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

October 5, 2013

THOMAS WINS; JOHNSON NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS CHAMP IN GUMBO NATIONALS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

                GREENVILLE, MS – William Thomas of Phenix City, AL drove the Alexander’s Industrial Service GRT to victory in the 50-lap 7th Annual Gumbo Nationals on Sunday night at Greenville Speedway.  A fourth-place finish by Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN clinched the $20,000 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Championship.

                The $5,000 win gave Thomas a clean sweep of the racing program as he set fast time honors and won the first heat race on Friday night to earn the pole position for the rain-delayed main event on Sunday evening.  Thomas took the lead from Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS on the sixth lap, and never looked back to carry a 2.309 second margin of victory under the checkered flag.

                “We were surprised the track was as dry as it was with all of the rain we had here Saturday night, but the top was good for us all of the way around early in the race, and then it started taking rubber late in the race in turns three and four,” Thomas said.  “We went to the inside there, but there was still enough moisture in the track on the high side of turns one and two, so we kept it up there and just tried to keep it off the wall.”

                Stokes finished second in the Bassett Hound Motorsports GRT, and “Dr. Dirt” helped make the race happen on Sunday after four and a half inches of rain fell on the racing surface on Saturday night.  Stokes worked on the road grader to help Greenville Speedway officials get the track in race ready shape by late Sunday afternoon.

                Chase Washington of Houlka, MS drove the Jerry Inmon Racing Special to a third-place finish.  Washington has spent the most part of the 2013 battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer having had a major surgery and six chemotherapy treatments before doctor’s declared him cancer-free last month.

                Washington took part in the “Ride For Life” program on Saturday night, and took a race fan that bid $1,600 during a post-race auction for a six-lap ride at race speed around Greenville Speedway in the NeSmith Chevrolet two-seat Ride For Life dirt late model race car.  Washington also handed his third-place winnings of $1,200 to the American Cancer Society.

                Along with Washington, drivers Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS, Bobby Jordan of McCarley, MS, Mike Palasini Jr. of Leland, MS, and Ashley Newman of Ripley, TN took part in the Ride For Life Auction.  With the auction, raffle ticket sales, t-shirt sales and special donations, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society raised $13,275.85.

                Johnson drove the NeSmith Chevrolet Special to a fourth-place finish to clinch the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Championship.  The National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee will collect a check for $20,000 at the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Awards Banquet in January at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, GA.

                “This Championship really means a lot to me because it has been awhile since I’ve run for a championship,” Johnson said.  “We really weren’t planning on running for the championship, but after we were second in points after the Memorial Day Weekend races, several people stepped up and offered to help me if I would run for it.  There are just too many people to thank, but this championship is for them and the fans that have stuck with us all of these years.”

                Tait Davenport of Benton, KY took the fifth spot in the Murtco, Inc. Special and Newman was sixth in the Greg’s Sawmill Special.  Mike Boland of Cuba, AL finished seventh in the Boland Performance Trak-Star, and Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL drove the Brandon Ford Warrior to an eighth-place finish and the Rookie of the Race honors.

                Tyler Erb of Magnolia, TX finished ninth in the First Class Septic Rocket and Jake Knight of Georgetown, MS rounded out the top ten in the Got Dirt, Inc. Trak-Star.  Michael Blount of Sumrall, MS started 22nd and finished 12th to earn the Hedman Husler of the Race Award in the Lamar Auto Salvage GRT.

                In preliminary action on Friday night, Thomas out-timed the 36-car field during Qualifications with a lap around the ¼-mile black gumbo clay oval in 15.952 seconds.  The four ten-lap Heat Races were won by Thomas, Stokes, Josh Adkins of Talladega, AL in the Yellow Hammer Construction Special, and Davenport.  The two ten-lap B-Main races on Sunday were won by Bronson and Barrett in the Custom Spraying, Inc. GRT.

                Stokes took the lead at the drop of the green flag to start the 7th Annual Gumbo Nationals followed by Thomas, Davenport, Neil Baggett of Columbus, MS in the Montgomery Farms GRT and Washington.  Thomas began to challenge Stokes for the lead on lap five by looking to the inside.  The lead duo raced side-by-side for a lap before Thomas took the lead coming off the fourth turn,

                By lap ten, Thomas had opened up a half straightaway lead on Stokes, who was busy trying to hold off Davenport to keep the second spot.  Davenport worked under Stokes coming off the fourth turn on lap 14 to take the second spot.  Four laps later, Stokes turned the table on Davenport, getting under him to retake the second spot coming off the fourth turn on lap 18.

                Mike Palasini Jr. of Leland, MS spun the MP Trucking Trak-Star in turn four on lap 20 to bring out the first of seven caution flags.  The field doubled up behind Thomas for the “Dixie Style” double-file restart with Stokes, Davenport, Baggett, Washington, Johnson, Mickey Trosclair of Luling, LA in the Sparks Motorsports Special, Boland, Newman, and Jeremy Shaw in the Summit Resource Development GRT in second through tenth respectively.

                There were wholesale position changes among the top ten when the green flag turned the field loose for the restart.  Baggett began dropping back through the field, as Washington moved up to fourth, Newman advanced from ninth to fifth, Trosclair moved up to sixth, and Baggett fell into the seventh spot.  Johnson fell from sixth the eighth, and Bronson moved up to tenth.

                Baggett lost the spoiler on his car to bring out the caution flag on lap 27.  Baggett went to the pits and retired for the evening to receive the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.  The restart saw Thomas leading with Stokes, Washington, Davenport, Newman, Trosclair, Johnson, Boland, Bronson and Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL in the High Roller Race Cars Special doubled up behind him.

                On the restart, Blount and Dewayne Estes of Greenville, MS in the Burton Racing Trak-Star tangled in turn two.  On the next restart, Washington got by Stokes to take over the second spot.  The caution bulb was lit up for the fourth time on lap 32 when McRee stalled on the backstretch.  Ryan Colby of Greenville, MS spun the Washington Body Shop GRT on the restart for caution flag number five.

                Stokes drove around the outside of Washington on the restart to once again grab the second spot.  Johnson kept up his championship pace on lap 33 when he passed Boland for the sixth spot.  Colby had his second spin of the race on lap 36 to bring out the sixth yellow flag.  Thomas led Stokes, Washington, Davenport, Newman, Johnson, Boland, Bronson, Knight, and Trosclair to the restart.

                Johnson got busy when the field went back to green flag racing, as he passed Newman for the fifth spot on lap 40, and then got around Davenport for the fourth spot on lap 43.  With five laps to go, Thomas took a half straightaway lead over Stokes into heavy lapped traffic.  That enabled Stokes to begin to close on Thomas. 

The leader had just cleared the lapped car of Lew Lyles of West Monroe, LA when Lyles spun the Floorworks GRT in turn two right in front of Stokes, who just cleared the disabled car without contact. 

With clear race track in front of him for a single-file restart, Thomas pulled away in the last four laps of the race for his first NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win of the season, and his 11th career win to put him number three on the All-Time Winners list.  Johnson’s fourth-place finish gave him a 118 point lead over Bronson in the standings, an insurmountable advantage with one race left in the 2013 season.

The 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series season finale will be the $10,000-to-win 100-lap 9th Annual Chevrolet Performance Parts World Championship Race at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL on November 21-23.

For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series all-new 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 20 AT GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY IN GREENVILLE, MS ON 10/4-5/13:

POS        STRT     CAR #    DRIVER                               HOMETOWN                     LAPS     $ WON 
1.             1              A19        William Thomas                                Phenix City, AL                  50           $5,000
2.             2              1              Johnny Stokes                     Columbus, MS                     50           $2,500
3.             7              38           Chase Washington             Houlka, MS                          50           $1,200
4.             9              5              Ronnie Johnson                  Chattanooga, TN                50           $1,000
5.             4              18           Tait Davenport                   Benton, KY                          50           $800
6.             13           73           Ashley Newman                  Ripley, TN                            50           $700
7.             15           222         Mike Boland                        Cuba, AL                              50           $600
8.             17           40           Kyle Bronson (R)               Brandon, FL                        50           $550
9.             14           91           Tyler Erb                             Magnolia, TX                     50           $525
10.          12           93           Jake Knight                         Georgetown, MS 50           $500
11.          6              521         Mickey Trosclair               Luling, LA                           50           $475
12,          22           121         Michael Blount                   Sumrall, MS                        50           $550
13.          18           110         Brent Barrett (R)                Cleveland, MS                     50           $400
14.          10           J8           Bobby Jordan                     McCarley, MS                     50           $350
15.          3              19m        Josh Adkins (R)                   Talladega, AL                     49           $300
16.          20           D6           Lew Lyles                             West Monroe, LA               45           $300
17.          21           70           Dewayne Estes                    Greenville, MS                    45           $300
18.          19           25           Justin McRee                       Cottondale, AL                   38           $300
19.          23           21           Ryan Colby                          Greenville, MS                    34           $300
20.          8              1s            Jeremy Shaw (R)                Millport, AL                        26           $300
21.          5              1m          Neil Baggett                         Columbus, MS                     26           $300
22.          11           8              Mike Palasini Jr.                Leland, MS                          18           $300
23.          16           C55        David Carpenter                Greenwood, MS                  18           $300
24.          24           50           Joey Credidio                     Paulina, LA                         0              DNS

ENTRIES:  36
FAST QUALIFIER:  Thomas, 15.952 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  None
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  Stokes, 1-5; Thomas, 6-50
LAPS LED:  Thomas, 45; Stokes, 5
HEDMAN HUSLER OF THE RACE:  Blount (started 22nd and finished 12th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Bronson
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  Baggett
PRC JUST MISSED IT AWARD:  Drew McMahan
STEALTH RACING CARBURETORS 7TH-PLACE AWARD:  Boland
VELOCITA RACEWEAR 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Bronson
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD:  Erb
AR BODIES 10TH-PLACE AWARD:  Knight
MIKE CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD:  Trosclair
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD:  Blount
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD:  Barrett
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD:  Jordan
KINSER AIR FILTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD:  Adkins
CAUTIONS:  7
MARGIN OF VICTORY:  2.309 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE:  35 Minutes and 51.408 Seconds
QUALIFYING:

HEAT RACES (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer To Main Event):

                1ST HEAT:  1. Thomas; 2. Baggett; 3. Johnson; 4. Newman; 5. Bronson (R); 6. Estes; 7. Hazzard; 8. McMahon; 9. Andrews.

                2ND HEAT:  1. Stokes; 2. Trosclair; 3. Jordan; 4. Erb; 5. Blount; 6. Barrett (R); 7. Beckwith; 8. Irby; 9. Ainsworth.

                3RD HEAT:  1. Adkins (R); 2. Washington; 3. Palasini; 4. Boland; 5. McRee; 6. Credidio; 7. Arnold; 8. Petty; 9. Botsford.

                4TH HEAT:  1. Davenport; 2. Shaw (R); 3. Knight; 4. Carpenter; 5. Lyles; 6. Rowan; 7. Colby; 8. Banes; 9. Craft DNS.

B-MAIN RACES (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer To Main Event):

1ST B-MAIN:  1. Bronson (R); 2. McRee; 3. Estes; 4. Credidio; 5. McMahon; 6. Hazzard; 7. Arnold; 8. Andrews; 9. Petty DNS; 10. Botsford DNS.

2ND B-MAIN:  1. Barrett (R); 2. Lyles; 3. Blount; 4. Colby; 5. Irby; 6. Banes; 7. Rowan DNS; 8. Beckwith DNS; 9. Ainsworth DNS; 10. Craft DNS.

NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 10/5/13:

1. 5 Ronnie Johnson – 1,666+
2. 40 Kyle Bronson (R) – 1,548
3. 18d Tait Davenport – 1,488
4. 1 Johnny Stokes – 1,378
5. 25 Justin McRee – 1,314
6. 18 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth – 1,304
7. 19m Josh Adkins (R) – 1,210
7. 110 Brent Barrett (R) – 1,210
9. 121 Michael Blount – 962
10. 10 Matthew Turner – 776
11. 56 David Earl Gentry – 762
12. 47 Shannon Lee – 718
13. 1s Jeremy Shaw (R) – 640
14. 51 Mack McCarter (R) – 624
15. 17ss Shan Smith – 610
16. 8a Todd Morrow – 562
16. 19 Marcus Minga – 562
18. 73 Evan Ellis – 536
19. 117 Jake Teague (R) – 534
20. 38 Scott Dedwylder – 448

+ - Clinched Championship

R – Denotes Rookie of the Year Candidate

NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC of Claxton, GA is the Title Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC is the nation’s number one GM Powertrain and Performance Dealer six years running, with free delivery anywhere in the Southeast.  Chevrolet Performance Parts is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Hedman Hedders is the Official Hedder of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series and the Hedman Husler Award sponsor.  Bilstein Shocks is the Official Spec Shock of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Old Man’s Garage is the sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Old Man’s Garage Weekly Racing Series.  RockAuto.com is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Racecar Engineering is the Official Parts Supplier of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Renegade Race and Performance Fuels are a series Associate Sponsor and fuel supplier.  NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2013 are Dominator Race Products, Stealth Racing Carburetors, Modern Images, Mike Custom Tanks, Shorty’s Shock Service, Schoenfeld Headers, J.T. Kerr Racing Equipment, Kinser Air Filters, AR Bodies, Velocita Racewear, and Performance Rod & Custom.  2013 Chassis Sponsors are Trak-Star Race Cars, Warrior Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, TNT Race Cars, Stinger Race Cars, and CVR Race Cars. 

-30-