7/30/2023
Owens captures Southern Nationals title; Koehler earns Rookie of the Year honors
Koehler Motorsports with drivers, Jimmy Owens and Jordan Koehler put a wrap on a successful 2023 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals run on Sunday evening at Tazewell Speedway.
Owens collected his first title with the miniseries aboard his Koehler Motorsports / Reece Monument Company No. 20 Boom Test Well Service / Ultimate Towing & Recovery / XR1 Rocket Chassis / Vic Hill Race Engine Super Late Model. He received $10,053 for the championship.
Meanwhile, in his first full season in Super Late Model action, Jordan claimed the miniseries Rookie of the Year title with his Koehler Motorsports / Traffic Control Safety Services No. 114 Ultimate Towing & Recovery / Longhorn by Wells / Vic Hill Racing Engine Super Late Model. He received a $1,000 bonus for the title.
“I’ve been lucky enough to get to accomplish a lot in my career, and it’s nice to add a [Schaeffer’s Oil] Southern Nationals title to the list. There’s a great bunch of racers out here, and I’ve really enjoyed racing with everyone on the series,” Owens said. “The Koehler family are great folks to work with. They give us a great hot rod, and we’ve found some good momentum the past few months, and I just thank them and everyone, who sponsors this car and makes it all possible.”
For Jordan Koehler the Rookie of the Year title meant a lot.
“This is awesome man. It might not seem like much to a lot of people, but for our team and our family it means a lot. Every track we went to on this tour… it was new to us, so it’s a big accomplishment to win the Rookie [of the Year] title,” Koehler shared. “This gives us confidence as we head into the rest of the year. Thank you to my whole family and all our supporters for what they do for us.”
Cruising into the final week of Schaeffer's Oil Southern Nationals Series competition, Jimmy Owens and Jordan Koehler traveled to Toccoa (Ga.) Raceway on Tuesday evening with their Koehler Motorsports machines for the tour's fifth event of the summer.
Locking in the Top 5 in qualifying, Owens was third-fastest in his group while Koehler missed an A-Main transfer by one spot before transferring through his B-Main. For the $7,553-to-win main event, Jimmy landed in the Top-5, while Jordan recorded his first Top-10 of the series with a 10th-place finish.
Rolling into Ray Cook's Tri-County Racetrack (Brasstown, N.C.) on Thursday afternoon, Jordan transferred to the feature with a runner-up finish in his B-Main while Jimmy was once again third-fastest in his qualifying group. With another 40-lap showdown on tap, Owens would rip the lip before maneuvering around race-long leader Donald McIntosh on lap 18. Owens led the final 22 circuits to collect the $7,553 payday and his second victory on the tour.
Ricky Weiss, Donald McIntosh, Carson Ferguson, and Dale McDowell completed the Top-5 while Koehler recorded a 13th-place outing.
For the penultimate event of the summer tour at North Georgia Speedway (Chatsworth, Ga.), Owens started the 53-lap feature from the fifth row, while Koehler used a provisional starting spot. With both drivers moving forward in the $10,053-to-win show, Jimmy finished just outside the Top-5 in sixth and Jordan finished 15th.
With Saturday's finale at Tazewell Speedway (Tazewell, Tenn.) pushed to Sunday evening by inclement weather, both drivers earned a Top-10 starting position in the feature with a strong showing in their heat races.
For the final $10,053-to-win race of the series, Jimmy kept his nose clean and secured the championship with a third-place outing in the 53-lap main event. Jordan recorded a career-best seventh-place finish with the series and earned the Rookie of the Year title. Owens pocketed $10,053 for his efforts on the tour while Jordan snagged an extra $1,000 payday.
Jimmy topped the series points standings, while Jordan landed sixth in series points.
Full results from the events are available at www.SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Jordan’s next race will be the $4,000-to-win Carolina Clash Series event at Carolina Speedway (Gastonia, N.C.) on Friday, August 11 while his younger brother Evan will next be in the driver’s seat in his 602 Late Model on Saturday, August 26, when the Koehler family hosts the grand re-opening of Ultimate Motorsports & RV Park (Elkins, N.C.). The facility formerly operated as Friendship Motor Speedway, and the Koehler family recently announced they had acquired the facility and will be reopening it with a bevy of improvements in the pipeline.
Article Credit: MRM Racing Photos
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