NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series News Release
Contact – ROBY HELM – (865) 207-4157
October 5, 2012

J-MAC WILL LOOK FOR THIRD STRAIGHT NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS WIN FROM THE POLE OF THE GUMBO NATIONALS

GREENVILLE, MS – Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL drove the High Roller Race Cars Special to quick time honors and then won the first of four ten-lap heat races on Friday night to earn the pole position for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series $5,000-to-win 60-lap 6th Annual Gumbo Nationals at Greenville Speedway that will be run on Saturday night.

McRee out-timed the 39-car field during qualifications with a lap around the ¼-mile gumbo clay oval in 15.089 seconds.  That gave J-Mac the pole position for the first heat race, which he won with a wire-to-wire effort.  McRee will be looking for his third straight NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win and fourth of the season on Saturday night in the Gumbo Nationals.

Jeremy Shaw of Millport, AL was the second quick qualifier and won the second heat race in the Summit Resource Development Trak-Star to earn the outside front row starting spot for the Gumbo Nationals.  Shaw will be looking for his second NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win of the season in the Gumbo Nationals.

Tait Davenport of Benton, KY will start third in the Gumbo Nationals after winning the third heat race in the Murtco, Inc. Special.  After winning the $10,000 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Championship last week, Chase Washington of Houlka, MS will start the Gumbo Nationals from the fourth spot after winning the fourth heat race in the Jerry Inmon Racing Special.

The top four finishers in each ten-lap heat race on Friday night transferred into the “Sweet 16” for Saturday night’s Gumbo Nationals filling the first eight rows of the 24-car starting field.  Starting spots 17 through 24 will be determined on Saturday night with two B-Main races for the drivers that finished fifth on back in the heat races.  The top three in each B-Main transfer to the big show.

Following McRee into the main event out of the first heat were defending Gumbo Nationals Champion Ashley Newman of Ripley, TN, the 2011 VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL, and the 2010 VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year Larry Harrod of Plains, GA.

Second through fourth respectively in the second heat race behind Shaw were the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point leader Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA, Duke Palasini of Leland, MS, and Shay Knight of Columbus, MS.  Also transferring out of the third heat race with Davenport were Bubba Harrison of Cleveland, MS, two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN and Michael Blount of Sumrall, MS.

Turner leads Gentry by 18 points in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point standings coming into the Gumbo Nationals with two races remaining on the 2012 schedule.  Transferring with Washington out of the fourth heat race were Hunter Carroll of Columbus, MS, two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS and Chance Inman of Bruce, MS.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF ROUND 21 AT GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY IN GREENVILLE, MS ON 10/5/12:
POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN CHASSIS LAP 1 LAP 2 TIME
1 17 Justin McRee  Cottondale, AL HRRC 15.089 15.438 15.089
2 1s Jeremy Shaw  Millport, AL Trak-Star 15.388 15.196 15.196
3 18d Tait Davenport Benton, KY Longhorn 15.377 15.283 15.283
4 17w Chad Washington Greenville, MS GRT 15.858 15.364 15.364
5 18 Chase Edge Lafayette, AL Mastersbilt 15.652 15.391 15.391
6 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA DWB 15.399 15.466 15.399
7 56h Bubba Harrison Cleveland, MS GRT 15.558 15.415 15.415
8 38 Chase Washington Houlka, MS Barry Wright 15.645 15.503 15.503
9 27 Larry Harrod Plains, GA Scorpion 15.567 15.506 15.506
10 2s Kyle Shaw Millport, AL Trak-Star 15.819 15.526 15.526
11 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS GRT 15.879 15.542 15.542
12 33b Eric Cooley  Fulton, MS Barry Wright 15.544 18.270 15.544
13 73 Ashley Newman  Ripley, TN Pierce 15.591 15.546 15.546
14 V8 Duke Palasini Leland, MS Larry Shaw 15.832 15.638 15.638
15 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN Warrior 16.109 15.663 15.663
16 27c Hunter Carroll Columbus, MS Mastersbilt 15.795 15.685 15.685
17 24 Greg Fore  Greenville, MS Mastersbilt 15.941 15.694 15.694
18 C55 David Carpenter Greenwood, MS Rocket 15.797 16.085 15.797
19 J8 Bobby Jordan McCarley, MS Trak-Star 15.888 16.021 15.888
20 110 Brent Barrett Cleveland, MS GRT 15.909 15.939 15.909
21 15 Shane Stephens Arlington, TN Mastersbilt 16.127 15.985 15.985
22 3 Shay Knight  Columbus, MS Mastersbilt 16.098 16.020 16.020
23 1m Johnny Smith  Starkville, MS Trak-Star 16.128 16.929 16.128
24 14 Chance Inman  Bruce, MS GRT 16.131 16.775 16.131
25 19 Marcus Minga  Shannon, MS Rocket 16.189 16.576 16.189
26 10c Ronnie Cooper McKenzie, TN GRT 16.923 16.217 16.217
27 121 Michael Blount Sumrall, MS GRT 16.252 16.278 16.252
28 5 Richard Fedrick Greenville, MS Mastersbilt 16.295 16.259 16.259
29 44 Peyton Wilkerson Leland, MS Rocket 16.405 16.678 16.405
30 115 Danny Gentry Eads, TN GRT 16.555 17.672 16.555
31 18b Jason Botsford Hot Springs, AR GRT 16.879 16.629 16.629
32 B20 Boone Fullwood Shiloh, TN Mastersbilt 16.820 16.634 16.634
33 11 Mark Stephens Arlington, TN Barry Wright 16.682 16.770 16.682
34 33 Wesley Brown Greenville, MS Trak-Star 17.103 16.783 16.783
35 17k Cody Kierre - R  Beebe, AR Larry Shaw 16.801 16.810 16.801
36 46 Kenny Carpenter Cleveland, MS Rocket 16.812 16.806 16.806
37 82 Brad Wier Carrollton, MS Warrior 17.808 16.890 16.890
38 7p Peter Hazzard Greenville, MS Mastersbilt NT NT DQ - LT
39 55 Montana Dudley  Phenix City, AL Rocket NT NT NT

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

1ST HEAT:  1. McRee; 2. Newman; 3. Edge; 4. Harrod; 5. Fore; 6. S. Stephens; 7. Minga; 8. Wier; 9. M. Stephens; 10. Wilkerson.
2ND HEAT:  1. J. Shaw; 2. Turner; 3. Palasini; 4. Knight; 5. Danny Gentry; 6. K. Shaw; 7. Hazzard; 8. Cooper; 9. D. Carpenter; 10. Brown.
3RD HEAT:  1. Davenport; 2. Harrison; 3. David Earl Gentry; 4. Blount; 5. Stokes; 6. Jordan; 7. Smith; 8. Botsford; 9. Kierre (R); 10. Dudley DNS.
4TH HEAT:  1. Chase Washington; 2. Carroll; 3. Cooley; 4. Inman; 5. Chad Washington; 6. Barrett; 7. Fullwood; 8. Fedrick; 9. K. Carpenter.

“SWEET 16” FEATURE RACE LINE-UP:

ROW 1:
17 Justin McRee – 1s Jeremy Shaw
ROW 2:
18d Tait Davenport – 38 Chase Washington
ROW 3:
73 Ashley Newman – 10 Matthew Turner
ROW 4:
56h Bubba Harrison – 27c Hunter Carroll
ROW 5:
18 Chase Edge – V8 Duke Palasini
ROW 6:
56 David Earl Gentry – 33b Eric Cooley
ROW 7:
27 Larry Harrod – 3 Shay Knight
ROW 8:
121 Michael Blount – 14 Chance Inman

B-MAIN LINE-UPS (12 Laps – Top 3 Transfer To Main Event):

1ST B-MAIN:
5 Greg Fore – 1 Johnny Stokes
15 Shane Stephens – J8 Bobby Jordan
19 Marcus Minga – 1m Johnny Smith
82 Brad Wier – 18b Jason Botsford
11 Mark Stephens – 17k Cody Kierre (R)
44 Peyton Wilkerson – 55 Montana Dudley

2ND B-MAIN:
115 Danny Gentry – 17w Chad Washington
2s Kyle Shaw – 110 Brent Barrett
7p Peter Hazzard – B20 Boone Fullwood
10c Ronnie Cooper – 5 Richard Fedrick
C55 David Carpenter – 46 Kenny Carpenter
33 Wesley Brown

R – Denotes VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year Candidate