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Roby Helm
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (February 13) - The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series introduced Tim Sims of Penton, AL as the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Technical Director on Tuesday at the 35th Annual RPM Promoters Workshop. Sims was among the four panelists in a Crate Engine Technical Seminar during the workshop.
Along with the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Competition Director Marvin Ford, Florence (SC) Motor Speedway Promoter Charles Powell, and Delaware International Speedway Promoter Charles Cathell, Sims discussed the technical procedures used in policing the rules for the GM Performance Crate engines used in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.
Sims and Ford showed the Workshop attendees of race track promoters and personnel the innovative Cam Doctor invented and developed by Ford two years ago that enables a technical inspector to measure and read all aspects of the engine's camshaft without removing the part from the engine. They also answered questions from the attendees.
"The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series would like to thank Stewart Doty of the RPM Workshop, along with Bill Martens and Jeff Kettman of GM Performance Parts for letting Marvin Ford and Tim Sims participate in this Crate Engine Technical Seminar," NeSmith Chevrolet President of Operations and Communications Roby Helm said. "We are proud of our industry-leading technical operations in Crate Late Model racing, and we appreciate the opportunity to showcase it at the RPM Workshop."
The addition of Sims to the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series staff will improve the service the series provides to its sanctioned weekly tracks.
"The one thing that stood out among the requests made by our NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series promoters was better technical support from the series, and bringing on Tim Sims grants that request," Helm said. "Tim will travel from track-to-track during the season to address any and all technical issues each track has with the GM Performance Crate Engines."
Sims has vast knowledge of the GM Performance Crate Engine having worked as the Technical Director at the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series sanctioned Penton Raceway in Penton, AL, and East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL. Sims will also continue his duties at those two facilities this season.
"It is amazing to watch Tim perform a high-level technical inspection of a GM Performance Crate engine," Helm said. "Tim is very thorough, efficient, and professional as he works with the tools required to scrutinize the specifications of the GM Performance Crate Engines."
In addition to his duties with the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series, Sims will also assist Ford in the Technical Inspections at the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Touring events this season.
RPM WORKSHOP NOTEBOOK:
The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series congratulates Lynn Phillips and Alfred Gurley, the promoters of the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series sanctioned Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL, for being voted by their peers nationwide as the RPM Promoters of the Year, which is the most prestigious award a short track promoter can receive.
Interest in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series continues to grow, as promoters and representatives from tracks in the Southeast, Mid Atlantic, and Midwest spoke with NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS officials during the RPM Workshops about the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series.
In addition to race track personnel, potential contingency sponsors also had discussions with NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series officials about programs they could get involved with that could be a benefit to NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series members.
"The RPM Workshop is a great place for short track promoters to get together, gather and share valuable information, and to learn new things about the industry that will benefit their racing facilities," Helm said. "Short tracks nationwide are closing down and changing hands at the fastest pace I've seen in 29 years in this business. The RPM Workshop is a must-attend event for those that want to survive in this industry in this sluggish economy. I know many of the track owners that have failed have not attended the RPM Workshop, and it showed."
BOLAND PERFORMANCE SEMINAR:
NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series officials, track promoters, and competitors gathered at the Boland Performance Open House and Swap Meet in Cuba, AL on Saturday to conduct a seminar on the State of the Sport, Technical Issues, and Promotion.
NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS Founder and Director Mike Vaughn, Competition/Technical Director Marvin Ford, and President of Operations and Communications Roby Helm were joined on stage by NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series track promoters Johnny Stokes of Columbus Speedway in Columbus, MS and Rodney Wing of Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS for a roundtable discussion on the State of the Sport.
Also participating in the discussion and question and answer session were Charles Thrash of the Mississippi State Super Late Model Series, along with Mike Boland of Boland Performance, who in addition to being a motorsports entrepreneur is also a series sponsor and competitor. Thrash expressed there should be a spirit of cooperation between the two forms of dirt late model racing in that they can enhance each other.
Two-time and defending NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion Lucky Keeton also participated in the discussion standing next to his new race car, in which he told the gathering that most of the components of the car were given to him based on his success in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series.
"I won the Trak-Star Chassis and the GM Performance 604 Crate Engine for winning the Regional Championship," Keeton said. "Then I went to the PRI Show, and much to my surprise, a lot of the aftermarket parts people knew who I was because of the publicity I received through the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, and they gave me a lot of free product."
After the roundtable discussion, Ford conducted a Technical Seminar with track promoters and technical personnel about inspecting the GM Performance Crate Engine. NeSmith Chevrolet representatives Tim Bland and Rodney Tapley traveled from Claxton, GA to provide the GM Performance Crate Engine used in the seminar, and were also taking orders from attendees for new engines.
In addition to Stokes and Wing, other NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Promoters attending the seminar were J.F. Gasquet of Pike County Speedway in McComb, MS, Jody Peterson of A1 Raceway in Slidell, LA, Dennis Harker of Green Valley Speedway in Glencoe, AL, and Jimmy Goodwin of Flomaton Speedway in Flomaton, AL.
"The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Seminar was well received, and we want to thank Mike Boland of Boland Performance for extending the invitation to have it at his Open House and Swap Meet," Helm said. "It was good to see the promoters get together, exchange promotional ideas to help fill their grandstands, discuss rules, purses and scheduling, and in general all working together to benefit all of their tracks and the sport. It was like having a mini RPM Workshop."
Helm said based on the success of the series seminar at Boland Performance, the series would like to do more seminars in the future for their Weekly Racing Series tracks at different locations across the country. For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com.
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