Story By: BEN SHELTON / KOEHLER MOTORSPORTS – MOUNT AIRY, NC – Jimmy Owens outlasted Mother Nature and a strong field or competitors to park his Koehler Motorsports / Reece Monument Company No. 20 Boom Test Well Service / Ultimate Towing & Recovery / Rocket Chassis / Vic Hill Race Engine Super Late Model in Victory Lane at Beckley Motor Speedway on Friday night.
The $10,053 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals victory marked his second triumph of the season.
“I want to thank all of these fans for sticking through all the rain and stuff. It’s such a late night and it’s great to see such a crowd here,” said Owens, who took the checkered flag at 1:59 a.m. “It’s a tough field of cars, a bunch of great guys out there, and they raced us clean. I was afraid that bottom was going to come in there toward the end because the middle and the top just kept getting a little blacker.
“A big thank you to Koehler Motorsports and all our sponsors. We’ve really started to kick things into high gear the past month or so.”
Teammates Jimmy Owens and Jordan Koehler embarked on the first weekend of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway on Friday evening.
Among 32 Late Models in the pit area, Owens was fastest in his qualifying group and won his heat race while Koehler finished in the runner-up position in his heat race.
For the $10,053-to-win main event, Owens dominated from the drop of the green flag and led all 53-laps en route to his sixth-career Southern Nationals triumph. He outran Henry Hornsby and Kyle Hardy, who completed the Top-3 while Koehler finished 15th in the feature.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s event at Wythe Raceway (Rural Retreat, Va.) was postponed to Sunday.
With 23 Late Models returning to Wythe for its rescheduled date, Owens finished second in his heat race and Koehler wound up sixth in his respective heat race.
For the second $10,053-to-win feature of the weekend, Owens recorded a Top-10 outing in ninth while Koehler made up five positions in the 53-lap feature to finish 13th.
Owens is second in the latest miniseries’ standings, while Koehler is tied for 10th in the points.
Action continues for the team this week with the following Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals slate awaiting:
- July 18: I-75 Raceway (Sweetwater, Tenn.): $7,553-to-win
- July 20: Senoia (Ga.) Raceway: $7,554-to-win
- July 21: East Alabama Motor Speedway (Phenix City, Ala.): $7,553-to-win
- July 22: Screven Motorsports Complex (Sylvania, Ga.): $10,053-to-win
- July 23: Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway: $10,053-to-win