David Smith led wire-to-wire to win the FASTRAK City Chevrolet Southeast Tour 40 lap feature at Toccoa Speedway Saturday night. Photo courtesy FASTRAK Media
David Smith has Toccoa Speedway in his bloodline. His grandfather Charlie Mize was a longtime promoter of the Toccoa, GA speedway, and his father Glen Smith often raced his way into victory lane at the quirky 5/16-mile oval.
On Saturday, Smith added to his family history in Toccoa, taking the checkered flag and the $2,000 check in the FASTRAK Late Model Shriners Benefit 40.
“There’s obviously a lot of heritage for us here – it always suits me when I come here,” Smith said in victory lane.
Smith became the first repeat winner in the FASTRAK Series this season, which has seen seven winners in eight races. David McCoy chased him across the line to finish second, with Cla Knight, Matt Long and Lee Cooper rounding out the top five.
Smith started on the inside pole and never gave up the bottom of the speedway nor did he give up the lead. While McCoy moved up to second past Knight on a mid-race restart, he was no match for Smith – and he knew it.
“You’ll never see me hang my head when I run second to David Smith,” said McCoy, a Toccoa Speedway regular. “He’s a hell of a racecar driver.”
And with his second win of the season, Smith gave a bright prognosis moving forward.
“We struggled the first bit of the year, but I think we’ve found something,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the year.”
Smith’s win followed a pattern for the night that saw four of the five feature winners start on the front row.
Five cars started the Modified Street feature, and the group finished nearly in the same order. Daryl Ivester took off from the pole and led wire to wire, followed by Billy Buffington, Joe McClure and Johnny White.
In the Hobby Stock feature, Nick Sellers accomplished the same feat as Ivester and Smith, though he had to work a little harder.
Sellers lost the lead from the pole early in the 12-lap feature to Brad Russell and soon lost the second position to George Reese, Sr. Reese’s bid for the win came to an end when he cut a left-rear tire with four laps to go.
On the restart, Sellers started working on Russell for the top spot, driving a lane lower than the leader as the two closed in on the checkered flag. With two laps to go, Sellers planted his car to the bottom of turn 3 and drove under Russell as he washed up the track.
Sellers claimed the victory, while Russell held on for second and Daniel Fowler finished third.
Jackie Holden swept both four-cylinder divisions, first besting Marcus Hughes on the outside for the Stock 4 win and then taking down teammate Robbie Cook on the inside in the Front Wheel Drive feature.
While Holden grabbed the lead from the outside pole and never looked back after the first lap in the Stock 4 class, he had to charge through the field in the final feature of the night. Starting third, he overpowered Lucas Grant on the opening lap and then set his sights on Cook. Cook tried to rally his car on the outside to fight back against Holden’s attack, but Holden held the preferred line and ultimately held the trophy.
Really, he had the same strategy Smith had in the main event.
“I gave everyone the top half of the race track to get around me,” Smith said. “But I chose early that I wasn’t going to give up the bottom.”
On Saturday night, he chose wisely.
Toccoa Speedway – Toccoa, GA
Shriners Benefit 40 – July 27, 2013
FASTRAK City Chevrolet Southeast Tour
1. #11 David Smith
2. #187 David McCoy
3. #42 Cla Knight
4. #25 Matt Long
5. #57 Lee Cooper
6. #85 Steve “Hot Rod” Lamance
7. #2b Frankie Beard
8. #22d Jordan Dill
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10. #371 Drew Benfield
11. #8 Ron Parker
12. #4 Taylor Hicks
13. #7 Trent Feltman
14. #22 Charles “Boz” Daugherty
15. #27 Mike Davidson
16. #47 Benji Cole
17. #28 Wayne Wilborn
18. #93 Donald Bradsher
19. #A1 Jimmy Ivester
Modified Street
1. Daryl Ivester
2. Billy Buffington
3. Joe McClure
4. Johnny White
5. Matthew Denton
Hobby Stock
1. Nick Sellers
2. Brad Russell
3. Daniel Fowler
4. Gerald Stanley
5. Justin Whitfield
6. Alex Yarbrough
7. George Reece, Sr.
8. Scott Cox
9. Matt Gerrin
Stock 4
1. Jackie Holden
2. Marcus Hughes
3. Kevin Kelly
4. Justin Lord
5. Zach Sanders
6. Brandon Stroud
7. Shane Strickland
8. John Martin
9. Charles Cobb
10. Bobby Boshears
11. Neil Cox
Front Wheel Drive
1. Jackie Holden
2. Robbie Cook
3. Cody Smith
4. Jesse Smith
5. Lucas Grant
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