3/29/2025
Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series
Cook Charges to HTF Series Win in Whynot Thriller
MERIDIAN, Miss. (March 28) — Dalton Cook of Salem, AL came from the seventh spot on a restart with six laps remaining and charged to the lead to win the 40-lap House of Hook Classic Feature Race for the Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series on Friday night at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS. Cook started ninth and rode in the second five of the running order for most of the race before charging to the $8,000 victory.
Joseph Joiner of Milton, FL also made a big move on the last restart to finish second after starting eighth, but the MD3 Hard Charger of the Race when to Jimmy Owens of Newport, TN in his first visit to Whynot Motorsports Park. Owens had to take a Provisional and start 24 th , but when the checkered flag fell, the “O Show” was on the podium in third place.
Zack Mitchell of Enoree, SC finished fourth and B.J. Robinson of Bossier City, LA took the fifth spot. Ricky Weiss of Headingley, ON CAN was sixth, and Brandon Overton of Evans, GA, who led the field for the final restart with six laps to go, faded to seventh at the finish.
Payton Freeman of Commerce, GA drove to an eighth-place finish, and Spencer Hughes of Meridian, MS was ninth. The 2023 Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series National Champion Josh Putnam of Florence, AL rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Putnam was the My Race Pass Fast Qualifier among the 45 entrants from 16 different states and a Provence of Canada with a lap around the House of Hook in 12.617 seconds. Kaede Loudy of Rogersville, TN won the Sublimited Apparel First eight-lap Heat Race, and the Coltman Farms Second eight-lap Heat Race was won by Overton.
Putnam won the MD3 Third eight-lap Heat Race, and the Minon Construction Fourth eight-lap Heat Race was won by Ashton Winger of Hampton, GA. The two ten-lap NRC Oil Pumps Last Chance Qualifying Races were won by Neil Baggett of Columbus, MS and Michael Leach of Sun River, MT.
Cook will take over the Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series point lead in the $50,000 Championship point standings. Cook has a two-point lead over Weiss, who won the season opener on March 8 at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, TN. Mitchell is third, 14 points behind Cook, with Owens moving up to the fourth spot 16 points behind Cook, and Trey Mills of St. Augustine, FL is fifth 26 points behind Cook.
Joiner is sixth in the point standings and Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, TN is seventh. Michael Page of Douglasville, GA is eighth in the standings, with Oakley Johns of Hohenwald, TN in ninth. Johns also leads the Base Race Fuels Rookie of the Year point standings. Putnam rounds out the top ten in the HTFSDS point standings after the first two race.
Track and Series Officials announced that Saturday night’s $12,000-to-win House of Hook Classic 50-lap race is cancelled for the safety of everyone involved due to the high probability of severe weather moving into the East Mississippi area on Saturday afternoon and evening. The race will not be rescheduled.
The next two races for the Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series will be at Talladega Short Track in
Eastaboga, AL on Friday night, April 4 and Saturday night, April 5 for the Annual Bama Bash. The race on Friday night, April 4 will pay $8,000-to-win and the Saturday night, April 5 race will pay $12,000-to-win. For more information visit the series website at www.htfseries.com or the Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series Facebook page.
Submitted By: Joshua Joiner
