G.R. Smith Motorsports announced that the Zack Mitchell piloted 22* car will no longer compete in the rest of the Southern Nationals Series after sustaining damage in a wreck while battling for the lead at Cochran Motor Speedway.
On a restart with 12 to go, race leader Wil Herrington went really high in turn 4 and allowed Mitchell to close down the front stretch. As Herrington went to the bottom, Mitchell jumped to the middle and got to the outside of Herrington’s right rear down the back stretch. However, Herrington moved up entering into 3 to take away Mitchell’s line. Mitchell got on the brakes and rolled through the middle.
While all that was happening, Cody Overton sent it into turn 3. He went over Mitchell’s nose and then all the way to the top of the track where he made contact with Herrington’s left side. As they came off turn 4, Herrington’s car turned left into Overton’s right rear. Herrington would spin down the track while Overton was able to drive out of it. Mitchell had nowhere to go with Herrington spinning in front of him and spun himself to avoid a heavy collision. Both Herrington and Mitchell would come to a stop at the inside wall.
Mitchell would return to the race, but had to start at the rear of the field. He was able to rally for a 7th place finish.
💥 The leaders tangle at Cochran!@SoNationals #SouthernNationals pic.twitter.com/Jh9giMXfvd
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) July 19, 2026
The G.R. Smith Motorsports team announced it would no longer follow the series after damage from the wreck in a post to Facebook, “Unfortunately after going over the car after the race last night we have sustained more damage then originally thought! We will not be racing today and our Southern Nationals Series 2026 tour has come to an end.”
The team does plan to be back in action for competition at Fairbury American Legion Speedway last this week, “Zack Mitchell and his G.R. Smith Motorsports 22* team will get everything tuned back up and head to Fairbury American Legion Speedway! We would like to thank all our sponsors and fans for all the support! It’s been a crazy last 10 days! Zack and the team have a lot of speed and we will look forward to continuing to build on the momentum!”
The week at Fairbury American Legion Speedway begins with the FloRacing Night in America Series race on Wednesday July 22nd with $20,000 on the line to-win and $1,000 to start. It is likely to be one of the most competitive fields of the year as it leads into the World of Outlaws Late Models Prairie Dirt Classic event.
Racing action for the Prairie Dirt Classic begins on Friday, July 24th with hot laps scheduled for 5:30 PM local time. The field is split into four 25-lap Showdown features with each paying $5,000 to-win. The top four finishes from each Showdown transfer into the Saturday night feature. The top two finishers from each Showdown will redraw to determine the starting order.
On Saturday night, there will be three 15-lap Last Chance Showdown races with the top two advancing to the feature to join the 16 that locked themselves in through the Showdowns on Friday night. For those who don’t lock themselves in, they will compete in the 25-lap Prairie Dirt Shootout. The winner will get the option to take prize money or start at the tail of the feature.
The feature is 100 laps with the winner getting a $50,000 check and a trip to the local Bank of Pontiac.
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