Greenville Speedway
July 13, 2013
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J-MAC SWEEPS RUMBLE ON THE GUMBO NATIONALS FOR NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS

by Roby Helm
GREENVILLE, MS – Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL swept the 3rd Annual Rumble On The Gumbo Nationals at Greenville Speedway for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division on Saturday night by taking his second straight victory driving the High Roller Race Cars Special. 

J-Mac started fourth and took the lead on lap 14 from pole sitter and fast qualifier Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS.  McRee then checked out, and won the caution-free 50-lap race by over six seconds over Stokes, who finished second in the Bassett Hound Motorsports GRT.

“I just love this race track because last night it was slick and we could run the top, and tonight it was tacky and hammer down where we could use the bottom of the track,” McRee said.  “I want to thank Wesley Washington and James Clolinger for giving us a great track to race on last night and again tonight.  I just wish this place was a little closer to home.”

It was an extra special for McRee, as his teammate Mickey Trosclair of Luling, LA took the third spot in his High Roller Race Cars Special.  Tait Davenport of Benton, KY was fourth in the Murtco, Inc. Special, and Evan Ellis of Plantersville, MS finished fifth in the Ellis Welding Special.  Mike Palasini Jr. of Leland, MS drove the MP Trucking Trak-Star to a sixth-place finish.

Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN was seventh in the NeSmith Chevrolet Special, and closed to within two points of point leader Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series standings.  Hollingsworth, who finished 13th, has 818 points and Johnson has 816 in the battle for the $20,000 Championship.

Josh Adkins of Talladega, AL drove the Yellow Hammer Construction Special to an eighth-place finish and was the Rookie of the Race.  Duke Palasini of Leland, MS was ninth in the Palasini Farms Special, and Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS rounded out the top ten in the Custom Spraying, Inc. GRT.

The first start of the race was waved off by the caution flag on the first lap when two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN spun the Eads Farms/Hardy & Associates Warrior in turn four.  That necessitated a complete restart. 

Jeremy Shaw of Millport, AL, who started third, broke a shock on that negated first lap and was done for the night.  That misfortune earned Shaw the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.

The complete restart saw Stokes take the lead from the pole position followed by Trosclair, McRee, Davenport and Ellis.  Stokes began to encounter the cars on the tail end of the lead lap by lap eight.  McRee drove around the outside of Trosclair going down the backstretch on lap nine for the second spot.

McRee then set his sights on Stokes, and by lap ten began to challenge “Dr. Dirt” for the lead.  J-Mac stepped to the outside of Stokes in turn three on lap 14 and passed him for the lead he would never relinquish.  At the halfway point in the race, McRee had a half straightaway lead over Stokes followed by Trosclair, Davenport, Ellis, Johnson, Duke Palasini, Mike Palasini Jr., Adkins, and Barrett.

Mike Palasini Jr. was able to move up a couple of spots in the second half of the race by getting around his Uncle Duke Palasini and Johnson to move from eighth to sixth.  Adkins was also able to get by Duke Palasini to move from ninth to eighth. 

With ten laps to go, McRee packed his bags, turned in the key, and checked out on the field with over a full straightaway lead over Stokes.  When the checkered flag came out, McRee was out of sight from Stokes, who was almost a half lap behind the leader.  At the end of the race, McRee had lapped all but the top nine finishers.

In preliminary action, Stokes out-timed the 27-car field with a lap around the ¼-mile black gumbo clay oval in 15.310 seconds.  The two 12-lap B-Main Races were won by Barrett and Todd Morrow of East Ridge, TN in the A-Plus Collision Center GRT.

The next two races for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division will be on July 26 at Tennessee National Raceway in Hohenwald, TN for a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race, and on July 27 at Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN for a 50-lap $2,500-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 11 AT GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY IN GREENVILLE, MS ON 7/13/13:

POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 4 25 Justin McRee Cottondale, AL 50 $2,500
2. 1 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 50 $1,250
3. 2 X Mickey Trosclair Luling, LA 50 $850
4. 5 18d Tait Davenport Benton, KY 50 $700
5. 7 73 Evan Ellis Plantersville, MS 50 $650
6. 10 8 Mike Palasini Jr. Leland, MS 50 $550
7. 9 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $500
8. 6 19 Josh Adkins (R) Talladega, AL 50 $450
9. 8 V8 Duke Palasini Leland, MS 50 $400
10. 11 110 Brent Barrett (R) Cleveland, MS 49 $375
11. 12 8a Todd Morrow East Ridge, TN 49 $350
12. 15 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 49 $300
13. 14 18 Ronny Hollingsworth Northport, AL 49 $280
14. 13 J8 Bobby Jordan McCarley, MS 49 $260
15. 18 70 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 49 $250
16. 23 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 48 $240
17. 17 40b Kyle Bronson (R) Brandon, FL 47 $220
18. 21 121 Michael Blount Sumrall, MS 47 $200
19. 22 21 Ryan Colby Greenville, MS 21 $200
20. 24 51 John Polasini Leland, MS 18 $200
21. 16 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 14 $200
22. 20 5 Greg Fore Greenville, MS 13 $200
23. 19 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 12 $200
24. 3 1s Jeremy Shaw (R) Millport, AL 0 $200

ENTRIES:  27
FAST QUALIFIER:  Stokes, 15.310 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  Lee
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  Stokes, 1-13; McRee, 14-50
LAPS LED:  McRee, 37; Stokes, 13
HEDMAN HUSLER OF THE RACE:  Lee (started 23rd and finished 16th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Adkins
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  Shaw
PRC JUST MISSED IT AWARD:  Marty Hardy
STEALTH RACING CARBURETORS 7TH-PLACE AWARD:  Johnson
VELOCITA RACEWEAR 8TH-PLACE AWARD:  Adkins
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD:  D. Palasini
AR BODIES 10TH-PLACE AWARD:  Barrett
MIKE CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD:  Morrow
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD:  Turner
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD:  Hollingsworth
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD:  Jordan
KINSER AIR FILTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD:  Boland
CAUTIONS:  None
MARGIN OF VICTORY:  6.831 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE:  17 Minutes and 57.248 Seconds