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Kelley Carlton
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (July 18) - Clint Smith decided to make the nineteen and a half hour haul back south to Cleveland, Tennessee from Thursday night's World of Outlaw Late Model show in Huron, South Dakota. Smith is known to travel great distances to race in his home region. It was a decision that ultimately paid him $5000 and gave him his second career Budweiser Jean Johnson Memorial victory. Smith only led for about the last ten feet of the fifty lap race edging another former Southern All Star champion, Jamie Perry, for the win. The victory was the four time Southern All Star champions first series win since his triumph in March 2007's March Madness at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC.
In Sunoco Race Fuels Race for the Pole Qualifying Murphy, North Carolina's David Payne bested the field of twenty-seven entries with his lap of 13.401 seconds (89.456 MPH) around the high banks of the 1/3 mile red clay oval. Ricky Arms of Moss, Tennessee turned in the second fastest lap of the evening at 13.468 seconds. Skip Arp, Kevin Gibson and Jared Landers completed the top five drivers in time trials. Also locked in to the feature were Brandon Kinzer, Jamie Perry, Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, Shawn Chastain and Ethan Hunter who were sixth through tenth respectively from qualifying.
Positions eleven through twenty-two were set with a pair of wild and wooly ten lap B-Mains. In Hoosier Race Tires B-Main #1 it was polesitter Derek Ellis taking the win by a nose over fourth starter Johnny Chastain. Jake Knowles, Todd Morrow, Austin Dillon and John Owenby also transferred to the fifty lap feature. Hoosier Race Tires B-Main #2 saw Kayne Hickman come from his fourth starting spot to take the win over fifth starter Clint Smith. Joe Armes, Randy Weaver, Anthony White and Bobby Giffin rounded out the transferring drivers. Southern All Star provisional starts fell to Mike Hill and Doug Smith.
As the field circled on the pace laps Johnny Chastain pitted with rear-end problems andhe did not return for the start. The field of twenty-four rolled to the green flag at 10:47 PM with Payne and Arms battling it out for the lead. Arms lead lap number one by a nose over Payne but Payne slipped ahead to take the point on the next lap. Arms was then locked in a duel with Arp and the hard charging Jamie Perry. Perry had moved up from his seventh starting spot using the ultra-low line. As the field flashed by the line to complete the fifth lap Perry had moved to second and was now pressuring Payne for the lead.
Payne and Perry battled back and forth for the lead, trading the position several times over the next several laps until a lap thirteen caution flag for ninth running Ethan Hunter. Hunter was relegated pitside while the field realigned for the Dixie Double File Restart with Perry on the point. Payne opted for the outside putting Arp on the inside. When the green reappeared Perry launched away to a three car length lead. Payne, meanwhile, repelled Arp on lap fifteen for second while Kevin Gibson moved up to take over the fourth position. Clint Smith had also broken in to the top five when the caution waved again when Ricky Arms spun while running in the tenth position.
Several drivers, including Anthony White and Austin Dillon, sustained damage attempting to avoid Arms' spinning machine. Arms retired pitside as the field reset for another restart. Once again Perry lurched away from the field as the green flag flew. Clint Smith blasted by Kayne Hickman and Payne to take over second. But Payne didn't give up as he and Arp worked the highside of Smith. Payne took over second on lap twenty and Arp took third one lap later. The caution flag slowed the field yet again on lap twenty-two with Perry leading Payne, Arp, Smith and Gibson. On the restart attempt Anthony White tangled with Todd Morrow causing both drivers race-ending damage.
When the green flag flew again, Payne was able to move in to challenge Perry for the point. Perry, who was married to the bottom, lost the lead to Payne two laps later as the field took the halfway sign from the flagman. Perry stayed the course he had set and continued to work the bottom while Payne stayed up on the top with Arp and Smith giving chase in his tracks. The field settled down for the next ten to twelve laps as the leaders stayed in line biding their time. As the leaders began to work lapped traffic, from seemingly out of no where Ronny Lee Hollingsworth moved in to challenge for second. Hollingsworth used the same line as Perry, right around the bottom to grab second from Payne.
Perry made his way through traffic with Hollingsworth in close tow looking for an opening. With five to go Perry was on the rear deck of Bobby Giffin looking for a way around the lapper who was using his same line. Perry contacted with Giffin but kept going. Hollingsworth stuck his nose in but couldn't make it work. As the front two crossed the stripe to take the white flag, Smith bypassed Payne and Arp and looked outside of the leaders. Smith rolled by Hollingsworth as they entered turn one and pulled to Perry's outside down the back straightaway. As they two former Southern All Star Champions exited turn four headed for the checkers they were in a virtual dead heat.
As the two flashed across the line the finish was amazingly close. Southern All Stars Race Director Kelley Carlton called on his start/finish line official and the use of several photos to determine that Smith won by a nose. "That was the closest finish I have ever had to call. It was so close. We had two scorers calling the 44 and two calling the 4. I thought it was the 44 but I wanted to be sure we had the right call. I asked my line official and he immediately said the 44. We also looked at some line photos by a couple of photographers to determine Clint was the winner. It was truly an exciting photo-finish. I have to give credit to these guys for such a great show. And a huge pat on the back for Monty Morrow and his staff for a perfect race track." Carlton said.
Smith was jubilant in the Budweiser Victory Lane. "We really needed this win. I don't think we had the best car there. Skip (Arp) was really good at the end but he got bottled up and Hollingsworth was really quick too. I noticed they had really slowed down getting in on the bottom so I felt like if I could get up beside them I could use my momentum to roll on by them and that's how it worked out. I know that was tough for Jamie, I think he was probably going to win until he got into the wall down there with about six or seven to go. That seemed to hurt him on entry. But this is a great win for us. The race track was great, you could race all over it. Thanks to all our sponsors and GRT for all they do for us."
Smith's GRT Race Car is powered by a RaceTek Race Engine and is sponsored by JP Drilling, Cliburn Tank Lines, CSR Aluminum Fabrication, Base Race Fuels, JFR Graphics, Integra Shocks, Simpson and Arizona Sport Shirts.
Official Finish
1 - 44 Clint Smith (14) - Senoia, GA - GRT
2 - P4 Jamie Perry (7) - Ringgold, GA - Rayburn
3 - 31 Skip Arp (3) - Georgetown, TN - GRT
4 - 18 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth (8) - Northport, AL - MasterSbilt
5 - 8 David Payne (1) - Murphy, NC - MasterSbilt
6 - 777 Jared Landers (5) - Batesville, AR - Warrior
7 - 66 Jake Knowles (15) - Tyrone, GA - MasterSbilt
8 - M45 Kevin Gibson (4) - Ringgold, GA - GRT
9 - 77 Joe Armes (16) - Petros, TN - Bloomquist
10 - 116 Randy Weaver (18) - Crossville, TN - GRT
11 - 18 Brandon Kinzer (6) - Allen, KY - GRT
12 - 3 Austin Dillon (19) - Welcome, NC - Warrior
13 - 99 Derek Ellis (11) - Chatsworth, GA - GRT
14 - 48 John Owenby (21) - Cleveland, TN - GRT
15 - 97 Bobby Giffin (22) - Maryville, TN - GRT
16 - X15 Shawn Chastain (9) - Murphy, NC - Rayburn
17 - 45 Doug Smith (24) - Sommerset, KY - Rayburn
18 - T16 Todd Morrow (17) - East Ridge, TN - Warrior
19 - H3 Kayne Hickman (12) - Soddy Daisy, TN - Warrior
20 - 2x Anthony White (20) - Clinton, TN - DWB
21 - 4 Ricky Arms (2) - Moss, TN - Rayburn
22 - 101 Ethan Hunter (10) - Tiger, GA - Rocket
23 - 00 Johnny Chastain (13) - Murphy, NC - Rayburn
24 - 11 Mike Hill (23) - Rockwood, TN - GRT
DNS: Brian Hickman, William Thomas and Dewayne Powell
Time of Race: 34 minutes 27 seconds (10:47 PM to 11:21 PM)
Yellow Flags: 5
Red Flags: 1 (2 minutes 37 seconds)
Lead Changes:
Lap Leaders: Arms (1), Payne (2-10), Perry (11), Payne (12), Perry (13-23), Payne 24-25), Perry (26-49) and Smith (50)
Sunoco Race Fuels Pole Award: David Payne 13.401 seconds (89.456 MPH)
PPM Hard Charger: Clint Smith (14th to 1st)
Q Racing Oil Lucky 7: Jake Knowles
Qualifying Fast Times
8 Payne 13.401
4 Arms 13.468
31 Arp 13.521
M45 Gibson 13.559
777 Landers 13.560
18 Kinzer 13.562
P4 Perry 13.652
18 Hollingsworth 13.655
X15 Chastain 13.683
101 Hunter 13.724
99 Ellis 13.747
77 Armes 13.753
T16 Morrow 13.754
116 Weaver 13.767
66 Knowles 13.769
97 Giffin 13.798
00 Chastain 13.804
H3 Hickman 13.855
48 Owenby 13.879
44 Smith 13.902
3 Dillon 13.967
41 Hickman 13.999
11 Hill 14.134
2x White 14.164
A19 Thomas 14.201
79 Powell 14.324
45 Smith 14.904
Top 10 Starters
8 Payne - 4 Arms
31 Arp - M45 Gibson
777 Landers - 18 Kinzer
P4 Perry - 18 Hollingsworth
x15 Chastain - 101 Hunter
Consi #1 - Top 6 Transfer - 10 laps
99 Ellis - T16 Morrow
66 Knowles - 00 Chastain
48 Owenby - 3 Dillon
11 Hill - A19 Thomas
45 Smith
Finish: Ellis, J. Chastain, Knowles, Morrow, Dillon, Owenby, Thomas, D. Smith and Hill
Consi #2 - Top 6 Transfer - 10 laps
77 Armes - 116 Weaver
97 Giffin - H3 Hickman
44 Smith - 41 Hickman
2x White - 79 Powell
Finish: K. Hickman, C. Smith, Armes, Weaver, White, Giffin, Powell and B. Hickman
Feature Line-Up
8 Payne - 4 Arms
31 Arp - M45 Gibson
777 Landers - 18 Kinzer
P4 Perry - 18 Hollingsworth
x15 Chastain - 101 Hunter
99 Ellis - H3 Hickman
00 Chastain - 44 Smith
66 Knowles - 77 Armes
T16 Morrow - 116 Weaver
3 Dillon - 2x White
48 Owenby - 97 Giffin
11 Hill - 45 Smith
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