CARNESVILLE, GA – This Saturday night the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series South East Tour will return to Laurens County Speedway in Laurens, SC for the first time since 2011 for the $4,014-to-win, $400-to-start Ronnie Brookshire Memorial Race. It will also be a special homecoming for most of the ULTIMATE SE Officials.
The complete payout for the ULTIMATE SE Ronnie Brookshire Memorial Race will be as follows: 1. $4,014; 2. $2,000; 3. $1,350; 4. $1,000; 5. $875; 6. $775; 7. $700; 8. $600; 9. $500; 10. $450; 11. $425; 12. $400; 13. $400; 14. $400; 15. $400; 16. $400; 17. $400; 18. $400; 19. $400; 20. $400; 21. $400; 22. $400; 23. $400; 24. $400. M&W Transport will put up $200 for the Fast Time Award.
ULTIMATE SE Director Kelley Carlton and his staff have had this race circled in red on their 2017 event calendar. Laurens County Speedway is like a second home for Carlton, a native of nearby Woodruff, SC, and the majority of his ULTIMATE officiating crew.
“I began my career as a race official at Laurens County Speedway in 1993 and became the Competition Director there in 1995,” Carlton said. “I stayed there through the 1999 season and I branched out to also work for the Southern All-Star Series. I worked with the track owners Fred and Janet Cogsdill, who taught me about the business side of racing.”
Carlton said the Cogsdills laid the foundation for him to really learn all sides of the sport both on and off the track. Carlton says it was this experience that he carries with him today, and tries to pass down to his ULTIMATE officials.
“Fred and Janet took me to the RPM Promoters Workshop every year from 1995 through 1999,” Carlton said. “It was truly one of my most valuable learning experiences. Prior to that, I had done some line-up stuff and things like that when I was younger. But, the Cogsdills gave me responsibility and allowed me to lead and make decisions.”
Carlton went on to form Kelcar Motorsports and put together a team of officials to help put on special events at dirt track throughout the Southeast. Many of these same officials are now a part of the ULTIMATE officiating team that was formed in 2011 by FASTRAK Racing Founder and CEO Stan Lester as a Super Late Model Series to go with his already successful FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series that uses sealed Chevrolet Performance 604 Circle Track Engines.
“Most of the officiating crew I have with the ULTIMATE Tour also got their start as race officials at Laurens County Speedway,” Carlton said. “Alton Wilson, Rusty Carlton, and Chris Rooney, who is a fill in guy for us but is now the flagman at Laurens, all worked for me at Laurens back in the 90s.”
Even part of the ULTIMATE crew that didn’t work for Carlton at Laurens County Speedway, call it their home track, and have pleasant and even life changing memories at Laurens County Speedway.
“Randy and Tator Riser along with Jeremy Gibbs all call Laurens their home track, but never worked there,” Carlton said. “C.J. Mason met his wife at Laurens County Speedway, so it is also his home track. This is literally and figuratively a home race for us, one we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”
Saturday night’s ULTIMATE SE race will be run in memory of Ronnie Brookshire, who passed away on March 21, 2014. Brookshire is a legendary driver at Laurens County Speedway and was a multi-time Late Model Champion at the track. The Clinton, SC driver was known as “The Hustler” and his legacy lives on through his two sons-in-law.
Brookshire’s son-in-law Mike Measamer is also a multi-time Late Model track champion at Laurens County Speedway driving a race car that is wrenched by another Brookshire son-in-law Bobby Thomas.
In ULTIMATE’s previous visit to Laurens County Speedway in 2011, Ross Bailes of Clover, SC was the winner of the Shrine Race on the track also known as The Darlington of Dirt. Bailes is still a frequent visitor at ULTIMATE SE events each season.
The battle for the 2017 ULTIMATE SE Championship is tight with just 17 points separating the top two drivers and only 35 points separating the top three in the 2017 ULTIMATE SE point standings after the first ten races of the season.
Tyler Millwood of Cartersville, GA leads the ULTIMATE SE standings and the Autolite/Fram/DirtOnDirt.com Rookie of the Year standings with 305 points and Jason Welshan of Maryville, TN is second with 288 points. The defending and two-time ULTIMATE Champion Dennis “Rambo” Franklin of Gaffney, SC is third with 270 points.
Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, GA is fourth with 233 points, and three-time ULTIMATE Champion Casey Roberts of Toccoa, GA is fifth with 178 points. Brett Hamm of Newberry, SC is sixth in the ULTIMATE SE standings and second in the Autolite/Fram/DirtOnDirt.com Rookie of the Year standings with 157 points.
G.R. Smith of Statesville, NC is seventh in the ULTIMATE SE standings with 141 points, and two-time 2017 ULTIMATE race winner Brandon Overton of Evans, GA is eighth with 138 points. Another two-time 2017 ULTIMATE race winner, Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA is ninth with 137 points, and 2011 ULTIMATE Champion Chris Ferguson of Mt. Holly, NC rounds out the top ten with 135 points.
There will be a $100 bonus to the highest finishing Limited Late Model, which is the top weekly Late Model Division at Laurens County Speedway that will have the night off from points racing for the ULTIMATE event. The second highest Limited Late Model will receive five gallons of Schaeffer Racing Oil valued at $175.
On Saturday night at Laurens County Speedway, the Pit Gate opens at 5 p.m. with ULTIMATE Pre-Race Registration and Technical Inspection from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Drivers Meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. with Hot Laps to follow and Racing is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Laurens County Speedway is located at 435 Race Track Road, Laurens, SC 29360. For more information call 864-984-2427, or visit the track web site at www.laurensspeedway.com. You can also like their Facebook page at Laurens County Speedway-The Darlington of Dirt and on Twitter @SpeedwayLaurens.
Check out the official website for the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series at www.ultimatesupers.com, and continue to follow our social media networks on Facebook at ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series and on Twitter @ULTIMATESupers to get up to the minute news and details as they become available.
The ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series would like to recognize their marketing partners for the 2017 season which include: American Racer, Hoosier Race Tires, VP Race Fuels, M&W Transport, PPM Racing Products, Arizona Sport Shirts, DirtonDirt.com, Big A’s Custom Graphics, AR Bodies, Five Star Race Bodies, Schaeffer’s Racing Oil and Lubricants, Autolite/Fram, RockAuto.com, Safecraft, Simpson, and Thomas Clarke Performance Web Design.