DirtonDirt.com Dispatches

Dispatches: Mitchell earns $15,000 at Thunderhill

September 20, 2024, 6:42 pm

From series staff, team, track and contributor reports

Zack Mitchell in victory lane. (Ryan Roberts)

Among the latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing entering late September including Volunteer Speedway's Scorcher and other events (most coverage of the 20th annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals appears elsewhere). Also find a listing of live-streaming video from specials around the country:

Mitchell's $15,000

With Camaron Marlar running lower on the track and Zack Mitchell sensing his car was fast up top, Mitchell took advantage to blast around the leader for a stirring pass on the 22nd lap of Saturday's Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series event at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Summertown, Tenn.

Mitchell, of Enoree, S.C., led the rest of the Mark Fields Memorial for a $15,000 payday in his first victory since joining the Georgia-based Coltman Farms Racing team five weeks earlier. The eighth-starting Mitchell took the checkers ahead of a couple of other drivers who gained significant ground with 10th-starting Ashton Winger in second and series points leader Brandon Overton rallying from 20th.

"We fired off there at the first of the race and I knew I had a pretty good car — I didn't know it was going to be that good," Mitchell said, thanking his sponsors. "I kind of started picking them off and, man, this thing, it was on a rail."

Polesitter Camaron Marlar looked strong earlier, but Mitchell caught him for the winning pass just before the halfway point of the 50-lapper.

"I kind of learned right there when I was behind Marlar that he was kind of taking off from the bottom a lot and I was getting a really good run from the top. I was just trying to be a little patient right there and just try to mind my P's and Q's," Mitchell said. "That's huge man. Anytime you win something of that, it's good for the race team, good financially. And we just, look forward to the next one."

Overton's run was impressive, but he expressed disappointed for the reason he had to start so far back. He had a flat tire in line for time trials and series rules don't allow drivers time to change tires, so he missed qualifying altogether. "We're driving through a rock quarry to get" to the track, Overton said, adding that "I don't expect any favors, but you got to use a little bit of brain" in such a ruling.

Series director Joshua Joiner said he understood Overton's frustration in a rocky pit area, "but to go against our rules would open a can of worms for the future," he told DirtonDirt.com. Joiner noted that as far as he knew, Overton was the only driver who had a flat tire in the staging area in two nights of series competition. — Series and staff reports

Hometown victory

It hasn't been the easiest of seasons for Hall of Famer Billy Moyer, who’s bounced between rides and endured one of the worst accidents of his Hall of Fame career earlier this July at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. But on Friday at his hometown Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark., the 66-year-old found much needed resolve as he rekindled his Midas touch for a thrilling $5,000 victory on the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series.

Moyer’s win by virtue of his slide job of race-long pacesetter Jon Mitchell with four laps remaining snapped an eight-month drought since he won a pair of Early Thaw features on Jan. 18-19 at Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande, Ariz.

It also snaps a three-year winless drought on the Comp Cams Series, his first victory since earning $3,000 on April 2, 2021, at Poplar Bluff (Mo.) Motorsports Park. The two-day Steve Rushin Memorial at Batesville honors Rushin, the longtime Poplar Bluff racer, sponsor and car owner who died Sept. 9, 2023, at the age of 57. For that reason, Moyer’s honored to win in Rushin’s name.

“Steve’s a great guy. I always got along with him real well,” Moyer said in victory lane. “He helped me and I helped him, and whatever, through the racing times whether he needed to use something or I needed to use something. He’s just an all-around great guy. Glad I could win that for him.”

There's another $5,000 on the line in Saturday's weekend finale at Batesville for Moyer, who dedicated the 853rd victory of his career to his ailing uncle, Carl Moyer.

“My uncle Carl, he’s not doing real well right now either,” Moyer added. “This win is for him up in Iowa.”

Though the 3/8-mile Batesville was “pretty gnarly out there, for sure, with the holes going on” Moyer was up for the challenge against a competitive Comp Cams field. Moyer pointed out in victory lane that turns three and four suited him best.

“Yeah, I was really good on that end, really all night,” Moyer said referring to turns three and four, “and this end (turns one and two) was giving me fits. I was kind of setup to miss that hole around the bottom more. I figured that wasn’t going to work, so we went up top. If we went to the outside of that hole, you get such a run down the back straightaway.

“So, anyway, we won the thing, but we we having a little tuning to do on the car, for sure. I missed it a little bit with the track conditions. I didn’t know where to go with it, so we left it alone all night long. Maybe we should’ve worked on it a little bit.”

For Moyer, it’s the seventh race aboard new-look No. 21 Longhorn Chassis he purchased from Lance Landers at the end of August.

Moyer debuted with Double L Motorsports team during Aug. 16-17’s Topless 100 weekend at Batesville as a teammate to Jonathan Davenport, then proceeded to purchase the Landers-owned machine after running earlier this season for Des Moines, Iowa, car owner Todd Cooney.

Moyer has finishes of second, 19th, third, fourth and now a victory since purchasing his new-look No. 21 from the Landers family.

“We’re learning more and more with this car,” Moyer said. “Thanks to Lance and Cory (Fostvedt) out at Landers’ camp. I can’t say enough about them helping us out. Longhorn Chassis and Cornett Engines, Bilstein Shocks, everything worked well tonight. We had to earn it for sure.” — Series reports

Lucas Oil playoffs

For Hudson O’Neal and Tim McCreadie, the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Chase for the Championship comes down to Saturday’s Lucas Oil Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway.

Indeed, O’Neal clings to 15-point advantage over McCreadie ahead of the 75-lap regular season finale. And better yet, both drivers start inside the top-five, with McCreadie rolling off fourth and O’Neal starting fifth in the $50,000-to-win feature. O’Neal finished third and ninth in Thursday’s and Friday’s prelims. McCreadie, meanwhile, finished fifth and 16th between the two prelims.

Ricky Thornton Jr. (starting 23rd), Jonathan Davenport (started second), and Devin Moran (starting third) are locked into the seven-race Big River Steel Chase for the Championship, which begins Sept. 27 at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway.

With the razor-thin margin between O’Neal and McCreadie, many scenarios are at play for the fourth and final playoff spot. First and foremost, a win from either driver locks them into the playoffs.

Keeping in mind that O’Neal holds the tiebreaker over McCreadie because he has more wins in events that points were earned, here’s how both drivers can clinch the final Lucas Oil Series playoff spot.

For O’Neal:

• Winning the race or finishing better than McCreadie.

• Finishing within one position of McCreadie provided both drivers finish in the top-four but neither win the race.

• Finishing within two positions of McCreadie if McCreadie finishes third or worse.

• Finishing within three positions of McCreadie provided McCreadie finishes between fourth and 17th.

• Starting the A-main provided McCreadie finishes 18th or worse.

For McCreadie:

• Winning the race.

• Finishing second provided O'Neal finishes fourth or worse.

• Finishing third provided O'Neal finishes sixth or worse.

• Finishing four positions ahead of O'Neal if McCreadie finishes between 4th-17th.

Overton denied

While Payton Freeman of Commerce, Ga., officially goes into the scorebook as leading every lap of Friday's Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series event at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Summertown, Tenn., it appeared more than once that Brandon Overton might steal the $5,000 payday on the opening night of the Mark Fields Memorial weekend.

The drivers actually crossed the line in a dead heat midway through the 30-lapper, and Overton edged ahead on the backstretch on the 16th lap, but the move was erased by a caution.

Freeman continued to keep Overton in check in the second half of the race until two laps remaining when lapped traffic hampered both frontrunners. Overton got back ahead entering turn one, but when a lapped car stunted his momentum in turn two, Freeman was able to retain his advantage and go on to his first Hunt the Front Series victory.

"I knew we had a good race car there. We just needed to try to get a good takeoff there and try to get out front," Freeman said in victory lane after his second overall victory of 2024. "We got into lapped traffic there and I really didn't want to get off the bottom and I'd tried the top there for a little while and Brandon got by me. Luckily the caution come out so, you know, sometimes better lucky than good. But we were able to correct that and make good decisions and try to try to get us a win here tonight."

Overton, of Evans, Ga., ended up settling for third with runner-up Tanner English of Benton, Ky., the eighth-starting driver who slipped past Overton amid the traffic snarl.

"I never could quite get where I could slide (Freeman) without running into him ... he never ran into me, so I just tried to run my best to run as clean as I could," said Overton, who along with Freeman, English and others will chase a $15,000 payday in Saturday's finale.

"The lapped traffic just didn't do us any favors tonight," Overton added. "Maybe they'll help us out tomorrow." — Series reports

Volunteer upset

Camaron Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., wasn't the only one who considered Dale McDowell a favorite to win Thursday's Scorcher at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn.

After all, the 58-year-old Hall of Famer from Chickamauga, Ga., entered the unsanctioned Super Late Model with three victories this season at the high-banked 4/10-mile oval, including a $50,050 payday in the track's 50th anniversary special on June 29. And with this year's Scorcher honoring McDowell's longtime friend and fellow Team Zero racer Scott Bloomquist — a celebration of life was held for the late Bloomquist at Volunteer on Thursday afternoon — McDowell had the racing gods on his side, too.

But with the polesitting McDowell in control most of the 50-lapper, the seventh-starting Marlar worked his way into contention, moving up to challenge the leader with a fourth-to-second move on the 36th lap and taking command on lap 40. The 29-year-old Marlar led the rest of the way for a $10,000 payday, his first career victory at a place he calls his favorite track.

"Man, I was more excited to pass Dale than I was to win the race," Marlar said in victory lane. "Like everybody here is like, 'Oh, we're racing for second tonight.' And I'm like, 'Man, I'm seeing him and I was like, 'I'm fixing to pass Dale McDowell. Let's get it on.' "

Marlar thanked promoter Vic Hill for "an awesome track, as always. This is by far my favorite track and I'm glad to get a win here."

Marlar's victory gives him a rare edge on his older brother and former World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series champ Mike Marlar. Camaron notched his sixth victory of the season while Mike has five (and none since May).

Mike still holds the edge in 2024 first-place earnings with $75,000 to Camaron's $53,553, but that total is the best of Camaron's career in a season that included a career-high $15,000 payday for a Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series victory at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, Ky.