By Steve Hixson

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -July 19, 2008- The O'SHOW Jimmy Owens rolled into the Cleveland (TN) Speedway Saturday night looking to better his previous nights performance by one position and obtaining the $5,000. prize for 18th edition of the 'JEAN JOHNSON MEMORIAL' as the O'Reilly Southern All-Star series stopped for night # 2 of the 'Thunder through the Mountains' TRIPLEHEADER weekend. After it was all said and done the NEWPORT NIGHTMARE got the inherent victory when race leader Dale McDowell crashed in heavy back-marker traffic just prior to the races half-way point. 'I hate it to win like that, Dale had a great car and it was going to be difficult to get by him.' stated Owens from victory lane. 'The traffic wasn't too bad here, I had committed low on that lap, where Dale was high and it was just a bad deal for him.' Owens concluded his victory lane interview by remembering Bobbie Reece, whom passed away earlier in the week up in Tazewell, before posing for press photo's with the # 20 'Gannte Appraisals, Reece Monument Co., Byrds Radiator, VP Racing Fuels' sponsored Bloomquist / Cornett powered Ford Fusion and the team.

On Saturday afternoon 42 Super Late Model teams representing five states had signed-in for battle. Current Cleveland Speedway SLM points leader Randy Burrows held the top spot for qualifying until McDADDY took to the track. McDowell set the standard with a 13:916 lap with only Eric Jacobsen coming close early on with a 13:974 time. Joe Armes almost launched his racecar over the turn one wall and out into the road during qualifying (which is why the track asks no-one park there) and was subsequently done for the evening. Then the final qualifier took to the track in Brad Neat, who failed to even make Friday nights O'SAS North Georgia Speedway feature. The Dunnville, KY racer laid down a perfect lap on his second go-round clocking his # 41 'Begley Properties, Tarter Gate, NWN Distributing, Tarter & Roberts Insurance' sponsored MasterSbilt / Cornett powered, Ford Fusion at a 13:844, thus earning the Sunoco Race Fuels Pole Award. Neat, McDowell and EJ were the only three of the locked-in Top 10 qualifiers in the 13 second bracket. The other seven (7) competitors locked into the feature were; Jason Fitzgerald, Rick Rogers, Jamie Perry, Burrows, Owens, Todd Morrow and David Payne, in order.

The rest of the 11 - 42 qualifiers were set for the 'HOOLIGAN RACES' to make up the remaining 24 car starting field. In the first of three 'B' Main / Last Chance races that transferred the top four into the 'A' Main feature, 11th overall fastest qualifier Randy Weaver was in control. Unfortunately for Weaver, who's become a dominate force at both Monty Morrow's two track, his left rear exploded on lap 2 at the flag-stand ending his run and earning him his second consecutive DNS for the TRIPLEHEADER weekend. Kevin Gibson inherited the lead and held off David Crabtree for the win. Cody Barnett and the X-MAN Shawn Chastain also transferred just ahead of Friday's N. GA 5th fastest qualifier Gabe Wilson. In the 2nd 'B' Main pole sitter Mark Vineyard and last weeks Cleveland Speedway SLM winner Billy Mayo raced for the 12th starting spot of the feature. Mayo got the win over the POWELL PREDATOR with Anthony White and current O'SAS points leader / defending series champ Ivedent Lloyd earning transfer positions. In the 3rd and final consi. Skip Arp, going for the CarSmart Auto Sales bonus ($2,500.) after winning Friday's 50 lapper, took the win earning him the # 13 starting grid location. Billy Ogle Jr., local racer Lamar Scoggins and Jake Knowles rounded out the final transfer spots. The nights two O'SAS provisionals went to Derek Ellis who's currently third in the series points and Anthony Hill, who recieved a provisional the night before.

With Neat and McDowell setting the stage, the O'SAS fella's formed up for the 4-WIDE SALUTE to the fans just prior to the start. As flagman Tim Richardson waved his green flag over the field, McDADDY didn't do what was expected from his 'cat-bird seat' as Neat grabbed the lead into turn one after the front straight-away drag race. McDowell dove his mount to the bottom of turn two and passed Neat heading down the back-stretch with Fitzgerald, EJ and Rogers following. Lap 2 Neat rolled up on the outside coming off of turn two, then literally SURFED (rode up) the back straight-away wall. Somehow the racecar came back down on all fours, with Neat still firmly in the throttle, only losing one position, momentarily to Fitzgerald. The DWB, Scoggins and the X-MAN reared the first yellow tangling the exit of turn four on the next circuit. The field then set up for the first DELEWARE DOUBLE-FILE restart with Fitzgerald, Neat, Perry and Jacobsen lining-up behind McDowell. Wasting no time, McDowell raced back away, riding a high-line as Owens got a heck-o-va restart coming to 3rd after restarting 6th.

With the O'SHOW now in the frame, Fitzgerald had to contend with Rogers with 1999 O'SAS champ Perry waining just outside the top 5. On lap 16 battling for position with Ogle Jr., Gibson got up into the turn one wall to rear a yellow. Neat chose the inside line on the subsequent DDF restart and Owens drove by easily to take over second officially. The O'SHOW began working the track, staying with McDowell on the higher side for the most part, but checking out the bottom on numberous occasions, for when back-markers came into play. And 'boy did they ever… Local racer Barnett climbed the turn 3 wall on lap 24 and got tagged by Hill in the process, just as leader McDowell had committed high. McDADDY slammed into the two racers, hard enough to end his night with severe front-end damage. With that the NEWPORT NIGHTMARE showed the way, with Neat, Rogers, EJ and Perry following suit in the top 5. Back-markers spuratically littered the field, but Neat could only watch Owens in the distance. Rogers on the other hand had his hands full of the unmarked black # 5 'Hoosier Tire South, VP Racing Fuels' sponsored Bloomquist / Pro Power, Chevrolet, Monte Carlo of Jacobsen. whom was marking only his second visit to Cleveland Speedway.

The TEAM ZERO henchman worked past the # 44 'Greenville Forest Products, Goddard Performance, BKW Disaster Recovery & Rebuilders' sponsored Warrior / Vic Hill powered, Pontiac GTP on lap 40 for 3rd place. Three local Cleveland area racers battled for 5th when Burrows brought out the last caution of the night when he slowed his machine down the back-side of lap 43. Perry went to work on Rogers on the single file restart (inside 10 laps remaining according to O'SAS rules) but the # 16 'Choo Choo Materials, T.J. Hunt Trucking' sponsored Rayburn / Clements powered Chevy Monte Carlo was pressured by Mayo and Morrow. Arp was never a factor in claiming the $2,500. bonus, put up by Cleveland, TN area used car company and would have to settle for a top 10 run. COACH Payne, whom started both nights in the Top 10 locked-in from qualifying, lost one position at the checkers finishing 11th, with the DITCHDIGGER Ellis (a O'SAS RotY continder) making the most of the 50 lap feature gaining eleven (11) spots after starting 23rd with a provisional. Following Owens under the checkers was Neat, Jacobsen, Rogers and Perry offically. Other than McDowell's misfortune, Fitzgerald dropped the most in the race, by 9 spots, finishing 13th.

O'Reilly Southern All-Star series
Cleveland (TN) Speedway
50 Laps $5,000. to-Win

1. Jimmy Owens (# 20) of Newport, TN
2. Brad Neat (# 41) of Dunnville, KY
3. Eric Jacobsen (# 5) of Santa Cruz, CA
4. Rick Rogers (# 44) of Knoxville, TN
5. Jamie Perry (# 16) of Ringgold, GA
6. Billy Mayo (# 115) of Cleveland, TN
7. Todd Morrow (# T1) of Cleveland, TN
8. Skip Arp (# 97) of Georgetown, TN
9. Lamar Scoggins (# 32) of Cleveland, TN
10. Billy Ogle Jr. (# 201) of Knoxville, TN
11. David Payne (# 8) of Murphy, NC
12. Derek Ellis (# 99) of Chatsworth, GA
13. Jason Fitzgerald (# 7) of Jacksonville, FL
14. Anthony White (# 2x) of Clinton, TN
15. Ivedent Lloyd (# 21) of Ocala, FL
16. Anthony Hill (# 10) of Carrollton, GA
17. Randy Burrows (# 95) of Chattanooga, TN
18. Mark Vineyard (# 4) of Powell, TN
19. Dale McDowell (# 17M) of Chickamagua, GA
20. Cody Barnett (# 18) of Ringgold, GA
21. Kevin Gibson (# M45) of Ringgold, GA
22. Jake Knowles (# 66) of Tyrone, GA
23. Shawn Chastain (# X15) of Murphy, NC
24. David Crabtree (# c5) of Friendsville, TN

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