Michael Page Powers to First Southern Nationals Series Victory in Roscoe Smith Classic

(SENOIA, GEORGIA) Michael Page, of Douglasville, Georgia, secured the first Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series victory of his career on Saturday evening in the annual running of the ‘Roscoe Smith Classic’ at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia! After timing in third quickest in Group B during the qualifying session, Michael started the 44-lap feature event from the outside of the third row. He then rocketed past leader Payton Freeman on a lap 13 restart to grab the point and never looked back. Michael wound up winning by 3.380 seconds on the gray gumbo to earn the $7,544 first place prize in the event, which honored racing veteran Roscoe Smith.
 
Finishing behind the #18X at the unfurling of the checkered flag was runner-up Spencer Hughes, of Meridian, Mississippi. Spencer earned Fast Time honors during qualifying and ran amongst the leaders throughout the headliner before finally grabbing the second spot for good on the final circuit. Payton Freeman, who was Friday’s series winner at East Alabama Motor Speedway, paced the field for the first twelve circuits from the pole before placing third at the checkers. Austin Horton passed five race cars to land in the fourth spot, while Dalton Cook overcame an opening lap skirmish to claim the final position inside of the top five.
 
“This place will make you get up on the wheel,” exclaimed Page in Schaeffer’s Oil Victory Lane at the Atlanta-area facility. “If you slow down you get worse and if you drive like a maniac, you somehow get fast. You just hope you hit that restart right - Payton (Freeman) did what he was supposed to do to block it, but he left me just enough room. I had a run and didn’t know if I was going in the wall or going to take the lead. You just gotta take that chance and it worked, but sometimes it doesn’t work.”
 
A big field of 41 Super Late Model competitors showed up and showed out on Saturday at Senoia Raceway in the ‘Roscoe Smith Classic.’ Dylan Knowles topped the speed chart in Spring Pro Precision Equipment Hot Laps, while Spencer Hughes laid down the quickest time overall during FK Rod Ends qualifying. With the top four qualifiers in each group locked into the 44-lap main event, Austin Horton, Dylan Knowles, Mark Page, and Allen Styck emerged victorious in the four consolation races. The 22-car starting grid for the A-Main was rounded out by two series provisionals, which were awarded to Rookie of the Year Gavin Cowan and Caleb Gay.
 
A total of six caution flags slowed the action at Senoia Raceway including a pair of multi-car incidents at the initial start of the race. Allen Styck then slowed to bring out a yellow flag on lap 13 before a lap 23 caution to allow the ambulance out of the infield to attend to a medical emergency. Top ten running Mark Page then stopped in turn one on lap 32, while the final caution flag emerged on the restart when Kyler Haygood went for a solo spin. In front of a large crowd, the feature lasted 32 minutes in length with 14 competitors running at the finish of the ‘Roscoe Smith Classic.’
 
Schaeffer’s Oil Feature Finish (44 Laps):
 
1. (6) Michael Page
 
2. (2) Spencer Hughes
 
3. (1) Payton Freeman
 
4. (9) Austin Horton
 
5. (8) Dalton Cook
 
6. (4) Joey Armistead III
 
7. (5) Jordy Nipper
 
8. (14) Bubba Pollard
 
9. (16) Matt Dooley
 
10. (21) Gavin Cowan
 
11. (7) Jason Croft
 
12. (13) Kyler Haygood
 
13. (19) Corey Roulette
 
14. (22) Caleb Gay
 
15. (11) Dylan Knowles
 
16. (10) Mark Page
 
17. (17) Dusty Jones
 
18. (20) Haiden Cowan
 
19. (12) Allen Styck
 
20. (3) Austin Smith
 
21. (15) Colton Leyendecker
 
22. (18) Dillon Tidmore
 
Entries: 41
 
Lap Leaders: Payton Freeman (Laps 1-12), Michael Page (Laps 13-44)
 
Final Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Point Standings
 
1. Donald McIntosh - 1158
 
2. Cory Hedgecock - 1148
 
3. Gavin Cowan [R] - 1106
 
4. Benji Hicks - 1102
 
5. Stacy Boles - 1016
 
6. Dale McDowell - 992
 
7. Mike Benedum - 920
 
8. Chris Madden - 728
 
9. Brandon Overton - 544
 
10. Ricky Weiss - 534
 
* Drivers dropped their worst race following the point finale at Tazewell
 
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