RINGGOLD, Ga. — Donald McIntosh topped Friday night’s Stars and Stripes 40 for the Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Southern Series at Boyd’s Speedway.
McIntosh took the lead on lap 15 and led the remainder of the distance to earn the $5,000 top prize.
It was his fourth career Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series victory.
Sam Seawright and Vic Hill would battle side-by-side for the race lead on the opening lap, with Hill nipping Seawright for the lead on lap one, followed by Donald McIntosh, Brandon Williams, and Robby Mason. Hill would clear Seawright for the lead on lap two and hold a car length advantage until the first caution of the race appeared on lap four for a three-car tangle in turn four involving Stacy Boles, Michael Chilton and Tommy Taylor.
The restart would see Hill, Seawright, McIntosh, and Williams maintain the top four positions, while Mack McCarter would sneak past Mason for the fifth position. McCarter would then challenge Williams for the fourth spot and would claim it on lap six. Hill would build a comfortable lead by lap ten, but he would catch the rear of the field and start working slower traffic on lap thirteen. The final caution of the event waved on lap 15 when Chuck Christopher’s machine would roll to a stop on the backchute.
The restart would see Hill lead the field into turn one, while McIntosh would roll the outside groove to take second from Seawright and would look to the outside of Hill in turn three and would take the lead with a pass of Hill exiting turn four. Hill would now settle into second, with Seawright third.
McIntosh would build a 1.5 second lead over Hill and would maintain that advantage until he would have to begin to lap slower traffic on lap twenty-six. Meanwhile, fourteenth place starter Ricky Weiss would have worked his way through the field and would drive past Williams on lap twenty-eight to make his way into the top five runners.
McIntosh would tip-toe his way through lapped traffic, with Hill only able to get to within one second of McIntosh during this time. McCarter would run down Seawright and that pair would begin to battle for the third position, with McCarter finally taking third on lap 38.
McIntosh would begin to stretch his lead over Hill in the final few laps of the event and score the win over Hill, with McCarter settling for third. Seawright and Weiss would complete the top five.
The finish:
Donald McIntosh, Vic Hill, Mack McCarter, Sam Seawright, Ricky Weiss, Michael Chilton, Brandon Williams, Eli Beets, Jason Manley, Robby Mason, Will Roland, Tod Hernandez, Dalton Cook, Dillon Tidmore, Heath Hindman, Jason Croft, J.T. Seawright, Jim Thornton, Tommy Taylor, Justin Cameron, Clayton Cooper, Hayden Ownbey, Carden Cochran, Chuck Christopher, Stacy Boles, Canon Cochran.