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Smoky Mountain triumph gives Ford first career Southern All Stars victory

Jensen Ford etched his name into the history books on Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway during the Rockin’ with the Stars event. The driver of the Whitehead Construction Inc. No. 83 Stanco Equipment/ Shoun Trucking/ TNT Race Cars Super Late Model raced to his first-career Southern All Star (SAS) feature win. (Michael Moats photo)

“I bet the odds. I went on different tires as everybody else,” Ford said. “We weren’t as good in lapped traffic I don’t think, but when we were by ourself, we were really good. Heck, I’m just happy to finish a race. I’ve only finished one race this year. We’ve been fast as it shows right here. We won this race finally. Like I said, I’m just happy to finish a race. It sucks to have speed and not be able to show it. Thanks so much to everyone who supports our team. This one is for them.”

After Mother Nature wiped out the first two attempts, Jensen Ford finally visited I-75 Raceway (Sweetwater, Tenn.) on Friday evening for the Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals sanctioned contest. With the top-qualifiers from each group locked into the main event, Ford clocked in second in his group behind Dale McDowell. Starting the $5,053-to-win A-Main in third, Jensen was the third retiree of the race on the seventh lap. He was credited with a 20th-place finish.

The following night at Smoky Mountain Speedway (Maryville, Tenn.) in a field of 31 Southern All Star Series entries, Jensen laid down the fastest time in his qualifying group, which positioned him on the pole alongside Dale McDowell.

Jumping into the lead on the drop of the green flag, Ford led wire-to-wire to capture his first win of the season and first-career Southern All Star Series triumph. He finished ahead of Ricky Weiss, Cory Hedgecock, McDowell, and Sam Seawright to earn $5,000.

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