Lowe Seals Dynasty with Dominant Southern National Victory and Third Title

Lucama, NC — The final chapter of Season 33 read like a coronation. James Lowe put an emphatic stamp on his championship campaign Saturday night, winning the season finale at Southern National Motorsports Park and securing his third Bootleg Racing League Late Model Invitational Series title in the last four seasons.

Entering the night with an 18-point cushion over Ed Foster, Lowe started 13th due to the inversion, needing only a steady performance to lock up the championship. Instead, he delivered a masterclass.

The stage was set with Foster on pole, a gift from the inversion that kept his slim title hopes alive. At the green flag, Foster launched cleanly and took control early, leading Chris Worrell while Lowe began his steady climb through the pack. By lap 10, Lowe had already cracked the top ten, quietly positioning himself to capitalize on whatever chaos the tight 4/10-mile oval would produce.

And chaos came calling. Southern National lived up to its reputation, serving up a series of incidents that reshaped the race. Mark Hertzog and Tre Blohm tangled, sending Blohm spinning after a tight inside move. Later, a multi-car wreck erupted when Todd Liston bounced off the inside wall and collected Lowell Jewell and John Wilson, creating one of the night’s biggest pileups.

Then came the strangest moment of all. In what the broadcast dubbed a “ghost” incident, Bobby Hayes suddenly snapped into the outside wall while running near Hertzog, despite appearing to have clear space. The bizarre crash ended Hayes’ race on the spot and, more importantly, mathematically sealed the championship for Lowe before the checkered flag had even fallen.

Through it all, Lowe lived up to a new nickname coined in the booth: the bullet dodger. Time and again, he slipped through wrecks unfolding directly ahead of him, keeping his car clean while others fell away.

Up front, the battle for the race win intensified. Worrell led a race-high 56 laps, but Ruben Altice, “The Quiet Man,” surged late using the high line to challenge for the top spot. As the laps wound down, Lowe entered the fray, turning the fight into a three-driver showdown.

A late caution for a Chris Davis spin set up one final Green-White-Checker restart. Lowe chose the inside lane and executed flawlessly. With Worrell and Altice pressing from behind, Lowe held his ground, finding grip where it mattered most. When the checkered flag waved, he crossed the line first, completing the sweep of race win and championship in commanding fashion.

Foster’s night ultimately fell short of the miracle he needed. An eighth-place finish secured him second in the final standings, a strong campaign that simply ran into a historic season from Lowe.

Further back, a season-long sibling rivalry reached its conclusion as Tom Hilbert finished ninth, narrowly edging Steve Hilbert in their personal points battle.

With the victory, Lowe joins rare company in BRL history as one of only two drivers to claim three or more Late Model championships, trailing only the legendary JR Shepard. It’s a run defined not just by speed, but by survival, strategy, and an uncanny ability to be in the right place when everything else goes wrong.

“I just kind of hung out there,” Lowe said with a grin in victory lane. “At the end, I had some really good tires.” He even set his fastest lap on the final circuit, a fitting exclamation point.

Season 33 closes with Lowe firmly atop the mountain. The rest of the field now faces a daunting task heading into the next campaign. The king isn’t just wearing the crown. He’s tightening the bolts on it.