Matthew Turner, seen here from earlier action, scored the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series win on Sunday night at Tazewell Speedway. Photo by Donna Lee
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA threw caution to the wind and rode the treacherous guard rails of Tazewell Speedway to his first Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series win on Sunday night in the West Chevrolet 50 driving the J.T. Kerr Racing Equipment Special.
After hard contact with the second turn guard rail on a lap nine restart knocked him back to the third spot, Turner recovered, stayed on the high side of the high banks, and drove around the outside of both second-place William Thomas of Phenix City, AL and race leader Tim Busha of Boaz, AL on lap 28 to take the lead, and go on to collect the $3,000 top prize with the victory.
“That was a hard hit on the restart, but the car felt good, so we just kept digging,” Turner said. “Our car worked the best on the high side right up against the guard rail, so as long as it didn’t reach out and grab us, we were good. The Chevrolet Performance CT 525 engine was a good fit for this race track because I could run flat out through turns three and four. It was a pretty awesome ride from where I was sitting, and I hope the fans saw a good show tonight.”
Busha made several tries to challenge Turner for the lead by diving to the bottom of the track in the corners, but Turner had enough momentum to keep the point, and Busha had to settle for second in the Kilpatrick Racing GRT. Thomas stayed right with Turner and Busha for the entire race and finished third in the Alexander’s Industrial Service GRT.
National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN started tenth and finished fourth in the Tommy Pope Construction Warrior, and his teammate Brad Hall of Knoxville, TN charged from the 13th starting spot to finish fifth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Special.
Thomas holds a 44-point lead over Johnson in the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series point standings after the first six races. Thomas has four wins and two thirds to total 588 points to 544 points for Johnson. Turner’s win enabled him to close to within four points of Johnson from the third spot with 540 points. Busha moved up to fourth in the standings with 528 points.
David Brannon of Elora, TN drove the Elora Gin Company Special to a sixth-place finish in the West Chevrolet 50 and Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS was seventh in the Custom Spraying, Inc. GRT. Adam Martin of Talladega, AL took the eighth spot in the Seals Insurance Special and Mark Dowdy of Waterloo, AL finished ninth in the Action Track Chair Special. Steve Kirk of Munford, AL rounded out the top ten in the Advance Lazer Special.
Busha out-timed the 20 entries for the West Chevrolet 50 on August 18 before the race was postponed by rain. Busha turned the 1/3-mile high-banked clay oval in 11.594 seconds to earn the pole position for the race that was rescheduled for Sunday night.
Busha took the lead at the start of the race, but it was quickly yellow flagged for a multi-car tangle in turn two that necessitated a complete restart. It was Busha winning the race into turn one on the second try, with Turner, who started behind him in the inside second row third starting spot following into the second spot, with outside front row starter Thomas settling into the third spot followed by Barrett and Brannon.
The second caution flag of the race came out on lap five when Brad Smith of Winston-Salem, NC spun the Velocita Special in turn four. Busha lead the field down for the “Dixie Style” double file restart. Turner chose the outside with the third-place car of Thomas to his left on the inside. Fourth through tenth respectively were Barrett, Brannon, Ross Martin of Talladega, AL, Dowdy, Adam Martin, Johnson, and Ted Lackey of Munford, AL in the C.S. Beatty Construction Warrior.
On the restart, Ross Martin got by Brannon for the fifth spot, but one lap later, Brannon got under Martin to reclaim the position. Ross Martin spun the Blake Dorsett Trucking GRT in turn two on lap nine to light up the caution bulb for the third time.
Turner once again chose the outside for the restart, as Thomas, Barrett, Brannon, Johnson, Dowdy, Adam Martin, Kirk and Hall doubled up behind Busha. When the field went green, Turner went to the cushion up against the steel guard rail, and slammed it hard. Thomas was able to take over the second spot, but Turner quickly recovered to hang on to the third spot. Johnson was able to pass Brannon for fifth on the restart.
It was time for some high-speed side-by-side racing by lap 14 as Thomas drove inside Busha to challenge for the lead, while Johnson moved up to battle wheel-to-wheel with Barrett for the fourth spot. While Busha and Thomas battled side-by-side for the lead, Turner was back up on the wheel at the halfway point of the race, and was reeling in the lead duo.
Busha and Thomas took their battle for the lead into heavy lapped traffic on lap 26, and Busha was trying to work inside lapped traffic with Thomas inside of him. That left a one car width groove right up against the steel open for anyone who dared to take it.
That looked good enough to Turner, as he put his race car as high as the constraints of the race track would permit in turn three, and sailed around both Busha and Thomas to take the lead coming off the fourth turn on lap 28.
While Turner pulled away from Busha and Thomas, Johnson worked his way around Barrett for the fourth position on lap 31, and then set sail in an effort to join the side-by-side battle for the second spot. Turner ran into heavy lapped traffic on lap 37, as Busha, Thomas, and now Johnson began to close in.
Dowdy spun in turn two on lap 41 to bring out the caution flag, to set up a ten lap dash to the finish. Turner led Busha, Thomas, Johnson, Hall, Barrett, Brannon, Adam Martin, Kirk, and Dowdy down for the restart. Busha made several tries to dive to the bottom of the track in an effort to get under Turner for the lead, but couldn’t complete the pass.
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The next event on the 2013 Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series schedule will be the $6,000-to-win Dega 100 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL on October 12.
For more information about the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visit the series web site at 525superseries.com.
Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series
Tazewell Speedway – Tazewell, TN
Race Results – Sept. 22, 2013
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 3 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 50 $3,000
2. 1 15 Tim Busha Boaz, AL 50 $1,500
3. 2 A19 William Thomas Phenix City, AL 50 $1,000
4. 10 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $850
5. 13 1 Brad Hall Knoxville, TN 50 $750
6. 5 33 David Brannon Elora, TN 50 $700
7. 4 110 Brent Barrett Cleveland, MS 50 $650
8. 7 47m Adam Martin Talladega, AL 50 $600
9. 9 88d Mark Dowdy Waterloo, AL 48 $550
10. 11 B17 Steve Kirk Munford, AL 45 $500
11. 8 14k Brad Smith Winston-Salem, NC 43 $475
12. 12 41 Ted Lackey Munford, AL 27 $450
13. 6 47 Ross Martin Talladega, AL 17 $425
DID NOT START:
14. 00 Richie Stephens Phenix City, AL 0 $0
15. 71 Brian Courtney Knoxville, TN 0 $0
16. 18 Chase Edge Lafayette, AL 0 $0
17. 1 Adam Beeler Knoxville, TN 0 $0
18. 72 Frank Wilson Milton, FL 0 $0
19. 22 Billy Thomas Phenix City, AL 0 $0
20. 222 Carlton Freeman Eastaboga, AL 0 $0
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