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Ebert lone WISSOTA-area representative in Screven’s February 6 feature, finishes 13th
From series reports
SYLVANIA, GA (February 6) - Brandon Overton, of Evans, Georgia, defended his home turf on Friday night at Screven Motor Speedway and dominated the “Winter Freeze XVI” opener to claim the $10,000 first place prize money.
Overton, who earned an additional $750 for laying down the fastest lap in qualifying, won his heat race in preliminary action and later rolled off from the outside of the front row for the start of the 35-lap main event. He grabbed the point at the drop of the green flag and held off all challenges to keep his No. 76 out front the entire distance.
Sixth-starter Garrett Smith finished in the runner-up spot — 2.944 seconds behind Overton at the checkered flag. Casey Roberts was steady throughout the contest and picked off 13 competitors to round out the podium in third. Tenth-starter Ryan Gustin advanced to finish fourth, while Trent Ivey blasted past 10 race cars to earn the final spot inside of the top five.
Of the WISSOTA-area racers who made the feature the first night of racing in Georgia, Dan Ebert started fourth and slid back to 13th at the finish.
“It always feels cool to come back and win,” Overton said following Friday’s triumph. “Home sweet home, right? Back in Georgia, red dirt. I said it last week (after Needmore), we should be good at this. I honestly was worried — I knew I had the right tire on for the end of the race, but I kept seeing all the guys with the soft tires poking at me on the starts. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I put the right tire on.’”
A total of 32 Super Late Models converged at the Sylvania, Georgia facility for the opening round of Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series competition. The four heat races were won by John Henderson, Brian Shirley, Brandon Overton, and Dan Ebert, while Preston Luckman and Drake Troutman emerged victorious in the pair of consolation events.
Eight caution flags slowed the 35-lapper with a multi-car wreck on a lap-15 restart ultimately resulting in a red flag situation. The initial start of the race was called back due to a jumped start before Beckham Malone slowed to draw the second yellow on lap one. Brian Shirley then suffered apparent engine woes after only four completed laps, while the fourth yellow came a lap later for Daulton Wilson, who came to a stop in the middle of turns one and two. Polesitter John Henderson suffered a flat right rear tire on lap 12, before Allen Styck slowed on the 15th circuit. The final stoppage took second-running Ross Bailes out of winning contention, as a tangle with a lapped car on the 25th circuit dropped him to a 16th-place showing.
SUMMARY
Dirt Super Late Models:
A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[6]; 3. 101-Casey Roberts[16]; 4. 19G-Ryan Gustin[10]; 5. 88-Trent Ivey[15]; 6. F1-Payton Freeman[14]; 7. 22-Tucker Anderson[12]; 8. 55-Benji Hicks[13]; 9. 22*-Drake Troutman[18]; 10. 77-Preston Luckman[17]; 11. 11S-Allen Styck[11]; 12. 17F-Billy Franklin[23]; 13. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 14. 317-Kendall Franklin[24]; 15. 11-Austin Smith[9]; 16. 16-Ross Bailes[5]; 17. 17-Chris Woods[19]; 18. 24-Payton Stevenson[21]; 19. 23-Beckham Malone[22]; 20. 111-Steven Roberts[7]; 21. 2X-John Henderson[1]; 22. 58V-Daulton Wilson[8]; 23. 3-Brian Shirley[3]; 24. J1-Jake Jackson[20]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-John Henderson[1]; 2. 16-Ross Bailes[4]; 3. 11-Austin Smith[3]; 4. 55-Benji Hicks[5]; 5. 77-Preston Luckman[2]; 6. 17-Chris Woods[6]; 7. 24-Payton Stevenson[7]; 8. 8-Matthew Larson[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 111-Steven Roberts[2]; 3. 11S-Allen Styck[3]; 4. 88-Trent Ivey[5]; 5. 17F-Billy Franklin[7]; 6. 28-Evan Harrell[4]; 7. 15-Will Hicks[8]; 8. 97-Cody Overton[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[2]; 3. 19G-Ryan Gustin[4]; 4. F1-Payton Freeman[3]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[5]; 7. 23-Beckham Malone[7]; 8. 9B-Broughton Boatright[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Dan Ebert[1]; 2. 58V-Daulton Wilson[2]; 3. 22-Tucker Anderson[3]; 4. 101-Casey Roberts[5]; 5. J1-Jake Jackson[7]; 6. 35-Dillon Daves[8]; 7. 317-Kendall Franklin[6]; 8. 38-Jamie Oliver[4]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 77-Preston Luckman[1]; 2. 17-Chris Woods[3]; 3. 24-Payton Stevenson[5]; 4. 17F-Billy Franklin[2]; 5. 8-Matthew Larson[7]; 6. (DNS) 28-Evan Harrell; 7. (DNS) 15-Will Hicks; 8. (DNS) 97-Cody Overton
B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 2. J1-Jake Jackson[2]; 3. 23-Beckham Malone[5]; 4. 35-Dillon Daves[4]; 5. 317-Kendall Franklin[6]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 7. 9B-Broughton Boatright[7]; 8. 38-Jamie Oliver[8]