CARTERSVILLE, GA – The red hot 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division $20,000 Championship battle returns to Greenville Speedway in Greenville, MS this Friday night and Saturday night for the $5,000-to-win 60-lap 6th Annual Gumbo Nationals. Just 18 points separate the top two drivers in the point standings with two races left in the season.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA leads the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series standings with 1,688 points based on one win, eight top five finishes, 15 top ten finishes and one fast time award in 20 starts driving the Hedman Husler Special. Turner has three NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS career wins, and two of those have come at Greenville Speedway.
Turner is looking for his first NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series title after being the only driver to have competed in every series event held since its inception in 2005. Turner has had a runner-up, and two thirds in the point standings, and would like to celebrate in his hometown at the head table of the NeSmith Chevrolet Awards Banquet in January at the Thunder Road Museum and Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, GA.
Two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN is second in the points chase with 1,670 points based on three wins, 10 top five finishes, 13 top ten finishes and two fast time awards in 20 starts driving the Eads Farms/Hardy & Associates Warrior equipped with $135 Bilstein Spec Shocks.
Gentry has two Greenville Speedway wins among his 12 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series career wins, the latest coming in the Delta Dirt Nationals 40 at Greenville Speedway on July 20. Gentry is second on the series’ all-time career win list.
Larry Harrod, the 2010 VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year, is not that far back in the third spot of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point standings with 1,622 points based on two wins, eight top five finishes, 15 top ten finishes, and two fast time awards driving the Harrod Logging Special.
A win in the Gumbo Nationals, combined with a bad night for Turner and Gentry, could put Harrod right in the Championship battle. The $5,000-to-win 60-lap 6th Annual Gumbo Nationals at Greenville Speedway could set up a three-way fight for the $20,000 NeSmith Dirt Late Model Series Championship at the season finale.
The $10,000-to-win 100-lap 8th Annual Chevrolet Performance Parts World Championship Race at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL on November 30-December 1 will be the final race of the 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division season.
Other NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division Top 10 drivers expected this weekend for the 6th Annual Gumbo Nationals include the 2011 VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year, fourth-place Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL, sixth-place Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS, seventh-place Michael Blount of Sumrall, MS, and eighth-place VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year candidate Cody Kierre of Beebe, AR.
The local contingent of Greenville Speedway NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series drivers always give the Touring Division drivers a run for their money on the ¼-mile gumbo clay oval. Greenville Speedway regulars took four spots in the 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet WRS Top 15 standings.
Duke Palasini of Leland, MS finished fourth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings for non-touring drivers with eight Greenville Speedway wins this season. Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS led the NeSmith Chevrolet WRS standings early in the season before ending up ninth with two Greenville Speedway wins.
Bubba Harrison of Cleveland, MS finished 12th in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with two Greenville Speedway wins, and Bobby Jordan of McCarley, MS finished 14th in the NeSmith Chevrolet WRS point standings.
Also expected for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series $5,000-to-win 60-lap 6th Annual Gumbo Nationals at Greenville Speedway this weekend are the 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Champion Chase Washington of Houlka, MS, and the defending Gumbo Nationals Champion Ashley Newman of Ripley, TN.
Greenville Speedway will host a practice on Thursday night. Gates open at 4 p.m. with practice from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday night action for the Gumbo Nationals will see the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Tour competing in Qualifying and Heat Races to set the front of the 24-car starting field for the $5,000-to-win main event on Saturday night.
On Friday night, the pit gate opens at 4 p.m. with NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Pre-Race Registration and Technical Inspection from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Friday night drivers meeting will begin at 7 p.m. On Saturday night, the pit gate opens at 3 p.m. with NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS driver check in from 4 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The Saturday night drivers meeting will be at 5:45 p.m.
There will also be preliminary B-main races held on Saturday night to fill the back half of the field for the $5,000-to-win 60-lap 6th Annual Gumbo Nationals, Round 21 of the 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series season. For more information visit the Greenville Speedway web site at www.greenvillespeedway.net.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at NeSmith Racing. Becoming a fan of the NeSmith Racing Facebook page will make you eligible for special prizes that will be given away each month. You can follow us on Twitter @NeSmithRacing.