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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Brandon Overton Grabs Gobbler Southern Nationals Bonus Series Finale Win at Boyd’s Speedway by Michael Despain and Chris Tilley RINGGOLD, GA – November 19, 2017 – The Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series presented by Sunoco Race Fuels and Tennessee RV presented its 2017 season finale on Saturday at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, GA with the 29th edition of The Gobbler and 12th place starting Brandon Overton would make an impressive run to the front to take the victory and grab the $5,000 top prize. The win for Overton would come behind the wheel of the Crossfit Overton/A.F. Stone Professional Medical Services/Mission Transport/Stone Land Clearing and Excavating/Henderson Motorsports sponsored #116 Longhorn by Weaver, Andy Durham Race Engines powered mount. The opening lap of the 29th Annual Gobbler would see polesitter Donald McIntosh and fourth-place starting Michael Page go side-by-side for the lead as the pair exited turn four to complete lap one, with McIntosh holding a slight advantage. However, Page would grab the race lead down the backchute on lap two, with Riley Hickman, Jaden Frame, and Devin Moran in pursuit of the top two. Brandon Kinzer would take the fifth position away from Moran on lap four, while Page and McIntosh would pull away from Hickman as Page was set to begin the process of lapping slower. But disaster would strike Page as he would contact the outside wall entering turn three and would roll to a stop on lap eight with right-front suspension damage on his machine and be finished for the event. This would put McIntosh back to the race lead and the restart would see Frame drive past Hickman for the runner-up slot. Meanwhile, as McIntosh would start to build an impressive lead, attention would focus to the twelfth place starter Brandon Overton, who make his way to the fifth position by lap ten and two circuits later, Overton would overtake Moran for the fourth position. Overton’s charge would really kick into overdrive at this point as after another pair of laps, Overton would roll past Hickman to snag the third position. McIntosh would start the process of working traffic on lap fifteen as Overton would begin to challenge Frame for the second position and successfully gain the spot with a slidejob pass for second on lap seventeen. As the race neared the halfway point, McIntosh was carefully working slower traffic around the bottom of the racing surface, while Overton was charging the high-side of the track attempting to chase down the race leader. Overton would close in on McIntosh on lap thirty-two and as the pair attempted to split a slower car, McIntosh would have to check up for a split second in turn two and that would hand the lead over to Overton on lap thirty-three. Overton would begin to pull away from McIntosh by lap thirty-five and would build a comfortable lead until encountering heavy lapped traffic on lap forty, allowing McIntosh to close back in somewhat on Overton. However, Overton would maintain his torrid pace over the final laps of the event and would dive under Brandon Kinzer, who was passed by Austin Smith for the sixth spot coming to the checkered flag, to score the victory and leave only the top six finishers on the lead lap. McIntosh would settle for runner-up honors, while Frame would finish third. Hickman and Moran would complete the top five. The remainder of the top ten finishers would be Smith and Kinzer, followed by David Payne, fourteenth place starter Will Roland, and eighteenth place starting John Ownbey. In post-race ceremonies, Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga. was crowned the 2017 series champion. McIntosh earned a total of $15,106 in points money from the Bonus Series. He earned $10,053 for the championship plus $5,053 for the overall champion (Bonus Series, Spring Nationals, Southern Nationals overall highest points earner) while David Payne of Murphy, N.C. collected $5,053 for second place in series points and Joey Standridge of Tellico Plains, Tenn. earned $2,553 for his third place points finish. On behalf of series promoter Ray Cook, he would like to thank the race teams, race track promoters and staff, series sponsors, series staff and all of the race fans for their support of the 2017 series. Further information on the Spring Nationals, Southern Nationals, and Southern Nationals Bonus Series can be obtained by calling Promoter Ray Cook at (828) 360-5353 or Series P.R. Coordinator Chris Tilley at (606) 219-1723 or by visiting the official website located at www.SouthernNationalsSeries.com. Official Summary of Results Feature Results for Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, GA on November 18, 2017 Time of Race: 17 minutes, 42 seconds Heat One Finish (10 laps/top 8 transfer)- Devin Moran, David Payne, Mason Massey, Caleb Ashby, Justin Shipley, Jerry Ashley, Joseph Faulkner, Joey Standridge, Josh Hall, Craig Greer, Justin Taylor Heat Two Finish (10 laps/top 8 transfer)- Brandon Kinzer, Austin Smith, Johnny Cloer, Brandon Overton, Wil Roland, Zach Leonhardi, John Ownbey, Billy Ogle, Jr., Jeff Neubert, Kenny Cobble (DNS-Kurt English) Final 2017 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series Point Standings |
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