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

November 13, 2014

A LOOK BACK AT NeSMITH LATE MODELS – 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

                  CARTERSVILLE, GA – The year was 2011.  It was a big year for AES Racing of Mt. Airy, NC.  Dan Breuer of Troutman, NC drove his AES Racing Special to the $20,000 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Championship, and his teammate and car owner Steve Cooke of Mt. Airy, NC finished seventh in the point standings.

                To top off a successful season, Cooke added super late model stars Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA and Dennis “Rambo” Franklin of Gaffney, SC to his AES Racing stable for the $10,000-to-win 100 Lap 7th Annual Chevrolet Performance World Championship Race at East Bay Raceway in Tampa, FL on December 3, 2011.

                Davenport won the grand finale and Franklin finished second.  Breuer clinched the 2011 NeSmith Late Model Championship by starting the race.  That brought the total earnings for the night among the three AES Racing pilots to $35,000.

                Breuer was in a season-long battle for the NeSmith Late Model title with two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN.  The two drivers traded the point lead several times during the course of the season.  Breuer had two wins during the season and went on to win the title.

                “This AES Racing crew worked hard all season long to keep us in the championship hunt because David Earl Gentry is a tough competitor,” Breuer said.  “We had some bad luck and David moved up to tie us with four races left in the season.  But then David had some bad luck in the last three races, and that enabled us to pull ahead.  David is a great driver to race with, and it was an enjoyable season.”

                Gentry had one win on his way to a second-place finish in the NeSmith Late Model point standings.  Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA finished third in the points chase for the third time in the first seven season for the NeSmith Late Models.  Turner had become known as the “Ironman” of the NeSmith Late Models as the only driver to have competed in all of the 128 races through the 2011 season that had been held since the series inception in 2005.

                Chase Edge of LaFayette, AL finished fourth in the 2011 NeSmith Late Model point standings and was the Rookie of the Year.  Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS finished fifth in the standings for the second straight year, and Mark Tice of Avon, MS was sixth and took the second spot in the Rookie of the Year points.

                Cooke finished seventh and the eighth spot in the 2011 NeSmith Late Model standings was Frank Wilson of Milton, FL, who also finished third in the Rookie points.  Tootie Arnold of Bude, MS finished ninth in the points chase and fourth in the Rookie standings.  Veteran “Dr. Dirt” Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS rounded out the Top 10 and had one win during the season.

                Bad weather held the 2011 NeSmith Late Model Touring Division schedule to just 17 races at ten different tracks in five different states, but it was a very competitive season with 15 different winners. 

Also posting 2011 NeSmith Late Model victories were William Thomas of Phenix City, AL with three wins, and single race wins were picked up by Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, WV, Jeremy Shaw of Millport, AL, Jack Nosbisch Jr. of Riverview, FL, Chris Wilson of Crossville, TN, Ashley Newman of Ripley, TN, Phillip Cobb of Apollo Beach, FL, Brandon Overton of Appling, GA, Robert Diekemper of Bloomingdale, GA, and Rodney Wing of Meridian, MS.

Jim McDuffie of Meridian, MS won his second NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region title by one point over Duke Palasini of Leland, MS.  Palasini got into the title fight late in the season, and the two drivers battled each other in the closing weeks of the 27-week season across the Southeast. 

With two West Region titles from McDuffie, and three West Region Championships from Lucky Keeton of Toomsuba, MS, regular competitors at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS regulars had won the West Region title in five of the first six years of the series.

Jimmy Elkins Jr. of Talladega, AL won the East Region Championship.  Elkins joined Jason Wilson, Logan Yates, and Adam Martin as regulars at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL in becoming the fourth East Region Champion from that track in the first six years of the series.

The Top 10 drivers in the NeSmith Late Model Touring Division and the two Weekly Racing Series Regions were honored at the new home of the NeSmith Racing Annual Awards Banquet, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame and Thunder Road Museum in Dawsonville, GA.

A tough field of 53 drivers from 12 states pulled through the East Bay Raceway pit gate for the 7th Annual World Championship Race that included the NeSmith Late Model top drivers, super late model stars, and local favorites all looking to grab the $10,000 top prize and notoriety that goes with winning the most prestigious race in the country for Chevrolet Performance Engine powered dirt late models.

The field included former NeSmith Late Model Champions Gentry and Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA.  Just how tough was the field?  The top two drivers in the NeSmith Late Model point standings, Breuer and Gentry had to take a provisional to make the race.

Joining Davenport and Franklin among the super late model ranks were 2006 race winner Randy Korte of Highland, IL, 2009 race winner Tim McCreadie of Watertown, NY, defending race winning Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, WV, Steve Francis of Ashland, KY, Randy Weaver of Crossville, TN, and Ivedent Lloyd of Ocala, FL.

Davenport got the show started by setting fast time.  Mark Whitener of Middleburg, FL beat Davenport in the first heat race to earn the pole position and Davenport would start seventh in the 100-lap race.  Local favorite Devin Dixon of Apollo Beach, FL won the second heat, and started the race from the outside of the front row.

Dixon took the lead at the start of the race followed by Whitener and Franklin, who started third after winning the third heat race.  Franklin got by Whitener for second on a lap three restart, and Davenport charged up to the third spot by lap five.  Dixon began lapping the cars on the tail of the lead lap by lap 12. 

On lap 18, Davenport stepped to the outside and passed Franklin for second coming off the fourth turn.  Davenport caught Dixon in heavy lapped traffic on lap 25.  Dixon had to go to the high side in turn four on lap 26, and that opened the door for Davenport to scoot underneath and take the lead.  Once he was on the point, Davenport began to pull away from Dixon.

A lap 75 restart saw Franklin pass Dixon for the second spot, and by lap 85, Davenport had pulled out to a half straightaway lead over Franklin.  Davenport took the checkered flag with almost a two second margin of victory over Franklin.

“The car was stumbling the whole race, except for the last two laps when it went away and ran fine,” Davenport said.  “Barry Wright gave us a good set up for tonight and that was the big advantage we had.  There was some tough competition out here tonight, and it feels good to win against a very competitive field.  I want to thank Steve Cooke and the AES Racing crew for giving me a fast car tonight.”

Dixon finished third, Whitener took the fourth spot and Overton was fifth.  Sixth through tenth respectively were Francis, Weaver, Cobb, Wing, and Brindle.  The six Heat Races were won by Whitener, Dixon, Franklin, Wing, Royce Bray of Hull, GA and Overton.  The two B-Main Races were won by Brindle and McCreadie.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE 7TH ANNUAL CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK IN TAMPA, FL ON 12/3/11:

POS        STRT     CAR #    DRIVER                               HOMETOWN                     LAPS     $ WON 
1.             7              37           Jonathan Davenport         Blairsville, GA                    100         $10,000
2.             3              27           Dennis Franklin                  Gaffney, SC                         100         $5,000
3.             2              95           Devin Dixon                         Apollo Beach, FL               100         $3,000
4.             1              58           Mark Whitener                   Middleburg, FL                  100         $2,000
5.             6              76           Brandon Overton               Appling, GA                         100         $1,750
6.             13           15           Steve Francis                       Ashland, KY                        100         $1,500
7.             9              116         Randy Weaver                    Crossville, TN                     100         $1,300
8.             15           32           Phillip Cobb                        Apollo Beach, FL               100         $1,200
9.             4              10           Rodney Wing                      Meridian, MS                      100         $1,100
10.          18           21b         Chip Brindle                        Chatsworth, GA                  100         $1,000
11.          10           12           Jack Nosbisch Jr.               Riverview, FL                     100         $800
12.          16           8Ball      Randy Korte                        Highland, IL                        100         $700
13.          11           33           Jeff Mathews                       Tampa, FL                           99           $600
14.          22           B7           Dan Breuer                          Troutman, NC                     98           $500
15.          24           51           Dave Schmauss                   Dover, FL                             97           $550
16.          8              33x         Ivedent Lloyd                      Ocala, FL                             91           $440
17.          12           99w        Shan Smith                           Dade City, FL                      83           $430
18.          5              21           Royce Bray                          Hull, GA                               52           $420
19.          23           56           David Earl Gentry             Murfreesboro, TN             42           $400
20.          17           07           Doug Watson                       Plant City, FL                     41           $400
21.          19           02           Tim McCreadie                  Watertown, NY                   41           $400
22.          25           41           Travis Varnadore              Dover, FL                             41           $400
23.          14           11           Doug Horton                       Bruceton Mills, WV           40           $400
24.          21           17s          Jeff Smith                            Chatsworth, GA                  16           $400
25.          20           8              Steve Banal                          Troutman, NC                     2              $400

ENTRIES:  53
FAST QUALIFIER:  Davenport, 15.758 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  Breuer and Gentry
TRACK PROVISIONAL:  T. Varnadore
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  Dixon, 1-25; Davenport, 26-100
LAPS LED:  Davenport, 75; Dixon, 25
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Chase Edge
HEDMAN HUSLER OF THE RACE AWARD:  Schmauss (started 24th and finished 15th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  Watson
INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS JUST MISSED IT AWARD:  Edge
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD:  Overton
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD:  Francis
QA1 RACE PRODUCTS 7TH-PLACE AWARD:  Weaver
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD:  Cobb
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD:  Wing
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD:  Brindle
MIKE’S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD:  Nosbisch
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD:  Korte
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD:  Mathews
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD:  Breuer
COFIELD RACING STARTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD:  Schmauss
KINSER AIR FILTERS 16TH-PLACE AWARD:  Lloyd
CAUTIONS:  10 (1 Red Flag)
MARGIN OF VICTORY:  1.780 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE:  1 Hour, 17 Minutes and 39.250 Seconds