Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tennessee outdueled a trio of dirt late model racing’s top drivers to capture the $10,000 first prize in the Shramrock 50 Southern All Stars sanctioned race at the Cleveland(TN) Speedway on Saturday night. A near capacity crowd was treated to a position swapping battle that kept fans on their feet throughout the length of the feature event.
Jimmy Owens started the night off on a fast note when he proved to be the quickest in qualifying by posting a lap of 12.75 seconds around the 1/3 mile clay oval. That time established a new track record. Other drivers to earn a pole position for their respecticve heat races were Dale McDowell, David Payne and Billy Ogle, Jr.
Weaver was able to claim the win in a stacked heat race #1 over Eric Wells, Jonathan Davenport and Owens.
McDowell beat out Ray Cook, Clint Smith and Riley Hickman in heat #2.
Payne won over Jake Knowles, Mike Weeks and Scott Bloomquist in heat #3 while Ogle scored the win in heat #4 ahead of Mike Marlar, Skip Arp and Steve Casebolt.
The two last chance qualifiers were won by Chris Madden and Jason Hiett.
McDowell shot to the early lead in the feature from his outside front row starting spot as Weaver, Ogle and Payne gave chase. Immediately, Marlar began to move forward from his fourth row starting spot. The #5B car moved into the top-5 with a pass of Cook on lap 5.
On lap 10, Weaver began to apply heavy pressure on the lead car. Just three laps later, a close call among the two front running machines allowed Ogle to move into 2nd on that lap and then claim the race lead on the next circuit. From that point on, a hectic position swapping battle would take place.
As the lead cars battle heavy traffic on lap 17, Marlar moved to 4th and began reeling in the top-3. Meanwhile, Weaver had recovered from his near disaster with McDowell to tighten the gap between himself and Ogle.
Between laps 20 and 30, Ogle and Weaver traded the lead on multiple occasions as they exchanged slide jobs from one end of the track to the other. The two cars even banged sheet metal on one trip through turn four, which almost allowed McDowell and Marlar to move around them.
Finally, by lap 27 Weaver emerged with the lead and began to put some distance between himself and his closest pursuers. However, the intense racing was not over as McDowell tagged Ogle’s left rear quarter panel going into turn one on lap 28. Both drivers corrected and moved on but Marlar seized the opportunity to close ground. Two laps later, the 5B claimed 3rd around McDowell and set out after Ogle.
After making numerous attempts to get around Ogle, Marlar went to the runner-up position with less than ten laps remaining. However, time ran out in his pursuit of the lead as Weaver held his advantage to the checkered flag.
At the finish, it was Randy Weaver, Mike Marlar, Billy Ogle, Dale McDowell, David Payne, Ray Cook, Clint Smith, Eric Wells and Jake Knowles.
Former Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champions and east Tennessee fan favorites Owens and Bloomquist never were factors for the win and both retired before the completion of full 50 laps.
