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NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series News Release: Contact – ROBY HELM – (865) 207-4157
February 2, 2013
IT’S RONNIE AND RONNY NIGHT AT BRP FOR JOHNSON AND HOLLINGSWORTH IN NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS ACTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
OCALA, FL – It was good to have the first name of Ronnie or Ronny this week at Bubba Raceway Park for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Rock Auto.com Speedweeks Presented By Racecar Engineering at Bubba Raceway Park. Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN won the 50-lap main event Saturday night and Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL took the Speedweeks Championship.
Johnson drove the NeSmith Chevrolet Special to the $3,000 win and posted his 15th career NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series victory, and his first in over two years. Hollingsworth, who posted Rock Auto.com Speedweeks Presented By Racecar Engineering wins on Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Friday night, picked up a $2,000 bonus for the taking the points title.
Hollingsworth pocketed a total of $8,825 prize money and point fund awards during the five nights of NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series racing at Bubba Raceway Park. Johnson finished second in the Rock Auto.com Speedweeks Presented By Racecar Engineering points and pocketed an additional $1,000 to bring his five night total to $5,860.
A total of 72 drivers representing 12 different states and Canada participated in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Rock Auto.com Speedweeks Presented By Racecar Engineering over five nights at Bubba Raceway Park, with an average nightly car count of 62 race cars.
Over $70,000 in prize money and contingency awards were paid out over the five nights. The top 30 drivers in the Speedweeks point standings received at least $500 in point fund money, and received a product award worth between $900 and $500.
Johnson was glad to end his NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series victory drought on Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park, as he took the lead on lap 23 from Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL in the High Roller Race Cars Special, and went on to post a 3.837 second margin of victory at the checkered flag.
“I’ve been waiting for a racing surface like this all week,” Johnson said. “The track has been good this week, but tonight was the kind of track that really suits my driving style. We could race from top to bottom, and that really helped me get through lapped traffic. This is a special win because we haven’t won a NeSmith race for a couple of years.”
Johnson also said the win was special because one of his heroes from his younger days of racing was at the race.
“This race is also special because one of my heroes in racing, Larry Moore, was here tonight and he taught me a lot in the early days of my racing career,” Johnson said. Both Johnson and Moore are inductees in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.
McRee finished second followed by Walker Arthur of Forest, VA in the third spot driving the Cecil B. Arthur Beef Farms Special. Hollingsworth was fourth in the Sparks Motorsports Special and Canadian driver Darren Peters of Fort Erie, ON took the fifth spot in the Billy Bones BBQ Rocket.
Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL, who was the Thursday night winner, finished sixth in the Brandon Ford Warrior, and took the Rookie of the Race Award. Joey Coulter of Concord, NC was seventh in the Wolfpack Racing Rocket, and Josh Atkins of Talladega, AL took the eighth spot in the Yellow Hammer Construction Special.
Andrew Satterlee of Rochester Mills, PA drove the W.G. Satterlee & Sons Rocket to a ninth-place finish, and Shan Smith of Dade City, FL rounded out the top ten in the Outlaw Race Parts TNT. Mack McCarter of Gatlinburg, TN started 24th in the McCarter Lumber CVR and finished 11th to earn the Hedman Husler of the Race Award.
Hollingsworth and McRee brought the 27-car field down for the green flag in the main event, and the only caution flag of the race came out on the first lap when Brad Smith of Clemmons, NC tagged the front straightaway wall in the Smiley’s Race Products Special and collected several cars in the aftermath.
One of the cars involved was the AES Racing Special driven by Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA, who was the Rock Auto.com Speedweeks Presented By Racecar Engineering point leader coming into the event. Davenport was able to continue for the restart and limped home for a 21st-place finish.
The crash and the finish cost Davenport the Speedweeks Championship, but it earned him the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck of the Race Award.
The complete restart saw McRee take the lead from Hollingsworth from his outside front row starting spot with Hollingsworth settling into second, Bronson in the third spot, Johnson in fourth, and Atkins in fifth. Johnson drove by Bronson on lap three to move up to the third spot, and Arthur moved into the top five on lap four.
McRee began to encounter the cars on the tail of the lead lap by the tenth lap, and that led to three and four wide racing and the leaders worked around the lapped cars. Arthur passed Bronson for the fourth spot on lap 16, and Johnson began to challenge Hollingsworth for second on lap 19.
Johnson was able to pull inside of Hollingsworth coming down the front straightaway on lap 20, and passed him for the second spot in turn one. Johnson then set his sights on McRee in heavy lapped traffic. Johnson pulled inside of McRee in turn one on lap 23 and the two drivers raced side-by-side around the track before Johnson took the lead on the front stretch.
Arthur passed Hollingsworth for third on lap 27, but up front, Johnson was able to open up a full straightaway lead on McRee by lap 30, and he never looked back to take his first NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win since July 10, 2010 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN.
In preliminary action, Hollingsworth out-qualified the 54-car field with a lap in 14.805 seconds to earn the Smiley’s Race Products Fast Time Award. The six ten-lap heat races were won by Johnson, Arthur, McRee, Hollingsworth, Bronson and Adkins.
The three 12-lap B-Main races were won by Ivedent Lloyd Jr. of Ocala, FL in the Harrod Logging Special, the 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Champion Chase Washington of Houlka, MS in the Jerry Inmon Racing Special, and Tait Davenport of Benton, KY in the Murtco Special. Cody Martin of Christiana, KY won the ten-lap Last Chance Race in the My Racing Graphics.com Warrior.
The next event for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be the $5,000-to-win 3rd Annual Rumble On The Gumbo 75 at Greenville Speedway in Greenville, MS on April 12-13.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at NeSmith Racing. Becoming a fan of the NeSmith Racing Facebook page will make you eligible for special prizes that will be given away each month. You can follow us on Twitter @NeSmithRacing.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 5 AT BUBBA RACEWAY PARK IN OCALA, FL ON 2/2/13:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 3 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $3,000
2. 2 25 Justin McRee Cottondale, AL 50 $1,250
3. 5 87 Walker Arthur Forest, VA 50 $850
4. 1 18h Ronny Hollingsworth Northport, AL 50 $700
5. 13 1p Darren Peters Fort Erie, ON CAN 50 $650
6. 4 40b Kyle Bronson (R) Brandon, FL 50 $550
7. 8 2c Joey Coulter Concord, NC 50 $500
8. 6 19 Josh Adkins (R) Talladega, AL 50 $450
9. 14 2s Andrew Satterlee Rochester Mills, PA 50 $400
10. 9 17ss Shan Smith Dade City, FL 50 $375
11. 24 51 Mack McCarter (R) Gatlinburg, TN 50 $450
12. 20 38 Chase Washington Houlka, MS 50 $300
13. 7 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 49 $280
14. 10 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 49 $260
15. 11 12 Ryan Montgomery Fairmont, WV 49 $250
16. 23 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 49 $240
17. 19 21 Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Ocala, FL 49 $220
18. 21 18d Tait Davenport Benton, KY 49 $200
19. 16 1c Mike Pegher Jr. Cranberry, PA 49 $200
20. 18 11 Doug Horton Bruceton Mills, PA 49 $200
21. 15 49 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA 49 $200
22. 17 18 Chase Edge LaFayette, AL 49 $200
23. 25 27 Larry Harrod Plains, GA 49 $200
24. 27 21m Cody Martin (R) Christiana, TN 48 $200
25. 22 25b Greg Belyea Frankford, ON CAN 48 $200
26. 26 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 48 $200
27. 12 68 Brad Smith Clemmons, NC 0 $200
ENTRIES: 54
SMILEY’S RACE PRODUCTS FAST TIME: Hollingsworth, 14.805 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Harrod and Stokes
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: McRee, 1-22; Johnson, 23-50
LAPS LED: Johnson, 28; McRee, 22
HEDMAN HUSTLER OF THE RACE AWARD: McCarter (started 24th and finished 11th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Bronson
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: J. Davenport
PRC JUST MISSED IT AWARD: Marty Hardy
RACECAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Peters
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Bronson
STEALTH RACING CARBURETORS 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Coulter
RACECAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Adkins
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Satterlee
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: S. Smith
MIKE’S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: McCarter
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: Washington
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD: Lee
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD: Gentry
KINSER AIR FILTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD: Montgomery
AR BODIES 16TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
CAUTIONS: 1
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 3.837 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 27 Minutes and 19.483 Seconds
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