Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA celebrates winning the $20,000 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Championship on Saturday night in the season finale at Bubba Raceway Park. Photo by Trace Crisp
Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. of Ocala, FL driving the Snow Brothers Special was declared the $10,000 winner in the 100-lap 8th Annual Chevrolet Performance World Championship Race on Saturday night for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL. Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA won the $20,000 NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS Championship.
The engine in the B&B Produce/Dave’s Towing Special driven by apparent winner Mark Whitener of Middleburg, FL was disqualified by NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series officials for a piston violation.
The 8th Annual Chevrolet Performance World Championship Race, the first edition held at Bubba Raceway Park, will be a memorable one for a track that provided three and four-wide close quarters racing in front of a packed house, and plenty of drama, as the fate of many drivers changed lap after lap. That included the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Championship battle.
Turner won the $20,000 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Championship in the Hedman Husler Special by ten points over two-time series champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN in the Eads Farms/Hardy & Associates Warrior. It was an up and down weekend for both drivers, as they exchanged the point lead twice during the event.
Turner held a 16-point lead over Gentry coming into the weekend. Gentry had a mechanical problem during the Thursday night practice session and had to change engines on Friday morning. Turner was the fastest qualifier in his group, and started the fourth ten-lap heat race from the pole position. Turner dropped back in the race, finished sixth and failed to transfer to the main event.
Gentry started eighth in the first heat race, but rallied to finish fourth and transfer into the main event, earning the 13th starting spot. Turner started fourth in the first 20-lap B-Main race on Saturday night, and failed to finish in one of the top three transfer spots. Turner took a Provisional and started the main event from the 23rd starting spot.
Gentry started the race with four-point lead over Turner in the Championship battle. As the race unfolded, Gentry had charged his way up to third spot, but things changed dramatically on lap 45. After restarting in third spot after a lap 42 caution flag, Gentry fell off the pace and dropped back to the sixth spot, and Turner moved up to 12th and took over the point lead from Gentry.
Lap 45 saw Gentry stop on the track with a cut down left-front tire, and the caution flag came out. Gentry went to the pits, changed the tire, and restarted in the 18th spot. Gentry charged back through the field and ended up finishing seventh, but Turner claimed the 12th spot at the finish to win the Championship. Gentry will be the Championship Runner-Up for the second straight year.
“After 146 consecutive races and eight years of trying, we finally got this championship, and it was really nerve racking to get it,” Turner said. “David Earl is a tough competitor, and we have traded having bad luck all season. I hated to see him cut down that tire because I really wanted to win the championship racing with him right down the end.”
Shan Smith of Dade City, FL started 21st and finished second in the Outlaw Race Parts GRT to earn the Hedman Husler of the Race Award. Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, WV took the third spot in the Mainland Transport Warrior.
Horton’s finish gave Warrior Race Cars built by Goddard Performance of Knoxville, TN the 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division Chassis Manufacturers Challenge Championship and their third title.
Keith Nosbisch of Valrico, FL came back from a lap 16 cut tire to finish fourth in the Transportation Specialist Warrior and Dennis “Rambo” Franklin was fifth in the AES Racing Special. Mack McCarter of Sevierville, TN took the sixth spot in the CVR Race Cars Special, and Gentry claimed the seventh spot.
Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL drove the Edge’s Gas Company Special to an eighth-place finish and Walker Arthur of Forest, VA finished ninth in the Cecil B. Arthur Beef Farms Rocket. Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS won the Bubba Army Last Chance Race, started 28th and last in the field and rounded out the top ten in the Billy Riels Racing GRT.
Chris Cantrell of Chester, SC finished 21st in the CANCO Rocket was earned the $5,000 VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year Award after finishing sixth overall in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point standings. Cody Kierre of Beebe, AR in the K&E Racing GRT was second in the VP Racing Fuels Rookie points, and eighth overall in the series point standings.
Whitener took the lead at the start of the race from the pole position followed by outside front row starter Kyle Bronson of Tampa, FL in the Brandon Ford Warrior, Lloyd, Horton and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN in the Jim Beeman Lumber Special. Whitener set a fast pace in the opening laps of the race and caught the cars at the tail of the 28-car field by the sixth lap.
Lloyd got by Bronson for second on lap 11 and began to reel in Whitener, who was in heavy lapped traffic. O’Neal was also on the move, and passed Lloyd for second on lap 12, as a three-car battle for the lead began in heavy lapped traffic. Jeff Mathews of Valrico, FL spun the CURS Rocket in turn four to bring out the first of 12 caution flag.
On the restart, Lloyd slipped up the banking in turn two, as Greg Martin of Oliver Springs, TN in the Biff Motorsports Special and Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL in the High Roller Race Cars Special got by for third and fourth respectively. The caution bulb was fired up on lap 18 when Nosbisch slowed with a flat tire.
As Whitener set sail in the lead on the restart, O’Neal and Martin raced side-by-side for the second spot. Martin took the spot with an outside move off turn two, but O’Neal came charging back on the inside to reclaim second coming off the fourth turn. Martin’s night came to an abrupt end on lap 23 when he hit the fourth turn wall.
Whitener led O’Neal, Lloyd, Horton, Gentry, McRee, Ronnie Johnson, who had charged up from the 19th starting spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Special, Joey Coulter of Charlotte, NC in the Wolfpack Racing Rocket after starting 18th, McCarter, and Arthur down for the restart. Gentry was on the move when the green came back out, moving up from fifth to third.
O’Neal took the lead away from Whitener on lap 26 in turn two, and Johnson moved up to the fourth spot. Two laps later, Johnson drove around the outside of Gentry for the third spot. O’Neal and Whitener carried their battle for the lead into lapped traffic on lap 30, as Johnson moved up to make it a three-car dance for the point.
Whitener took over the lead on lap 32, and held it for two laps before O’Neal reclaimed the top spot on lap 34. Turner stalled with a cut tire in turn two on lap 35 to bring out the caution flag, and with Gentry running in the fourth spot, it appeared his championship hopes were dimming. Josh Adkins of Talladega, Al spun the Yellow Hammer Construction Special in turn one on lap 38 to bring out the caution flag and set up another double-file restart.
When the field went green, a three-wide battle for third broke out behind O’Neal and Whitener. Horton was on the inside with Gentry in the middle, and Johnson on the outside. They raced door-to-door-to-door from turn two, down the backstretch, and through turns three and four. As they exited turn four, Johnson ran out of real estate and hit the wall ending his night.
By lap 39, Gentry was running third, and Nosbisch rallied back through the field after his lap 16 tire change to move into the fifth spot. Bronson spun in turn four on lap 42 to set up a restart with O’Neal leading Whitener, Gentry, Horton, and Nosbisch. Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS started the Billy Riels Racing GRT 28th and last on the grid, but restarted in the sixth spot, followed by McCarter, McRee, Coulter, and Arthur.
Gentry lost the third spot and championship point lead on the restart when he fell to the sixth spot, and Turner moved up to the 12th position. Gentry slowed to a stop with a cut down left-front tire on lap 45 to bring out the caution flag. This misfortune earned Gentry the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck of the Race Award.
Whitener took the lead on the restart, but O’Neal passed him back for the lead on the next lap. The caution came out on lap 51 when Jason Fitzgerald of Middleburg, FL spun the M&M Transport and Refrigeration GRT in turn four. O’Neal led Whitener, Horton, Nosbisch, Lee, McCarter, Arthur, Smith, Franklin, McRee, Gentry and Turner down for the restart.
Whitener dove under O’Neal on the restart to take the lead in turn two. O’Neal then had to hold off a challenge from Horton to keep the second spot. By lap 60, Whitener and O’Neal had a half straightaway lead on Horton. The next few laps would get intense in the battle for the lead, as O’Neal and Whitener traded slide job passes.
O’Neal dove under Whitener to take the lead in turn two on lap 66 to grab the point. Three laps later, White threw a slider at O’Neal in turn two, but a combination Whitener’s car pushing and O’Neal staying in the throttle got the two cars together. O’Neal got sideways and backed into the turn two wall.
While under caution, O’Neal hit Whitener’s car on two occasions, and O’Neal was sent to the pit area and parked for the rest of the race. Whitener took over the lead for the restart followed by Horton, Smith, Nosbisch, McCarter, Lloyd, Franklin, Edge, Gentry, and Lee. When the field went back to green, Whitener held a half-straightaway over Smith, who had got by Horton for second, by lap 75.
Lloyd was on the move during the last 25 laps of the race, as he climbed into the third spot on lap 81, and he made what would prove to be the $10,000 winning pass on Smith on lap 85. Whitener had a three second advantage over Lloyd at the checkered flag, but threw it all away in the tech area after the race.
Lloyd’s engine was also torn down and inspected by NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series officials, and it passed inspection. Lloyd was declared the winner of the race at 5:24 a.m. Sunday morning.
In Friday night’s preliminary action, Whitener was the fast qualifier among the 45 entrants with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 15.477 seconds. The four 15-lap heat races on Friday night were won by Whitener, Bronson, Lloyd, and Horton. The Saturday night 20-lap B-Main races were won by Arthur and Coulter. Lee won the ten-lap Bubba Army Last Chance Race.
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Bubba Raceway Park and the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be announcing a generous separate point fund for these five races and a hefty contingency program for drivers participating in the five Florida Speedweek races.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com.
NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, FL
Chevrolet Performance World Championship – Dec. 1, 2012
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER
2. 21 17ss Shan Smith
3. 4 11 Doug Horton Bruceton Mills, WV 100 $3,000
4. 9 5n Keith Nosbisch Valrico, FL 100 $2,000
5. 7 27c Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC 100 $1,750
6. 8 71 Mack McCarter Sevierville, TN 100 $1,500
7. 13 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 99 $1,300
8. 25 18 Chase Edge Lafayette, AL 99 $1,200
9. 17 87 Walker Arthur Forest, VA 99 $1,100
10. 28 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 99 $1,000
11. 11 B17 Justin McRee Cottondale, AL 97 $800
12. 23 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 97 $700
13. 26 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 97 $600
14. 24 27 Larry Harrod Plains, GA 97 $500
15. 22 19 Josh Adkins Talladega, AL 95 $450
16. 27 121 Michael Blount Sumrall, MS 95 $440
17. 6 7 Jason Fitzgerald Middleburg, FL 71 $430
18. 10 7b Don O’Neal
19. 2 40 Kyle Bronson Tampa, FL 54 $400
20. 14 114 Chris Cantrell (R) Chester, SC 50 $400
21. 15 10w Chris Wilson Crossville, TN 49 $400
22. 12 12 Ryan Montgomery Fairmont, WV 48 $400
23. 18 2 Joey Coulter Charlotte, NC 42 $400
24. 19 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 37 $400
25. 5 24 Greg Martin Oliver Springs, TN 22 $400
26. 14 11s David Smith Inman, SC 20 $400
27. 20 33 Jeff Mathews Valrico, FL 14 $400
28, 1 58 Mark Whitener Middleburg, FL 100 $0 – DQ
Final Points Standings
1. 10 Matthew Turner – 1,862
2. 56 David Earl Gentry – 1,852
3. 27 Larry Harrod – 1,786
4. 18 Chase Edge – 1,664
5. 1 Johnny Stokes – 1,538
6. 114 Chris Cantrell (R) – 1,498
7. 121 Michael Blount – 1,366
8. 17k Cody Kierre (R) – 920
9. 2x Anthony White – 824
10. 22 William Thomas – 794
11. 10c Ronnie Cooper – 784
12. 117 Jake Teague (R) – 720
13. 19 Marcus Minga – 618
14. 99 Justin Summers (R) – 594
15. B17 Justin McRee – 590
16. 72 Frank Wilson – 584
17. 1s Jeremy Shaw – 562
18. 27c Dennis Franklin – 556
19. 38 Chase Washington – 514
20. 110 Brent Barrett – 494
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