(Senoia, GA – October 8, 2017) Alabama’s Dillon Tidmore nabbed his first checkered flag of the season at Senoia Raceway during Saturday night’s Showdown Warm-Up race. Tidmore staved off all charges from Senoia’s Ashton Winger to claim the laurels. It was the 21-year-olds tune-up for the track’s big race at the end of October. The Showdown at Senoia will offer $13,000 in top prize money for Tidmore and his fellow Super Late Model drivers to chase at the three day festival of speed on October 26, 27 and 28.
Other winners on a night of preparing for the Showdown included Senoia’s Clint ‘Cat Daddy’ Smith in the Limited Late Models; LaGrange’s Dusty Jones in the Crate Late Models; Bobby ‘Wild Child’ Arnold of Newnan in the Late Model Sportsman; Villa Rica’s ‘Smokin’ Joe Hillman in the Hobby and Newnan’s Dorough Bright in the Bombers. Fifteen-year-old Logan Johnson of Silver Creek was the winner in the Hot Shots division.
Tidmore flexed his muscle early as he topped the charts in Super Late Model qualifying. The young gun posted a time of 13.333 seconds which was only 41 one hundredths of a second of the track record set by Jason Croft last October.
Tidmore jumped out to the early lead and lost it momentarily to Ashton Winger on a lap two restart before snagging the lead back only a half lap later. He would never be unsettled again as the Alabama hot shoe cruised to a seven second victory over ‘Magic’ Matt Dooley of Brooks and Senoia’s Clint Smith. The race marked the first run of the season for Dooley in the Super Late Model division. Dooley was the season points champion in the Limited Late Model division.
Clint Smith torched the Limited Late Models from the beginning in the Limited Late Model division. Smith set a new track record for the Limited Late Models during qualifying with a 96.8 mile per hour average which eclipsed the mark held by Austin Horton for the past year and a half.
The former Limited Late Model champion and current three-time reigning Super Late Model champion at Senoia Raceway never was seriously challenged during the 20-lap main event. Gray’s Chaz Haskins would only be close during restarts. Haskins finished a strong second ahead of Greenville’s Thomas Mewborn in third.
Dusty Jones returned to the track where he has won 19 features since the track returned to dirt in 2010. The LaGrange wheelman clocked in the quickest for the Crate Late Model competitors before checking out on the field in the feature race. The only driver getting within a whisper was Senoia’s Ashton Winger driving for Dennis Lykins, Jr. Winger would finish a straightaway length distance in second while Alabama’s ‘Thrillin’ Dylan Knowles fought back to finish in third.
One of the better races of the night took place in the Bomber division as Carrollton’s Dustin Smith battled with Newnan’s Dorough Bright and Alabama’s Herbie Donath for most of the feature race. Bright ran Smith hard into turn one of the final lap as Smith slid up the track allowing for his pursuer to move inside through the final two turns. The drag race to the finish line saw Bright over take Smith to secure the win. Smith would be second, but would be disqualified in post-race tech as he was found to a have an illegal carburetor. Newnan’s McKenna Nelms moved up one spot for a second place payday while Brooks’ Curtis Turner piloted Winford Minnix’s purple powered Camaro to a third place finish.
The action was almost as intense in the Hobby Stock main event. Joe Hillman and McDonough’s Ted Willingham rekindled their season long battle for divisional dominance racing side by side for several laps. Willingham would jump inside to run door to door only to have Hillman slingshot back under him the next corner. The entertaining show ended on the last lap when Willingham’s right rear tire blew allowing for Hillman to speed off to the victory. Willingham limped his race car home for a second place nod while Mableton’s Jamie Garger finished third.
Bobby Arnold held off the hard charging Matthew Knight of Villa Rica during the middle stages of the Late Model Sportsman race before Knight faded late. It was Arnold’s fifth win of the 2017 racing season as he finished in front of Franklin’s Chris Steele and Knight. Ila’s young gun Lance Chitwood was fourth ahead of Byron’s Wiley McDaniel.
The track now gears up for their season finale on October 26, 27 and 28. The Showdown at Senoia will feature three big nights of action on the 3/8ths mile gumbo clay surface. The Super Late Models will run a pair of features paying $3000 (Oct 27) and $10,000 (Oct 28). Other divisions will also be on the racing schedule including Limited Late Models ($2500 to win); Crate Late Models ($2000 to win); Late Model Sportsman ($2000 to win); Hobby ($1000 to win); Bombers ($1000 to win); Mini Stocks ($600 to win- Oct 27 and $2500 to win – Oct 28) and the Hot Shots ($600 to win). Showdown at Senoia schedule, ticket prices, reserved seating and more information is available at www.senoiaraceway.com.
Senoia Raceway is located just five miles west of Senoia, GA, on Georgia Highway 16. Easy access from both Interstate 75 and 85.
For additional information, to enter the race or reserve seating, call the speedway at 770.599.6161.
Official Results for Saturday, October 7, 2017
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| Dillon Tidmore |
Super Late Models (Feature): 1-Dillon Tidmore, Gadsden, AL 2-Matt Dooley, Brooks 3-Clint Smith, Senoia 4-Shane Fulcher, Thomaston 5-Eric Granger, Douglasville 6-Devin Moran, Dresden, OH 7-Ricky Williams, Fayetteville 8-Mason Massey, Douglasville 9-Ashton Winger, Senoia 10-Zach Leonhardi, Cartersville 11-Laddie Fulcher, Thomaston 12-Corey Payton, Newnan Fast Qualifier: Tidmore (13.333 – 101.3 mph)
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| Clint Smith |
Limited Late Models: 1-Clint Smith, Senoia 2-Chaz Haskins, Gray 3-Thomas Mewborn, Greenville 4-Glenn Morris, Fayetteville 5-Joey Armistead, Senoia 6-Chris Carr, Newnan 7-Bailey Williams, Fayetteville DNS: Corey Payton, Newnan; Zach Leonhardi, Cartersville Fast Qualifier: Smith (13.939 – 96.8 mph) *NEW TRACK RECORD – Limiteds*
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| Dusty Jones |
Crate Late Models: 1-Dusty Jones, LaGrange 2-Ashton Winger, Senoia 3-Dylan Knowles, Lannett, AL 4-Chase Baker, LaGrange 5-Dow Kirkland, Lake Spivey 6-Colby Darda, LaGrange 7-Tina Johnson, Senoia DNS: Wayne Harbin, Sharpsburg Fast Qualifier: Jones (14.559 – 92.7 mph)
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| Bobby Arnold |
Late Model Sportsman: 1-Bobby Arnold, Newnan 2-Chris Steele, Franklin 3-Matthew Knight, Villa Rica 4-Lance Chitwood, Ila 5-Wiley McDaniel, Byron 6-Randy Cornwell, Fayetteville 7-Keith Fields, Griffin 8-Ted Minnix, McDonough 9-Ronnie McCullough, Franklin 10-Ryan Knight, Villa Rica 11-Jamie Nicholson, Jr., Locust Grove 12-Lee Fuller, Newnan 13-Clyde Alexander, Locust Grove 14-Buck Williams, Stockbridge 15-Shane Payton, Newnan Fast Qualifier: Arnold (15.113 – 89.3 mph)
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| Joe Hillman |
Hobby Stock (Feature): 1-Joe Hillman, Villa Rica 2-Ted Willingham, McDonough 3-Jamie Garner, Mableton 4-Tanner Collins, Franklin 5-Herbie Donath, Phenix City, AL 6-Brandon Henderson, Woodbury 7-Larry Bednar, Locust Grove 8-Jeremy Butler, Lithia Springs 9-Jerry Plott Fast Qualifier: Hillman (16.993 – 79.5 mph)
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| Dorough Bright |
Bomber (Feature): 1-Dorough Bright, Newnan 2-McKenna Nelms, Newnan 3-Curtis Turner, Brooks 4-Carly Arnett, Lannett, AL 5-Mike Lilly, Lithia Springs 6-Wilson Boozer, Jackson 7-Larry Pierce, Griffin 8-Robert Ethridge DQ: Dustin Smith (Carburetor)
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| Logan Johnson |
Hot Shots (Feature): 1-Logan Johnson, Silver Creek 2-Joseph Collins, Franklin 3-Jim Jackson, Zebulon 4-Dewayne Keith, Senoia
