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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Devin Gilpin Claims Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Championship

Contact: Chris Tilley
Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series P.R. Coordinator
606-219-1723 | tilleyracing@gmail.com

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. – Aug. 2, 2016 – Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind. stood in the infield Saturday Night at Tazewell, Tenn. with over 5,000 reasons to smile.

The young Open Wheel Modified stand out and former UMP National Champion claimed his first-career Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Super Late Model Series championship, worth $5,053 in a tour that had tough competition night after night. Gilpin became the seventh different tour champion in 12 seasons. Gilpin was added to the prestigious list of champions which included Jeff Cooke, Anthony White, Tommy Kerr, Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden and Casey Roberts.

Gilpin hustled to five top-five finishes at tracks he’s never seen before this season along with seven top-ten finishes in the nine races completed on the tour. Gilpin earned $10,790 in nightly prize money plus $5,053 for the series championship bringing his total series earnings to $15,843 in just 15 days.

Gilpin offered up his thanks to his supporters after Saturday’s finale at Tazewell Speedway “I can’t say enough about all these guys (his crew in victory lane) that’s the reason we got this done, it’s because Jim Beeman, Tader Masters, all the crew, my mom and dad for supporting me, all my sponsors on this deal, Jim Beeman Lumber, Vallery Chevrolet, MasterSbilt Race Cars, Clements Automotive, Bayne Logging and Dasco Racing Supply.”

Gilpin praised the tour and even the long nights for making him a better driver. “The Southern Nationals Series is awesome, I really had a good time coming down to all these race tracks, I feel it’s going to make me way versatile when we go home, I feel like as a team we all grew and learned a lot. You know I wished we could have got a win, but consistency is what wins championships, night in and night out we were solid every night, I had a blast, I had never been on a two-week grind like this and it made us all better, we all grew,” Gilpin went on to say.

The newly crowned champion continued to thank his crew and supporters in victory lane. “I couldn’t do it without Jim Beeman and Tader (Masters), and Eppy, and Kurt, Chris and my cousin Chandler, he’s been an awesome help this week, just all these guys that has been up and down the road with me night in and night out, four or five, six in the morning in parking lots and Walmart working on these things, it’s all paid off and I want to thank all you race fans for coming out, every show we went to with Ray Cook’s Southern Nationals Series the stands were packed, that’s what this sport needs, just continue to support a local dirt track and I want to thank Schaeffer’s Oil for sponsoring this series, Ray (Cook) and (Chris) Tilley and all the guys they really do a good job,” Gilpin commented.

Second place in the final point standings was Shanon Buckingham of Morristown, Tenn. who claimed one victory (Tri-County Race Track) during the nine races, three top-five finishes and seven top-ten finishes while piloting the Double-Down Motorsports entry. Buckingham earned $1,000 for being the top AR Bodies and MasterSbilt Race Cars-sponsored Rookie of the Year. Buckingham also earned $2,553 for his second place finish in the final points.

Third place in the final point standings was Ricky Weiss of Headingly, Manitoba, Canada. The four-time WISSOTA National champion drove to three top-five finishes including a runner-up finish at Crossville (Tenn.) Speedway. He earned seven top-10 finishes along the way and picked up $2,053 for third in the final points.

Vic Hill of Mosheim, Tenn. finished fourth in the final point standings driving the Chill Motorsports entry. Hill claimed four top-five finishes and five top-ten finishes en route to the $1,553 payday for fourth in the final points. Hill has finished in the top-five of the final points now six times. Hill’s best finish was a runner-up at Boyd’s Speedway.

Fifth in the final point standings was Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga. who earned $1,053 in series prize money while driving the Blount Motorsports entry. McIntosh drove to two top-five finishes including his best finish of fourth at 411 Motor Speedway. McIntosh also had six top-ten finishes.

Other drivers who ran the entire tour included: Stacy Boles of Clinton, Tenn. who finished sixth in the points who had his best finish of sixth at Crossville Speedway and earned $753 in point money. Robby Moses of Maryville, Tenn. driving for Double-Down Motorsports was eighth in the final points and finished second in the AR Bodies-MasterSbilt Race Cars Rookie of the Year points earning $500. Moses garnered two-top-ten finishes coming at Tri-County Race Track and Tazewell Speedway. Moses earned $553 for his eighth place position in points.

Craig Vosbergen of Perth, Western Australia finished seventh in the final point standings but only entered eight of the nine races. Motor troubles after Swainsboro caused him to return to Morristown, Tenn. to retrieve another engine and would cause him to miss the Screven Motor Speedway event. Vosbergen picked up one win at Crossville Speedway, a third place at Boyd’s Speedway and a runner-up finish at Tazewell Speedway.

Ninth in the final points was Chris Brown of Spring, Texas who raced to two third-place finishes (his best) at Wythe Raceway and 411 Motor Speedway. Gavin Landers of Batesville, Ark. who drove the Lance Landers Motorsports entry, finished tenth in the final point standings and claimed a ninth place finish (his best) at Crossville Speedway.

The tour offered up eight different winners in nine races this season for only the fourth time in series history. Before this season, there were eight different winners in 2006, 2009 and 2014. This season’s average car count was 28 in just nine shows completed. A total of 110 different drivers from eleven states plus two countries (Australia and Canada) competed on the tour. Just over $225,000 was paid out in nine races including prize and point fund monies, non-qualifier money, contingencies and bonuses.

Longhorn Chassis was on top of the win charts with four victories in the series while Sweet-Bloomquist Race Cars captured three victories. Capital Race Cars and Rocket Chassis claimed one event victory a piece. In engines, Clements Racing Engines claimed two victories on the tour while ECR also took two victories and Cornett, Durham, and Crabtree won one race a piece.

Special Thanks goes to the following race tracks, officials, staff and promoters: Fred & Susan Brown of Wythe (Va.) Raceway; Tanya & Mitch McCarter of 411 Motor (Tenn.) Speedway; Ray Cook of Tri-County (NC) Race Track; Paul & Debra Purvis of Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway; James “Redd” Griffin of Screven Motor (Ga.) Speedway; The Swims Family of Rome (Ga.) Speedway; David Duplissey & Dale McDowell of Boyd’s (Ga.) Speedway; Perry Delaney/Lewis Jackson/Scott Shelton/Michael Luna of Crossville (Tenn.) Speedway; Casey Moses & Dustin Dunlap of Smoky Mountain (Tenn.) Speedway and Gary & Shirlene Hall of Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway.

Special Thanks to the following Southern Nationals Series Supporters: Schaeffer’s Oil, Old Man’s Garage, Tennessee R.V. Sales & Service Super Center, Arizona Sport Shirts, Gotta Race, American Race Tires, AR Bodies (Rookie of the Year), Collins Signs (10th place award), Delph Communications, DirtonDirt.com (Dash), Dyer’s Top Rods, FK Rod Ends (Fast Time), Hoosier Racing Tire, Keyser Manufacturing (11th place award), MasterSbilt Race Cars (Rookie of the Year), Capital Race Cars, RockAuto.com, Sunoco Race Fuels (Official Series Fuel), The Joie of Seating (Winner award), Vic Hill Racing Engines, VP Racing Fuels, Wiles Driveshafts.

Further information on the Spring Nationals, Southern Nationals and Southern Nationals Bonus Series can be obtained by calling Promoter Ray Cook at (828) 360-5353 or Series P.R. Coordinator Chris Tilley at (606) 219-1723 or visit the official website located at www.SouthernNationalsSeries.com .

Final Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Series Points (9 races completed):
1. Devin Gilpin-1,587 (Columbus, IN)
2. Shanon Buckingham-1,561 ® (Morristown, TN)
3. Ricky Weiss-1,551 (Headingly, Manitoba, Canada)
4. Vic Hill-1,543 (Mosheim, TN)
5. Donald McIntosh-1,521 (Dawsonville, GA)
6. Stacy Boles-1,477 (Clinton, TN)
7. Craig Vosbergen-1,377 (Perth, W. Australia)
8. Robby Moses-1,352 ® (Maryville, TN)
9. Chris Brown-1,246 9Spring, Texas)
10. Gavin Landers-1,243 ® (Batesville, AR)