NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series News Release:
Contact – ROBY HELM – (865) 207-4157
November 5, 2011

NEWMAN WINS THRILLER IN NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY GUMBO NATIONALS

GREENVILLE, MS – Ashley Newman of Mercer, TN took the $3,000 win in a thrilling finish on Saturday night in the 5th Annual Gumbo Nationals 50 for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model series Tour at Greenville Speedway driving the 45 Race Shop GRT. Newman held off a last lap challenge from Dan Breuer of Troutman, NC to pick up his first series career win.

Breuer was able to close in on Newman on the last lap to challenge for the lead and dove to the inside to race Newman wheel-to-wheel through turns three and four. Newman got the better bite coming off turn four towards the checkered flag and took a .646 second victory.

“I found a streak of rubber in the middle groove where I could get a good bite and that’s where I committed to run,” Newman said. “I saw Breuer inside of me on the last lap, and I’m glad he stayed down there and didn’t slide up into me. It was pretty tight working through the lapped traffic, but I wasn’t going to move out of my groove.”

Breuer had to settle for second in the AES Racing Special, but his finish gave him the point lead by six points over two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN, who came back from a lap 35 spin and finished fifth in the Eads Farms/Dixon Plumbing Warrior.

Neil Baggett of Shannon, MS finished third in the Montgomery Farms Special and Michael Blount of Sumrall, MS earned the Hedman Husler of the Race Award after starting 19th and finishing fourth in the Lamar Auto Salvage/Petro Nissan Trak-Star.

Finishing behind Gentry in the sixth spot was Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS in the TJC Mortgage/Maximum Signs and Graphics GRT. Stokes led the first 24 laps of the race and was also the fast qualifier for the event with a time of 15.740 seconds around the ¼-mile high-banked gumbo clay oval.

Bobby Jordan of McCarley, MS was seventh in the Henderson Waste and Recycling Trak-Star, and Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS took the eighth spot in the Custom Spraying GRT. Matthew Turner of Dawsonville finished ninth in the Hedman Husler and John Polasini of Leland, MS rounded out the top ten in the Polasini Racing Special.

Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL finished 11th in the Tower Maintenance/Edge’s Gas Company Special and was the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race. The four 12-lap heat races on Friday night were won by Stokes, Bubba Harrison of Cleveland, MS in the Harrison Racing GRT, Duke Palasini of Leland, MS in the Palasini Farms Special, and Newman.

The two 15-lap B-Main races on Saturday night were won by B.B. Dye of Coffeyville, MS in the Dye Racing GRT and Boone Fullwood of Shiloh, TN in the Randy Todds Body Shop Special. Kenneth Jackson of Beebe, AR in the K&W Truck Repair Special won the Integra Racing Shocks Just Missed It Award as the first alternate.

Stokes took the lead at the start of the race followed by Palasini, Newman, Jake Knight of Georgetown, MS in the Got Dirt, Inc. Trak-Star and Harrison. Breuer got by Harrison and Knight to move up to the fourth spot on lap three. Gentry, who was tied with Breuer for the point lead going into the race, charged from his 13th starting spot to move up to ninth by lap four.

Newman went to the inside of Palasini on lap eight to take over the second spot coming off the second turn. Gentry moved up to the eighth spot on lap nine, and the leaders began to catch the cars on the tail of the lead lap by lap ten.

That enabled Newman to close in on Stokes and the lead duo raced side-by-side for the lead with Stokes on the outside and Newman on the inside. The first of seven caution flags came out on lap 17 when Knight sailed off the banking of turn three. Stokes led Newman, Palasini, Breuer, Baggett, Harrison, Gentry, Barrett, Turner and Edge down for the restart.

Stokes and Newman picked up their battle for the lead, while Gentry got by Harrison for the sixth spot with an inside move coming off the fourth turn on lap 20. Newman got a run on Stokes coming off the second turn on lap 25, and took the lead going down the backstretch.

Breuer passed Palasini for the third position on lap 27 going down the backstretch and Gentry drove under Baggett coming off turn four on lap 31 to take over fifth, and Breuer got around Stokes for the second spot on lap 33. The battle for third heated up and came to a boil on lap 35 when Stokes, Palasini and Gentry raced three wide down the backstretch.

With Stokes on the outside, Palasini in the middle and Gentry on the inside, the three cars made contact, and Gentry spun across the track and sailed backwards off the third turn banking. Gentry was able to restart from the 17th spot as the last car on the lead lap.

When the field went back to green, Travis Mosley of Bearden, AR spun the Mosley Holdings Special in turn four to relight the caution bulb. The next restart saw Palasini challenge Stokes for the third spot. The two cars made contact in turn two and Stokes spun collecting Mark Tice of Avon, MS in the Precision Marine Trak-Star and Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS in the Billy Riels Racing GRT.

Both Tice and Lee were done for the night, and Stokes was ticketed with the caution flag. It was the end of the tough weekend for Tice. On Friday night, Tice missed qualifying after his son fell in the pit area and broke his arm sending him to the hospital.

Tice then had to start at the tail of a heat race and was working his way through the field for a transfer spot, but something broke on his race car sending him to the pits. Tice did not transfer in Saturday night’s B-Main race and after taking a provisional, he started the main event from the 22nd starting spot. Tice was closing in on the top ten at the time he was collected in the lap 36 accident. All of this misfortune earned Tice the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.

After the next restart, Dye spun in turn four on lap 37, and the field was slowed again on lap 38 when Turner spun in turn one after cutting down a tire while running in the sixth spot. Newman led Breuer, Palasini, Blount, Baggett, Harrison, Gentry, Jordan, Stokes and Barrett down for the restart. Blount had made some strong inside moves on each restart to move up through the field.

Blount got by Palasini for the third spot on the restart, but Baggett made a move up to the third spot on lap 39. Palasini pulled alongside Blount to battle for the fourth spot on lap 40 when the two cars made contact on the front straightaway. That brought out the seventh and final caution flag that was charged to Palasini.

The lineup for the 11-lap dash to the finish saw Newman leading Breuer followed by Baggett, Blount, Gentry, Harrison, Stokes, Jordan, Barrett, and Edge. Stokes passed Harrison for fifth on lap 43, and with three laps to go, Newman began to run up on lapped traffic.

Breuer began to close on Newman, and when the leaders took the white flag, Breuer was right on Newman’s back bumper. Breuer ran down Newman going down the backstretch, and he dove to the inside in turn three.

Breuer got alongside Newman in turn four and the top two cars looked at the checkered flag waving in front of them coming off the final corner. Newman got the better bite in his middle groove and beat Breuer back to the finish line.

The next two events for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Tour will be on November 19 with the $5,000-to-win Coca-Cola Zero 75 at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS and a $2,000-to-win 40-lap event on November 20 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS.

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.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 14 AT GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY IN GREENVILLE, MS ON 11/5/11:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 4 73 Ashley Newman Mercer, TN 50 $3,000
2. 6 B7 Dan Breuer Troutman, NC 50 $1,250
3. 7 21 Neil Baggett Shannon, MS 50 $850
4. 19 121 Michael Blount Sumrall, MS 50 $800
5. 13 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 50 $650
6. 1 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 50 $550
7. 14 J8 Bobby Jordan McCarley, MS 50 $500
8. 8 110 Brent Barrett Cleveland, MS 50 $450
9. 9 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 50 $400
10. 12 51 John Polasini Leland, MS 50 $375
11. 10 18 Chase Edge (R) Lafayette, AL 50 $350
12. 11 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 50 $300
13. 3 V8 Duke Palasini Leland, MS 50 $300
14. 2 56h Bubba Harrison Cleveland, MS 49 $300
15. 18 31m Travis Mosley Bearden, AR 49 $300
16. 23 2T Tootie Arnold (R) Bude, MS 49 $300
17. 16 KD1 B.B. Dye Coffeyville, MS 49 $300
18. 17 B20 Boone Fullwood Shiloh, TN 48 $300
19. 21 26 Glenn Craft Greenville, MS 48 $300
20. 24 13x Bobby Derryberry Monticello, AR 47 $300
21. 22 24 Mark Tice (R) Avon, MS 35 $300
22. 15 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 35 $300
23. 20 17 Chad Washington Greenville, MS 25 $300
24. 5 93 Jake Knight (R) Georgetown, MS 16 $300

ENTRIES: 33
FAST QUALIFIER: Stokes, 15.740 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Tice and Arnold
ALTERNATE: Derryberry
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Stokes, 1-24; Newman, 25-50
LAPS LED: Newman, 26; Stokes, 24
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Edge
HEDMAN HUSLER AWARD: Blount (started 19th and finished fourth)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Tice
INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS JUST MISSED IT AWARD: Kenneth Jackson
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Gentry
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Stokes
QA RACE PRODUCTS 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Jordan
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Barrett
MODERN IMAGES 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Polasini
MIKE’S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Edge
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: Minga
SCHOENFELD 13TH-PLACE AWARD: Palasini
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD: Harrison
COFIELD RACING STARTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD: Mosley
KINSER AIR FILTERS 16TH-PLACE AWARD: Arnold
CAUTIONS: 7
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .646 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 55 Minutes and 56.458 Seconds