September 6, 2009

McREE TAKES SECOND NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS WIN AT THE MAG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

                COLUMBUS, MS – Justin McRee of Woodstock, AL picked up his second NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win in the last ten days by driving the Century Carriers, Inc. Trak-Star to victory Sunday night in the 40-lap main event at Magnolia Motor Speedway.  McRee passed early race leader Jim McDuffie of Meridian, MS on lap nine, and then checked out for the win.

                “McDuffie slipped up just enough for me to get inside him in turn three to take the lead,” McRee said.  “I used to drive a lot of Super Late Models, but I really love this series using the GM Performance engines, and we’re going to run the full series next season.”

                McRee’s first series win came on August 28 at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS.  McRee led the final 32 laps of the race on Sunday night, and his margin of victory was almost a half a lap.

Larry Boutwell of Baker, FL switched cars for the Sunday night race, and finished second in the McLeod Construction TNT, after a late-race battle with Mike Boland of Cuba, AL, who finished third in The Strength Center Trak-Star.  Point leader Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS took the fourth spot in the 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle.

                Ben McCreary of Baldwyn, MS was fifth in the Waddle Trucking Mastersbilt and earned the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Race Award and the Race Car Engineering Fifth-Place Award.  McCreary also took over the point lead for the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year Award, and is ahead of Chase Washington of Houlka, MS by two points. 

McCreary and Washington are fifth and sixth respectively in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National point standings.  Washington started the Jerry Inmon Race Cars GRT in the 21st starting spot and finished 12th to earn the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger of the Race Award.

Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA drove the Turner Excavating DWB to a sixth-place finish, and Todd Morrow of East Ridge, TN finished seventh in the T.J. Hunt Trucking Mastersbilt.  After just six starts on the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Tour, Morrow has moved up to the 15th spot in the points chase. 

Klint Byars of Carrollton, MS took the eighth spot in the Southern Belle GRT to earn the Race Car Engineering Eighth-Place Award.  Evan Ellis of Plantsville, MS finished ninth in the Ellis Certified Welders Trak-Start to earn the Maximum Signs Ninth-Place Award.  Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL rounded out the top ten in the Gar’s Cash Flow Mastersbilt.

McDuffie was the McLeod Construction Fast Qualifier with a lap around the 3/8-mile dirt oval in 14.258 seconds driving the H.E. Mosley, Inc. Trak-Star.  McDuffie was the last qualifier, and turned the quick time on the last qualifying lap.  McDuffie took the lead at the start of the race from the pole position followed by McRee, Boutwell, McCreary, and Cooley in the top five.

Cooley and Boland got by McCreary on lap three to move up to the fourth and fifth spots respectively.  By lap five, McDuffie had pulled out to a half-straightaway lead over McRee.  Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA spun the 78 Towing and Recovery Mastersbilt in turn two on lap seven to bring out the caution flag.

Rainey destroyed his primary ride, the Barto Enterprises Warrior, after a flip on Saturday night at Columbus Speedway.  Cooley offered his back up car to Rainey to race at Magnolia Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

The second and final caution flag of the race came out on lap eight for a tangle involving Doug Sanchagrin of Florence, MS in the Permanent Exterior Solutions GRT, Blake Koenigsberger of Columbus, MS in the TJC Mortgage Mastersbilt, and Charlie Henderson of Cottondale, AL in the Century Carriers, Inc. Mastersbilt.

The two double-file restarts saw Cooley get by Boutwell for the third spot during the first one, and then Boutwell returned the favor on the second double-file restart to retake the third spot behind McDuffie and McRee.

The battle for the lead developed on lap nine, as McRee found an opening on the inside of McDuffie in turn three, and then drove underneath to take the lead.  By lap 18, McRee took a full-straightaway lead into heavy lapped traffic.

McDuffie could not reel in McRee, as he slowed coming off the fourth turn on lap 19 and coasted to the infield.  McDuffie’s misfortune earned him the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck of the Race Award.

While McRee checked out on the field, a three-way battle for the second spot took shape in heavy lapped traffic among Boutwell, Cooley, and Boland on lap 25.  Boland was able to get by Cooley for the third spot on lap 27, and then started to look inside Boutwell for the second spot. 

Boutwell was able to use the lapped cars to his advantage and keep Boland behind him for the runner-up spot.  McCreary was able to pass Turner for the fifth spot on lap 32.  With five laps to go, McRee had opened up almost a half-lap lead on Boutwell and Boland.

In preliminary action, the two 12-lap B-Main races were won by Boland and Turner.

Drivers Eric Cooley, Ben McCreary, Chase Washington, and Mike Boland participated in the Ride For Life Auction, as fans bid for rides in the two-seat dirt late model.  Over $4,000 was raised to benefit the local chapter of the American Cancer Society on Saturday night at Columbus Speedway and Sunday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway. 

The next race for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be a non-points event with the $10,000-to-win Red Top Auto Auctions Dega 100 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL on September 17, 18, and 19.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 20 AT MAGNOLIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN COLUMBUS, MS ON 9/6/09:

POS        STRT     CAR #    DRIVER                               HOMETOWN                     LAPS     $ WON 
1.             2              25           Justin McRee                       Woodstock, AL                   40           $2,000
2.             3              58           Larry Boutwell                   Baker, FL                             40           $1,000
3.             7              222         Mike Boland                        Cuba, AL                              40           $700
4.             5              33c         Eric Cooley                         Fulton, MS                           40           $550
5.             4              21           Ben McCreary (R)             Baldwyn, MS                       40           $500
6.             8              10           Matthew Turner                 Dawsonville, GA                 40           $425
7.             13           T16        Todd Morrow                     East Ridge, TN                    40           $375
8.             10           5              Klint Byars                          Carrollton, MS                   39           $350
9.             12           73           Evan Ellis                            Plantsville, MS                    39           $325
10.          15           18           Chase Edge                          Lafayette, AL                      39           $300
11.          19           82           Jason Sanderford              Pheba, MS                            39           $275
12.          21           38           Chase Washington (R)      Houlka, MS                          39           $350
13.          14           90           Eddie Rickman                   Columbus, MS                     39           $225
14.          11           16           Jeff Fields                            Aragon, GA                         39           $200
15.          22           19           Marcus Minga                    Shannon, MS                       39           $175
16.          17           49           Jeremy Hines                      Seymour, IN                        39           $150
17.          6              33d         Derrick Rainey                   Powder Springs, GA          39           $140
18.          20           34           Doug Sanchagrin               Florence, MS                       39           $125
19.          24           25b         Jay Burchfield                    Columbus, MS                     37           $125
20.          1              760         Jim McDuffie                      Meridian, MS                      18           $225
21.          23           52           Blake Koenigsberger        Columbus, MS                     7              $125
22.          18           88           Charlie Henderson            Cottondale, AL                   7              $125
23.          16           4              Kevin Henderson               Cottondale, AL                   6              $125
24.          9              66k         Scott Knowles                      Lanett, AL                            5              $125

ENTRIES:  30
McLEOD CONSTRUCTION FAST QUALIFIER:  McDuffie, 14.258 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  None
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  McDuffie, 1-8; McRee, 9-40
LAPS LED:  McRee, 32; McDuffie, 8
SUNOCO RACE FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  McCreary
GM PERFORMANCE PARTS HARD CHARGER:  Washington (started 21st and finished 12th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  McDuffie
RACE CAR ENGINEERING FIFTH-PLACE AWARD:  McCreary
RACE CAR ENGINEERING EIGHTH-PLACE AWARD:  Byars
MAXIMUM SIGNS NINTH-PLACE AWARD:  Ellis
CAUTIONS:  2
TIME OF THE RACE:  21 Minutes and 1.348 Seconds

McLEOD CONSTRUCTION QUALIFYING (Top 6 Transfer To Main Event):

B-MAINS (12 Laps – Top 8 Transfer To Main Events):

                1ST B-MAIN:  1. Boland; 2. Knowles; 3. Fields; 4. Morrow; 5. Edge; 6. Hines; 7. Sanderford; 8. Washington (R); 9. Koenigsberger; 10. Lovorn; 11. Scarbrough; 12. Shirley.

                2ND B-MAIN:  1. Turner; 2. Byars; 3. Ellis; 4. Rickman; 5. K. Henderson; 6. C. Henderson; 7. Sanchagrin; 8. Minga; 9. Burchfield; 10. Holliday; 11. Carr; 12. Stokes.

SUPER LATE MODEL FEATURE
1ST 21 NEIL BAGGETT
2ND 33 SCOTT DEDWYLDER
3RD 51 DEAN CARPENTER
4TH K3 DAVID BREAZEALE
5TH 34 BEAU GORDON
6TH F17 PAUL FAUCETT
7TH 43 KURT RADOJCSICS
8TH J51 JASON MILAM
9TH 13 TIM MCLENDON
10TH 9 RAY MAULDIN

NESMITH CRATE LATE MODEL FEATURE
1ST 25 JUSTIN MCREE
2ND 58 LARRY BOUTWELL
3RD 222 MIKE BOLAND
4TH 33C ERIC COOLEY
5TH 21M BEN MCCREARY
6TH 10 MATTHEW TURNER
7TH 16T TODD MORROW
8TH 5 KLINT BYARS
9TH 73 EVAN ELLIS
10TH 18E CHASE EDGE
11TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
12TH 38 CHASE WASHINGTON
13TH 90 EDDIE RICKMAN
14TH 16 JEFF FIELDS
15TH 19 MARCUS MINGA
16TH 49 JEREMY HINES
17TH 33D DERRICK RAINEY
18TH 34 DOUG SANCHAGRIN
19TH 25 JAY BURCHFIELD
20TH 760 JIM MCDUFFIE
21ST 52K BLAKE KOEINGSBERGER
22ND 88 CHARLIE HENDERSON
23RD 4 KEVIN HENDERSON
24TH 66K SCOTT KNOWLES

NESMITH CRATE LATE MODEL B-MAIN 1
TRANSFER 222 MIKE BOLAND
TRANSFER 66K SCOTT KNOWLES
TRANSFER 16 JEFF FIELDS
TRANSFER 16T TODD MORROW
TRANSFER 18E CHASE EDGE
TRANSFER 49 JEREMY HINES
TRANSFER 82 JASON SANDERFORD
TRANSFER 38 CHASE WASHINGTON
TRANSFER 52K BLAKE KOEINGSBERGER
10TH 20 KELLY LOVORN
11TH 33S SIS SCARBROUGH
12TH 7 MIKE SHIRLEY

NESMITH CRATE LATE MODEL B-MAIN 2
TRANSFER 10 MATTHEW TURNER
TRANSFER 5 KLINT BYARS
TRANSFER 73 EVAN ELLIS
TRANSFER 90 EDDIE RICKMAN
TRANSFER 4 KEVIN HENDERSON
TRANSFER 88 CHARLIE HENDERSON
TRANSFER 34 DOUG SANCHAGRIN
TRANSFER 19 MARCUS MINGA
TRANSFER 25 JAY BURCHFIELD
10TH 2 DREW HOLIDAY
11TH 7 ERIC CARR
12TH 2 MARK STOKES

OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED FEATURE
1ST 51 RODNEY WING
2ND 99 BRANDON POPPENHEIMER
3RD 4 JASON BROCK
4TH 31 BILLY COLLETT
5TH 2 LEE RAY
6TH 35 TONY GRAY
7TH 04 RODNEY ETHERIDGE
8TH CB1 ERIC HUGHES
9TH 10B KENNY HOLLINGSWORTH
10TH 11 CHRIS WOOD
DNS X TRINITY WYERS
DNS U2 JEROME SHEPHERD

LATE MODEL STOCK
1ST 3 TONY SHELTON
2ND 14 CHANCE INMON
3RD 85 RAY PAUL
4TH 88H HUNTER CARROLL
5TH 2 LEE RAY
6TH M50 ALLEN SIMMONS
7TH 21 STEVE HESTER, SR
8TH 17 DARRELL GUESS
DNS 13 CHAD MCCOOL

STREET STOCK FEATURE
1ST K24 TONY SILVESTRI
2ND 81 TREY BRIGHT
3RD 44 JONATHAN MOORE
4TH 20 MARVIN BEARD
5TH 44 ADAM CHEEKS
6TH 8 BRANDON NOBLES
7TH CT74 ANDREW EARNEST
8TH 22 JOHN BEARD
9TH 74 NICK STOOP
10TH M29 MARGARET MCCLURE
11TH 81 TROY GRAVES
12TH KB9 SCOTT THRASH
13TH 53W JASON SANDERS
14TH R1 RENO BURR
15TH 11 JEFFERY WALKER
16TH Q32 QUITERIO AREVALOS
17TH 53 JAMES WARE

MINI STOCK FEATURE
1ST 11 SCOTT GABLE
2ND 5 GREG RUFFIN
3RD 02 JENNIFER SHELTON
4TH 1 BO MINOR
5TH 22 NICK DEESE
6TH 957 JERRY WEST
7TH 01 RONNIE GUIN