WOODSTOCK, Ga. -- While the eyes of the auto racing world focused on NASCAR's Golden Corral 500 in Atlanta this past weekend, Shane Clanton put on a show of his own at Dixie Speedway.

Clanton grabbed the lead shortly after the green flag dropped on the Super Late Models main event and never looked back, en route to winning the 50-lap race by a wide margin. In addition to receiving a winner's trophy, Clanton claimed a $3,000 payout for his victory.

The race was the latest in a series of successful runs for Clanton and his crew. The Locust Grove resident won the Alabama State Championships in November and captured the 2005 Ice Bowl in Talladega, Ala., in January.

"To come back to the home track and win again -- it feels pretty good," Clanton said. "It gives us a lot of momentum carrying on into the season, and hopefully we can win a bunch more races."

The Woodstock track's official 2005 season opener isn't until May 7, but several of the top dirt track drivers from across the Southeast jumped at the opportunity to compete for a $30,000 purse divided among seven races.

Marshall Green of Woodstock finished second in the Super Late Models race followed by Aaron Ridley of Chatsworth and Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, Tenn. McDonough resident Scott Howard rounded out the top five. Clanton believes the performance of his car was the reason behind his dominating victory over 23 other drivers.

"There's still a bunch of competition," he said. "Our car was just set up pretty good (Saturday night). If you hit it just right in this place, you can take off and look like a hero. Our car's pretty good."

Complete Super Late Model finish: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Marshall Green 3. Aaron Ridley, 4. Ronnie Johnson, 5. Scott Howard, 6. Ricky Williams, 7. Don Jenkins, 8. Ken Rupp, 9. Kenneth Westmoreland, 10. Laddie Fulcher, 11. Dusty Chitwood, 12. James Roulette, 13. Sam Ruff, 14. Glenn Morris, 15. Jeff Helton, 16.Richard Bagby, 17. Shane Fulcher, 18. Hubert Waller, 19. Brandon Rose, 20. Frank Ingram, 21. Tim Day, 22. Pete Cochran, 23. Tracy Pearson, 24. John Blakenship.

The most competitive race of the night came in the 20-lap Limited Late Models division as Tyrone's Jake Knowles overcame two restarts and caught Aragon resident Jeff Fields with two laps left to win by a little more than a car-length. He earned $600 for the win.

"I figured he (Fields) had softer tires on than we did," Knowles said. "So, I figured he'd slip up there towards the end and it played in our favor."

The Sportsman race was also a thriller with Matt Smith taking his first Crate engine win after a hard side by side battle with Alan Brewer. Jerry Fowler passed Brewer to take second ahead of Brewer. David Eubanks and and Chris Fennell rounded out the top 5.

Johnny Morrison of Cartersville and Ball Ground resident Mike McConnell also earned trips to victory lane by winning 15-lap races in the Economy Bombers and Super Bombers divisions, respectively. Morrison earned $300 for his win and McConnell collected $400.

Luther Jenkins, Keith Morton,Michael Keener and Wren Gibby completed the top 5 in the Super Bomber while Scotty Pritchett,Joey Kendall,Gregg Davis and Gooch Spriggs did likewise in the Econo Bomber.

William Wigley won the 4 cylinder Pony Stock race followed by Gene Clanton,Bill Irvine,Doug Haney and Jonathan Drake.

The Cruiser division feature win went to the team of Dan Roberts. Teams rounding out the top five were James Guilfoil,Rusty Shuttlesworth,Ricky Floyd, and Jimmy Stegall.

The next event at Dixie is the Carl Black Spring Monster Truck Nationals on Friday and Saturday night April 15-16 featuring World famous Grave Digger and Bigfoot.