GAFFNEY, S.C. (Oct. 11) — A weekend that began in disheartening fashion ended in overwhelming triumph for Zack Mitchell.

Knocked out of title contention on the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series because of a tire penalty announced just before the start of the tour’s season-ending Blue-Gray 100 weekend at Cherokee Speedway, Mitchell roared back Saturday night to win the track’s biggest race — and earn the richest paycheck of his career — for the first time in 14 attempts.

“This is incredible,” Mitchell said after securing the race-record $35,000 winner’s prize. “I’ve always wanted to win one of these 100-lappers here and we finally got it done.”

The 29-year-old from Enoree, S.C., worked hard for his money. After marching from the 19th starting spot to fourth place, he pitted on lap 66 to change tires due to excessive wear on the abrasive 3/8-mile oval but had plenty of time left to rally and pass two-time Blue-Gray 100 winner Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., for the lead on lap 95.

Mitchell survived two lap-97 restarts to win by 0.957 of a second over the 34-year-old Overton, who led laps 23-50 and 73-94 with a lap-55 pit stop for a tire change separating his two stints at the front of the field.

Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, Tenn., who started 23rd and changed tires on lap 55, reached third on lap 96 and rounded out the podium finishers. Defending race winner Trent Ivey of Union, S.C., finished fourth after his bid for the lead on lap 93 fell short and 24th starter Joseph Joiner of Milton, Fla., placed fifth after cracking the top five for the first time on the 98th lap.

The long but competitive race included four different leaders with Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind. (laps 1-22) and Sam Seawright of Rainsville, Ala. (laps 51-72) also spending stretches in front. O’Neal faded from contention before retiring on lap 71 when he was unable to return to the track in time for the restart following his second pit stop and Seawright finished sixth after his try to run the entire distance on one set of tires failed with a flat right rear on lap 93 as he held third place.

Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., finished 19th after a flat right-rear tire knocked him from fifth place on lap 97 as he was attempting to become the lone contending driver to finish the race without changing a tire, but he had already clinched his first Hunt the Front championship by entering Saturday’s racing program.

Mitchell expected to spend the weekend at Cherokee battling the 53-year-old Owens for the $50,000 Hunt the Front title, but that possibility ended with Friday afternoon’s news that he was disqualified from his tour victory on Sept. 27 at Southern Raceway in Milton, Fla., due to a failed tire test. The penalty dropped him from just two points behind Owens to fifth in the standings and effectively out of championship contention.

After a ninth-place finish in Friday night’s 30-lap preliminary feature, Mitchell used Saturday’s finale as his redemption. Mitchell and his Brett Coltman-owned team strongly maintained their innocence in the tire matter and sought to make a statement with a powerful performance in Cherokee’s century grind.

Mitchell did just that — and in victory lane, he clearly but calmly made his feelings heard.

“I ain’t gonna say exactly what I want to say,” Mitchell said of the tire penalty. “I’m gonna try to be politically correct, but as far as I’m concerned, we won the race, won the points. That’s good enough in my book.”

A Blue-Gray 100 feature starter for the first time in 2009 when he was just 13 years old (he finished 22nd), Mitchell has had his opportunities to win the race — he started no worse than fourth in the event’s last five editions prior to Saturday — but a third-place finish in 2023 was his only top-five. Everything finally went his way in his last Blue-Gray 100 attempt before his 30th birthday.

When Mitchell decided to pit for a new tire during a lap-66 caution period, he was fourth but had already been passed by Overton, who took his new rubber 11 circuits earlier. He had his doubts about whether he had enough time left to cut through the field and contend for the victory, but an especially strong restart on lap 86 put him back in the game.

“I really wasn’t sure when we had that caution with like 16 (actually 14) to go,” Mitchell said. “We were just so far back (he restarted seventh), but we got to rolling, and I got to third there (on lap 90), and I was like, ‘Damn, we might win this thing.’ ”

“So we had that caution (on lap 93) after I got to second, and Trent (Ivey) slid Brandon and I kind of really didn’t know what was about to happen right there,” he continued. “But I knew we were good enough, so I turned back up under them.”

Mitchell shot by Overton for the lead on lap 95. Then he had to withstand two very stressful restarts on lap 97.

“Man, those last three laps after that restart,” Mitchell said. “That was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been in a race car.”

Securing his fourth career Hunt the Front checkered flag in the season’s biggest event put Mitchell in a reflective mood.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Mitchell, who finished fourth in the series points standings. “Man it’s hard not to get choked. Brett Coltman, he gave me this opportunity (with the Coltman Farms Racing team) about a year-and-a-half ago, and just like I said at Southern (Raceway), it changed my life.”

Overton offered Mitchell postrace praise while mourning his own continued struggle to reach victory lane.

“I figured something was gonna happen,” said Overton, who is winless with the Riggs Motorsports Longhorn Factory Team since a May 2 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph at Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind. “Like, we just had a really, really bad year, and nothing goes our way. So I was like, ‘Man, where are they at?’ You know what I mean?

“Then Trent slid me and I just had to go to the top, and Zack, obviously he had a really good car. He could kind of run off of (the top) a little bit. Hell, I gave it … that’s all I had, so congrats to them. It’s cool to see them win after they had a tough week and had all the stuff going on, so that makes him feel better.”

The marathon race was slowed by 12 caution flags and lasted one hour, 14 minutes. A single multicar incident occurred, on a lap-75 restart when 2025 Hunt the Front Rookie of the Year Oakley Johns, Friday feature winner Carson Ferguson, Kale Green and Luke Morey tangled in turn four.

Ross Bailes triggered two caution flags, on lap 20 when he slowed with a left-rear flat tire and lap 86 when a right-rear flat knocked him from third place. Mario Gresham also brought out two cautions with flats on laps 60 and 97.

Josh Putnam made a strong early charge, rising from the 16th starting spot to second place on a lap-28 restart before fading and eventually slowing with a flat tire on lap 66.

Other drivers who slowed for cautions included Steve Banal (lap 28), Beckham Malone (lap 55), O’Neal (lap 71), Chris Ferguson (lap 75 while running third).

Feature lineup

(100 laps)

Row 1: Hudson O'Neal, Sam Seawright
Row 2: Daulton Wilson, Brandon Overton
Row 3: Jordan Koehler, Michael Leach
Row 4: Jimmy Owens, Jeff Smith
Row 5: Ben Watkins, Luke Morey
Row 6: Carson Ferguson, Ross Bailes
Row 7: Steve Banal, Layton Sullivan
Row 8: Clay Harris, Josh Putnam
Row 9: Trent Ivey, Gavin Cowan
Row 10: Zack Mitchell, Kale Green
Row 11: Oakley Johns, Dillard Hatchett
Row 12: Cory Hedgecock, Joseph Joiner
Row 13: Dalton Cook, Mario Gresham
Row 14: Kaede Loudy, Chris Ferguson
Row 15: Beckham Malone

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Trent Ivey, Zack Mitchell, Oakley Johns, Beckham Malone, Kaede Loudy, Christian Thomas, Anthony Sanders, Landen Zakalowski. Scratched: Cory Hedgecock, Banjo Duke, Gray Parton, Braden Jones.

Second consolation: Gavin Cowan, Kale Green, Dillard Hatchett, Dalton Cook, Chris Ferguson, Mario Gresham, Evan Koehler, Haiden Cowan, Kevin Wilson. Scratched: Joseph Joiner, Bayley Currey, Jake Jackson.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Hudson O'Neal, Jordan Koehler, Ben Watkins, Steve Banal, Trent Ivey, Oakley Johns, Christian Thomas, Anthony Sanders, Banjo Duke. Scratched: Gray Parton.

Second heat: Sam Seawright, Jimmy Owens, Carson Ferguson, Clay Harris, Zack Mitchell, Beckham Malone, Cory Hedgecock, Kaede Loudy, Landen Zakalowski. Scratched: Braden Jones.

Third heat: Daulton Wilson, Michael Leach, Luke Morey, Layton Sullivan, Gavin Cowan, Dalton Cook, Haiden Cowan, Evan Koehler, Bayley Currey, Jake Jackson.

Fourth heat: Brandon Overton, Jeff Smith, Ross Bailes, Josh Putnam, Kale Green, Dillard Hatchett, Chris Ferguson, Joseph Joiner, Mario Gresham, Kevin Wilson.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Jordan Koehler (114), Mount Airy, N.C., 15.373
2. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 15.375
3. Ben Watkins (16w), Rock Hill, S.C., 15.470
4. Sam Seawright (16), Rainsville, Ala., 15.477
5. Steve Banal (8B), Lincolnton, N.C., 15.531
6. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., 15.578
7. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 15.602
8. Zack Mitchell (57), Enoree, S.C., 15.606
9. Banjo Duke (33), Manning, S.C. 15.664
10. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., 15.724
11. Trent Ivey (88), Union, S.C., 15.731
12. Beckham Malone (23), Rock Hill, S.C., 15.836
13. Christian Thomas (06), Wake Forest, N.C., 15.848
14. Cory Hedegcock (23v), Loudon, Tenn., 15.857
15. Oakley Johns (c6), Hohenwald, Tenn., 15.881
16. Kaede Loudy (126), Rogersville, Tenn., 15.957
17. Anthony Sanders (421), Spartanburg, S.C., 16.162
18. Landen Zakalowski (57z), Waxahachie, Texas, 16.725
19. Gray Parton (18p), Rutherfordton, N.C., no time
20. Braden Jones (5J), Cherryville, N.C., no time
Group B
1. Daulton Wilson (58v), Fayetteville, N.C., 15.324
2. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 15.447
3. Luke Morey (49), Zeeland, Mich., 15.515
4. Kale Green (4), Pelion, S.C., 15.602
5. Michael Leach (09), Sun River, Mont., 15.641
6. Josh Putnam (212), Florence, Ala., 15.676
7. Layton Sullivan (2), Gaffney, S.C., 15.709
8. Jeff Smith (70), Dallas, N.C., 15.725
9. Gavin Cowan (19), Rincon, Ga., 15.752
10. Joseph Joiner (10), Milton, Fla., 15.777
11. Jake Jackson (J1), Gilkey, N.C., 15.787
12. Ross Bailes (16B), Clover, S.C., 15.793
13. Haiden Cowan (14), Rincon, Ga., 15.888
14. Dillard Hatchett (59), Cornersville, Tenn., 15.942
15. Dalton Cook (44), Smiths Station, Ala., 15.949
16. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., 15.986
17. Evan Koehler (11), Mount Airy, N.C., 16.027
18. Mario Gresham (21), Rome, Ga., 16.167
19. Bayley Currey (Zero), Driftwood, Texas, 16.232
20. Kevin Wilson (618), Stoneville, N.C., 16.846

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
2 p.m. - Pits open
3 p.m. - Grandstands open
5 p.m. - Drivers' autograph session
5:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m. - On-track activity
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Crate Late Model hot laps
- Renegade sportsman hot laps
- Pure stock hot laps
- Crown Vic hot laps
- Crate Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Renegade sportsman time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Pure stock heats (6 laps)
- Crown Vic heats (6 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Crate Late Model feature (20 laps)
- Super Late Model feature (30 laps)
- Renegade sportsman feature (25 laps)
- Pure stock feature (20 laps)
- Crown Vic feature (15 laps)