February 1, 2025 — In an attrition-filled contest on Saturday afternoon at I-75 Raceway, Cory Hedgecock defended his home turf and dominated the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series (SAS) presented by Franklin Enterprises season opener to claim his fourth career series victory!  Cory knocked down the quickest lap overall during VP Racing Fuels qualifying to earn the pole position for the 40-lap lid lifter.  From there, the Loudon, Tennessee ace took the lead at the drop of the green flag in the daytime affair and never looked back – despite a rash of stoppages and restarts.

Cory finished 1.767 seconds ahead of runner-up Billy Franklin at the unfurling of the checkered flag to bag the $5,000 first place prize in the inaugural Winter Championships at the nearby Sweetwater, Tennessee venue.  Fourth-starting Franklin moved up to second on a lap-seven restart and held the bridesmaid spot throughout the remainder of the race.  His son Kendall Franklin improved ten positions to round out the podium in third.  Those drivers were the only three to complete all forty circuits, as the rest of the field encountered issues during the caution-plagued event that was slowed by seven yellow flags and two red flag situations.

“The car felt really good,” quoted Hedgecock after his first triumph of the young 2025 campaign.  “Sometimes I’d pick up a shove, but I feel like if I slowed down I was better.  I wasn’t trying to run too hard, I thought we were okay out front.  Overall it was good, it was the right tire choice and they really didn’t even wear at all.  I have to thank everyone that plays a part in our program – it’s awesome to start out our year with a win!”

Hedgecock’s #23v BMF Race Car was powered by an Eagle Racing Engine with sponsorship in part from Best Plumber, K&P Used Cars, Base Fuels, Integra Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, SFP Performance, Currin Construction, Circle H Services, CH Enterprises, Pro-Fabrication, Viper Motorsports, Arizona Sportswear, CDE Electric, Majestic Mobile Detail, Winters Performance, Quickcar Racing Products, Brucebilt Performance, Top Notch Kustom Koncepts, Stakt, Wiles Driveshafts, Wieland, Wilwood Engineering, Allstar Performance, KRC, Delph Communications, Schaeffer’s Oil, Hypercoils, XS Power, and Hoosier Racing Tire.

A total of 22 SAS competitors were on hand for Saturday’s Winter Championships at I-75 Raceway, which marked the start of the 2025 season for both the track and the series.  Dillon Tidmore, of Gadsden, Alabama, started off the day by going quickest in J&J Construction Hot Laps aboard Joe Denby’s back-up #27T machine.  Tidmore then abruptly scratched from the program when Ronnie Johnson took over Denby’s second racecar due to his familiar #5 entry suffering terminal mechanical woes.  The starting grid for the 40-lapper was set solely off of qualifying with Cory Hedgecock earning the pole with his fast lap of 13.849 seconds.

Next up for the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series presented by Franklin Enterprises will be a similar $5,000 to win throwdown on Saturday, February 22 at Buckshot Speedway in Clanton, Alabama.  More information on this single-day show can be found online by pointing your web browser to www.buckshotspeedway.com. 

Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series presented by Franklin Enterprises
Round 1 Race Summary
Saturday, February 1, 2025
I-75 Raceway – Sweetwater, Tennessee
American Racer Tires Feature Finish (40 Laps):

1. (1) Cory Hedgecock $5,000
2. (4) Billy Franklin $2,500
3. (13) Kendall Franklin $1,500
4. (11) Joe Denby $1,200
5. (15) Joshua Chesney $1,000
6. (2) Jordan Rodabaugh $800
7. (6) Christian Hanger $750
8. (3) Ronnie Johnson $700
9. (18) Matthew Brocato $650
10. (12) John Ownbey $600
11. (19) Michael Luna $550
12. (5) Skip Arp $525
13. (9) Will Hicks $500
14. (17) Michael Mims $475
15. (20) Dakota Smith $450
16. (7) Kyle Courtney $440
17. (8) Andy Picklesimer $430′
18. (10) Hayden Ownbey $420
19. (16) Andy Standridge $410
20. (DNS) Cameron Hawkins
21. (DNS) Dillon Tidmore
22. (DNS) Steve Smith

Entries:  22
Lap Leaders:  Cory Hedgecock (Laps 1-40)
Caution Flags:  7 – Lap 2 (Multi-car Tangle on Front Stretch), Lap 7 (Michael Luna Slows on Backstretch), Lap 19 (Debris), Lap 26 (John Ownbey Slows in Turn Four), Lap 36 (Matthew Brocato Stops on Track), Lap 36 Restart (Christian Hanger Slows with Smoke), Lap 37 (Joe Denby Slows on Frontstretch)
Red Flags:  2 – Lap 7 Restart (Kyle Courtney Bicycles in Turn Three and Goes Over Banking), Lap 12 (Will Hicks Hard into Frontstretch Wall)

J&J Construction Hot Laps:
Fastest Lap Overall:  Dillon Tidmore

VP Racing Fuels Time Trials:
Fast Time Overall:  Cory Hedgecock 13.849

Qualifying:  1. 23-Cory Hedgecock, 00:13.849[15]; 2. 66-Jordan Rodabaugh, 00:14.240[13]; 3. 27T-Ronnie Johnson, 00:14.353[14]; 4. 17-Billy Franklin, 00:14.462[20]; 5. 31-Skip Arp, 00:14.579[3]; 6. 376-Christian Hanger, 00:14.603[8]; 7. 171-Kyle Courtney, 00:14.622[12]; 8. 2-Andy Picklesimer, 00:14.632[11]; 9. 15-Will Hicks, 00:14.738[2]; 10. 18-Hayden Ownbey, 00:14.919[9]; 11. 27-Joe Denby, 00:14.928[19]; 12. 44-John Ownbey, 00:15.071[5]; 13. 317-Kendall Franklin, 00:15.078[6]; 14. C4-Cameron Hawkins, 00:15.089[16]; 15. 5-Joshua Chesney, 00:15.213[17]; 16. 156-Andy Standridge, 00:15.356[22]; 17. 75M-Michael Mims, 00:15.383[10]; 18. 78-Matthew Brocato, 00:15.540[4]; 19. 63-Michael Luna, 00:15.819[21]; 20. 3D-Dakota Smith, 00:16.320[7]; 21. (DNS) 27X-Dillon Tidmore; 22. (DNS) 3-Steve Smith

Front Wheel Drive Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. D21-Dustin Duncan[1]; 2. 08-Jacob Sharp[2]; 3. B56-Brandon Porstner[5]; 4. 206-Allen Vaughn[13]; 5. 23-Austin Maples[9]; 6. 17-Dustin Holt[15]; 7. 117-Rick Beales[11]; 8. 85-Travis Weeks[8]; 9. 11-Dakota Lamping[14]; 10. 22-Caleb Manning[12]; 11. 3-Frankie Sharp[6]; 12. D9-Ronald Daniels[10]; 13. 18-James Burnette[4]; 14. 33-Eric Bryant[18]; 15. 10-Colby Long[16]; 16. 16-Jake Ware[17]; 17. 13B-Jesse Brock[19]; 18. 1 2-Nick Adams[3]; 19. 69-Josh Chastain[7]; 20. (DNS) 82-Taylor Gregory

Hot Lap/Qualify: 1. D21-Dustin Duncan, 00:18.021[8]; 2. 08-Jacob Sharp, 00:18.827[17]; 3. 1 2-Nick Adams, 00:18.843[1]; 4. 18-James Burnette, 00:19.315[5]; 5. B56-Brandon Porstner, 00:19.366[15]; 6. 3-Frankie Sharp, 00:19.447[16]; 7. 69-Josh Chastain, 00:19.495[6]; 8. 85-Travis Weeks, 00:19.537[20]; 9. 23-Austin Maples, 00:19.669[14]; 10. D9-Ronald Daniels, 00:19.718[7]; 11. 117-Rick Beales, 00:19.739[2]; 12. 22-Caleb Manning, 00:19.870[13]; 13. 206-Allen Vaughn, 00:19.936[18]; 14. 11-Dakota Lamping, 00:19.962[11]; 15. 17-Dustin Holt, 00:20.356[10]; 16. 10-Colby Long, 00:20.367[12]; 17. 16-Jake Ware, 00:20.396[19]; 18. 33-Eric Bryant, 00:20.460[4]; 19. 13B-Jesse Brock, 00:20.678[3]; 20. 82-Taylor Gregory, 00:23.922[9]

KMSA/SM4MA Mini Stock Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 51-Cody Keith[4]; 2. D1-Nathan Davis[3]; 3. D3-Jeremy Davis[1]; 4. 87-Bryan Hale[5]; 5. 69-Ricky Brown[6]; 6. 1L-Johnny Lay[10]; 7. S1-John Smartt[2]; 8. 32-Doc Burke[9]; 9. 58-Thomas Mares[15]; 10. 8-James Frost[8]; 11. 20-Kenneth Daniels[13]; 12. 20G-Nikita Wright[12]; 13. 21-James Smith[11]; 14. 39-Rick Morgan[19]; 15. 1-Levi Fox[17]; 16. 24-Doug Price[14]; 17. (DNS) 12-Dustin Stephens; 18. (DNS) J4-Jerry Spence; 19. (DNS) 3G-Benjamin Gallaher; 20. (DNS) 2-Dakota Price

Qualifying: 1. D3-Jeremy Davis, 00:17.634[20]; 2. S1-John Smartt, 00:17.675[15]; 3. D1-Nathan Davis, 00:17.691[6]; 4. 51-Cody Keith, 00:17.765[9]; 5. 87-Bryan Hale, 00:18.646[7]; 6. 69-Ricky Brown, 00:18.828[14]; 7. 12-Dustin Stephens, 00:18.837[13]; 8. 8-James Frost, 00:19.074[16]; 9. 32-Doc Burke, 00:19.336[1]; 10. 1L-Johnny Lay, 00:19.491[17]; 11. 21-James Smith, 00:19.944[10]; 12. 20G-Nikita Wright, 00:20.156[12]; 13. 20-Kenneth Daniels, 00:20.382[11]; 14. 24-Doug Price, 00:20.692[18]; 15. 58-Thomas Mares, 00:21.803[5]; 16. J4-Jerry Spence, 00:21.896[2]; 17. 1-Levi Fox, 00:22.035[3]; 18. (DNS) 3G-Benjamin Gallaher; 19. (DNS) 39-Rick Morgan; 20. (DNS) 2-Dakota Price

604 Late Model Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell[1]; 2. 7T-Tyler Price[2]; 3. C11-Cody Courtney[3]; 4. 17-Josh Henry[5]; 5. 20J-Jonathan Ellison[4]; 6. 10-Dustin Williams[6]

Qualifying: 1. 07-Hayden Cardwell, 00:14.725[5]; 2. 7T-Tyler Price, 00:15.064[2]; 3. C11-Cody Courtney, 00:15.293[6]; 4. 20J-Jonathan Ellison, 00:15.417[1]; 5. 17-Josh Henry, 00:15.493[4]; 6. 10-Dustin Williams, 00:16.446[3]

Open Wheel Modified Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 13-David Clark[1]; 2. 2H-Josh Hampton[2]; 3. 1-Ronnie Bryant[4]; 4. 83-Justin Parker[7]; 5. J29-Jerry Hendrix[3]; 6. 10-Richie Standridge[5]; 7. (DNS) J31-Brandon James

Hot Lap/Qualify: 1. 13-David Clark, 00:15.386[1]; 2. 2H-Josh Hampton, 00:15.704[2]; 3. J29-Jerry Hendrix, 00:16.479[6]; 4. 1-Ronnie Bryant, 00:16.581[4]; 5. 10-Richie Standridge, 00:16.609[5]; 6. J31-Brandon James, 00:16.965[3]; 7. 83-Justin Parker, 00:17.127[7]

602 Late Model Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 148-Booger Brooks[1]; 2. 16-Dawson Lowe[3]; 3. 52-Hayden Swaney[2]; 4. 44-Sam Green[6]; 5. 369-John Snow[8]; 6. H31-Shannon Helton[7]; 7. 5-Curtis Thomas[4]; 8. 52D-Jason Davis[5]; 9. 368-Gary Levi[10]; 10. (DNS) 287-Mike Levi

Hot Lap/Qualify: 1. 148-Booger Brooks, 00:15.618[7]; 2. 52-Hayden Swaney, 00:15.726[2]; 3. 16-Dawson Lowe, 00:15.781[5]; 4. 5-Curtis Thomas, 00:15.797[6]; 5. 52D-Jason Davis, 00:15.985[8]; 6. 44-Sam Green, 00:16.265[3]; 7. H31-Shannon Helton, 00:16.712[10]; 8. 369-John Snow, 00:16.732[4]; 9. 287-Mike Levi, 00:17.337[1]; 10. 368-Gary Levi, 00:18.186[9]

Street Stock Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 10-Eric Hughes[1]; 2. 20-Johnny Hughes[6]; 3. 21-Johnny Lay[2]; 4. 15-Lamar Hughes[4]; 5. 88-Sam Burgess[3]; 6. 3W-Scott Smith[7]; 7. 1-Cody Satterfield[8]; 8. 19-Austin Helton[5]; 9. 27-Dustin Brown[10]; 10. 7-Dylan Boggs[11]; 11. 77-Brandon Griswold[9]; 12. 65-Raygen Shepherd[12]

Hot Lap Qualify: 1. 10-Eric Hughes, 00:17.254[5]; 2. 21-Johnny Lay, 00:17.560[3]; 3. 88-Sam Burgess, 00:17.728[12]; 4. 15-Lamar Hughes, 00:17.796[11]; 5. 19-Austin Helton, 00:18.053[4]; 6. 20-Johnny Hughes, 00:18.203[6]; 7. 3W-Scott Smith, 00:18.273[1]; 8. 1-Cody Satterfield, 00:18.351[2]; 9. 77-Brandon Griswold, 00:18.498[9]; 10. 27-Dustin Brown, 00:18.948[7]; 11. 7-Dylan Boggs, 00:19.074[10]; 12. 65-Raygen Shepherd, 00:19.546[8]

B-Sportsman Results from Winter Championships 2/1/2025
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 01-Landon Nix[2]; 2. 44R-Camden Randolph[1]; 3. 44-Austin White[3]; 4. 11-Landon Beeler[4]; 5. 414-Jacob Weaver[5]; 6. (DNS) 316-Michael Weaver

Hot Lap Qualify: 1. 44R-Camden Randolph, 00:15.891[5]; 2. 01-Landon Nix, 00:16.319[2]; 3. 44-Austin White, 00:16.833[4]; 4. 11-Landon Beeler, 00:16.994[6]; 5. 414-Jacob Weaver, 00:17.631[3]; 6. 316-Michael Weaver, 00:17.631[1]

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