What won the race: Overcoming a rash of early restarts, second-starting Zack Mitchell of Enoree, S.C., led all 40 laps en route to winning Tuesday's $7,553 Schaeffer's Southern Nationals stop at Toccoa Raceway. Mitchell won by a convincing margin of 7.238 seconds over Garrett Smith for his third career Southern Nationals victory, including back-to-back at Toccoa.

Quotable: “Man (the car) was absolutely on a rail. I knew it was gonna be key to get out front early and we were lucky enough to lead that first lap, but man, this things been awesome to drive this past month, or so. This car has been amazing,” Mitchell said. “Of course I gotta thank all my sponsors, Brett Coltman. The shop, it ain’t 15 minutes from here, so it feels good to be kinda local and pick up a win.”

Key notes: Mitchell won the previous series visit to Toccoa on July 25, 2023. That came three days after he captured a $10,053 Rebel Yell payday at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., for his first career tour victory. ... Mitchell nabbed his sixth overall feature win of the season and his fourth over two weeks (the three others came in the DIRTcar Summer Nationals). ... Sixth-starting Garrett Smith slid by polesitter Jimmy Owens on a lap-12 restart and chased Mitchell the rest of the way; Owens settled for third. ... Owens holds a slim six-point lead over Smith in the standings, but points will shuffle when because a driver's nine best finishes (of 11 possible) count towards the series title. ... Kenny Collins climbed from eighth and reclaimed fourth after Carson Ferguson slowed and retired under a lap-22 caution. ... Mike Benedum and Kaede Loudy improved eight spots apiece in finishing fifth and sixth. ... Beckham Malone slowed from eighth to draw the fourth and final caution on lap 22 with apparent engine issues. ... Ninth-running Ethan Hunter also appeared to have engine issues for a lap-13 caution. ... Justin Hammett sustained heavy right-rear damage after a frontstretch spin on lap 11, but soldiered to a ninth-place finish. ... Devon Morgan slowed to trigger the race's initial caution on the fifth lap. ... The main event lasted 23 minutes with seven starters completing the distance. ... Casey Roberts and Payton Freeman both scratched after crashes in time trials. ... The feature ended at 11:20 p.m. after the night's action was delayed for cleanup following Roberts's qualifying incident and a brief rain shower before hot laps.

On the move: Justin Hammett of Zebulon, Ga., started 19th and finished 10th.

Winner's sponsors: Mitchell's Brett Coltman-owned Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Coltman Farms Racing, Autism Awareness, Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett, MPM Marketing, SoCar Chemical, DirtCarLift.com, Boswell Oil, VP Racing Fuels, SRI Performance, Bayea Headers, Swift Springs and Bilstein Shocks.

Points chase: After Toccoa: 1. Jimmy Owens (1,496); 2. Garrett Smith (1,490); 3. Kaede Loudy (1,476); 4. Mike Benedum (1,416); 5. Beckham Malone (1,410).

Current weather: Overcast, 81°F

Car count: 20

Fast qualifier: Jimmy Owens

Time: 12.420 seconds

Polesitter: Jimmy Owens

Next series race: July 24, Sugar Creek Raceway (Blue Ridge, GA) $7,553