(Senoia, GA – ) The crazy 2020 season continues for local stock car racers. This weekend’s rain showers put a hold on the completion of Senoia Raceway’s biggest race of the year. The Showdown at Senoia saw a jam packed pit area and some very good competition on Friday night before rain showers moved in on Saturday and forced the remainder of the weekend’s racing action to be postponed to Saturday, November 21st.
“We saw the forecast and we were watching the radar images of the showers moving across Alabama,” explained promoter Mayes Massey. “We called all the series officials that had a stake in the weekend and we all decided the best decision would be to postpone until November. It was not an easy decision.”
Saturday’s near one inch of rain made the decision look like the best. But, early on Saturday when Massey and the others made the call, the sun was out and some racers and fans were puzzled by the announcement.
“The fans and drivers were disappointed,” Massey said. “We saw many of the comments on our social media. We understood them. Especially after such a great night of racing on Friday.”
Friday’s portion of the two day program was completed. Whitesburg’s Austin Horton won the Limited Late Model Showdown Shoot-Out as he led flag to flag for his first ever win on Showdown weekend. Newnan’s Oliver Gentry was second followed by Cartersville’s Jacques Daniel in third.
One of the most competitive races of the night was in the Late Model Sportsman division. Thirty-three drivers from five states converged on the south’s baddest bull ring to compete for the Friday night honors. Alabama’s Richie ‘Rocketman’ Stephens and track champion Dylan Knowles tussled at the drop of the green as the duo traded paint twice in the first lap. Stephens won lap one, but Knowles fought back to take the lead on lap two. That was short lived as Chatsworth’s Booger Brooks stuck his nose into the fray exchanging nudges with both Stephens and then Knowles.
The leaders caught up to lapped traffic on lap eight and Knowles was locked in behind a slower car allowing Brooks to sneak underneath in the fourth turn. The top three sliced and diced their way through lapped cars until a caution flew for a disabled car that stopped on the track.
Through several late race cautions, Brooks held off all challenges from Knowles winning his first Showdown main event. Stephens would settle for third ahead of Tennessee’s Matt Steward and Locust Grove’s Griffin Alexander.
Tennessee’s Jason Welshan also etched his name in the Showdown at Senoia record books winning the Friday night Crate Late Model show. Welshan led flag to flag with fellow Tennessee driver Cameron Weaver closing in but running out of laps. North Carolina’s Mason Massey finished in third. It was Massey’s first time back at his family’s operated track after several races with the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Other Friday night Showdown at Senoia winners included Olivia J Gentry of Newnan in the Chargers, Blant Duke of Whitesburg in the Bombers and Ranger’s Jason Young in the Hot Shots.
The remainder of the Showdown at Senoia race weekend is now set for Saturday, November 21st. The Schaeffer’s Oil Fall National Series Super Late Models will headline the show with their running of the Billy Clanton Classic. The Crate Late Models will also be competing along with the Red Clay Series (Late Model Sportsman), Southern Outlaw Hobby Series, Mini Stock, Chargers and Hot Shots.
For more information on the Showdown at Senoia weekend, visit the track website at www.senoiaraceway.com. Information is also available on the track’s Facebook page, their Twitter feed and Instagram shares. You can also call the speedway at 770.599.6161.
Official Showdown at Senoia Shoot-Out Results – Friday, October 23, 2020
Limited Late Models (Feature): 1-Austin Horton, Whitesburg 2-Oliver Gentry, Newnan 3-Jacques Daniel, Cartersville 4-Clint Smith, Senoia 5-Cass Fowler, Acworth 6-Marty Lunsford, Newnan 7-Landon Bagby, Winston 8-Dennis Hale, LaGrange 9-Rucker Orr, Newnan 10-Jason Turner, McDonough 11-Thomas Mewborn, Greenville 12-Joe Hillman, Villa Rica 13-Jamie Carr, LaGrange 14-Zack Shelton, Temple 15-Chad Duncan, Newnan 16-Wesley Scott, Dallas DNS: Matt Dooley, Brooks; Tate Nicholson, Canton Fast Qualifier: Gentry (14.487 seconds / 93.2 mph)
Crate Late Models (Feature): 1-Jason Welshan, Rockford, TN 2-Cameron Weaver, Crossville, TN 3-Mason Massey, Mooresville, NC 4-Dylan Knowles, Lannett, AL 5-Ahnna Parkhurst, Evans 6-Blant Duke, Whitesburg 7-Tanner Collins, Franklin 8-Jamie Maurice, Forsyth 9-Jake Rainey, Powder Springs 10-Dustin Elliott, Pine Mountain 11-Chase Baker, LaGrange 12-McKenna Nelms, Newnan 13-Marty Massey, Winston 14-Luther Jenkins, Waleska 15-Kyler Haygood, Douglasville 16-Colby Darda, LaGrange Fast Qualifier: Welshan (14.808 seconds / 91.2 mph)
Late Model Sportsman (Feature): 1-Booger Brooks, Chatsworth 2-Dylan Knowles, Lannett, AL 3-Richie Stephens, Phenix City, AL 4-Matt Steward, Ooltewah, TN 5-Griffin Alexander, Locust Grove 6-Payton Stevenson, Locust Grove 7-Taylor Cole, Cartersville 8-Jason Turner, McDonough 9-Dustin Diem, Ellaville 10-Morgan Alexander, Locust Grove 11-Alan Brewer, Avondale Estates 12-Dawson Martin, Oxford 13-Oreo Thomas, Marietta 14-Stevie Brannon, Cumming 15-Jamie Nicholson, Jr., Locust Grove 16-Daniel Brewer, Powder Springs 17-Jackson Thomason, Phenix City, AL 18-Mike Weed, Franklin 19-Carson Nicholson, Canton 20-Braxtin Barber, Valley, AL 21-Caleb Gay, Dublin 22-Wiley McDaniel, Byron 23-Austin Aldridge, Bremen 24-Chad Kimbrel, Canton DNQ: Jason Williams, Locust Grove; Jack Mills, Griffin; Kenny Taylor, Dallas; Connor Younginer, Locust Grove; Dan Meadows, Douglasville; John Strickland, Jackson; Tim Tidewell, Whitesburg; Michael Mims, Rome; Brandon McDaniel, Macon; Dalton Hood, Ft. Deposit, AL B-Main Winners: Wiley McDaniel and Thomas Fast Qualifier: Stephens (14.902 seconds / 90.6 mph)
Chargers (Feature): 1-Olivia Gentry, Newnan 2-Josh Scott, Jackson 3-Cody Lively, Locust Grove 4-David Martin, Oxford 5-Jack Smith, McDonough 6-Brandy Brewer, Stone Mountain 7-Justin Clark, Monticello 8-Johnny Stinchcomb, Newnan 9-Eric Hamby, Lindale 10-Ken Kirkland, Oxford DQ: Cody Newton, Marietta; Will McConnell, Dallas DNS: Jimmy Baxter, Jr., Newnan Fast Qualifier: Lively (15.264 seconds / 88.5 mph)
Bomber (Feature): 1-Blant Duke, Whitesburg 2-Dustin Miller, Cochran 3-Dustin Smith, Senoia 4-Curtis Turner, Brooks 5-Chad Foster, Griffin 6-Shannon Stephens, Franklin 7-Jim Jackson, Zebulon 8-Craig Boozer, Jenkinsburg 9-Morgan Pittman, Manchester 10-James Barber, Greenville 11-John Holder, Milner Fast Qualifier: Duke (17.236 seconds / 78.3 mph)
Hot Shots (Feature): 1-Jason Young, Ranger 2-Ernie Turner, Douglasville 3-Cory Greene, Griffin 4-Rick Ricks, Marietta 5-Jonathan Nelson, Marietta 6-Tommy Smith, Forsyth 7-Jonathan Sanford, Rockmart 8-Brett Walters, Macon 9-Spencer Huth, Silver Creek 10-Steve Clinton 11-Stacey Henderson, Senoia Fast Qualifier: Young (18.843 seconds / 71.7 mph)
