Photo courtesy of Marty Bingham, www.binghamfreelance.com
With the high threat of rain all weekend, officials from the Old Man’s Garage Spring Nationals Series have made the decision early this morning to push back the March 28-29 events at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, North Carolina and Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee to April 4-5. Everything will remain the same with the doubleheader weekend except that it will now take place a week later than originally scheduled.
Chris Madden, after two podium finishes and the Saturday night ‘Spring Thaw’ win at Volunteer Speedway, finds himself atop the series point standings by just four markers over Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist of Moorsburg, Tennessee. Eric Wells of Hazard, Kentucky is third in the tour points while Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tennessee holds down the fourth spot. Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Georgia rounds out the top five in the points heading into a huge doubleheader of racing in North Carolina and Tennessee.
The Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, North Carolina will be the third event on the schedule paying $4,000 to win / $400 to start on Friday night, April 4. The support classes that evening include the Crate Late Models racing for $600 to win, the Interstate Welding Modified Street division will race for $300 to win, and the Street Stocks will be competing for $250 to win. A $200 bonus will be paid to the highest finishing Steel Head/Spec or 525 Late Model to make the show and $100 for the second-highest finisher in the Spring Nationals Super Late Model event. Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Georgia won in exciting fashion during last year’s series visit capturing the $4,000 payday over Billy Ogle Jr. and Stacy Boles.
The Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee will host the tour for Round #4 on Saturday night, April 5 paying $6,000 to win / $500 to start – a race which is presented by East Tennessee Auto Outlet. In addition to the Ray Cook-promoted tour, the American Modified Series will also be in attendance paying $3,000 to win and the Limited Late Models will race for $1,000 to win. In 2013, Tommy Kerr of Maryville, Tennessee claimed the Spring Nationals victory at Smoky Mountain in the Super Late Models over Jonathan Davenport and Vic Hill while Bryan Barber of Buffalo, Kentucky claimed the AMS-sanctioned Modified win.
On Friday, April 4 at Tri-County, the pit gates will swing open at 4:00 pm, the grandstand gates open at 5:00 pm, the driver’s meeting is slated for 7:00 pm, and racing to begin at around 7:30 pm. Adult general admission is $18.00 with children 11-16 admitted for $10.00 while children ten and under are admitted for free. Adult pit passes are $30.00 with children 11-16 admitted for $15.00 while children under ten are admitted for free.
On Saturday, April 5 at Smoky Mountain Speedway, the pit gates will swing open at 1:00 pm and grandstand/tier parking gates opening at 4:00 pm with driver’s meeting slated for around 6:00 pm and hot laps will follow. Adult general admission is $20.00 with children 6-11 being $5.00 and children five and under admitted free. Adult tier parking is $25.00, children 6-11 years of age are $10.00 with children ten and under admitted free. Adult pit passes are $35.00 while its $15.00 for children regardless of age.
Further information on the Tri-County Race Track can be obtained by calling the track hotline at (828) 837-3815 or Ray Cook at (828) 360-5353 or log on to www.tricountyracetrack.com.
The Smoky Mountain Speedway is located at 809 Brickmill Road in Maryville, TN 37801. The track phone number is (865) 856-8989. You can obtain further information on Smoky Mountain Speedway by logging on to www.smokymountainspeedway.com. Be a follower of Smoky Mountain Speedway on Twitter by following @SMOKYMTNSPEED.
Further information on the Old Man’s Garage Spring Nationals Series by Schaeffer’s Oil can be obtained by logging on to the official series website located at www.southernnationalsseries.com.
Spring Nationals Series Tri-County $4,000 to win purse (40 Laps): 1) $4,000, 2) $2,000, 3) $1,400, 4) $800, 5) $700, 6) $675, 7) $650, 8) $625, 9) $600, 10) $580, 11) $560, 12) $540, 13) $520, 14) $500, 15) $480, 16) $460, 17) $440, 18) $420, 19) $400, 20) $400, 21) $400, 22) $400
Spring Nationals Series Smoky Mountain $6,000 to win purse (50 Laps): 1) $6,000, 2) $3,000, 3) $1,800, 4) $1,200, 5) $1,000, 6) $900, 7) $800, 8) $700, 9) $680, 10) $660, 11) $640, 12) $620, 13) $600, 14) $580, 15) $560, 16) $540, 17) $520, 18) $500, 19) $500, 20) $500, 21) $500, 22) $500
Current Spring Nationals Series Points (after March 15th):
1. Chris Madden-200 (Gray Court, SC)
2. Scott Bloomquist-196 (Moorsburg, TN)
3. Eric Wells-194 (Hazard, KY)
4. Mike Marlar-192 (Winfield, TN)
5. Casey Roberts-190 (Toccoa, GA)
6. Billy Ogle Jr.-188 (Knoxville, TN)
7. Chad Ogle-186 (Sevierville, TN)
8. Donald McIntosh-184 (Dawsonville, GA)
9. Jimmy Owens-182 (Newport, TN)
10. Michael Chilton-180 (Salvisa, KY)
10. Stacy Boles-180 (Clinton, TN)
12. Vic Hill-176 (Mosheim, TN)
13. Victor Lee-174 (Stanford, KY)
14. Mack McCarter-172 (Gatlinburg, TN)
15. David Payne-170 (Murphy, NC)
Spring Nationals Event Winners:
Jimmy Owens-Newport, TN (Volunteer Speedway) March 14th
Chris Madden-Gray Court, SC (Volunteer Speedway) March 15th