Mac Daddy Rallies At Rome For ULTIMATE Win

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ROME, GA – Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA made a late-race charge through lapped traffic to take the lead with three laps to go and capture his third career ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series win on Sunday night at Rome Speedway. McDowell drove the Textron Off-Road Sweet Bloomquist with Clements power to the win in the 40-lap main event to claim the $4,000 top prize.

Brandon Overton of Evans, GA led 13 laps in search of his third ULTIMATE win of the season, but had to settle for second. Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, GA finished third, and fourth went to ULTIMATE South East Region point leader Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA, who led the first 24 laps of the race.

Michael Page of Douglasville, GA took the fifth spot and Tyler Millwood of Cartersville, GA was the Autolite/Fram/DirtOnDirt.com Rookie of the Race with a sixth-place effort. Three-time ULTIMATE Champion Casey Roberts was seventh and eighth went to Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA. Luther Jenkins of Waleska, GA was ninth, and Austin Horton of Whitesburg, GA rounded out the top ten.

In preliminary action, the top two drivers in the ULTIMATE SE point standings were the top two in M&W Transport “Haulin’ It” Group Qualifying. Davenport grabbed the $200 prize with the overall fastest time. “Superman” stopped the clock with a lap around the half-mile high-banked clay oval in 13.063 seconds in Group 1.

Jason Welshan of Maryville, TN, who is second in the ULTIMATE SE points chase, topped M&W Transport “Haulin’ It” Group 2 Qualifying with a lap in 13.325 seconds. That put Welshan on the outside of the front row for the main event to the right of polesitter Davenport. The two eight-lap B-Main Races were won by Roberts and Austin Smith of Rome, GA.

When the green flag came out to start the 40-lap main event, Davenport grabbed the lead, while Welshan didn’t find the outside to his liking, and he quickly dropped back until he fell into the fifth spot behind the leader, McDowell, McIntosh, and Overton. The first ten laps also saw McIntosh pass McDowell for the second spot.

The first of five caution flags came out on lap 12, and on the restart, Overton got by McDowell for the third spot, and Millwood moved into the top five getting by Welshan. Overton kept his momentum to front going, as he took over the second position from McIntosh on lap 14. In the meantime, Davenport had built up a one second lead on the field.

The second caution flag on lap 17 slowed the field for a restart with Davenport leading Overton, McIntosh, McDowell, Millwood, Welshan, Page, Roberts, Ingram, and the defending and two-time ULTIMATE Champion Dennis Franklin of Gaffney, SC. By the halfway point in the race, the top five remained the same, but Page had moved up to sixth, with Ingram in seventh and Welshan dropped back to eighth.

Overton moved up to challenge Davenport for the lead on lap 22, and they were battled side-by-side on lap 24 before Overton took over the point on lap 25. Behind the leaders, McDowell got by McIntosh for third. On lap 28, McDowell had got around Davenport for second, but the caution flag came out and going back to the last completed lap for the restart negated the pass.

The lap 28 restart saw Overton leading Davenport, McDowell, McIntosh, Millwood, Page, Ingram, Welshan, Roberts and Brandon Kinzer of Lexington, KY. The field jammed up on the restart, and Welshan suffered enough damage to send him to the pits for the night. It was a tough break for Welshan as he came into the race just three points behind Davenport in the ULTIMATE point standings.

McDowell once again put the heat on Davenport for the second spot after the restart, and made the pass to claim the position on lap 30. On lap 31, the final caution flag of the race came out to bunch up the field for a nine lap dash to the finish. Overton had McDowell, Davenport, McIntosh, Millwood, Roberts, Ingram, Horton, and Jenkins in tow for the restart.

When the green bulb flashed on, Overton took off and had built up a one second lead over McDowell with five laps to go. It was also on lap 35 that Overton encountered heavy lapped traffic, and McDowell turned up the wick on his #17m machine prepared by his brother Shane McDowell and began to close the gap on the leader. McIntosh passed Davenport for third on lap 36.

At the rate of four-tenths of a second a lap, McDowell erased Overton’s lead. With Overton desperately trying to maneuver Randy Weaver’s #116 machine through lapped traffic, it was McDowell that found the open door to take the lead on lap 38. McDowell led the final three laps to the checkered flag with a .721 second margin of victory.

The next event on the 2017 ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series South East Region schedule will be on May 13 with a 40-lap $4,000-to-win, $400-to-start race at Clary’s Motor Speedway in Brinkleyville, NC.

Check out the official website for the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series at www.ultimatesupers.com, and continue to follow our social media networks on Facebook at ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series and on Twitter @ULTIMATESupers to get up to the minute news and details as they become available.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 6 AT ROME SPEEDWAY IN ROME, GA ON 5/7/17:

POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 4 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA 40 $4,000
2. 5 116 Brandon Overton Evans, GA 40 $2,000
3. 3 7 Donald McIntosh Dawsonville, GA 40 $1,350
4. 1 49 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA 40 $1,200
5. 6 18x Michael Page Douglasville, GA 40 $875
6. 8 31 Tyler Millwood Cartersville, GA 40 $775
7. 11 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA 40 $700
8. 10 F9 Frank Ingram Woodstock, GA 40 $600
9. 18 3 Luther Jenkins Waleska, GA 40 $500
10. 9 16 Austin Horton Whitesburg, GA 40 $450
11. 23 24 Zack Leonhardi Cartersville, GA 40 $425
12. 21 119 Mike McConnell Ball Ground, GA 40 $400
13. 13 2 Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC 40 $400
14. 24 60 Jim Manka Savannah, GA 38 $400
15. 17 29m Gary McPherson Dalton, GA 36 $400
16. 14 99 Derek Ellis Chatsworth, GA 29 $400
17. 2 29 Jason Welshan Maryville, TN 28 $400
18. 7 18k Brandon Kinzer Lexington, KY 28 $400
19. 20 59 Dale Thurman Cartersville, GA 27 $400
20. 16 85 Todd Murphy Rome, GA 27 $400
21. 12 84 Austin Smith Rome, GA 26 $400
22. 22 21 Casey Thurman Lafayette, GA 23 $400
23. 19 9f Cass Fowler Woodstock, GA 15 $400
24. 15 00 Dalton Polston Douglasville, GA 7 $400

DID NOT START:
66 Jake Knowles Rome, GA
24 Buster Goss Rome, GA
G9 Eric Grainger Dallas, GA

ENTRIES: 27
M&W TRANSPORT “HAULIN’ IT” FAST QUALIFIER: Davenport, 13.063 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Leonhardi and Manka
LEAD CHANGES: 2
LAP LEADERS: Davenport, 1-24; Overton, 25-37; McDowell, 38-40
LAPS LED: Davenport, 24; Overton, 13; McDowell, 3
AUTOLITE/FRAM/DIRTONDIRT.COM ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Millwood
HARD CHARGER: Leonhardi (started 23rd and finished 11th)
CAUTIONS: 5
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .721 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 34 Minutes and 3.365 Seconds
NEXT RACE: May 13, Clary’s Motor Speedway, Brinkleyville, NC, $4,000-to-win, $400-to-start

M&W TRANSPORT “HAULIN’ IT” GROUP QUALIFYING (Top 5 Transfer To Main Event):

GROUP 1:

POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN TIME
1. 49 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA 13.063
2. 7 Donald McIntosh Dawsonville, GA 13.223
3. 116 Brandon Overton Evans, GA 13.383
4. 18k Brandon Kinzer Lexington, KY 13.387
5. 16 Austin Horton Whitesburg, GA 13.391
6. 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA 13.439
7. 9f Cass Fowler Woodstock, GA 13.506
8. 66 Jake Knowles Rome, GA 13.552
9. 2 Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC 13.675
10. 24 Zack Leonhardi Cartersville, GA 13.706
11. 29m Gary McPherson Dalton, GA 13.739
12. 119 Mike McConnell Ball Ground, GA 13.857
13. 00 Dalton Polston Douglasville, GA 14.066

GROUP 2:

POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN TIME
1. 29 Jason Welshan Maryville, TN 13.325
2. 17m Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA 13.352
3. 18x Michael Page Douglasville, GA 13.523
4. 31 Tyler Millwood Cartersville, GA 13.548
5. F9 Frank Ingram Woodstock, GA 13.594
6. 84 Austin Smith Rome, GA 13.626
7. 59 Dale Thurman Cartersville, GA 13.626
8. 85 Todd Murphy Rome, GA 13.686
9. 3 Luther Jenkins Waleska, GA 13.766
10. 99 Derek Ellis Chatsworth, GA 13.835
11. 21 Casey Thurman Lafayette, GA 14.352
12. 60 Jim Manka Savannah, GA 14.414
13. 24 Buster Goss Rome, GA NT
14. G9 Eric Grainger Dallas, GA NT

B-MAINS (8 Laps – Top 6 Transfer To Main Event):

1ST B-MAIN: 1. Roberts; 2. Franklin; 3. Polston; 4. McPherson; 5. Fowler; 6. McConnell; 7. Knowles; 8. Leonhardi.

2ND B-MAIN: 1. Smith; 2. Ellis; 3. Murphy; 4. Jenkins; 5. D. Thurman; 6. C. Thurman; 7. Grainger; 8. Goss; 9. Manka.


The ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series would like to recognize their marketing partners for the 2017 season which include: American Racer, Hoosier Race Tires, VP Race Fuels, M&W Transport, PPM Racing Products, Arizona Sport Shirts, DirtonDirt.com, Big A’s Custom Graphics, AR Bodies, Five Star Race Bodies, Schaeffer’s Racing Oil and Lubricants, Autolite/Fram, RockAuto.com, Safecraft, Simpson, and Thomas Clarke Performance Web Design.

[badacefaist19]

Great show all night. Best I have seen Rome in a long time! Always enjoy going down there