WHITESBURG, Ga. – In the first sanctioned super late model event in the history of West Georgia Speedway, Austin Horton stole the show and etched his name into the record books during Thursday’s Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series event.
Horton set fast time and rolled off from the pole, which allowed him to control the field throughout the 40-lap feature. He survived a restart with three laps left to claim the victory and the $4,053 winner’s check.
Outside polesitter Brent Dixon, who paced Group B during time trials, chased Horton throughout the contest, but never managed a serious bid for the top spot. The Elberton, Ga., driver finished 1.775 seconds off Horton in second. Pearson Lee Williams improved one spot during the course of the race to grab the final position on the podium in third. Series rookie Garrett Smith was fourth while Kenny Collins moved up to fifth.
“It feels great to win here at West Georgia,” said Horton in victory lane. “I made my first laps here. I cut my teeth here in a street stock. We’ve came a long way in a short time. Man, I don’t even know what to say…just glad to do it at the hometown track and get us another win. After a rough hot laps, it couldn’t have went any better after that.”
Other action on Thursday night included a victory for Alabama’s Richie Stephens in the Summit Racing Equipment Late Model Sportsman. Cole Barrett became the first repeat winner in the Gerber Collision & Glass Chargers division this season. Derick Matthews outdueled Dustin Smith for the laurels in the West Georgia Tire Bomber division. David Brackett and Doug McClain claimed checkers in the four cylinder competition with Brackett winning the Massey Towing Mini Stock and McClain winning the Hot Shot main event after Rick Ricks was disqualified in post-race tech for a locked differential.
The finish:
Austin Horton, Brent Dixon, Pearson Lee Williams, Garrett Smith, Kenny Collins, Mark Whitener, Dalton Cook, Donald McIntosh, Cody Overton, Wil Herrington, Jensen Ford, Benjamin Cranford, Stacy Boles, Jeff Neubert, Michael Brown, Chuck Southard, Ahnna Parkhurst, Dale McDowell, Tyler Millwood, Michael Page, Joey Armistead, Todd Morrow, Will Harris, Jordy Nipper.