Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series News Release:  Contact – ROBY HELM – (865) 207-4157

September 11, 2013

JAMES CORLEW CHEVROLET 50 AT CLARKSVILLE SPEEDWAY UP NEXT FOR CHEVY SUPER SERIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

                CARTERSVILLE, GA - The $3,000-to-win $300-to-start James Corlew 50 is next up for America’s first “Factory Backed and Factory Built” dirt late model series, the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series, this Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway in Clarksville, TN.  The top dirt late model drivers in the Southeast will be competing for $15,000 in prize money.

                The James Corlew 50 at Clarksville Speedway will be Round 5 of the 2013 Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series, and the tight quarter-mile clay oval will lend itself to close competition, which has been prevalent in the first four races of the season.  The tight confines of Clarksville Speedway and the close-quarters racing should bring the field closer together.

                The last two Chevrolet Super Series races went right down to the wire before the outcome was known, and even though point leader William Thomas of Phenix City, AL has won three of the first four races, he will be the first to tell you that it wasn’t easy.  In addition to his three Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series wins, Thomas also has a pair of open competition wins.

                “Winning three of the first four Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series races has been three of the toughest wins I’ve ever had in my career,” Thomas said.  “I’ve won other races against open engines that weren't as tough to win as one of these races.  The competition is so evenly matched in this series, I could have easily been 12th in some of the races I’ve been fortunate enough to win.  The difference in qualifying times with these cars is measured in one-thousandths of a second.”

                The cars Thomas spoke of that compete in the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series are powered by the new all-aluminum Chevrolet Racing Engine that is based on the production LS3 Engine that comes in the Chevrolet Corvette, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the new Chevrolet SS passenger cars that are available at Chevrolet dealers world-wide.

                This has created an economical level playing field for the competitors.  To put the economical aspect of the engine in perspective, Thomas has won enough money in his first six races with the Chevy Racing Engine, also called the CT 525 Engine, to pay for it almost three times over.

                The drivers that compete in the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series have embraced the economical aspect of the Chevrolet Racing Engine, and they include dirt late model veterans, even those with Hall of Fame credentials, that are now able to stay in the sport and young drivers looking to move up into a faster race car.

                The evenly matched competition Thomas spoke of can be seen in the current Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series point standings.  While Thomas leads the standings with 394 points after three wins and a third-place showing in the first four races, there is a three-way tie for the second spot at 356 points.

                The second-place trio consists of National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN, Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL, and Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA. 

All four of the top drivers in the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series have close ties to the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, where the cars are powered by the Chevrolet Performance 604 Factory-Built engine.  The Chevrolet Performance CT 525 Engine and the 604 Engine are built and sealed at the Chevrolet factory to prevent any expensive modifications.

Thomas comes from a National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Family.  They couldn’t decide which Thomas to put in the Hall of Fame, so they just inducted the whole family.  William is well on his way to carrying on the Thomas Racing Family Tradition. 

The 25-year-old driver has crafted his dirt late model racing skills with the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series and is ranked fourth on the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS Career Win list with ten victories, as well as being ranked fifth in career laps led with 414.  Thomas has led 88 laps of Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series competition in the first four races.

Johnson is the all-time winningest driver in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series with 17 career wins.  Johnson also did most of the on track Research and Development of the CT 525 Engine and won several races against engines costing five times more. 

Johnson made a name for himself in Super Late Model racing through the years by winning big races like the Dirt Track World Championship Race on two occasions, and he is also a two-time Southern All-Star Series Champion.  Series like the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series and the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series have kept the 40-year veteran in the sport.

Edge was the 2011 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Rookie of the Year, a title that led the Mechanical Engineering student at Auburn University to get invited to test an ARCA car at Talladega Superspeedway.  Turner is the defending Champion of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.

Other top Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series entries expected this Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway for the James Corlew Chevrolet 50 include Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS, Tim Busha of Boaz, AL, Frank Wilson of Milton, FL, Brad Smith of Winston-Salem, NC, Adam Martin of Talladega, AL, Carlton Freeman of Eastaboga, AL, Ross Martin of Talladega, AL, David Brannon of Elora, TN, Mark Dowdy of Waterloo, AL, Ted Lackey of Munford, AL and National Dirt Hall of Fame Inductee Billy Thomas of Phenix City, AL.

The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series is coming to the hometown of the man that planted the seed that grew into what the race fans will see this Saturday night in the James Corlew Chevrolet 50 at Clarksville Speedway.

National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee and former NASCAR star Jeff Purvis of Clarksville, TN was looking to revive his career after a serious accident in a NASCAR race in 2002.   Purvis took an interest in what became the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series in 2005 and the 400 horsepower Chevrolet Performance 604 Engine.

Purvis thought an all-aluminum 500 horsepower engine would be more competitive and better suited for the highest levels of dirt late model racing where competitors were using engines that cost five times more.

“I went with NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Founder and Director Mike Vaughn to a meeting with Chevrolet Performance officials in 2005, and I told them if they could build a 500 horsepower all-aluminum engine and offer it to racers for under $10,000, they could rule the sport,” Purvis said.  “When I was racing dirt late models, I had a deal where the $50,000 engines were given to me, but I was financially responsible for their upkeep.  I won a lot of races, but I was spending all of my winnings to keep those engines running, and you needed at least three of them for a season.  Even 20 years ago, I could see the costs of dirt late model racing were getting out of hand.”

What Purvis said to Chevrolet Performance officials went from an idea, to a drawing on a piece of paper, and then to reality with a running 500 horsepower CT 535 Engine in 2008.  Chevrolet Performance turned to Johnson for the on track R&D work.  Over four seasons with that engine, Johnson won enough prize money to pay for the engine many times over, and the only maintenance required during that time was only to change the oil.

It was at that same meeting with Chevrolet Performance officials that Purvis also told them that a 500 horsepower all-aluminum engine costing under $10,000 could be used at any level of racing, including NASCAR.  Purvis’ NASCAR experience had him driving for single car teams like James Finch’s Phoenix Racing, Morgan-McClure Racing, and multi-car teams like Robert Yates Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.

“I competed in NASCAR during what was the beginning of the multi-car team era that is prevalent today, and I saw that the days of the competitive single car team were numbered,” Purvis said.  “Today, the high-dollar teams control the equipment that includes chassis and engines.  A single-car team has to lease an engine from one of the top teams for $100,000, they get the engine at the track, race it, take it out of the car after the race, and give it back to them.”

Purvis has seen a lot of changes in NASCAR through the years, and they haven’t necessarily been for the better.

“I can remember going to the Daytona 500 and there would be 80 teams there trying to qualify for the race,” Purvis said.  “Now they just barely have enough cars to make a full field, and a lot of those are start and park teams that can only afford one set of tires, and no crew.  They run a few laps, pull in and collect last-place money.” 

Purvis said there are a lot of young talented drivers racing in short track series like the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series all across the country.  Purvis said the only way most of them are going to have a chance to advance their career is to bring the costs of racing down on the highest level.

“I’ve raced with a lot of the drivers that are going to be at Clarksville Speedway on Saturday night with the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series when I competed with the NeSmith Tour in 2005 and 2006,” Purvis said.  “The only way NASCAR is going to grow for the future is to make it more affordable, and the CT 525, or an engine like it, can make it more affordable and reachable for short track drivers to be able to show their talent and compete with the high-dollar teams.”

Purvis will be at Clarksville Speedway this Saturday night for the James Corlew Chevrolet 50 to see what fruit the seed he planted eight years ago has borne, and he will be joining the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series drivers in the Chevy Fan Zone in the main grandstand area from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Race fans will be able to meet with Purvis and the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series drivers for autographs and photos.  The drivers will be bringing their race cars with them to give fans an opportunity to see them and their all-aluminum Chevrolet Racing Engines up close.

The pit gate at Clarksville Speedway will open at 4 p.m. with Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series pre-race Registration and Technical Inspection from 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.  The drivers meeting is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. and hot laps are scheduled for 6 p.m.

Clarksville Speedway is located at 1600 Needmore Road, Clarksville, TN  37040.  For more information call 931-645-2523, or visit the track web site at www.clarksvillespeedway.com.  You can also like there Facebook page at Clarksville Speedway. 

For more information about the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.525superseries.com, or visit the series on Facebook at Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. 

Chevrolet Performance Parts is the Title Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series.  Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series.  Hedman Hedders is the Official Hedder of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series and the Hedman Husler Award sponsor.  Bilstein Shocks is the Official Spec Shock of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series.  Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2013 are Modern Images, Mike Custom Tanks, AR Bodies, Velocita Racewear, and KRC Power Steering. 

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