. Hornsby came up just shy in pulling off the upset at his home track, but was awarded a $5,000 payday for his impressive runner-up performance. Kyle Hardy pitted from third for a new right rear tire on lap 27, but rallied back through the stout field to round out the podium. Tyler Carpenter improved eight positions to finish in the fourth spot, while Chris Ferguson hung around the top five throughout the distance to eventually land a fifth place effort.
“I want to thank all of these fans for sticking it out through all this rain and stuff,” commented Owens in Schaeffer’s Oil victory lane. “It is such a late night and it’s great to see such a big crowd here. It is a tough field of cars – a bunch of great guys out there and they raced us clean. I was afraid that the bottom was going to come in there towards the end because the middle and the top just kept getting a little blacker. The 39 car was right there at the end of the race and I was expecting a big slider, but he ran me clean and I thank him for that!”
Jimmy Owens, who now has six career Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series wins to his credit, piloted a Koehler Motorsports #20 XR1 Rocket Chassis powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine. Sponsorship on his ride comes in part from Reece Monument Company, Ultimate Towing & Recovery, Tim Short Auto Group, Capital Waste, Five Star Metal Buildings, Boomtest Well Service, Red Line Oil, Goodridge Hose & Fittings, Sybesma Graphics, Midwest Sheet Metal, and Capital Electric TN.
A total of 32 Super Late Model competitors piled into the pit area at Beckley Motor Speedway tonight for the first round of Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series action. Jimmy Owens won the Boyd Bilt Spring-Pro “Smashing the Clock” Award with his quick lap of 12.931 seconds in hot laps and also picked up Fast Time honors during FK Rod Ends qualifying with a 13.173 circuit around the 3/8-mile dirt oval. The four heat races were captured by Carson Ferguson, Kyle Hardy, Owens, and Chris Ferguson, while the single B-Main was won by Jeff Smith. A series provisional based off last year’s points was awarded to Will Roland and Haiden Cowan utilized a series emergency provisional to start shotgun on the feature field.
Most of the same competitors will make the trek to Wythe Raceway tomorrow for the second leg of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series. Another $10,053 top prize will be up for grabs on Saturday, July 15 at the picturesque Rural Retreat, Virginia speedplant. The series has been a fixture at Wythe since 2006 with Dennis Franklin (’06), Chris Madden (’07 & ’08), Vic Hill (’09), Mother Nature (’10), Austin Dillon (’11), Vic Hill (’12), Chris Madden (’13), Jonathan Davenport (’14), Billy Ogle, Jr. (’15), Dale McDowell (’16), Vic Hill (’17), Dale McDowell (’18), Brandon Overton (’19 & ’20), Mother Nature (’21), Dale McDowell (’22) taking home the victories. Additional information can be found online by clicking on www.WytheRaceway.com.
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series presented by Coltman Farms Racing
Round 1 Race Summary
Friday, July 14, 2023
Beckley Motor Speedway – Mount Hope, West Virginia
Schaeffer’s Oil Feature Finish (53 Laps):
1. (2) Jimmy Owens $10,053
2. (8) Henry Hornsby III $5,000
3. (3) Kyle Hardy $3,000
4. (12) Tyler Carpenter $2,000
5. (4) Chris Ferguson $1,500
6. (13) Kenny Collins $1,000
7. (7) Logan Roberson $800
8. (5) Ricky Weiss $700
9. (22) Will Roland $675
10. (16) Cory Hedgecock $650
11. (1) Carson Ferguson $625
12. (9) Cody Overton $600
13. (18) Donald McIntosh $575
14. (10) Mike Benedum $550
15. (6) Jordan Koehler $525
16. (15) Brenden Smith $500
17. (19) John Llewellyn $500
18. (23) Haiden Cowan $75
19. (14) Payton Freeman $500
20. (21) David McCoy $500
21. (20) Chris Meadows $500
22. (11) Kaede Loudy $500
23. (17) Jeff Smith $500
Entries: 32
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Owens (Laps 1-53)
Cautions: 6
Hot Laps:
Boyd Bilt Spring-Pro “Smashing the Clock” Award: Jimmy Owens 12.931
FK Rod Ends Time Trials:
Fast Time Overall: Jimmy Owens 13.173
Group A: 1. 93-Carson Ferguson, 00:13.210[11]; 2. 00H-Kyle Hardy, 00:13.290[3]; 3. 58-Tyler Clem, 00:13.317[7]; 4. 89-Logan Roberson, 00:13.383[13]; 5. 15K-Cody Overton, 00:13.451[6]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:13.470[12]; 7. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:13.489[2]; 8. 126-Kaede Loudy, 00:13.521[10]; 9. 33-Chris Meadows, 00:13.523[14]; 10. 79-Donald McIntosh, 00:13.530[4]; 11. 1C-Kenny Collins, 00:13.542[1]; 12. 214-Haiden Cowan, 00:13.586[8]; 13. 12W-Rick Williams, 00:13.695[9]; 14. 22-Will Roland, 00:13.895[15]; 15. 60H-Shane Greco, 00:14.514[16]; 16. 457-Kenny Rucker, 00:14.970[5]
Group B: 1. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:13.173[5]; 2. 39-Henry Hornsby III, 00:13.292[3]; 3. 114-Jordan Koehler, 00:13.363[2]; 4. 22F-Chris Ferguson, 00:13.403[6]; 5. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:13.425[4]; 6. 28-Tyler Carpenter, 00:13.473[9]; 7. 25-Mike Benedum, 00:13.485[13]; 8. 23-Cory Hedgecock, 00:13.507[14]; 9. 70-Jeff Smith, 00:13.726[15]; 10. 90-John Llewellyn, 00:13.784[12]; 11. 187-David McCoy, 00:13.919[11]; 12. 1S-Rick Strattis, 00:16.216[1]; 13. 46-Joey Tanner, 00:46.595[16]; 14. (DNS) 83-Jensen Ford; 15. (DNS) 119-Bryan Bernheisel; 16. (DNS) 6T-Zack Dohm
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat Race #1 Finish (Top Four Transfer): 1. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 2. 7-Ricky Weiss[4]; 3. 15K-Cody Overton[3]; 4. 1C-Kenny Collins[6]; 5. 58-Tyler Clem[2]; 6. 33-Chris Meadows[5]; 7. 60H-Shane Greco[8]; 8. (DNS) 12W-Rick Williams
American Racer South Heat Race #2 Finish (Top Four Transfer): 1. 00H-Kyle Hardy[1]; 2. 89-Logan Roberson[2]; 3. 126-Kaede Loudy[4]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[3]; 5. 79-Donald McIntosh[5]; 6. 214-Haiden Cowan[6]; 7. 22-Will Roland[7]; 8. 457-Kenny Rucker[8]
E-Z-GO Heat Race #3 Finish (Top Four Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 114-Jordan Koehler[2]; 3. 25-Mike Benedum[4]; 4. F1-Payton Freeman[3]; 5. 70-Jeff Smith[5]; 6. 187-David McCoy[6]; 7. (DNS) 46-Joey Tanner; 8. (DNS) 119-Bryan Bernheisel
Delph Communications Heat Race #4 Finish (Top Four Transfer): 1. 22F-Chris Ferguson[2]; 2. 39-Henry Hornsby III[1]; 3. 28-Tyler Carpenter[3]; 4. 23-Cory Hedgecock[4]; 5. 90-John Llewellyn[5]; 6. 1S-Rick Strattis[6]; 7. (DNS) 83-Jensen Ford[7]; 8. (DNS) 6T-Zack Dohm[8]
American Racer Tires B-Main #1 Finish (Top Five Transfer): 1. 70-Jeff Smith[2]; 2. 79-Donald McIntosh[3]; 3. 90-John Llewellyn[4]; 4. 33-Chris Meadows[5]; 5. 187-David McCoy[6]; 6. 22-Will Roland[10]; 7. 60H-Shane Greco[9]; 8. 214-Haiden Cowan[7]; 9. 1S-Rick Strattis[8]; 10. 58-Tyler Clem[1]; 11. (DNS) 457-Kenny Rucker; 12. (DNS) 119-Bryan Bernheisel; 13. (DNS) 83-Jensen Ford; 14. (DNS) 6T-Zack Dohm; 15. (DNS) 46-Joey Tanner; 16. (DNS) 12W-Rick Williams
Provisionals: Will Roland (Series Provisional), Haiden Cowan (Emergency Provisional)
Current Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Point Standings:
1. Jimmy Owens – 200
2. Henry Hornsby III – 196
3. Kyle Hardy – 194
4. Tyler Carpenter – 192
5. Chris Ferguson – 190
6. Kenny Collins – 188
7. Logan Roberson – 186
8. Ricky Weiss – 184
9. Will Roland – 182
10. Cory Hedgecock – 180
11. Carson Ferguson – 178
12. Cody Overton – 176
13. Donald McIntosh – 174
14. Mike Benedum – 172
15. Jordan Koehler – 170
2023 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Schedule:
Friday, July 14 | Beckley Motor Speedway, Mount Hope, WV | JIMMY OWENS
Saturday, July 15 | Wythe Raceway, Rural Retreat, VA | $10,053 to win
Tuesday, July 18 | I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, TN | $7,553 to win
Thursday, July 20 | Senoia Raceway, Senoia, GA | $7,544 to win
Friday, July 21 | East AL Motor Speedway, Phenix City, AL | $7,553 to win
Saturday, July 22 | Screven Motor Speedway, Sylvania, GA | $10,053 to win
Sunday, July 23 | Swainsboro Raceway, Swainsboro, GA | $10,053 to win
Tuesday, July 25 | Toccoa Raceway, Toccoa, GA | $7,553 to win
Thursday, July 27 | Tri-County Race Track, Brasstown, NC | $7,553 to win
Friday, July 28 | North Georgia Speedway, Chatsworth, GA | $10,053 to win
Saturday, July 29 | Tazewell Speedway, Tazewell, TN | $10,053 to win
For more information on the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series presented by Coltman Farms Racing and fueled by Sunoco Race Fuels, please point your Internet browser to www.SouthernNationalsSeries.com or feel free to call series promoter Ray Cook at 828-360-5353. You can also follow us across social media platforms on facebook.com/southernnationalsseries and on Twitter @sonationals.
The Southern Nationals Series would like to thank all of our marketing partners including: Schaeffer’s Oil & Specialized Lubricants, Coltman Farms Racing, Sunoco Race Fuels, American Race Tires, Delph Communications, E-Z-GO, Vidalia Powersports, Arizona Sport Shirts, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Capital Race Cars, Collins Signs, DirtCarLift.com, DirtonDirt.com, FK Rod Ends, Hoosier Racing Tire, JM Custom Laser, Knowles Race Parts and Bodies, MasterSbilt Race Cars, SFP Performance Systems, The Joie of Seating, The Steering Buddy, Velocita-USA, Vic Hill Racing Engines, and Wiles Driveshafts.