OVERTON WINS $20K IN VMS KING OF THE COMMONWEALTH FOR ULTIMATE SLMS

JAMAICA, VA – Brandon Overton of Evans, GA drove to his second straight ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series South East Region win on Saturday night and pocketed $20,000 in the Aaron’s King of Commonwealth at Virginia Motor Speedway. Overton battled with Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA early and often before taking the lead for good on lap 28 of the 60-lap race.

Dale McDowell of Rossville, GA was strong in the second half of the race, and finished second. The ride of the night belonged to Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN, who pitted under caution on lap three with what he thought was an engine problem. His crew found everything under the hood O.K., and sent their driver back out on the track to restart the race in the 24th and last spot.

Marlar was the fastest car on the track and he blazed a path through the field, but fell two spots short of victory and salvaged a third-place finish. Davenport led 20 laps of the race in a back and forth battle for the lead with Overton, and ended up fourth at the checkered flag.

Chris Madden of Gray Court, SC was fifth after topping the 34-car field in Qualifying with a lap around the ½-mile clay oval in 17.580 seconds. That earned Madden the $400 Fast Time Award from M&W Transport and Towing. Austin Hubbard finished sixth and Rick Eckert of York, PA took the seventh spot.

Matt Cosner came home in the eighth position, and ninth went to Chris Ferguson of Mt. Holly, NC. Dale Hollidge rounded out the top ten, and was the Keyser Manufacturing Hard Charger of the Race Award winner after starting 17th.

The win was the second straight ULTIMATE SE win for Overton, who also won the season opener on March 4 at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth, GA. In preliminary action on Saturday night, the four eight-lap Heat Races were won by Overton, Davenport, Madden and Marlar. The two ten-lap B-Main races were won by Hollidge and Nick Davis.

After starting on the outside of the front row, Davenport took the lead from polesitter Overton with a crossover move to the inside coming off the second turn on the first lap that saw Marlar, Madden and Hubbard in third through fifth respectively.

One crossover move is worth another, as Overton returned the favor on Davenport to take the lead on lap two, as McDowell got by Hubbard for the fifth spot. The caution flag was unfurled for the first time on lap three when 2016 ULTIMATE SE Rookie of the Year Glenn Elliott spun in turn four. Marlar gave up the third spot on the track to pit under caution.

The double-file restart saw Overton leading Davenport, Madden, McDowell, and Hubbard. When the green bulb was fired up, Hubbard was on the move, as he passed McDowell for fourth on the restart, and then got around Madden for third on lap four. The fifth lap saw Davenport pull alongside Overton to battle for the lead.

Overton pulled in front of Davenport on lap seven, and Madden worked his way back around Hubbard for the third spot. Davenport made an inside move on Overton coming off the fourth turn on lap nine to take the lead. Hubbard and Madden were still contesting the third spot, with Hubbard reclaiming the position on the 11th lap.

Davenport reached the cars on the tail end of the lead lap on lap 13, and McDowell got around Madden to take the fourth spot on lap 15. Overton chased down Davenport in lapped traffic, and began to challenge for the lead on lap 20. McDowell and Madden got by Hubbard to move up to third and fourth respectively on lap 20.

Davenport was able to keep Overton behind him in lapped traffic, but once they had clear race track in front of them, Overton dove to the inside going into turn three on lap 28 to take the lead from Davenport. McDowell then closed on Davenport and they raced side-by-side for second on lap 30. Elliott brought out the caution flag for a second time on lap 32 to bunch up the field for a restart.

The double-file restart saw Overton leading Davenport, McDowell, Madden, Hubbard, Jason Covert, Ferguson, Eckert, Tyler Millwood, and Ross Robinson in second through tenth respectively. McDowell passed Davenport for second on the restart, with Ferguson bolting into the fifth spot. Marlar came from out of nowhere to take over the sixth spot.

By lap 35, Overton had pulled out to a half straightaway lead over McDowell. Marlar moved into the top five again on lap 38 when he got around Ferguson. The final caution flag of the race came out on lap 44 for debris in turn four. Overton led McDowell, Davenport, Marlar, Madden, Ferguson and Hubbard double-file back to the green flag.

Marlar passed Davenport for the third spot on lap 45, and with ten laps to go, Overton had once again opened up a half straightaway lead over McDowell. Overton found himself in lapped traffic on lap 53.

Overton had increased his lead over McDowell to a full straightaway on lap 55. At the checkered flag, Overton was out of sight of McDowell and took the checkered flag with a 4.175 second margin of victory. The next race for the ULTIMATE SE Super Late Model Series will be the $5,022-to-win Jack Starrette Memorial Race at Modoc Speedway in Modoc, SC on April 15.

Check out the official website for the Ultimate Super Late Model Series at www.ultimatesupers.com, and continue to follow our social media networks on Facebook at Ultimate Super Late Model Series and on Twitter @ULTIMATESupers to get up to the minute news and details as they become available.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 2 AT VIRGINIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN JAMAICA, VA ON 4/8/17:

POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 1 116 Brandon Overton Evans, GA 60 $20,000
2. 6 17m Dale McDowell Rossville, GA 60 $10,000
3. 4 157 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN 60 $5.000
4. 2 49 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA 60 $3,000
5. 3 44 Chris Madden Gray Court 60 $2,000
6. 5 11 Austin Hubbard 60 $1,750
7. 7 7 Rick Eckert York, PA 60 $1,500
8. 11 66c Matt Cosner 60 $1,250
9. 10 22 Chris Ferguson Mt. Holly, NC 60 $1,100
10. 17 0 Dale Hollidge 60 $1,000
11. 15 72 Jason Covert 60 $900
12. 12 18 Brett Hamm 60 $875
13. 9 7r Ross Robinson 60 $850
14. 8 31 Tyler Millwood 59 $825
15. 13 24 Kenny Mooreland 59 $800
16. 21 4 Amanda Whaley 59 $775
17. 19 55 Darryl Hills 58 $750
18. 23 29 Jason Welshan Maryville, TN 58 $725
19. 24 5 Glenn Elliott 57 $700
20. 18 92 Nick Davis 55 $675
21. 22 27 Michael Lake Uniontown, PA 42 $650
22. 14 2 Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC 42 $625
23. 20 32 Dustin Mitchell 29 $600
24. 16 1 Willie Milliken 14 $575

ENTRIES: 34
FAST QUALIFIER: Madden, 17.580 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Welshan and Elliott
LEAD CHANGES: 3
LAP LEADERS: Davenport, 1; Overton, 2-8; Davenport, 9-27; Overton, 28-60
LAPS LED: Overton, 40; Davenport, 20
KEYSER INDUSTRIES HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE: Hollidge (started 17th and finished 10th)
CAUTIONS: 3
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 4.175 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 45 Minutes and 10.698 Seconds
NEXT RACE: April 15, Modoc Speedway, Modoc, SC

GROUP QUALIFYING:

GROUP 1:
1. 116 Brandon Overton, 17.936
2. 4 Amanda Whaley, 18.000
3. 11 Austin Hubbard, 18.124
4. 24 Kenny Mooreland, 18.125
5. 7r Ross Robinson, 18.142
6. 89 Justin Williams, 18.228
7. 281 Kyle Pierce, 18.301
8. 93 Donald Bradsher, 18.371
9. 5n Tim Allen, 18.702

GROUP 2:
1. 0 Dale Hollidge, 17.698
2. 17m Dale McDowell, 17.720
3. 49 Jonathan Davenport, 17.775
4. 22 Chris Ferguson, 17.899
5. 55 Darryl Hills, 18.073
6. 2 Dennis Franklin, 18.193
7. 79 Zack Mitchell, 18.228
8. 87 Walker Arthur, 18.409
9. 19 Jason Miller, 18.605

GROUP 3:
1. 44 Chris Madden, 17.580
2. 7 Rick Eckert, 17.703
3. 32 Dustin Mitchell, 17.805
4. 66 Matt Cosner, 17.947
5. 5 Glenn Elliott, 18.240
6. 72 Jason Covert, 18.315
7. 92 Nick Davis, 18.572
8. 29 Jason Welshan, 18.639

GROUP 4:
1. 157 Mike Marlar, 17.918
2. 31 Tyler Millwood, 18.034
3. 22 G.R. Smith, 18.051
4. 88 Rick Elliott, 18.084
5. 18 Brett Hamm, 18.104
6. 46 Tyler Emory, 18.408
7. 27 Michael Lake, 18.518
8. 1 Willie Milliken, 18.792

HEAT RACES (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer To Main Event):

1ST HEAT: 1. Overton; 2. Hubbard; 3. Robinson; 4. Mooreland; 5. Williams; 6. Pierce; 7. Whaley; 8. Allen; 9. Bradsher DNS.

2ND HEAT: 1. Davenport; 2. McDowell; 3. Ferguson; 4. Franklin; 5. Hills; 6. Hollidge; 7. Z. Mitchell; 8. Miller; 9. Arthur DNS.

3RD HEAT: 1. Madden; 2. Eckert; 3. Cosner; 4. Covert; 5. D. Mitchell; 6. Davis; 7. G. Elliott; 8. Welshan.

4TH HEAT: 1. Marlar; 2. Millwood; 3. Hamm; 4. Milliken; 5. Emory; 6. Smith; 7. R. Elliott; 8. Lake.

B-MAINS (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer To Main Event):

1ST B-MAIN: 1. Hollidge; 2. Hills; 3. Whaley; 4. Williams; 5. Allen; 6. Miller; 7. Z. Mitchell; 8. Pierce; 9. Bradsher DNS; 10. Arthur DNS.

2ND B-MAIN: 1. Davis; 2. D. Mitchell; 3. Lake; 4. G. Elliott; 5. Welshan; 6. Emory; 7. Smith DNS; 8. R. Elliott DNS.

The ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series would like to recognize their marketing partners for the 2017 season which include: American Racer, Hoosier Race Tires, VP Race Fuels, M&W Transport, PPM Racing Products, Arizona Sport Shirts,DirtonDirt.com, Big A’s Custom Graphics, AR Bodies, Five Star Race Bodies, Schaeffer’s Racing Oil and Lubricants, Autolite/Fram, RockAuto.com, Safecraft, Simpson, Thomas Clarke Performance Web Design and RacingJunk.com.