October 25, 2025 — For the first time in his career, Cory Hedgecock is a ‘Tarheel 53’ winner! The Loudon, Tennessee ace made the short trip to I-75 Raceway on Saturday and proved to be the class of the field in the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series presented by Franklin Enterprises finale. After picking up a heat race triumph to earn the pole position for the 53-lap headliner, Cory led each and every circuit around the Sweetwater, Tennessee oval to pocket the $10,053 paycheck for his third series victory of the year.

Finishing 3.415 seconds back at the unfurling of the checkered flag was outside polesitter Brody Smith. The young Floridian won his heat race in preliminary action and ran in the second spot early in the contest before regaining the runner-up position for good on lap 42. Bobby Giffin blasted past fourteen competitors to round out the podium in third. John Ownbey moved past five cars to finish in fourth, while Cruz Skinner nabbed the final spot inside of the top five.

After the dust had settled at I-75 Raceway and the final points were tabulated, Billy Franklin was awarded his second Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series Championship and an additional $10,000 in prize money. With the worst two races for each driver dropped following the ‘Tarheel 53,’ Billy leapfrogged Ronnie Johnson in the final point tally to secure his first Championship since 2020. Johnson finished second in points and received $5,000 for his yearlong efforts. Kendall Franklin was third in SAS points, while Michael Luna was paid for fourth and Rookie of the Year honors.

“We had a good car,” simply stated Cory Hedgecock in victory lane following the race. “Those cautions at the end weren’t real fun, but we’ll take them any way we can get them and bag this race at home. It’s good to get a Tarheel 53 title. We tried it once over at Tri-County Race Track (Brasstown, North Carolina), but we can’t hit our butt down there. Glad to get this win at home and thanks to everyone who supports this race team!”

The winning Hedgecock steered a #23V Longhorn Chassis powered by an Eagle Racing Engine with sponsorship in part from Base Racing Fuel, Integra Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Circle H Services, CH Enterprises, Pro-Fabrication, Viper Motorsports, Arizona Sportswear, Majestic Mobile Detail, Winters Performance, Quickcar Racing Products, 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 27 competitors piled into the I-75 Raceway pit area on Saturday for the 2025 edition of the ‘Tarheel 53.’ Cory Hedgecock went quickest during MRP Fantasy Racing hot laps with a time of 13.820 seconds, while Garrett Smith topped the speed chart during VP Racing Fuels qualifying with his fast lap of 14.136 seconds. Hedgecock, Brody Smith, and Payton Stevenson secured victories in the trio of heat races, while Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Ronnie Johnson won the lone B-Main. SAS provisionals were awarded to Michael Luna and Will Hicks.

Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series
A Feature 1 (53 Laps): 1. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[1]; 2. 17SR-Brody Smith[2]; 3. 97-Bobby Giffin[17]; 4. 44-John Ownbey[9]; 5. 18-Cruz Skinner[6]; 6. 8-David Payne[10]; 7. 10-Garrett Smith[4]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 9. 20-Daniel Boles[8]; 10. 56H-Jordon Horton[15]; 11. 17-Billy Franklin[19]; 12. 317-Kendall Franklin[14]; 13. 00-Ruben Mayfield[18]; 14. 15-Will Hicks[22]; 15. C5-David Crabtree[5]; 16. 66-Jordan Rodabaugh[13]; 17. 18P-Gray Parton[12]; 18. 3D-Dakota Smith[20]; 19. 5-Ronnie Johnson[16]; 20. 112-Michael Luna[21]; 21. 91-Heath Hindman[11]; 22. 24-Payton Stevenson[3]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 5-Ronnie Johnson[1]; 2. 97-Bobby Giffin[4]; 3. 00-Ruben Mayfield[2]; 4. 17-Billy Franklin[3]; 5. 3D-Dakota Smith[7]; 6. 95-Alex Vance[10]; 7. 29-Evan Harrell[5]; 8. 3-Steve Smith[6]; 9. 112-Michael Luna[8]; 10. 15-Will Hicks[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[2]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 3. 17SS-Brenden Smith[4]; 4. 8-David Payne[3]; 5. 66-Jordan Rodabaugh[8]; 6. 5-Ronnie Johnson[5]; 7. 97-Bobby Giffin[6]; 8. 3D-Dakota Smith[7]; 9. (DNS) R1-Riley Hickman

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17SR-Brody Smith[1]; 2. C5-David Crabtree[2]; 3. 20-Daniel Boles[4]; 4. 91-Heath Hindman[6]; 5. 317-Kendall Franklin[3]; 6. 00-Ruben Mayfield[5]; 7. 29-Evan Harrell[7]; 8. 112-Michael Luna[8]; 9. (DNS) 22T-Karl Tipton

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Payton Stevenson[1]; 2. 18-Cruz Skinner[3]; 3. 44-John Ownbey[9]; 4. 18P-Gray Parton[2]; 5. 56H-Jordon Horton[4]; 6. 17-Billy Franklin[6]; 7. 3-Steve Smith[8]; 8. 15-Will Hicks[7]; 9. 95-Alex Vance[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:14.136[25]; 2. 17SR-Brody Smith, 00:14.250[14]; 3. 24-Payton Stevenson, 00:14.348[22]; 4. 23V-Cory Hedgecock, 00:14.388[24]; 5. C5-David Crabtree, 00:14.407[8]; 6. 18P-Gray Parton, 00:14.422[3]; 7. 8-David Payne, 00:14.437[13]; 8. 317-Kendall Franklin, 00:14.487[19]; 9. 18-Cruz Skinner, 00:14.498[26]; 10. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:14.584[5]; 11. 20-Daniel Boles, 00:14.640[18]; 12. 56H-Jordon Horton, 00:14.661[7]; 13. 5-Ronnie Johnson, 00:14.672[15]; 14. 00-Ruben Mayfield, 00:14.675[10]; 15. 95-Alex Vance, 00:14.697[20]; 16. 97-Bobby Giffin, 00:14.702[12]; 17. 91-Heath Hindman, 00:14.752[2]; 18. 17-Billy Franklin, 00:14.817[17]; 19. 3D-Dakota Smith, 00:14.836[27]; 20. 29-Evan Harrell, 00:14.985[1]; 21. 15-Will Hicks, 00:15.129[11]; 22. 66-Jordan Rodabaugh, 00:15.281[9]; 23. 112-Michael Luna, 00:15.769[16]; 24. 3-Steve Smith, 00:16.019[4]; 25. (DQ) R1-Riley Hickman, 00:14.330[23]; 26. (DNS) 22T-Karl Tipton; 27. (DNS) 44-John Ownbey

Hot Laps 1: 1. 23V-Cory Hedgecock, 00:13.820[24]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:13.985[25]; 3. 18-Cruz Skinner, 00:14.291[26]; 4. 24-Payton Stevenson, 00:14.320[22]; 5. C5-David Crabtree, 00:14.395[8]; 6. R1-Riley Hickman, 00:14.593[23]; 7. 20-Daniel Boles, 00:14.596[18]; 8. 317-Kendall Franklin, 00:14.624[19]; 9. 95-Alex Vance, 00:14.653[20]; 10. 44-John Ownbey, 00:14.689[21]; 11. 17-Billy Franklin, 00:14.728[17]; 12. 3D-Dakota Smith, 00:14.772[27]; 13. 66-Jordan Rodabaugh, 00:14.813[9]; 14. 5-Ronnie Johnson, 00:14.923[15]; 15. 18P-Gray Parton, 00:14.995[3]; 16. 00-Ruben Mayfield, 00:15.005[10]; 17. 8-David Payne, 00:15.022[13]; 18. 17SR-Brody Smith, 00:15.084[14]; 19. 56H-Jordon Horton, 00:15.220[7]; 20. 91-Heath Hindman, 00:15.324[2]; 21. 97-Bobby Giffin, 00:15.341[12]; 22. 15-Will Hicks, 00:15.393[11]; 23. 17SS-Brenden Smith, 00:15.396[5]; 24. 29-Evan Harrell, 00:15.644[1]; 25. 3-Steve Smith, 00:16.209[4]; 26. 112-Michael Luna, 00:16.238[16]; 27. 22T-Karl Tipton, 00:16.466[6]

Thunder
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 1-Roger Smith[2]; 2. 5-Tony Walker[4]; 3. 25-John Walker[7]; 4. 71-Clarrissa Stewart[6]; 5. 7-Doug Guider[8]; 6. 65-Raygen Shepherd[1]; 7. (DNS) 44-Tim Nolan; 8. (DNS) 3X-Curtis Smith; 9. (DNS) 27-Dustin Brown; 10. (DNS) 00-Bubba Choate

Hot Lap Qualify: 1. 65-Raygen Shepherd, 00:18.240[9]; 2. 1-Roger Smith, 00:19.002[5]; 3. 44-Tim Nolan, 00:19.206[1]; 4. 5-Tony Walker, 00:19.429[3]; 5. 3X-Curtis Smith, 00:19.933[7]; 6. 71-Clarrissa Stewart, 00:20.300[2]; 7. 25-John Walker, 00:20.354[4]; 8. 7-Doug Guider, 00:20.717[8]; 9. (DNS) 27-Dustin Brown; 10. (DNS) 00-Bubba Choate

Enduro
A Feature 1 (100 Laps): 1. 31-Josh Rholetter[10]; 2. 57-Chris Meinders[11]; 3. 21X-Travis Banther[5]; 4. 8-Chris Harvell[25]; 5. 26C-Carson Venable[13]; 6. 1-Zack Meinders[6]; 7. 30-Jason Lewis[12]; 8. 33-Ronnie Penson[24]; 9. 34-Randy Bailey[14]; 10. R1-Josh Brogdon[7]; 11. X32-Jim Exum[8]; 12. 7R-Dan Roberts[18]; 13. 10-Jason Dye[23]; 14. 01-David Stonebrooke[20]; 15. 66-Charlie Meinders[22]; 16. 177-JJ Coggins[2]; 17. 057-Kendall Meinders[3]; 18. 95-Alex Vance[1]; 19. 20-Josh Lemley[21]; 20. 71-John Burger[9]; 21. 7-Corey Vickers[19]; 22. 99-Josh Milner[17]; 23. 90-Bart Vance[15]; 24. 77-Matthew Lane[4]; 25. 1T-Kirk Turner[16]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 31-Josh Rholetter, 00:19.208[9]; 2. 57-Chris Meinders, 00:19.497[10]; 3. 8-Chris Harvell, 00:19.507[23]; 4. 66-Charlie Meinders, 00:19.593[20]; 5. 7-Corey Vickers, 00:19.858[18]; 6. 34-Randy Bailey, 00:19.946[13]; 7. X32-Jim Exum, 00:19.953[7]; 8. 71-John Burger, 00:19.978[8]; 9. 7R-Dan Roberts, 00:20.031[17]; 10. 20-Josh Lemley, 00:20.057[19]; 11. 1-Zack Meinders, 00:20.073[5]; 12. 33-Ronnie Penson, 00:20.147[22]; 13. R1-Josh Brogdon, 00:20.216[6]; 14. 10-Jason Dye, 00:20.945[21]; 15. 177-JJ Coggins, 00:21.438[2]; 16. 057-Kendall Meinders, 00:21.555[3]; 17. (DNS) 95-Alex Vance; 18. (DNS) 21X-Travis Banther; 19. (DNS) 30-Jason Lewis; 20. (DNS) 26C-Carson Venable; 21. (DNS) 90-Bart Vance; 22. (DNS) 1T-Kirk Turner; 23. (DNS) 99-Josh Milner

Front Wheel Drive
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 56-Brandon Porstner[1]; 2. K3-James Klaucke[2]; 3. 32-Jeff Bloch[5]; 4. 12-Trent Lee[6]; 5. 4-Caleb Manning[7]; 6. J01-Jake Bumgarner[8]; 7. 55-Zachary Rains[11]; 8. 21H-Shayne Hawkins[9]; 9. 01-Noah McMurray[10]; 10. R13-Zach Roderick[3]; 11. 1M-Brandon Mink[12]; 12. 08-Daniel Beckham[4]

Hot Lap/Qualify: 1. 56-Brandon Porstner, 00:18.270[12]; 2. K3-James Klaucke, 00:18.828[11]; 3. R13-Zach Roderick, 00:18.935[1]; 4. 08-Daniel Beckham, 00:19.207[10]; 5. 32-Jeff Bloch, 00:19.457[9]; 6. 12-Trent Lee, 00:19.461[6]; 7. 4-Caleb Manning, 00:19.670[3]; 8. J01-Jake Bumgarner, 00:20.425[7]; 9. 21H-Shayne Hawkins, 00:20.599[8]; 10. 01-Noah McMurray, 00:22.506[2]; 11. 55-Zachary Rains, 00:22.534[4]; 12. 1M-Brandon Mink, 00:26.541[5]

604 Crate Late Models
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 23-Cory Hedgecock[6]; 2. 611-Koulten Herbert[1]; 3. Z1-Zach Shannon[7]; 4. 7T-Tiffany Hensley[9]; 5. 19V-Doug Van Den Brink[10]; 6. 70-Davin Cardwell[8]; 7. 01-Dylan Johnson[4]; 8. 12-Bryson Hogan[13]; 9. 369D-Keith Dishman[12]; 10. D16-Devin Mason[11]; 11. B01-Bryson Hickman[2]; 12. 4X-Chris Wilson[3]; 13. 369-Andy Picklesimer[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 611-Koulten Herbert, 00:15.236[9]; 2. B01-Bryson Hickman, 00:15.267[2]; 3. 4X-Chris Wilson, 00:15.308[12]; 4. 01-Dylan Johnson, 00:15.341[7]; 5. 369-Andy Picklesimer, 00:15.375[1]; 6. 23-Cory Hedgecock, 00:15.472[11]; 7. Z1-Zach Shannon, 00:15.642[3]; 8. 70-Davin Cardwell, 00:15.680[5]; 9. 7T-Tiffany Hensley, 00:15.934[8]; 10. 19V-Doug Van Den Brink, 00:15.977[6]; 11. D16-Devin Mason, 00:16.373[13]; 12. 369D-Keith Dishman, 00:16.605[10]; 13. 12-Bryson Hogan, 00:16.780[4]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 611-Koulten Herbert, 00:15.080[9]; 2. B01-Bryson Hickman, 00:15.187[2]; 3. 70-Davin Cardwell, 00:15.245[5]; 4. 4X-Chris Wilson, 00:15.477[12]; 5. Z1-Zach Shannon, 00:15.529[3]; 6. 369-Andy Picklesimer, 00:15.589[1]; 7. 01-Dylan Johnson, 00:16.032[7]; 8. 7T-Tiffany Hensley, 00:16.042[8]; 9. 19V-Doug Van Den Brink, 00:16.137[6]; 10. D16-Devin Mason, 00:16.368[13]; 11. 12-Bryson Hogan, 00:16.485[4]; 12. 369D-Keith Dishman, 00:16.499[10]; 13. (DNS) 23-Cory Hedgecock

B-Sportsman
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 8-Chris Lefever[1]; 2. 22-Jonathan McKenzie[2]; 3. 1C-Marshall Dishman[5]; 4. 23-Brandon Griswold[4]; 5. 8J-Jimbo Breland[7]; 6. 8G-Nick Griswold[3]; 7. 115-Trey Schuiten[6]

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