BRUNSWICK, Ga. - Steve Francis's car number may have been new but Saturday night's result at the Golden Isles Speedway's SuperBowl of Racing was familiar for the defending World of Outlaws Late Model champion.
Francis piloted the No. 19 Rocket past pole-sitter Billy Moyer on lap 26 and held on for the 50-lap feature victory, his first since joining forces with car owner Dale Beitler over the offseason.
While Francis captured $10,000 for the victory on the final night of the SuperBowl of Racing, Jimmy Owens, powered by three early victories during the event and a second-place finish on Friday night, easily pocketed another $10,000 for winning the event's point title with a sixth-place finish. Owens led by 250 points over Scott Bloomquist as racing began Saturday night, and Bloomquist's early mechanical problems made clinching the title even easier for Owens.
"It feels great," Owens said. "Everything's good. The crew, everybody just worked real hard. It's good that we made it in the show and made a good showing."
The victory on the final night of the SuperBowl of Racing capped a rollercoaster week for Francis, who missed a couple of features earlier in the week, while trying to find the right combination.
"It's been an up-and-down week," said Francis. "We started off horrible but managed to get an eighth out of the first night. Then we came back and ran second and thought we had something, ran eighth the next night. Then, we missed two or three (features) in a row there and to come back and be able to win tonight really means a lot."
Moyer stayed within striking distance after falling to second place, but was unable to capitalize on Francis's battle to put Josh Richards a lap down. Californian Eric Jacobsen, who started on the outside of the first rown beside Moyer, finished third, followed by Brady Smith and Earl Pearson, Jr. in the top five.
While the end of the race was a boon for Francis and Owens, a calamatous beginning nearly took both Moyer and Jacobsen out of the race for good. Moyer and Jacobsen made contact to bring out the first of three cautions, damaging both cars.
Jacobsen appeared to be retired while Moyer returned to the track. On the restart, Moyer's suspension failed in turn 2, but Mark Andersen flipped at the entrance to turn 3, bringing out an extended red-flag period. While safety and track personnel dealt with Andersen's wreck, both Moyer's and Jacobsen's crews were able to repair their respective race cars before the race restarted. With the repairs made and no laps run, Moyer and Jacobsen reassumed their positions on the front row.
Andersen was uninjured.
The finish:
Steve Francis, Billy Moyer, Eric Jacobsen, Brady Smith, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jimmy Owens, Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., Matt Miller, Chris Madden, Terry Casey, Donnie Moran, Michael England, Josh Richards, Kelly Boen, Tim Fuller, Steve Shaver, Ricky Elliott, Damon Eller, Jason Fitzgerald, Dan Schlieper, Darren Miller, Scott Bloomquist, Shannon Babb, Mark Vineyard, Derek Ellis, Vic Coffey, Mark Andersen.