FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

15th Anniversary of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Begins July 13th 

By Chris Tilley, Series Publicist

BRASSTOWN, NC (July 10, 2019)—The 15th Anniversary of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series presented by Sunoco Race Fuels will kick off on Saturday July 13 and run through Saturday July 27.

The tour will again kick off at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va. as the tour will race 53 laps for $10,000-to-win. The beautifully prepared half-mile track that’s nestled in the mountains of Southern Virginia hosts the Series for the 13th time ever. At Wythe Raceway on July 13th, drivers must meet the following criteria for being eligible to race in the feature event where Promoter Fred Brown has announced all cars that attend the event will be allowed to qualify for the feature event paying $10,000-to-win and $500-to-start. All cars will qualify and heat race. No cars will be locked in through qualifying. The only drivers past the 22-car starting field will be the ones who meet the following criteria: 1) Qualifying lap times must be within 1.5 seconds (max) from the fifth overall fastest driver at the end of qualifying. 2) Legitimate all-aluminum engines will only be permitted. 3) Driver must have raced at least twice in 2019. The 2018 winner at Wythe Raceway was Dale McDowell.

Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C. is back on the schedule for the first time since 2010. This will be the second round of the tour and the event will pay $10,000-to-win on Sunday Night July 14th. The series has made three previous visits with Casey Roberts picking up the most recent win in 2010.

On Tuesday July 16, the series will return to Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. racing 35 laps for $3,500-to-win. This will make the fifth appearance to the track located just minutes from Maryville, Tenn. The last time the Southern Nationals visited Smoky Mountain Speedway, Randy Weaver picked up the win in 2015.

On Thursday July 18, the tour will roll into Toccoa (Ga.) Raceway for the second visit racing 35 laps for $3,500-to-win. Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga. raced his way into victory lane during the 2018 series visit.

On Friday July 19, the tour will visit Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Ga. for the first time since July 20, 2017. Donald McIntosh picked up the payday over Brandon Overton, Shanon Buckingham, Shane Clanton and Riley Hickman back in 2017.

On Saturday July 20, the Annual Rebel Yell at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. will pay $10,000-to-win. This will mark the 12th ever visit for the series to Screven Motor Speedway. The last series visit was in 2017 when Casey Roberts picked up the victory.

On Sunday July 21, the series will visit the Swims Family-promoted Rome (Ga.) Speedway for the eighth time paying $5,300-to-win. During the 2018 series visit, Austin Horton picked up his first-career series payday.

On Tuesday July 23, the series will race at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, N.C. for the seventh time ever paying $3,500-to-win. Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga. won the last visit back in 2017.

On Thursday July 25, Crossville (Tenn.) Speedway will again be on the event schedule as the tour will visit for the seventh time racing for $3,500-to-win. In 2017 and 2018, Brandon Overton claimed the payday.

On Friday July 26, the tour will race at The McCarter Family-promoted 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. for the sixth-ever time. This will mark the largest paying event for the track itself on the tour as the event will pay $10,000-to-win. During the 2018 visit, Cory Hedgecock won his first career series event.

On Saturday July 27, the tour will end at Gary Hall’s Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway for the 15th time and the tour will visit paying $10,053-to-win. Tazewell Speedway has been the only track to host the finale every season. During last year’s thrilling race, Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga. claimed the $10,000 payday.

Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga. won the championship by a mere eight points over Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga. Brandon Overton finished third in the points while Donald McIntosh was fourth in the final points and Aaron Ridley rounded out the top five.

Some of the drivers that are expected on trying to complete the entire tour include: Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga, Tanner English of Benton, Ky., Tyler Clem of Ocala, Fla., Vic Hill of Mosheim, Tenn., Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga., Ross Bailes of Clover, S.C., Jake Knowles of Rome, Ga., Cla Knight of North Augusta, S.C., Aaron Ridley of Chatsworth, Ga. and Connor Meade of Clay City, Ky.

Each night, the tour will feature a complete show of Hot Laps, Qualifying, Heat Races/Conseys and the Main events (either 35 or 53 laps in distance). A $100 entry fee will be charged each night and transponders will be available for rent at each event. At the first series event, provisional starting spots will be based on one from last year’s Southern Nationals Series points and this year’s final Spring Nationals Series points if needed.

The Southern Nationals Series will feature a points fund in excess of $15,000 with $5,053 going to the Series Champion, second place receives $2,553, third place receives $2,053, fourth place receives $1,553, fifth place receives $1,053, sixth place receives $753, seventh place receives $653 and eighth place in series points will receive $553 along with all other perfect attendance drivers. Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga. is the defending Series champion. Race purses, bonuses and points fund in excess of $300,000 will go out the door in just eleven days of racing. The top Rookie of the Year for the tour will receive a $1,000 cash award.

At each Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series event in 2019, the highest finishing CT525 engine in the main event will receive a $200 bonus and the highest finishing Steel Head/SPEC engine will also receive a $200 bonus.

Former Southern Nationals Series Champions include:
2005-Jeff Cooke (Spartanburg, SC)
2006-Anthony White (Clinton, TN)
2007-Chris Madden (Gray Court, SC)
2008-Chris Madden (Gray Court, SC)
2009-Tommy Kerr (Maryville, TN)
2010-Jonathan Davenport (Blairsville, GA)
2011-Chris Madden (Gray Court, SC)
2012-Chris Madden (Gray Court, SC)
2013-Jonathan Davenport (Blairsville, GA)
2014-Chris Madden (Gray Court, SC)
2015-Casey Roberts (Toccoa, GA)
2016-Devin Gilpin (Columbus, IN)
2017-Brandon Overton (Evans, GA)
2018-Casey Roberts (Toccoa, GA)

Former Southern Nationals Series Rookie of the Year drivers include:
2005-None
2006-None
2007-Brian Booze (Marion, PA)
2008-Shon Flanary (Church Hill, TN)
2009-Jared Landers (Batesville, AR)
2010-John Henderson (Aiken, SC)
2011-None
2012-Dillan White (Lafayette, KY)
2013-None
2014-Austin Smith (Rome, GA)
2015-Mark Dotson (Cameron, MO)
2016-Shanon Buckingham (Morristown, TN)
2017-Farrel Skelton (Mt. Pleasant, TN)
2018-Forrest Trent (Talbott, TN)

Further information on the Spring Nationals, Southern Nationals and Fall Nationals 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 visit the official website located at www.SouthernNationalsSeries.com .

2019 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Schedule:
July 13-Wythe Raceway-Rural Retreat, VA-$10,000 to win
July 14-Cherokee Speedway-Gaffney, SC-$10,000 to win
July 16-Smoky Mountain Speedway-Maryville, TN-$3,500 to win
July 18-Toccoa Raceway-Toccoa, GA-$3,500 to win
July 19-Senoia Raceway-Senoia, GA-$4,025 to win
July 20-Screven Motor Speedway-Sylvania, GA-$10,000 to win
July 21-Rome Speedway-Rome, GA-$5,300 to win
July 23-Tri-County Race Track-Brasstown, NC-$3,500 to win
July 25-Crossville Speedway-Crossville, TN-$3,500 to win
July 26-411 Motor Speedway-Seymour, TN-$10,000 to win
July 27-Tazewell Speedway-Tazewell, TN-$10,000 to win