What won the race: Taking control from race-long leader John Henderson with a turn-one slider on lap 32, pole-starting Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., led the final nine laps to capture Friday's $5,000 Winter Freeze XV prelim at Screven Motor Speedway. Roberts raced to the checkers 0.972 of a second ahead of Zack Mitchell to win the inaugural Southern Thunder Super Dirt Series event in his first 2025 start.

Quotable: “The car was really good. The outside was a lot better on that initial start of the race there ya know. John (Henderson) done a heck of a job ya know, he ran a heck of a race," Roberts said. "We just had to try something there to get around him and every time we’d get close there, a caution would come out … thank the good Lord I didn’t knock the spoiler off like I normally do here.”

Key notes: Casey Roberts won his first race since last July's Schaeffer's Southern Nationals stop at Screven, his first victory in five years after mostly stepping away from the sport. ... Sixth-starting Zack Mitchell used a turn-one slider of his own to grab second from John Henderson on lap 33. ... Henderson, of Aiken, S.C., settled for third after leading 31 circuits. ... Haiden Cowan finished fourth after overtaking Ethan Dotson on lap 33. Dotson ran as high as third but finished 10th after wall contact ripped his rear spoiler loose. ... Dalton Cook took fifth from Benji Hicks on the final lap as Hicks also slowed with heavy right-rear and spoiler damage following wall contact. ... Jackson Hise started 23rd and finished ninth. ... Trent Ivey and J.T. Spence made contact as they battled for 13th on lap 11, sending Ivey spinning in turn two and drawing the race's first caution. ... Cody Overton retired on lap 21 with right-rear damage following contact with Ross Bailes as they battled for seventh. ... Bailes, who ran as high as fourth in the opening laps, slipped to 11th on the ensuing restart before sustaining further damage after piling into Jim Rogers's slowing machine. ... Chad Tuten spun from 16th for the fourth and final stoppage on lap 31 before retiring. ... The 40-lapper lasted 26 minutes, with 14 starters completing the distance. ... Screven's Winter Freeze XV concludes with Saturday's 50-lap, $15,000-to-win finale.

On the move: Michael Brown of Pageland, S.C., started 21st and finished seventh.

Winner's sponsors: Roberts drives a Gus Simpson-owned Longhorn Chassis powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Simpson’s Trucking & Grading, Atlanta Construction Paving & Concrete, Ralph Grizzle Trucking, Cantrell Forest Products, Kenny Harris Grading, Elrod Trucking, Rebel Auction Company, R&B Mechanical, VP Racing Fuels, Bilstein Shocks and A-Plus Signs.

Points chase: After Screven Friday: 1. Casey Roberts (100); 2. Zack Mitchell (94); 3. John Henderson (92); 4. Haiden Cowan (90); 5. Dalton Cook (88).

Current weather: Clear, 68°F

Car count: 35

Fast qualifier: Casey Roberts

Time: 14.966 seconds

Polesitter: Casey Roberts

Consolation race winners: Garrett Smith, Daniel Adam

Next series race: February 8, Screven Motor Speedway (Sylvania, GA) $15,000