MERIDIAN, MS – Justin McRee of Cottondale, AL drove the High Roller Race Cars Special to his second Whynot Motorsports Park NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win of the season on Saturday night in the 7th Annual Coca-Cola 50. McRee took the lead on the second lap and then never looked back.
Mike Boland of Cuba, AL started 14th and drove the Lee Racing Trak-Star to a second-place finish after a late race duel with Klint Byers of Calhoun City, MS. Byers finished third in the Knock Em Out Kennels Trak-Star.
David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN led the first lap and then finished fourth in the Eads Farms/Hardy & Associates to take over the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division point lead in quest of his third $20,000 Championship. Gentry now holds a two-point lead over Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA with three races left in the 2012 season.
Turner came into the race with an 18-point lead over Gentry, but Turner had a rough night in the Hedman Husler Special. Turner had a serious mechanical issue in his B-Main race, and had to take a provision in a back-up car for the main event.
Turner charged from the 23rd starting spot to 11th early in the race, but faded in the second half of the race and finished 14th. All of his misfortune earned Turner the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
Ronnie Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL started 20th and finished fifth in the Flynn Motorsports Special to earn the Hedman Husler of the Race Award. Evan Ellis of Plantersville, MS took the sixth spot in the Ellis Welding Trak-Star and Larry Harrod of Plains, GA was seventh in the Harrod Logging Special.
Jim McDuffie of Meridian, MS drove the McDuffie Racing Trak-Star to an eighth-place finish, and Daniel Bridgemon of Meridian, MS finished ninth in the Robinson Electric Rocket. Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, MS rounded out the top ten in the Villa South Trak-Star. Cody Kierre of Beebe, AR finished 18th and was the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race.
In preliminary action, McRee out-timed the 28-car field in Qualifications with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 14.426 seconds. The two ten-lap B-Main races were won by Arnold and Jeremy Shaw of Millport, AL in the Summit Resource Development Trak-Star.
At the drop of the green flag to start the Coca-Cola 50, polesitter McRee and outside front row starter Gentry raced side-by-side for the first lap with Gentry being scored the leader of lap number one. McRee drove under Gentry to take the lead in turn two on lap two with Harrod, Byers, and Ellis running third through fifth respectively.
J-Mac was setting a fast pace, as he began to encounter the cars on the tail of the lead lap by the seventh tour. The traffic was cleared away from the leader on lap eight when the first of three caution flags came out when Jon Biles of Centerville, AL spun the Keith Auto Reconditioning Special in turn two, and collected Hollingsworth, who got his spot back for the restart.
The field went back to green for three more laps before the caution bulb was lit up for the second time when Jamey Boland of Cuba, AL in the Boland Performance Trak-Star and Monte Skinner of Saraland, AL in the Skinner Racing Trak-Star spun in turn four.
McRee led Gentry, Harrod, Byers, Ellis, Bridgemon, Mike Boland, Michael Blount of Sumrall, MS in the Lamar Auto Salvage GRT, Marty Hardy of Biloxi, MS in the Hardy & Associates GRT, and Hollingsworth back to the green flag. Mike Boland went to the outside on the restart and passed Bridgemon for the sixth spot on lap 12.
McRee was in lapped traffic by lap 20, and behind the leader and Gentry, a dog fight for the third spot was going on in heavy lapped traffic. Harrod got caught behind a lapped car on lap 25 that opened the door for Byers to take third spot with Ellis and Boland following to take over fourth and fifth respectively.
Blount cut down a right-rear tire on lap 40 to bring out the third and final caution flag. McRee lined up at the point of the double-file restart followed by Gentry, Byers, Boland, Ellis, Hollingsworth, Harrod, Bridgemon, McDuffie, and Hardy. Gentry and Byers raced side by side for the second spot on the restart and Byers took the position going down the backstretch.
Boland dropped Gentry back to the fourth spot on lap 41, and then set sail to challenge Byers for second. Hollingsworth got by Ellis to take control of the fifth spot by driving around the outside in turn two on lap 43.
With five laps to go, Boland began to challenge Byers for the second spot on the inside, while McRee pulled away. Boland got by Byers for second on lap 46. Byers made an outside last lap charge on Boland for the second spot, but came up a half car-length short at the checkered flag.
The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division will travel to Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS for the $2,000-to-win Black Ice 40 on Sunday night.
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.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 19 AT WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MERIDIAN, MS ON 9/1/12:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 1 25 Justin McRee Cottondale, AL 50 $2,500
2. 14 222 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 50 $1,250
3. 5 2s Klint Byers Calhoun City, MS 50 $850
4. 2 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 50 $700
5. 20 00 Ronny Hollingsworth Northport, AL 50 $750
6. 7 73 Evan Ellis Plantersville, MS 50 $550
7. 3 27 Larry Harrod Plains, GA 50 $500
8. 13 760 Jim McDuffie Meridian, MS 50 $450
9. 8 09 Daniel Bridgemon Meridian, MS 50 $400
10. 11 33 Michael Arnold Hattiesburg, MS 49 $375
11. 10 2 Marty Hardy Biloxi, MS 49 $350
12. 9 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 49 $300
13. 15 18 Chase Edge Lafayette, AL 49 $280
14. 23 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 49 $260
15. 17 232 Jamey Boland Cuba, AL 49 $250
16 21 00m Monte Skinner Saraland, AL 49 $240
17. 4 121 Michael Blount Sumrall, MS 39 $220
18. 24 17k Cody Kierre (R) Beebe, AR 37 $200
19. 16 11 Tim Dees Meridian, MS 32 $200
20. 19 21m Cody Martin Christiana, TN 31 $200
21. 22 03 Chris O’Connor Cantonment, FL 25 $200
22. 6 7 Jon Biles Centerville, AL 7 $200
23. 18 J18 Cliff Williams Star, MS 7 $200
24. 12 1s Jeremy Shaw Millport, AL 6 $200
ENTRIES: 28
FAST QUALIFIER: McRee, 14.426 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Turner and Kierre
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Gentry, 1; McRee, 2-50
LAPS LED: McRee, 49; Gentry, 1
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Kierre
HEDMAN HUSLER OF THE RACE: Hollingsworth (started 20th and finished 5th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Turner
INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS JUST MISSED IT AWARD: Kyle Berry
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Hollingsworth
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Ellis
QA 1 RACE PRODUCTS 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Harrod
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: McDuffie
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Bridgemon
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Arnold
MIKE’S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Hardy
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: Stokes
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD: Edge
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
KINSER AIR FILTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD: J. Boland
CAUTIONS: 3
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .970 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 29 Minutes and 49.538 Seconds