What won the race: Surviving a physical late-race scrape with Garrett Smith, Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga., completed a flag-to-flag victory in Saturday night’s 53-lap Dixie Shootout at Dixie Speedway. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rookie drew Smith’s ire on lap 37 when contact between the two sent Smith spinning from contention on the backstretch but didn’t stop him from earning the $10,053 top prize in the race sanctioned by the Ray Cook-promoted Southern All Star Series, Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals and Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals.

Quotable: “Honestly, the race car was a lot better than I was tonight,” McIntosh said. “I jumped the cushion down there and unfortunately got into Garrett there trying to get back onto the racetrack, so sorry to him. I was just trying too hard and got a little over my head and then over the cushion, but I had a really good race car.”

Key notes: McIntosh’s triumph was his first of 2025 with the Billy Hicks-owned team, which took advantage of a week off from Lucas Oil Series action to race in his home state. A Buick engine built by McIntosh and his father powered Hicks’s machine. … After using a slider through turns three and four to repel Smith’s initial bid for the lead on lap 25, McIntosh had a more heated exchange with his fellow Georgian following a lap-37 restart. McIntosh slid in front off turn four to maintain the lead at the line, then came off the cushion exiting turn two and contacted Smith, who spun into the inside wall on the backstretch. … Smith climbed from his car and angrily threw his steering wheel at McIntosh’s passing vehicle before his wrecked machine was towed to the pit area. ... McIntosh lowered the track record in time trials. … Payton Stevenson finished 1.738 seconds behind McIntosh for his first-ever podium finish in just his fourth career Super Late Model start. … Tyler Millwood placed third driving a brand-new Rocket XR2 Chassis that was completely white and carried a duct-taped letter X on its doors rather than his familiar No. 31. … Hall of Famer Ronnie Johnson finished sixth as he closes in on his fourth Southern All Star title but first since 1988. … Including Smith’s accident, six caution flags slowed the feature. Other cautions came for R.C. Whitwell (lap six), Tucker Anderson (lap seven); polesitter Dale McDowell slowing with terminal mechanical trouble (lap eight); Billy Franklin (lap 37); and Will Hicks (lap 45). … The victory was McIntosh’s seventh on the Southern All Star tour and Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals series and sixth with the Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals. … The Dixie Shootout marked the first major Dirt Late Model event at Dixie since Oct. 9, 2021, when Jonathan Davenport won $15,000 on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. It was also the first Southern All Star race there since Aug. 23, 2008, when Skip Arp won $5,000.

On the move: Josh Henry of Newport, Tenn., started 18th and finished eighth.

Winner's sponsors: McIntosh's Billy Hicks-owned Longhorn Chassis was powered by a McIntosh-built Buick engine and carries sponsorship from H&H Auto Sales, Hicks Motors, Coltman Farms, Al Belt Custom Homes, Rick Havenridge and Gambler Performance.

Points chase: SAS before Dixie: 1. Ronnie Johnson (3,188); 2. Michael Luna (2,959); 3. Billy Franklin (2,946); 4. Kendall Franklin (2,844); 5. Dillon Tidmore (2,205).

Current weather: Clear, 57°F

Car count: 33

Fast qualifier: Donald McIntosh

Time: 13.397 seconds

Polesitter: Dale McDowell

Heat race winners: Dale McDowell, Payton Stevenson, Donald McIntosh, R.C. Whitwell

Consolation race winners: David Payne, Josh Henry

Provisional starters: Will Hicks, Michael Luna

Next series race: October 25, I-75 Raceway (Sweetwater, TN) $10,053