|
Roby Helm
EASTABOGA, Ala. (June 12) - The end of an exciting late-race side-by-side duel for the lead had Tim Busha of Boaz, AL in the Kilpatrick Chevrolet GRT beating Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN in the Miller Brothers Coal Mastersbilt to the checkered flag in the 40-lap "War Between The States" for the NeSmith Super Dirt Car Series at Talladega Short Track on Saturday night.
It was a battle between the local favorite in Busha versus the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee in Johnson. It was a battle between the inside running Busha, versus the high flying Johnson. It was also a battle between high-dollar horsepower with the Spec Engine of Busha versus the economical torque of Johnson's GM Performance CT 525 All-Aluminum Spec Engine.
A lap 31 restart set up the nine-lap dash to the finish with Johnson going everywhere Busha wasn't on the ¼-mile clay oval known as "The Hornet's Nest." If Busha ran the bottom groove, Johnson would pull along side on the outside. If Busha moved up to try and slow Johnson's momentum, Johnson would make a hard left and blast underneath Busha.
At the checkered flag, Busha was able to kept Johnson behind him and cross the finish line with a one car-length advantage.
"I really hated to see that late caution flag because I really had a good rhythm going on the bottom of the track," Busha said. "We're not allowed to have rear-view mirrors or two-way radios, so I didn't know who was behind me, but I could feel him. I had to move around the race track more than I wanted to, but you've got to do what you've got to do to win the race."
Busha made it a "Clean Sweep" by posting fast time during qualification with a lap in 13.866 seconds, and then, despite Johnson's late-race side-by-side challenges, led all 40 laps of the "War Between The States."
Johnson had to settle for second, but kept an appreciative crowd in the grandstand on their feet watching his rim riding charge from the sixth starting spot in a car powered by a new revolutionary $10,000 super late model engine.
The third spot went to Stacy Holmes of Munford, AL in the Holmes Excavating Barry Wright. Holmes was driving "The Duck" Carl Edwards drove to third spot in the Prelude To The Dream on Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH. The car still had Edward's wrap on the body with his #99 on the doors and his AFLAC sponsor identification.
Dillon Crim of Eastaboga, AL took the fourth spot in the Southern Pipe and Supply TSR, and Terry Smith of Oxford, AL finished fifth in the TSR Race Cars TSR. Ross Martin of Talladega, AL put a second car powered by a GM Performance CT 525 All-Aluminum Spec Engine in the top 10 with a sixth-place effort in the Shorty's Racing Shocks GRT.
Dingus Griffin of Alexandria, AL was seventh in the Curbow Logging Mastersbilt and Montana Dudley of Phenix City, AL drove The Racing Zone GRT to an eighth-place finish. Danny Peoples of Margaret, AL took the ninth spot in the Peoples Racing Barry Wright.
Anthony Burroughs of Sheffield, AL, who won the Friday night NeSmith Super Dirt Car Series race at Penton Raceway in Penton, AL, rounded out the top ten in the ALT Transportation Mastersbilt, and took over the point lead in the NeSmith Super Dirt Car Series championship standings.
Busha took the lead at the start of the race followed by Holmes, Crim, Martin, and Johnson. Johnson drove under Martin on lap three to take over the fourth spot, and Smith moved into the top five on lap four, diving under Martin for the position. Busha had pulled out to a half-straightaway lead by lap seven.
Johnson continued his march to the front of the pack on lap eight when he drove around the outside of Crim to capture the third position. On lap 10, Johnson worked the outside groove to sail around Holmes for the second spot coming off the fourth turn, while Busha began to lap the cars on the tail of the lead lap.
Busha's lead was erased when the first of two caution flags came out on lap 14 when Jeff Johns of Oxford, AL spun the Oxford Machine Mastersbilt in turn four. Busha brought Johnson, Holmes, Crim, Smith, Martin, James Cline of Oxford, AL in the Coosa Heating and Cooling JC3, Dudley, Burroughs, and Griffin down for the restart.
The top two drivers began their battle for the lead, and by lap 15, they caught lapped traffic. Busha was able to thread the needle between two lapped cars going down the backstretch on lap 18, and then pulled away from Johnson. By the halfway point, Busha had a half-straightaway lead on the "Chattanooga Flash."
With the top three cars settling into their running positions, Crim and Smith raced side-by-side swapping the fourth spot several times over the next ten laps. The final caution flag came out on lap 32 when Duane Treadwell of LaGrange, GA spun his Global Logistics Rocket in turn two.
This set up the nine-lap dash to the finish. On the restart, Busha went to his groove on the bottom of the race track, and Johnson climbed the banking in turn one to set up shop on the cushion. Johnson could get his best runs on Busha coming off turn two, and then power along side Busha going into turn three.
For the next few laps, Johnson could use his momentum to get a run on Busha coming off the fourth turn, but Busha would slide up in front of R.J. on the front straightaway. When the lead duo got to the flagstand on lap 46, Johnson had the nose piece of his car right under the rear deck of Busha's car.
Johnson then made a hard left, and dove under Busha going into turn one. Busha and Johnson raced side-by-side through turns one and two, and then down the backstretch. They made contact going into turn three, and that slowed Johnson down just enough for Busha to hang on to the point coming off the fourth turn.
With two laps to go, Johnson went back to the outside to reload for another shot at Busha and the victory. Johnson did not get close enough to make another serious bid for the lead, and Busha was able to hang on and take one car-length advantage at the checkered flag.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF NeSMITH SUPER DIRT CAR SERIES EVENT AT TALLADEGA SHORT TRACK IN EASTABOGA, AL ON 6/12/10:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN $ WON
1. 1 15 Tim Busha Boaz, AL $2,500
2. 6 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN $1,250
3. 2 99h Stacy Holmes Munford, AL $900
4. 3 7c Dillon Crim Eastaboga, AL $700
5. 5 99 Terry Smith Oxford, AL $600
6. 4 47 Ross Martin Talladega, AL $500
7. 11 49 Dingus Griffin Alexandria, AL $450
8. 8 55d Montana Dudley Phenix City, AL $400
9. 14 11 Danny Peoples Margaret, AL $350
10. 7 121 Anthony Burroughs Sheffield, AL $325
11. 10 25 Tim Roszell Anniston, AL $300
12. 16 44r Rod Carroll Anniston, AL $280
13. 15 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA $260
14. 12 44 Virgil Taylor Clanton, AL $240
15. 18 55 Duane Treadwell LaGrange, GA $220
16. 17 2 Jeff Johns Oxford, AL $200
17. 9 3 James Cline Oxford, AL $200
18. 13 15t Chris Thomas Waco, GA $200
19. 19 47 Douglas Stewart Eastaboga, AL DNS
NeSMITH SUPER DIRT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 6/12/10:
1. 121 Anthony Burroughs - 554
2. 54 David Breazeale - 480
3. 86 Rick Rickman - 454
4. 51 Dean Carpenter - 390
5. 5 Klint Byars - 356
6. 90 Brian Rickman - 332
7. 28 Bradley Price - 312
8. 32 Mark Dodson - 306
9. Matthew Turner - 298
10. Ronnie Johnson - 274
|
