Sweetwater - Outracing the field and Mothernature, Lil' John Ownbey of Cleveland, Tn., parked his white #J0 "Sam's Restaurant Equipment, Frazier Apt. Rentals & Property Management, M&S Motors, CarSmart" sponsored Phantom Racing Engines / MasterSbilt in "Jacky Jones Ford Lincoln Victory Lane Saturday night at I-75 Raceway.
The inaugural "Larry Kyle Memorial 40" United Crate Racing Alliance feature took to the track just in the nick o' time as rains began falling on Ownbey and family/crew once in victory lane, just as he was expressing his joy on the hard-fought race.
"I didn't mean to hit Jason (Manley) and pop his tire" stated Ownbey. "I race a little rough out there, but the contact is expected, otherwise we'd just go drag-racing."
Ownbey was awarded a special "Full Moon Graphics" Winners Check by the Kyle family, in remembrance of their dad Larry who recently passed. Larry's favorite John Deere tractor he drove every race day at I-75 was displayed in Victory Lane next to Ownbey's machine.
Ownbey set a fast time with a 13:177 earning the bonus $100 from Performance Racing Engines and went on to win the first of two heats. Fellow Clevelander Jimmy Elliott joined Ownbery on the front row by virtue of winning his heat.
Ownbey slipped up on an early race restart, handing the lead to Manley for a few circuits. Ownbey also tangled with Shane Tankersley on a restart sending the Georgian spinning in turn two. Manley would change tires under caution and return to a respectful sixth place finish with Tankersley rallying back to third overall after his caution.
Jesse Lowe of Crossville, Tn., finished second pending tire test taken from specific racers. Behind Tankersley was Rusty Ballenger and July's I-75/UCRA winner Chip Brindle.
The Next event is the season finale weekend at Crossville (TN) Speedway in two weeks - Oct. 20 & 21st for the UCRA. Visit www.UCRAracing.com for more details.