Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN celebrates two NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series wins on Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, TN. The series points leader drove to a $4,000 win in the 2nd Annual J.T. Kerr Memorial 40 and a $2,500 victory in the Old Smoky Moonshine 50. Photo by Chad Wells
Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN doubled up with NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series wins on Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, TN by winning the Old Smoky Moonshine 50 Presented By Parkway Liquor Store driving the NeSmith Chevrolet Special in front of a record crowd. Johnson also won the 2nd Annual J.T. Kerr Memorial 40 earlier in the evening.
In addition to the pair of victories, Johnson had a third-place finish on Friday night in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series race at Tazewell Speedway in Tazewell, TN to make his two-day three-race earnings total at $7,300. Johnson also padded his series point lead over Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL to 48 points.
While the most used nickname for Johnson is the “Chattanooga Flash”, the National Dirt Hall of Fame Inductee is also known as “Old School.” While he was in victory lane for the third time this season and the 16th time in his series career, Johnson praised the young talent in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series just after he took them to school.
“It feels great to be able to still win races at this point in my career, especially with the good young talent the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series has coming up,” Johnson said. “They really made me work for both wins tonight. I want to thank 411 Motor Speedway for giving us a great track to race on tonight and I also want to thanks all of these great fans for coming out to watch it.”
As Johnson praised the young talent of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, he pointed at second-place finisher Tait Davenport of Benton, KY, who had just taken Johnson to the mat for the majority of the 50-lap race. Davenport led the first 31 laps of the race in the Murtco, Inc. Special, and battled Johnson side-by-side for many of those laps.
Roger Best of Louisville, TN filled in for his son Hunter, who had a back injury, dusted off his championship racing talent, started ninth, and drove a methodical race to finish third in the Young Motorsports Warrior. Matt Henderson of Loudon, TN was fourth in the Performance Machine CVR, and Ryan King of Seymour, TN drove the Brian King Roofing Stinger to a fifth-place finish.
Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL took the sixth spot in the Brandon Ford Warrior and was the Rookie of the Race. Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, TN finished seventh in the Eagle Racing Engines Rocket, and was another young talent Johnson praised after Hedgecock finished second to Johnson in the first race of the night after a side-by-side battle late in the event.
Todd Morrow of East Ridge, TN crashed the A-Plus Collision Center in Qualifying, started shotgun on the field in the 24th spot, and charged through the field to finish eighth to earn the Hedman Husler of the Race Award. Adam Beeler of Knoxville, TN took the ninth spot in the HVH CVR, and Hollingsworth rounded out the Top 10 in the Sparks Motorsports Special.
Davenport was the Fast Qualifier of the race, turning the 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval in 14.936 seconds to earn the pole position for the Old Smoky Moonshine 50 Presented By Parkway Liquor Store. Beeler took the lead coming off the second turn on the opening lap from his outside front row starting spot, but a six-car pile in turn four brought out the first of nine caution flags and necessitated a complete restart.
The first lap tangle took out the cars of Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS in the Bassett Hound Motorsports GRT, Friday night winner Jimmy Elliott of Cleveland, TN in the Car Smart Auto Sales CVR, and Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS in the Custom Spraying, Inc. GRT. Barrett earned the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
When the field took the green flag for the restart, Davenport got a stronger launch off the fourth turn and took the lead in turn one followed by Beeler, Henderson, John Cobb of Loudon, TN in the Cobb’s Auto Parts CVR, and Johnson. After starting sixth, Johnson’s march to the front of the pack began early in the race, as he passed Cobb for fourth on lap two.
The second yellow flag of the race came out on lap three when Shane Roberts of Blountville, TN spun the TNT Race Cars TNT in turn two. Davenport led the field back to the green flag with Beeler, Henderson, Johnson, Cobb, Best, King, Pierce McCarter of Gatlinburg, TN, Hollingsworth and Brian Courtney of Knoxville, TN doubled up behind him.
Henderson got by Beeler for second on the restart while King and Hollingsworth moved up to fourth and fifth respectively. King then got by Beeler for third on lap four. Courtney spun the Mighty Muffler CVR on the front straightway to bring out a lap five caution flag.
Davenport had the field reshuffled behind him with Henderson, King, Beeler, Hollingsworth, Johnson, Jake Teague of Oliver Springs, TN, Best, Bronson and McCarter doubled up behind him. The caution bulb was lit up again on the restart when Hollingsworth spun in turn two, and Beeler was charged with the yellow.
The next restart saw Johnson get by Hollingsworth for the fourth spot, and then he set up shop on the inside of King to battle for the third position. David Crabtree of Maryville, TN brought out the caution flag on lap seven with a turn two spin in the Smoky Mountain Brewery Trak-Star.
Johnson drove by King for third on the restart, and then stepped to the outside to battle Henderson for second. Henderson got loose on the inside of turn four on lap ten, and Johnson sailed by on the outside to take the second spot. On lap 13, Teague in the Wade’s Body Shop Special and McCarter in the McCarter Lumber Company Special tangled in turn four to bring out the sixth caution flag.
The restart saw some new faces in the Top 10, as Hedgecock settled into the seventh spot, Morrow had rallied from his 24th starting spot up to ninth, and Roberts came back from his early race spin back up to tenth. Roberts’ night would come to an end on lap 16 when he spun in turn two, and he had to retire after his second charged caution.
Davenport was still on the point for the restart followed by Johnson, Henderson, Hollingsworth, King, Best, Hedgecock, Bronson, Morrow and Josh Adkins of Talladega, AL in the Yellow Hammer Construction Special. Hollingsworth would spin out in turn four on lap 16 to give up the fourth spot.
The restart after the eighth caution flag of the race saw Johnson look to the outside before the green flag came out. When they came off the fourth turn to take the green flag, Davenport went high to try to slow Johnson’s outside run, but the Chattanooga flash wasn’t there. If Davenport would have looked to his left, he would have found Johnson, who made a hard left to go inside.
Davenport was able to keep enough momentum to say in front of Johnson, who kept the leader busy for the next ten laps. Also on the lap 17 restart, Best got to the inside of King and took over the fourth spot. By the halfway point in the race, Davenport and Johnson continued to battle for the lead with a full straightaway advantage over the third-place car of Henderson.
By lap 30, Johnson pulled to the inside of Davenport. Johnson could get alongside the leader in the corners, but Davenport had the momentum to keep the lead coming off the turns on the outside. On lap 32, the leaders ran into trouble, and Davenport made a class move to prevent disaster for Johnson.
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Jason McCall of Maryville, TN spun the Dub’s Restaurant GRT on the bottom of turn two in front of the leaders who were running side-by-side with Johnson on the inside and Davenport on the outside. With McCall’s car stopped sideways in front of Johnson, Davenport moved up to give Johnson a path out of harm’s way, as the final caution flag of the race came out.
Since Johnson had just spent several laps inside Davenport battling for the lead, Davenport dove for the bottom of the track on the restart. Johnson stepped to the outside and pulled alongside the leader in turn two. The lead duo raced side-by-side down the backstretch and into turn three. Davenport bounced through some ruts coming off the fourth turn, and Johnson took the lead.
Once he took the lead, Johnson packed his bags, turned in the key, and checked out on Davenport. With ten laps to go, Johnson had a full straightaway lead on Davenport, with Best in third, who grabbed the spot from Henderson on the lap 32 restart. Johnson took the checkered flag with a six second lead over Davenport.
Next up for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be a Labor Day Weekend Triple Header with a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race on Friday night at Batesville Motor Speedway in Batesville, AR, a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race on Saturday night at West Plains Motor Speedway in West Plains, MS, and a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race on Sunday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at nesmithracing.com.
NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
411 Motor Speedway – Seymour, TN
Old Smoky Moonshine 50 – Aug. 24, 2013
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER
1. 6 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $2,500
2. 1 18d Tait Davenport Boaz, KY
3. 9 007 Roger Best Louisville, TN 50 $850
4. 5 17 Matt Henderson Loudon, TN 50 $700
5. 11 30 Ryan King
6. 12 40b Kyle Bronson (R) Brandon, FL 50 $550
7. 16 23 Cory Hedgecock Loudon, TN 50 $500
8. 24 8a Todd Morrow East Ridge, TN 50 $450
9. 2 66 Adam Beeler Knoxville, TN 50 $400
10. 13 18 Ronny Hollingsworth Northport, AL 50 $375
11. 20 19 Josh Adkins (R) Talladega, AL 49 $350
12. 23 98 Jason McCall Maryville, TN 49 $300
13. 22 8 Chris Chandler Weaverville, NC 30 $280
14. 8 71 Brian Courtney Knoxville, TN 16 $260
15. 17 83 Shane Roberts Blountville, TN 15 $250
16. 19 117 Jake Teague (R) Oliver Springs, TN 12 $240
17. 3 51 Pierce McCarter Gatlinburg, TN 12 $220
18. 18 C5 David Crabtree Maryville, TN 6 $200
19. 4 40 John Cobb
20. 10 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 0 $200
21. 14 J39 Jimmy Elliott Cleveland, TN 0 $200
22. 15 110 Brent Barrett Cleveland, MS 0 $200
23. 21 2 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 0 $200
24. 7 10 Chris Wilson Crossville, TN 0 DNS-$50
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