McDowell
Holds Off Owens to Become King of the Mountain
(May
17, 2025) Dale McDowell held off Jimmy Owens over the
final six laps of the race to win the Hunt The Front Super Dirt
Series King of the Mountain Classic. The win netted McDowell $15,000.
(MRM Racing Photos)
Zack Mitchell and Dale McDowell led the field to the green with
McDowell easing ahead of Mitchell on the back stretch. Mitchell
remained close with Owens settling into third. The early battle
was for fourth place between Ricky Weiss, Mike Marlar, and Josh
Putnam. The trio swapped positions several times before Weiss
held onto fourth when the first caution of the race fell on lap
14. By the race’s first caution, Owens held passed Mitchell
for second shortly before the yellow flag was displayed.
The action up front picked up by lap 25 and Owens began working
on McDowell on the outside line. Owens finally took the spot a
few laps later. But McDowell retook the lead a couple of laps
later. McDowell had pulled out to a nearly 2-second lead over
Owens.
The final caution fell on lap 44. The restart saw Owens work
on McDowell using the outside line. Owens could get to McDowell’s
quarter panel but could not draw any closer as the laps wound
down. McDowell held on for the win over Owens. Mitchell held off
Mike Marlar to finish third.
The sportsman feature saw Colby Horner and Jake Whitehead start
of the race on the front row. As the field raced into turn 1,
Horner drove into the corner and slid in front of Whitehead. Third
place starter Adam Mitchell seized the opportunity to pass both
Horner and Whitehead to grab the lead. Mitchell won comfortably
over Terry Poore. Whitehead rallied to finish third.
Robby Comer and Brady Lee battled for the early lead in the
street stock feature. The two raced side-by-side the first few
laps of the race before Comer took control and never looked back
in taking the win. Lee finished second Austin Byrd came in third.
Raymond Fusion made the drive from Kentucky to win the front
wheel drive feature. As Fusion was leading the race, a tight battle
between Travis Weeks and Brandon Porstner took place. Weeks moved
into second and tracked down Fusion as the leader encountered
slower traffic. The lead duo got stuck behind a couple of slower
cars and Porstner quickly took second. Porstner stayed locked
on the rear bumper of Fusion as Fusion’s car began to smoke.
Fusion’s engine held together long enough to hold off Porstner
for the win. Weeks came home in third.
The next race at Smoky Mountain Speedway will be Saturday, May
24 when the Topless Outlaws Late Model Series returns for the
$4,022 to win Lester Weeks Memorial.
(MRM Racing Photos)
Hunt the Front Super Dirt
Series:
1. 17M-Dale McDowell[2]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 57-Zack Mitchell[1];
4. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 5. 7-Ricky Weiss[3]; 6. 71-Pierce McCarter[12];
7. 212-Josh Putnam[7]; 8. 81F-Jadon Frame[8]; 9. 16-Sam Seawright[10];
10. 44D-Dalton Cook[6]; 11. 14JR-Trey Mills[11]; 12. 83-Jensen
Ford[13]; 13. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[23]; 14. 49-Luke Morey[18]; 15.
388-Jackson Hise[17]; 16. C6-Oakley Johns[14]; 17. 10-Joseph Joiner[15];
18. 126-Kaede Loudy[24]; 19. 32-Jason Manley[16]; 20. 59-Dillard
Hatchett[20]; 21. 97-Bobby Giffin[26]; 22. 1G-Rusty Ballenger[21];
23. 16X-Michael Page[9]; 24. F1-Payton Freeman[19]; 25. C5-David
Crabtree[22]; 26. 21-Mario Gresham[25]
(MRM Racing Photos)
Sportsman Late Model:
1. 50-Adam Mitchell[3]; 2. 12-Terry Poore[4]; 3. 116-Jake Whitehead[2];
4. 6C-Chandler Hickman[5]; 5. 15-Colby Horner[1]; 6. 31-Brad Seagle[7];
7. C4-Cameron Hawkins[6]; 8. 13K-Cory Cate[9]; 9. H37-Clayton
Cooper[14]; 10. 4-Pierson Davidson[11]; 11. 11-Landon Beeler[15];
12. 7T-Tiffany Hensley[13]; 13. G7-Chris Glass[18]; 14. 99-Robert
Buchanan[17]; 15. 11B-Tim Bounds[10]; 16. 556-Malachi Yarger[16];
17. 6-Davin Cardwell[8]; 18. (DNS) 47-Hayden Estep; 19. (DQ) 10-James
Parrott[12]
(MRM Racing Photos)
Street Stocks:
1. 42-Robbie Comer[1]; 2. 1-Brady Lee[2]; 3. A13-Austin Byrd[4];
4. 10-Eric Hughes[3]; 5. 15-Lamar Hughes[6]; 6. 23-Greg Huskey[9];
7. 20-Johnny Hughes[5]; 8. 3W-Scott Smith[7]; 9. 156-Marcus Mays[11];
10. 14H-Sam Burgess[12]; 11. J3-Jeff McLemore[13]; 12. 21XP-Bobbie
Petty[8]; 13. 51-Dave Lewis[10]; 14. 8-Nick Baker[14]
(MRM Racing Photos)
Front Wheel Drive:
1. 17-Raymond Fuson[1]; 2. B56-Brandon Porstner[3]; 3. 85-Travis
Weeks[2]; 4. 206-Allen Vaughn[5]; 5. 21T-Travis Taylor[4]; 6.
11-Ray Hawk[12]; 7. 88-Shaylee Hinds[8]; 8. 21H-Shane Hawkins[10];
9. 12-Trent Lee[9]; 10. 8-Dylan Cupp[11]; 11. 45-Colton Keasler[7];
12. (DNS) 18-James Burnette
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