McDowell Rebounds for Tennessee Tipoff Finale
MARYVILLE, TN– April 28, 2018– The fifth annual Tennessee Tipoff at Smoky Mountain Speedway concluded on Saturday evening where Dale McDowell led flag-to-flag in the 50-lap main event to claim the $10,000 check and collect his second World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series victory of the 2018 season.
Just one night prior, the driver of Chickamauga, GA was forced to retire early on lap 33 due to extensive damage on the No.17m.
“Everybody worked hard on it last night and today,” said McDowell. “Shane (McDowell) had to go back [to the shop] to get some parts and that was a big part of it. Last night we actually turned our transponder in because we didn’t think we were going to make it but we were able to fix it. We had to actually go rob some parts off of Scott’s (Bloomquist) new car at the shop so we did that and I guess he’s alright with that. Thanks to Sweet-Bloomquist Race Cars and everybody that’s involved.”
McDowell started on the outside of the pole next to defending Series Champion Brandon Sheppard. On the first lap, McDowell commandeered the lead position and never looked back. He was able to defend the top spot from hard-charging Chris Madden who claimed second on lap two.
“The track got pretty one-lane there so as soon as they started going with the single-file restarts, I really didn’t want to catch those guys [in the back],” said McDowell. “I was just trying to buy my time until I got to them just in case something happened. You just never know when you’re right on somebody. It leaves the second-place guy in control basically if something happened.”
“The funny thing is that we lost the ignition box and just thankfully I thought to reach down and switch ignition boxes,” continued McDowell. “I thought tonight was going to be over too. I think that’s about the first time in my career that I remembered I had two ignitions, as long as I’ve raced. Anyways, that worked out for us.”
The winner of Friday’s Tennessee Tipoff feature, Madden settled for second despite his relentless effort trying to chase down McDowell.
“I still am very proud of the guys on my racecar, you know, we have an extremely good racecar right now and a well-balanced car. I still think we had the better car in the race tonight but the racetrack wouldn’t allow it to shine tonight.”
Sheppard also rebounded from his Friday night performance at Smoky Mountain Speedway, where on lap three he was sidelined with mechanical issues. His Rocket1 Racing crew of Danny White, Austin Hargrove, and Joel Rogers made the appropriate changes on Friday night to get Sheppard back on the podium on Saturday.
“Considering last night, we’re really happy with tonight. Dale and Madden both have a lot of laps around this place and I’ve only been here a few times and to be able to run third to them guys feels pretty good. We were a little bit too snug there when the track rubbered-up but hats off to my guys for getting this thing turned around for us so we could make the race tonight.”
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series returns to action next week with stops at three tracks in three days including on Lavonia Speedway (GA) on Thursday, May 3, Cherokee Speedway (SC) on Friday, May 4 and Senoia Raceway (GA) for the Billy Clanton Classic on Saturday, May 5.
Abbreviated Results:
Craftsman Club Feature (50 Laps): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell [2][$10,000]; 2. 44-Chris Madden [4][$5,000]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1][$3,000]; 4. 97-Michael Chilton [3][$2,500]; 5. 50-Shanon Buckingham [6][$2,000]; 6. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles [5][$1,700]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton [14][$1,400]; 8. 18c-Chase Junghans [10][$1,300]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar [13][$1,200]; 10. 22-Chris Ferguson [7][$1,100]; 11. 101-Casey Roberts [17][$1,050]; 12. 7-Rick Eckert [11][$1,000]; 13. 4T-Tommy Kerr [12][$950]; 14. 1v-Vic Hill [15][$900]; 15. 91-Tyler Erb [21][$850]; 16. 1x-Chub Frank [19][$800]; 17. 11B-Stacy Boles [20][$770]; 18. 21-Robby Moses [22][$750]; 19. 54-David Breazeale [16][$730]; 20. B1-Brent Larson [18][$700]; 21. C8-Timothy Culp [24][$700]; 22. 9-Devin Moran [8][$700]; 23. 14m-Morgan Bagley [23][$700]; 24. 116-Brandon Overton [9][$700]
Hard Charger: 25-Shane Clanton[+7]
Qualifying: 1. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles, 16.806; 2. 44-Chris Madden, 16.822; 3. 50-Shanon Buckingham, 16.908; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 16.942; 5. 97-Michael Chilton, 16.953; 6. 17M-Dale McDowell, 17.011; 7. 18c-Chase Junghans, 17.024; 8. 9-Devin Moran, 17.139; 9. C8-Timothy Culp, 17.144; 10. 22-Chris Ferguson, 17.159; 11. 7-Rick Eckert, 17.18; 12. 116-Brandon Overton, 17.182; 13. 157-Mike Marlar, 17.272; 14. 101-Casey Roberts, 17.304; 15. 1v-Vic Hill, 17.356; 16. 54-David Breazeale, 17.366; 17. 25-Shane Clanton, 17.421; 18. 4T-Tommy Kerr, 17.428; 19. 21-Robby Moses, 17.468; 20. 1x-Chub Frank, 17.508; 21. 91-Tyler Erb, 17.513; 22. 11B-Stacy Boles, 17.571; 23. 14m-Morgan Bagley, 17.829; 24. B1-Brent Larson, 17.834; 25. 6-Blake Spencer, 18.218; 26. 5-Lamar Winkle, 18.331
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Craftsman (Official Tool), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Sears (Official Home Store), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel) and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, MSD, Penske Shocks, PFC Brakes (Fast Time Award), QA1, QuarterMaster, and Wrisco (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.
Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, N.C., is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.
04/28/18- Smoky Mountain Speedway
MARYVILLE, TN– April 28, 2018– The fifth annual Tennessee Tipoff at Smoky Mountain Speedway concluded on Saturday evening. Dale McDowell led flag-to-flag in the 50-lap main event to claim the $10,000 check and collect his second World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series victory of the 2018 season.
Craftsman Club Feature (50 Laps): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell [2][$10,000]; 2. 44-Chris Madden [4][$5,000]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1][$3,000]; 4. 97-Michael Chilton [3][$2,500]; 5. 50-Shanon Buckingham [6][$2,000]; 6. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles [5][$1,700]; 7. 25-Shane Clanton [14][$1,400]; 8. 18c-Chase Junghans [10][$1,300]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar [13][$1,200]; 10. 22-Chris Ferguson [7][$1,100]; 11. 101-Casey Roberts [17][$1,050]; 12. 7-Rick Eckert [11][$1,000]; 13. 4T-Tommy Kerr [12][$950]; 14. 1v-Vic Hill [15][$900]; 15. 91-Tyler Erb [21][$850]; 16. 1x-Chub Frank [19][$800]; 17. 11B-Stacy Boles [20][$770]; 18. 21-Robby Moses [22][$750]; 19. 54-David Breazeale [16][$730]; 20. B1-Brent Larson [18][$700]; 21. C8-Timothy Culp [24][$700]; 22. 9-Devin Moran [8][$700]; 23. 14m-Morgan Bagley [23][$700]; 24. 116-Brandon Overton [9][$700]
Hard Charger: 25-Shane Clanton[+7]
Qualifying: 1. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles, 16.806; 2. 44-Chris Madden, 16.822; 3. 50-Shanon Buckingham, 16.908; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 16.942; 5. 97-Michael Chilton, 16.953; 6. 17M-Dale McDowell, 17.011; 7. 18c-Chase Junghans, 17.024; 8. 9-Devin Moran, 17.139; 9. C8-Timothy Culp, 17.144; 10. 22-Chris Ferguson, 17.159; 11. 7-Rick Eckert, 17.18; 12. 116-Brandon Overton, 17.182; 13. 157-Mike Marlar, 17.272; 14. 101-Casey Roberts, 17.304; 15. 1v-Vic Hill, 17.356; 16. 54-David Breazeale, 17.366; 17. 25-Shane Clanton, 17.421; 18. 4T-Tommy Kerr, 17.428; 19. 21-Robby Moses, 17.468; 20. 1x-Chub Frank, 17.508; 21. 91-Tyler Erb, 17.513; 22. 11B-Stacy Boles, 17.571; 23. 14m-Morgan Bagley, 17.829; 24. B1-Brent Larson, 17.834; 25. 6-Blake Spencer, 18.218; 26. 5-Lamar Winkle, 18.331
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer: 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [2]; 2. 21k-Dakotah Knuckles [1]; 3. 22-Chris Ferguson [4]; 4. 18c-Chase Junghans [3]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar [5]; 6. 54-David Breazeale [6]; 7. 11B-Stacy Boles [8]; 8. 21-Robby Moses [7]; 9. 6-Blake Spencer [9]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer: 1. 97-Michael Chilton [2]; 2. 44-Chris Madden [1]; 3. 9-Devin Moran [3]; 4. 7-Rick Eckert [4]; 5. 25-Shane Clanton [6]; 6. 101-Casey Roberts [5]; 7. 1x-Chub Frank [7]; 8. 14m-Morgan Bagley [8]; 9. 5-Lamar Winkle [9]
Heat #3 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer: 1. 17M-Dale McDowell [2]; 2. 50-Shanon Buckingham [1]; 3. 116-Brandon Overton [4]; 4. 4T-Tommy Kerr [6]; 5. 1v-Vic Hill [5]; 6. B1-Brent Larson [8]; 7. C8-Timothy Culp [3]; 8. 91-Tyler Erb [7]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer: 1. 1x-Chub Frank [2][-]; 2. 11B-Stacy Boles [1][-]; 3. 91-Tyler Erb [6][-]; 4. 21-Robby Moses [4][-]; 5. C8-Timothy Culp [3][]; 6. 14m-Morgan Bagley [5][]; 7. 6-Blake Spencer [7][$110]; 8. 5-Lamar Winkle [8][$110]
World of Outlaws Point Standings (Top 25):
Pos. Car Driver Total Diff Wins Top 5’s Top 10’s Entered Started Earnings
1 44 Chris Madden 876 0 1 6 6 6 6 $37,200
2 1 Brandon Sheppard 836 -40 2 5 5 6 6 $37,450
3 157 Mike Marlar 818 -58 0 3 5 6 6 $14,710
4 25 Shane Clanton 810 -66 0 3 5 6 6 $21,600
5 7 Rick Eckert 794 -82 0 1 3 6 6 $14,750
6 18c Chase Junghans 790 -86 0 1 4 6 6 $10,970
7 116 Brandon Overton 748 -128 0 0 3 6 6 $8,560
8 1x Chub Frank 746 -130 0 1 2 6 6 $10,650
9 91 Tyler Erb 734 -142 0 0 2 6 6 $8,200
10 14m Morgan Bagley 720 -156 0 0 2 6 6 $6,910
11 9 Devin Moran 716 -160 0 1 2 6 6 $11,100
12 B1 Brent Larson 702 -174 0 0 1 6 6 $6,240
13 22 Chris Ferguson 700 -176 0 0 2 6 6 $6,705
14 54 David Breazeale 698 -178 0 0 0 6 6 $6,230
15 C8 Timothy Culp 648 -228 0 0 0 6 6 $5,420
16 21jr Billy Moyer Jr 648 -228 1 1 2 6 4 $13,610
17 6 Blake Spencer 572 -304 0 0 0 6 3 $1,360
18 17M Dale McDowell 558 -318 2 3 3 4 4 $25,535
19 CJ1 Rusty Schlenk 428 -448 0 0 0 4 4 $3,080
20 99B Boom Briggs 408 -468 0 0 0 4 2 $1,400
21 14z Zack McMillan 382 -494 0 0 1 4 1 $1,700
22 11B Stacy Boles 320 -556 0 0 0 3 2 $1,680
23 0 Scott Bloomquist 290 -586 1 2 2 2 2 $13,500
24 1r Josh Richards 286 -590 0 2 2 2 2 $9,050
25 39 Tim McCreadie 286 -590 1 1 2 2 2 $14,300