NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
Cochran Motor Speedway
August 1, 2015
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King Captures First NeSmith Late Model Win In Spectacular Fashion 
by Roby Helm
COCHRAN, GA (August 1) - It was a night of firsts on Saturday night for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series with a first time winner at a first time track. Ryan King of Seymour, TN took his first career NeSmith Late Model win driving the Brian King Roofing Stinger at Cochran Motor Speedway in spectacular fashion in front of an appreciative crowd.
East Tennessee’s finest came to Cochran, GA to show out, as King waged a side-by-side war for the lead with Cory Hedgecock of Lenoir City, TN in the Eagle Racing Engines Rocket, and then in the final two laps, King held off the hard charging two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion and current point leader Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN.
Also playing a part in the evening’s entertainment was Matt Henderson of Loudon, TN, who led the first 14 laps of the race. But the highlight of Round 13 of the 2015 NeSmith Late Model season was the battle for the lead between Hedgecock and King. Hedgecock took the lead from Henderson on lap 14, and found the top groove of the track to his liking.
But with ten laps to go, King quickly arrived on the scene and began dive bombing to the inside in the turns in an effort to “slide job” Hedgecock, but Hedgecock was able to hold until lap 48. King pulled alongside Hedgecock going down the backstretch and as they lead duo entered turn three, Hedgecock overcooked the corner, jumped the cushion and slide off the high side of the track.
That brought out the caution flag, but King didn’t know he had the lead until he came back around and saw Hedgecock returning to the racing surface. He also didn’t know who was lined up behind him for the two lap dash to the finish. It was none other than the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee Johnson.
“When Cory took the lead, he went to the high side, so I thought I would give it a try, and I was able to reel him in,” King said. “I just kept showing enough of the nose of my car in the last ten laps trying to rattle his cage a little, and I thought maybe he would make a mistake. When I got alongside him, I knew I passed him for the lead, but then the caution flag came out. I thought they would put Cory back in front of me for the restart, but I came around under caution, and I saw the caution was for him. I had no idea that Ronnie was behind me for the restart, and I just tried to hold my line and hit my marks.”
Johnson had nothing for King in the final two laps of the race, which also saw two restarts, and the Chattanooga Flash had to settle for second in the NeSmith Chevrolet Special. After starting 11th, Johnson was the Beyea Headers Hard Charger of the Race. Henderson had an up and down and up night to finish third in the Rebel Diesel #H2 Duayne Hommel Tribute Car Rocket.
Jeremy Faircloth of Swainsboro, GA drove the LJR Forestry Warrior to a fourth-place finish and Jimmy Thomas of Phenix City, AL finished fifth in the Five Star Hyundai Special. Larry Harrod of Plains, GA took the sixth spot in the Harrod Logging Special and Hedgecock came back from his lap 48 spin to claim the seventh position.
Cody Martin of Christiana, TN finished eighth in the Martin Motorsports Warrior, and Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS was ninth in the B&M Salvage Rocket. Ryan Crane of Panama City, FL rounded out the Top 10 in the Panama City Cycles Rocket.
The win gave King a clean sweep of the event, as he was the fast qualifier with a lap around the 4/10-mile clay oval in 14.828 seconds, and he was also the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race.
When the green flag came out to start the race, King took the lead with Hedgecock coming from the inside of the second row to take the second spot. After starting on the outside front row, Henderson suddenly came to a stop on the backstretch to bring out the caution flag. Henderson said he was trying to make a brake bias adjustment and accidently hit the kill switch.
Since there were no laps completed, it was a complete restart, and Henderson got back his second starting spot. On the second try at a start, Will Herrington of Cochran, GA spun the Last Air Electrical Warrior down the backstretch and collected Minga. That made for a second complete restart, and the third time was the charm, as Henderson took the lead followed by King, Faircloth, Hedgecock and Crane.
Hedgecock began his march to the front by passing Faircloth for third on lap 2. Rodgerick Dykes of Smith Station, AL spun the Braswell Bodies Warrior in turn four on lap four to bring out the third caution flag. Henderson had King, Hedgecock, Faircloth, Jordy Nipper of Gray, GA in the Scotty’s Muffler Special, Crane, Harrod, Johnson, Thomas and Minga doubled up behind him for the Dixie-Style Double-File restart.
Crane got by Nipper for the fifth spot on the start, and Hedgecock moved up to battle King for the second spot. Hedgecock found the outside groove to his liking, and passed King for second on lap 14. Hedgecock had so much momentum on the top shelf of Cochran Motor Speedway; he sailed around the outside of Henderson to take the lead on lap 15.
Henderson then began to battle an ill handing race car, as King drove by him on the inside in turn four to take command of the second spot. By lap 20, Johnson had worked his way up to the fifth spot, but there was a lot of real estate between himself and the leaders.
The fourth caution flag of the race would work in Johnson’s favor when Tim Dixon of Manchester, GA spun the M&M Plantation Special in turn one on lap 25. Hedgecock led the doubled up cars of King, Henderson, Faircloth, Johnson, Harrod, Nipper, Crane, Thomas and Martin for the restart.
Faircloth got by Henderson for third on the restart, and Harrod shot around Johnson to take the fifth spot. Johnson got wound up on the high side of the track and sailed around Harrod to reclaim fifth on lap 27. Johnson kept his forward progress on lap 30 when he passed Henderson for the fourth spot.
Hedgecock was able to maintain a two car-length advantage over King when the lead duo encountered lapped traffic on lap 35. They wouldn’t be in it long, however, as Dixon stalled in turn one to bring out the fifth caution flag on lap 36. After the field went back to green flag action, Harrod dropped Henderson back to sixth with a lap 37 pass.
Dykes stalled in turn one on lap 41 to light up the yellow caution bulb for the sixth time. With the race inside ten laps to go, it was a single-file restart with Hedgecock leading King, Faircloth, Johnson, Henderson, Harrod, Thomas, Martin, Crane and Minga.
When the green flag came out, Hedgecock kept his line on the outside, and King went to work diving to the inside entering the corners. King could pull alongside Hedgecock, but couldn’t quite seal the deal coming off the corner. In the meantime, Johnson was being Johnson with a methodical run to the front of the pack. Johnson passed Faircloth for third on lap 44.
On lap 48, King dove to the inside of Hedgecock in turn one, as he had done for the last seven laps, but this time coming off the second turn, King did not fall back behind the leader. King went down the backstretch and into turn three side-by-side with Hedgecock, who carried more momentum than he wanted to into the corner.
Hedgecock jumped the cushion and sailed tail first into the darkness off turn three to bring out the caution flag. Hedgecock was able to restart on tail of the lead lap cars in the tenth spot. King was the leader for the restart with two laps to go, and now he had Johnson on his back bumper. King was able to pull out to a two car-length advantage over Johnson, but there would be one more restart.
Crane stalled in turn four on lap 49 to bring out the eighth and final caution flag. King was once again up to the task of keeping Johnson behind him for two laps, and capture his first career NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win and the $4,000 check that went with it.
The next race for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be Round 14 this Friday night at Penton Raceway in Penton, AL with a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race. That will be followed by Round 15 next Saturday night with a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 13 AT COCHRAN MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN COCHRAN, GA ON 8/1/15:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 1 30 Ryan King (R) Seymour, TN 50 $4,125
2. 11 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $1,375
3. 2 H2 Matt Henderson (R) Loudon, TN 50 $975
4. 4 4 Jeremy Faircloth Swainsboro, GA 50 $700
5. 6 22 Jimmy Thomas Phenix City, AL 50 $650
6. 9 27 Larry Harrod Plains, GA 50 $550
7. 3 23 Cory Hedgecock Lenoir City, TN 50 $500
8. 15 21m Cody Martin (R) Christiana, TN 50 $575
9. 12 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 49 $525
10. 5 10 Ryan Crane (R) Panama City, FL 48 $500
11. 13 5d Rodgerick Dykes Smith Station, AL 38 $350
12. 16 54 Tim Dixon Manchester, GA 33 $300
13. 8 1n Jordy Nipper Gray, GA 25 $280
14. 14 6 Dillon Brown Gaffney, SC 18 $260
15. 17 11 Tyler Mimbs East Dublin, GA 11 $250
16. 10 18 Chase Edge LaFayette, AL 3 $240
17. 7 14 Will Herrington Cochran, GA 0 $220
ENTRIES: 17
FAST QUALIFIER: King, 14.828 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: 2
LAP LEADERS: Henderson, 1-14; Hedgecock, 15-47; King, 48-50
LAPS LED: Hedgecock, 33; Henderson, 14; King, 3
CRUISE WITH THE CHAMPIONS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: King
BEYEA HEADERS HARD CHARGER AWARD: Johnson (started 11th and finished 2nd)
INTEGRA SHOCKS FIFTH-PLACE AWARD: Thomas
CRATE INSIDER.COM SIXTH-PLACE AWARD: Harrod
GRESHAM RACE PARTS SEVENTH-PLACE AWARD: Hedgecock
IMAGE SCREEN PRINTING NINTH-PLACE AWARD: Minga
AR BODIES TENTH-PLACE AWARD: Crane
CAUTIONS: 8
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .597 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 32 Minutes and 02.243 Seconds
NEXT RACE: August 7, Penton Raceway, Penton, AL 40-laps, $2,000-to-win
QUALIFYING:
POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN CHASSIS LAP 1 LAP 2 TIME
1 30 Ryan King - R Seymour, TN Stinger 15.005 14.828 14.828
2 H2 Matt Henderson - R Loudon, TN Rocket 14.889 14.837 14.837
3 23 Cory Hedgecock Lenoir City, TN Rocket 14.843 15.158 14.843
4 4f Jeremy Faircloth Swainsboro, GA Warrior 15.552 14.900 14.900
5 10 Ryan Crane - R Panama City, FL Rocket 15.164 14.902 14.902
6 22 Jimmy Thomas Phenix City, AL Scorpion 15.224 14.949 14.949
7 14 Will Herrington Cochran, GA Warrior 15.172 14.951 14.951
8 1n Jordy Nipper Gray, GA Newman 15.024 14.994 14.994
9 27 Larry Harrod Plains, GA Scorpion 14.997 15.038 14.997
10 18 Chase Edge LaFayette, AL Mastersbilt 15.572 15.085 15.085
11 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN Mastersbilt 15.267 15.121 15.121
12 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS Rocket 15.189 15.406 15.189
13 5d Rodgerick Dykes Smith Station, AL Warrior 15.339 15.310 15.310
14 6 Dillon Brown Gaffney, SC Barry Wright 15.611 15.430 15.430
15 21m Cody Martin - R Christiana, TN Warrior 15.526 15.653 15.526
16 54 Tim Dixon Manchester, GA Barry Wright 15.632 15.567 15.567
17 11 Tyler Mimbs East Dublin, GA Mastersbilt 15.906 15.668 15.668
NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 8/1/15:
1. 5 Ronnie Johnson – 1,128
2. 18 Chase Edge – 996
3. 30 Ryan King (R) – 992
4. H2 Matt Henderson (R) – 948
5. 10 Ryan Crane (R) – 886
6. 21m Cody Martin (R) – 828
7. 19 Marcus Minga – 678
8. 14 Cale Conley – 482
9. 87 Walker Arthur – 464
10. 14c Tyler Clem (R/Y) – 438
11. 25 Justin McRee – 432
12. 5d Rodgerick Dykes – 428
13. 33b Eric Cooley – 370
14. 4 Jeremy Faircloth – 356
15. 19t William Thomas – 348
16. 2x Nick Lyons – 332
17. 1 Johnny Stokes – 304
18. 55 Montana Dudley – 280
19. 58 Mark Whitener – 268
20. 8a Todd Morrow – 264