John Ownbey climbs from his car after scoring his second straight NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series victory on Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway. Photo courtesy NeSmith Media
John Ownbey of Cleveland, TN doubled down on the weekend and won the 4th Annual J.T. Kerr Memorial 40 for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division on Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, TN driving the Auto Depot Special.
It was the second win for Ownbey in as many nights, as the also won the night before in Brasstown, NC.
Ownbey said over the weekend, that he wasn’t sure if he was going to like running with NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, as he was used to running higher horsepower super late models. Two wins and $6,000 in prize money over two nights will change one’s outlook on life.
“When I first got in this race car, I wanted more horsepower, but the more I drove it, the more I liked it,” Ownbey said. “This is a very competitive series and it’s tough to win one of these races because everyone has the same engine under the hood. It’s all about handling and set up. My crew gave me a great race car this weekend, and it practically drove itself. We all had a lot of fun this weekend, and we’ll be back this year to run some more NeSmith races.”
Ownbey is also getting to know NeSmith Late Model driver Matt Henderson very well. The two drivers battled for the lead on Friday night at Tri-County Race Track before Ownbey took the lead and went on for the win.
It was more of the same in front of a packed house on Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway, but this time, Ownbey wasted no time getting to the front. Ownbey came off the bottom of turn two on lap 11 to drive underneath Henderson to take to lead. Ownbey then checked out on the field to take over a five second margin of victory to the checkered flag and collect the $4,000 top prize.
Before this weekend, Ownbey had competed in seven NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series races over three seasons. He drove in four races during the 2007 season, two races in 2008, and one race in 2009.
Ownbey’s best finish before this weekend was a second in the 2007 Icebowl at the Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL. Ownbey’s last NeSmith Late Model appearance before this weekend was on January 4, 2009 at the Talladega Short Track Icebowl, where he failed to qualify for the main event.
On Saturday night, Henderson settled for second and the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race Award. Anthony White made a last lap move to take the third spot, while Todd Morrow finished fourth and Justin Summers was fifth.
Ronnie Johnson, Mario Gresham, Ryan King, Josh Henry and Ryan Crane rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Ownbey set fast time honors among the 31 entrants as the last car on the last lap of the his qualification run he toured the 3/8-mile clay oval in 14.160 seconds to earn the pole position. Summers won the first of two 12-lap B-Main Races and Cory Hedgecock won the second B-Main.
The racing action in both the main event and the B-Mains was conducted in close quarters with contact. In the first B-Main, Adam Beeler flipped his racer, and in the second B-Main, Greg Martin flipped his car three times.
Henderson took the lead at the start of the race from his outside front row starting spot, with polesitter Ownbey in second followed by Nick Lyons, Chase Edge and King. Cody Martin spun in turn one while running tenth to bring out the first of six caution flags.
Second-place Ownbey chose the inside for the Dixie Style Double File Restart with Lyons, Edge, King, Rusty Ballenger, Summers, Hedgecock, Crane, and Morrow doubled up in the Top 10. Ownbey went right to work in challenging Henderson for the lead after the green flag came back out.
Ownbey got a good bite off the bottom of turn two on lap 11 and shot underneath Henderson to take the lead. By lap 16, Ownbey was pulling away as he encountered the cars on the tail of the lead lap. He didn’t have to deal with it very long, as Ballenger stalled in turn four to bring out the caution for the second time.
Ownbey brought the field down for the restart with Henderson, Lyons, Edge, King, Hedgecock, Summers, Crane, Morrow and White doubled up behind him in the second through tenth spots respectively. On the restart, Edge and Hedgecock got together in turn three and Hedgecock spun to the inside and struck a utility tire. When Hedgecock exited the speedway, that put Johnson into the top ten.
The racing remained up close and personal after the next restart, as Lyons got by Henderson to take the second spot. King went to the outside and passed Henderson for third. On lap 18, Lyons and King were battling for the second spot when they both tried to occupy the same piece of real estate in turn three, and both spun.
This caused a chain reaction that collected the field with the exception of Ownbey, and Henderson. The entire track was blocked with crashed race cars in turn three. This carnage reshuffled the restart order with Ownbey leading Lyons, Henderson, Edge, Summers, White, Morrow, Forrest Trent, Johnson and Henry.
Henderson reclaimed the second spot on the restart with an outside move on Lyons coming off the fourth turn. Edge gave up the sixth spot on lap 19 when he stalled in turn two to bring out the fifth caution flag of the race. The restart saw Morrow get by Lyons for third, as the handling began to go away on Lyons’ car. Lyons spun in turn four on lap 21 to bring out the last caution flag.
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The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division will be off until the July 4 Holiday Weekend when they will embark on a three-race series. The next event will be a $2,000-to-win 40-lap race on Thursday night, July 2 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL, followed by another $2,000-to-win 40-lap race at Penton Raceway in Penton, AL.
The Holiday Weekend finale will be on Saturday night, July 4 with a $2,500-to-win 50-lap race at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL that will be accompanied by the traditional EAMS Annual Fireworks Spectacular.
For more information and rules 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
J.T. Kerr Memorial 40 – June 6, 2015
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER
1. 1 44 John Ownbey Cleveland, TN 40 $4,000
2. 2 H2 Matt Henderson (R) Loudon, TN 40 $1,375
3. 12 2 Anthony White Clinton, TN 40 $850
4. 11 8a Todd Morrow East Ridge, TN 40 $700
5. 7 99 Justin Summers Greenback, TN 40 $650
6. 18 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 40 $675
7. 16 21 Mario Gresham Rome, GA 40 $500
8. 5 30 Ryan King (R) Seymour, TN 39 $575
9. 19 B00 Josh Henry Newport, TN 39 $400
10. 9 10 Ryan Crane (R) Panama City, FL 39 $500
11. 3 18 Chase Edge LaFayette, AL 39 $475
12. 4 2x Nick Lyons
13. 13 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 39 $405
14. 22 18 Gary Crittenden Mohawk, TN 39 $260
15. 24 22 Will Roland (Y) Jasper, GA 39 $250
16. 20 J39 Jimmy Elliott Cleveland, TN 25 $240
17. 14 101 Forrest Trent Talbott, TN 20 $220
18. 8 23 Cory Hedgecock Lenoir City, TN 16 $200
19. 17 8 Michael Richardson Cedar Bluff, AL 16 $200
20. 6 29 Rusty Ballenger Sevierville, TN 16 $200
21. 21 11 Josh Fields
22. 10 21m Cody Martin (R) Christiana, TN 6 $325
23. 15 12 Eric Register Elizabethton, TN 6 $200
24. 23 98 Eric Centers Corbin, KY 2 $200
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