Smoky Mountain Speedway Releases Schedule for 2021 Season!

(December 28, 2020) Plans are coming together for the 2021 racing season at Smoky Mountain Speedway! Lots of exciting things are planned including a massive amount of money on the line for our national and regional racing stars with the biggest weekend in the history of Smoky Mountain in July 2021 when the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series comes to town competing for over $125,000 in two nights, plus a $10,000 to win event in August for the American Crate All Stars Series, also the largest purse offered for 604 crate late models in the history of the speedway. (Heath Lawson Photo)

The 2021 schedule features 10 scheduled events with visits by Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, World of Outlaws Late Model Series, Southern All Stars, Schaeffer Oil Spring Nationals, Iron-Man Championship Late Models and Open Wheel Modifieds, American Crate All Stars, Topless Outlaws, Kajun Mini Stocks, and more!! Complete details regarding support divisions and rules for 2021 will be posted soon! Thanks for your past support of Smoky Mountain Speedway and we look forward to seeing everyone in a few months. | full story

McDowell, Beets, & Whitehead Close Out '20 Season with Victories!

(October 17, 2020) Night number of two of the King of the Mountain Championship Weekend saw champions crowned in the Southern All-Stars, American Crate All-Stars, and sportsman late models. Thirty-four drivers signed in for the $7,000 to win Southern All-Stars finale. Dalton Cook and Dale McDowell were the fastest qualifiers in each group heading into heat race action. Ashton Winger, Dale McDowell, Zach Leonhardi, and Ricky Weiss were heat race winners. (MRM Racing Photos)

As the race went to green, McDowell grabbed the lead over Winger. Sam Seawright moved up a row after Leonhardi elected to start the race from the rear with technical issues. Seawright moved around Weiss for third. Following a lap 21 caution, Winger opted to restart on the outside in an effort to find a way around McDowell. A lap later, Winger went into turn 1 too high and got into the wall. Dakotah Knuckles and Austin Smith were also collected.

With Seawright now in second, Weiss began pressure for the spot. Weiss eventually took the position and chased down McDowell. Weiss had nothing as McDowell cruised to the win. Weiss finished second and Seawright came home in third. Billy Franklin clinched the Southern All-Stars championship for 2020 and Sam Seawright was the series rookie of the year. | full story

King of the Mountain Opener Wins to McDowell, Hedgecock, & Miller

(October 16, 2020) Night one of the King of the Mountain Championship weekend started with 108 drivers in attendance in three classes. In Southern All-Stars action, Ricky Weiss took the early lead as Dale McDowell and Ashton Winger quickly got by Donald McIntosh for second. Weiss and McDowell pulled away from the rest of the field. Weiss maintained the lead after a lap 7 caution. But McDowell tracked down Weiss to begin a battle for the lead. (MRM Racing Photos)

McDowell passed Weiss on lap 21 to take the lead. But Weiss returned the favor a lap later only to see the pass wiped out for a caution. McDowell held off Weiss in the final laps to win for the first night of the Southern All-Stars program. Weiss was credited for second and Sam Seawright came from 11th starting spot to finish third. | full story

Mike Marlar Rolls to Schaeffer's Oil Fall Nationals Victory!

(September 5, 2020) Mike Marlar came to Smoky Mountain Speedway for a bit of a test run and came away as the winner in Saturday night's Rockin' With The Stars Schaeffer's Fall Nationals. Vic Hill started the race from the pole and quickly took the lead over Marlar. Dale McDowell passed Jensen Ford to take third. McDowell began to battle Marlar for second. Hill put some distance between the two cars as they swapped second place several times. The high side of the track came in for Marlar and pulled away from McDowell. Marlar ran down Hill and began pressuring him for the lead. Hill got into the cushion on lap 27 allowing Marlar and McDowell to get by. Marlar seemed to be on cruise control until Austin Kilpatrick chased down the leader. Marlar moved to the bottom to take away Kilpatrick's line and went on to grab the win. (MRM Racing Photos)

Chase King and Kyle Courtney led the limited late model feature to green from the front row. King took the early lead with close pressure from Courtney. Skip Arp and Aaron Guinn battled for third and the pair eventually caught Courtney. The trio battled for the second spot with Courtney coming out ahead of Arp. Arp continued to pressure Courtney for second. Meanwhile, King cruised to the win with Courtney and Arp finishing second and third respectively. | full story

McDowell, Arp, Emert, & Dalton Score Smoky Mountain Wins!

(August 8, 2020) The Schaeffer’s Iron Man Championship Series visited Smoky Mountain Speedway for the 16th annual Iron Man Classic. Dale McDowell came from 7th starting spot to win and claim the $5,000 top prize. Donald McIntosh and Cory Hedgecock were the quickest qualifiers in each respective group of qualifying and earned the front row for the 40-lap feature. McIntosh fought off Hedgecock to take the initial lead. By lap 2, McDowell was already in third place and was looking for more after a quick caution. Back under green, McIntosh pulled away from Hedgecock while McDowell maintained third. The front three cars stayed close to each other even as the lead trio negotiated slower traffic. (MRM Racing Photos)

Just after the halfway mark, McDowell passes Hedgecock for second. McDowell closed in on McIntosh and the two began swapping the lead back and forth. As the front two cars were trading the lead, Hedgecock used a burst of momentum to try to pass both McIntosh and McDowell. Hedgecock tried to pull a slider in a bid for the lead. But McIntosh and McDowell had their momentum and resumed their battle. McDowell finally grabbed the lead on lap 34 and went on to grab the win. McIntosh held off Hedgecock for second. | full story

Chris Madden Rockets to $10,053 Southern Nationals Win!

(July 10, 2020) It did not take long for Chris Madden to find victory lane in his new ride. Madden won his first time out in Friday's Schaeffer's Southern Nationals race with Millwood Motorsports. Ross Bailes shot out to the early lead of the 53-lap race. Madden wasted no time moving from the 5th starting spot into second by lap 2. Following a caution on lap 2, David Payne was involved in a rollover crash following the restart. Payne was uninjured. (MRM Racing Photos)

The race resumed and Madden pressured Bailes for the lead. Madden made the pass on lap 9 and set sail as the race went caution free following the two cautions on lap 2. Dale McDowell moved into second and tracked down Madden as the leaders navigated through slower traffic. McDowell moved beside Madden in a battle for the lead in the closing laps. Madden held off those challenges and won round 1 of the Schaeffer's Southern Nationals. | full story

Overton Wins Mountain Moonshine Classic at Smoky Mountain Speedway

(June 13, 2020) Brandon Overton held off several challenges in a furious finish to win the Mountain Moonshine Classic on Saturday Night at Smoky Mountain Speedway. He earned the $15,000 payday for his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season in front of a record-setting crowd. Overton also became the sixth different winner in the six appearances by the series at Smoky Mountain Speedway. (MRM Racing Photos)

Overton had to hold off Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Owens, and Josh Richards in the closing laps to win the 60-lap event. Earl Pearson Jr. completed the top five drivers.

Sheppard took the early lead of the race and held the point until Overton was able to mount a charge and catch him. Overton briefly cleared Sheppard heading down the backstretch, but Sheppard was able to get by Overton at the start-finish line. Overton was not finished, he squeezed by on the bottom to take the lead on lap 27. Meanwhile, Owens caught up to Sheppard and the two drivers ran side-by-side for the second spot. The last 30 laps were spectacular as Richards started making up distance on the top three. Overton began battling heavy traffic and things got interesting for the top position late in the race. As the laps wound down, Owens yielded the second spot to Sheppard who cut dramatically into Overton's lead with five laps to go. Overton was able to work enough distance between himself, Sheppard, and Owens to come home with the win. | full results

Randy Weaver Returns to Smoky Mountain Victory Lane!

(May 23, 2020) Randy Weaver made his way back to victory lane in taking Saturday’s American Crate All-Stars race. Cory Hedgecock took the lead from the pole position with Weaver quickly settling into second. Following a caution on lap 13, Weaver began to turn up the heat on Hedgecock. Weaver kept looking to the outside to make the pass. Hedgecock moved up to take away Weaver’s line. Weaver then dropped to the bottom to grab the lead before the halfway point of the race. Weaver held on to win over Hedgecock and Eli Beets. (MRM Racing Photos)

The Topless Outlaw Late Model Series made their first ever visit to Smoky Mountain Speedway. Cory Hedgecock and Jesse Lowe led the field to green. Hedgecock grabbed the lead over Lowe with Kyle Courtney close by. Hedgecock put some distance over the field in cruising to the win over a hard charging Chase King and Courtney. Travis Fultz took the Sportsman late model win. Fultz got the early lead over Jed Emert. Fultz eventually put distance between himself and Emert in cruising to the win. | full results

Marlar Madness; Tennessean Slides Weiss to Win at Smoky Mountain!

(March 7, 2020) Just like on the college basketball court, Saturday night’s World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series race featured two of the best in the sport up against each other with the pressure on the line and a big trophy awaiting the winner. By the time 60 laps around Smoky Mountain Speedway were complete, the packed grandstands had been treated to an incredible race that saw home-state hero Mike Marlar regain the lead after a late restart and bring it back to the checkered flag for his first ever Tennessee Tipoff victory. (MRM Racing Photos)

The 2018 Series champion made the winning move on 2019 Rookie of the Year Ricky Weiss in a big slidejob for the lead with just over two laps remaining to secure the victory, Weiss settling for the runner-up spot. Josh Richards crossed in third after a climb from 10th and strong presence inside the top-five all race long.

Polesitter Chris Madden, of Gray Court, SC, led the field to the drop of the green with Brandon Sheppard and Marlar, from Winfield, TN, on his heels as he pulled away to a nice gap before suffering a reported power steering issue on lap 25, ending his night early. By then, Weiss had made his way to the runner-up position from eighth, picking off cars one at a time down low before inheriting the lead from Madden’s misfortune under the caution. | full results

 

 

 

Tweets by smokymtnspeed