derek-ellisEASTABOGA, AL–The Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series concluded the 2016 season with having another first time winner as Derek Ellis of Chatsworth, GA., led all 40 lap to take the $4,000 NASCAR Weekend 40 at the Talladega Short Track Saturday and add his name to the 2016 list of first time winners which include Brandon Overton, Jason Hiett and Mark Fields.

Ellis started on the pole alongside the 2016 Southern All Star Champion Riley Hickman as they were the top two cars in SUNOCO Group Qualifying. Ellis jumped into the lead at the stop of the green flag and then had to work his way in and out of lapped traffic and also to survive several restarts due to caution flags. Midway through the race second place finisher Michael Page looked to have something for Ellis, but could never get around him to take over the top spot and finished second. Third place went to Hickman who tried to find something on the track but could not as he worked high and low but had no luck. Fourth place went to Jonathan Davenport driving Chris Stapleton Tony Stewart tribute car and fifth place went to Todd Morrow who rebounded for a top five finish after a bad couple races at East Alabama.

Sixth place went to Austin Smith of Rome, GA., seventh to Devin Moran of Dresden, OH., eighth to Tim Roszell of Anniston, AL.., ninth place to Jason Hiett of Oxford, AL., and tenth to Jake Knowles of Rome of Rome, GA.

The 2016 Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series has concluded the season and Riley Hickman had become the first driver to win the series championship four years in a row and now has tied Clint Smith with four series titles.

Brad Skinner of Spring Hill, TN., has won the Cruise with the Champions/Dirtondirt.com rookie of the Year and will be receiving a cruise along with cash reward for his efforts during the 2016 season.

We are currently working on the 2017 schedule as all tracks that had races in 2016 are back on board for next year and we will have some tracks to add to the schedule for 2017, if you are interested in participating in the 2017 program then contact the office.

The opening race will be the annual March Madness at the Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC., March 4-5.

For more information concerning the Southern All Star contact Lynn Acklin – General Manager: 256-924-4546 www.sasdirt.com

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS PENDING TIRE TEST: 1.Derek Ellis; 2.Michael Page; 3.Riley Hickman; 4.Jonathan Davenport; 5.Todd Morrow; 6.Austin Smith; 7.Devin Moran; 8.Tim Roszell; 9.Jason Hiett; 10.Jake Knowles; 11.Austin Horton; 12.Brad Skinner; 13.Dillon Tidmore; 14.Mark Bangs; 15.Jim Rogers; 16.Eric Granger; 17.Cass Fowler; 18.Justin Shipley; 19.Ryan King; 20.Jason Welshan; 21.Terry Smith; 22.Will Roland; 23.Dylan Ames; 24.Brandon Kinzer.
DNS: Tim Busha; Mike McConnell; Dingus Griffin; Chad Wallace; Lucas Burns; Chris Thomas; Luke Hoffner; Josh Putnam; Dallas Cooper; Bill Mahan; Oakley Johns; Kevin Hale; Michael Greer; Josh Adkins; Jeremy Ledford; Gathan Burns; Rodney Martin; Tim Smith

SOUTHERN ALL STAR POINTS STANDINGS: 1.Riley Hickman 1372; 2.Brad Skinner 1226; 3.Jim Rogers 1094; 4.Todd Morrow 946; 5.Casey Roberts 740; 6.Austin Horton 708; 7.Dillon Tidmore 550; 8.Jason Hiett 514; Dylan Ames 476; 10.Ashton Winger 432;

CRUISE WITH THE CHAMPIONS/DIRTONDIRT.COM ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: 1.Brad Skinner 1226; 2.Jim Rogers 1094.

SUNOCO Race Fuels Group Qualifying: Group A: Derek Ellis Group B: Riley Hickman
PPM Racing Products B Main: Jason Welshan; Dillon Tidmore; Ryan King; Terry Smith
AR Bodies Last Car Lead Lap: Eric Granger
COR Suspensions 10th Place Finisher: Jake Knowles
36 Racing & Fabrication Hard Charger: Austin Horton
Race Car Engineering Hard Luck Award: Brandon Kinzer
BrakeOMeter 4th Place Finisher Award: Jonathan Davenport

AR Bodies Challenge: 1.Brad Skinner 398; 2.Todd Morrow 263; 3.Dillon Tidmore 221; 4.Terry Smith 96; 5.Josh Putnam 94; 6.Dennis Franklin 46; 7.Brandon McCollum 31; 8.Eric Hickerson 31; 9. Mark Fields 29; 10.Ricky Williams 28; 11.Shannon Buckingham 26; 12.Ashley Newman 26; 13.Brent Barrett 25; 14.Derek Ellis 25; 15.James Kelso 24; 16.Tim Busha 24; 17..Robby Moses 23, 18.David Brannon 23; 19..Billy Ogle Jr 22 20.Ryan King 22; 21.Jim Rasey 21 22.Tim Rucker 21; 23.Steve Smith 20; 24.Tim Allen 19, 25.Jeff Johns 19; 26.Joseph Faulkner 13; 27.David Gentry 12; 28. Bubba Vandygriff 11.

UPCOMING SOUTHERN ALL STAR DIRT RACING SERIES EVENT:
March 4-5 Cherokee Speedway-Gaffney SC-March Madness

2016 Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series Sponsors:
*Hoosier Racing Tire “The Official Race Tire” of the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series *Patriot Sports “The Official Merchandise Vendor” of the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series *Sunoco Race Fuel “The Official Racing Fuel” of the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series

2016 Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series Marketing Partners Include: AR Bodies, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Butlerbuilt Racing Seats, COR Suspensions, Cruise with the Champions, DirtonDirt.com, H3 Performance Graphics, Integra Racing Shocks, , MSR Mafia Web Design and Service, PPM Racing Products, RockAuto.com, The Joie of Seating, 36 Racing & Fabrication, Racecar Engineering, BrakeOMeter