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

August 30, 2013

J-MAC IS A HIGH ROLLER WITH NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS BATESVILLE WIN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

                BATESVILLE, AR – Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL overcame a series of tough luck to win the 40-lap NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series main event on Friday night at Batesville Motor Speedway driving the High Roller Race Cars Special.  McRee and his crew overcame a wreck in hot laps to comeback for his third win of the season.

                “We wrecked the car in hot laps and had to replace the radiator and a lot of other pieces, but we overcame that to win the race, so I’ve got to thank my crew for this one,” McRee said.  “This track was awesome tonight and we could race just about everywhere we wanted to.  I hope we put on a good show for the fans so we can come back here.”

                McRee did use all of the race track to run down early race leader Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL, and like the name of his race car, J-Mac was a High Roller as he stepped to the outside to pass Bronson for the lead on lap nine.  Bronson caught McRee late in the race in heavy lapped traffic, but that went away with a lap 36 caution flag.

                Bronson had to settle for second in the Brandon Ford Warrior and the Rookie of the Race was busy in the five-lap dash to the finish trying to hold off Tait Davenport of Benton, KY, who finished third in the Murtco, Inc. Special.

                Two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS started 10th and finished fourth in the B&M Salvage Rocket to earn the Hedman Husler of the Race Award.  National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN padded his point lead with a fifth-place finish in the NeSmith Chevrolet Special.

                With four races left in the 2013 season, Johnson now holds an 82-point lead over Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL, who finished 22nd in the Sparks Motorsports Special.  With his second-place finish on Friday night, Bronson moved to within two points of Hollingsworth.

                Wendell Wallace of Batesville, AR took the sixth spot in the Swafford Service GRT, and Eric Hughes of West Plains, MO drove the Gary’s Tire and Automotive Rocket to a seventh-place finish.  Chris O’Connor of Cantonment, FL finished eighth in the Gas Money Garage Special, and Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS was ninth in the Custom Spraying, Inc. GRT. 

Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS rounded out the top ten in the Bassett Hound Motorsports GRT, and won the first ten-lap B-Main Race.  Michael Blount of Sumrall, MS won the second ten-lap B-Main Race driving the Lamar Auto Salvage GRT.  Bronson out-timed the 30-car field with a lap around 4/10-mile clay oval in 15.221 second.

Bronson took the lead from the pole position at the start of the race followed by Hollingsworth, McRee, Johnson and Hughes.  Hollingsworth stepped to the outside going into turn one on lap two, and just when it looked like he had a run on the leader, something broke on his race car which cut down a tire, and he slowed off the pace.

Hollingsworth was done for the night and earned the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.  Bronson had McRee, Johnson, Hughes, Davenport, Wallace, Cooley, Robby Moore of Brosley, MO in the Custom Race Cars Trak-Star, Stokes and Blount doubled up behind him for the restart.

Hughes got by Johnson on the restart for the third spot, and business picked at the front of the pack.  McRee was putting pressure on Bronson for the lead, and Hughes made it a three-car dance by lap four.  On lap six, Bronson, McRee, and Hughes went into the third turn three-wide.

Hughes jumped the cushion and almost sailed out of the ballpark coming off turn four, but he recovered and settled back into the seventh spot.  Bronson and McRee carried on the battle for the lead, and J-Mac got an outside run on the leader on lap nine.  The lead duo raced side-by-side for the lap, with McRee grabbing the lead coming off the fourth turn.

Davenport was marching to the front of the pack, as he went to the inside to take on Johnson door-to-door for the third spot on lap ten.  Davenport cleared the Chattanooga Flash for third on lap 11, and then set his sights on Bronson.  Chandler Petty of Austin, AR cut down a tire on lap 14 to bring out the second caution flag of the race.

McRee had Bronson, Davenport, Johnson, Cooley, Wallace, Hughes, Stokes, O’Connor, and Moore doubled up behind him for the restart.  Cooley got an outside run on Johnson to take the fourth spot on lap 15.  By the halfway point in the race on lap 20, McRee had a half-straightaway lead on Bronson, but that would change in the second half of the race.

McRee caught the cars on the tail end of the lead lap by lap 26, and with ten laps to go, he was in heavy lapped traffic.  Bronson and Davenport were gaining fast, as McRee pulled up to lap Gavin Landers of Batesville, AR in the Mark Martin Automotive Rocket.  Landers was battling with Travis Ashley of Batesville, AR in the Bad Boy Mowers GRT for position.

While McRee was trying to pick a spot to get by Landers and Ashley, Bronson and Davenport had pulled to within a car-length of the leader.  McRee went to the inside of Landers to lap him, while Landers went to the inside of Ashley.  Contact was made and Landers spun in front of McRee, who just cleared him.

That brought out the third and final caution flag and set up a five-lap dash to the finish.  McRee led Bronson, Davenport, Cooley, Johnson, Wallace, Hughes, O’Connor, Stokes, and Barrett down to the green flag.  With clear race track in front of him, McRee pulled away, but Davenport was all over Bronson in the battle for second.

At the checkered flag, McRee had a .326 seconds margin of victory over Bronson, who was able to keep Davenport behind him.  McRee collected $2,000 for his 40 laps of work in 20 minutes, and his ninth NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series career victory to take over sole possession of the fifth-place on the all-time series win list.

The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be at West Plains Motor Speedway in West Plains, MO for a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race on Saturday night, and then it’s on to Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS on Sunday night for a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race.

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 17 AT BATESVILLE MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN BATESVILLE, AR ON 8/30/13:

POS        STRT     CAR #    DRIVER                               HOMETOWN                     LAPS     $ WON 
1.             4              25           Justin McRee                       Cottondale, AL                   40           $2,000
2.             1              40b         Kyle Bronson (R)               Brandon, FL                        40           $1,000
3.             7              18d         Tait Davenport                   Benton, KY                          40           $700
4.             10           19c         Eric Cooley                         Fulton, MS                           40           $650
5.             3              5              Ronnie Johnson                  Chattanooga, TN                40           $500
6.             5              14           Wendell Wallace                Batesville, AR                     40           $425
7.             6              6              Eric Hughes                         West Plains, MO 40           $375
8.             13           00           Chris O’Connor                  Cantonment, FL                 40           $350
9.             14           110         Brent Barrett (R)                Cleveland, TN                     40           $325
10.          11           1              Johnny Stokes                     Columbus, MS                     40           $300
11.          8              47           Chandler Petty                    Austin, AR                            40           $275
12.          9              66           Robby Moore                      Brosley, MO                        40           $250
13.          12           121         Michael Blount                   Sumrall, MS                        40           $225
14.          15           19           Josh Adkins (R)                   Talladega, AL                     40           $200
15.          17           23           Travis Ashley                      Batesville, AR                     40           $175
16.          16           6              Troy English                       Calvert City, KY                39           $150
17.          22           19m        Marcus Minga                    Shannon, MS                       39           $140
18.          21           77           Gavin Landers                    Batesville, AR                     37           $125
19.          24           1s            Joey Smith                           Pomona, MO                       31           $125
20.          18           18w        Roger Witt                           Batesville, AR                     17           $125
21.          20           17k         Cody Kierre                        Beebe, AR                             13           $125
22.          2              18           Ronny Hollingsworth        Northport, AL                     1              $125
23.          19           55           Bobby Skinner                    Moody, MO                         1              $125
24.          23           23F         Joe Forman                         Mountain View, AR           0              DNS

ENTRIES:  30
FAST QUALIFIER:  Bronson, 15.221 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  None
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  Bronson, 1-8; McRee, 9-40
LAPS LED:  McRee, 32; Bronson, 8
HEDMAN HUSLER OF THE RACE:  Cooley (started 10th and finished 4th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Bronson
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  Hollingsworth
PRC JUST MISSED IT AWARD:  Steve Tarry
STEALTH RACING CARBURETORS 7TH-PLACE AWARD:  Hughes
VELOCITA RACEWEAR 8TH-PLACE AWARD: O’Connor
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD:  Barrett
AR BODIES 10TH-PLACE AWARD:  Stokes
MIKE CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD:  Petty
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD:  Moore
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD:  Blount
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD:  Adkins
KINSER AIR FILTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD:  Ashley
CAUTIONS:  3
MARGIN OF VICTORY:  .326 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE:  19 Minutes and 59.452 Seconds

QUALIFYING (Top 10 Transfer To Main Event):

B-MAINS (10 Laps – Top 6 Transfer To Main Event):

                1ST B-MAIN:  1. Stokes; 2. O’Connor; 3. Adkins (R); 4. Ashley; 5. Skinner; 6. Landers; 7. Forman; 8. Terry; 9. Buck; 10. Jones.

                2ND B-MAIN:  1. Blount; 2. Barrett (R); 3. English; 4. Witt; 5. Kierre; 6. Minga; 7. Smith; 8. Duren; 9. Gray; 10. Carr.

NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 8/30/13:

1. 5 Ronnie Johnson – 1,386
2. 18 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth – 1,304
3. 40 Kyle Bronson (R) – 1,302
4. 18d Tait Davenport – 1,236
5. 1 Johnny Stokes – 1,138
6. 25 Justin McRee – 1,106
7. 19 Josh Adkins (R) – 1,058
8. 110 Brent Barrett (R) – 966
9. 10 Matthew Turner – 776
10. 121 Michael Blount – 762
10. 56 David Earl Gentry – 762
12. 47 Shannon Lee – 718
13. 51 Mack McCarter (R) – 624
14. 17ss Shan Smith – 610
15. 8a Todd Morrow – 562
16. 117 Jake Teague (R) – 534
17. 1s Jeremy Shaw (R) – 496
18. 19m Marcus Minga – 454
19. 38 Scott Dedwylder – 448
20. 10c Ronnie Cooper - 398

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. 

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