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Roby Helm
MERIDIAN, Miss. (May 2) - Mike Boland stuck to his game plan and picked up the win on Saturday night in the Coca-Cola Classic 50 for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series at Whynot Motorsports Park in The Strength Center Trak-Star. Boland passed Justin McRee of Woodstock, AL on lap 44, and then held off Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS for the victory.
Boland was able to track down McRee in heavy lapped traffic, stayed planted on the bottom groove of the track, and took the lead when McRee jumped the cushion. A restart with four laps to go saw Boland move to the middle groove, and Cooley got a run on the outside to challenge Boland for the lead on lap 48. Boland picked up the pace, and pulled away on the last lap to secure the win.
"Justin was all over the place in lapped traffic, and I stayed in my groove, and waited for it to open up and took the lead," Boland said. "On that last restart, I knew Eric was coming on the outside, but I tried to stay in the middle where there was some moisture. Eric is a good clean driver, and I enjoyed racing with him at the end of the race."
Cooley was the only driver in the race to stay up on the cushion on the high side of the track, and rode that groove to a second-place finish in the 78 Recover and Towing Victory Circle. That moved Cooley up to the second spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National point standings, 22 points behind two-time series champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN.
The defending NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA finished third in the CSC Trailer Repair/Brindle Brothers Auto Parts Mastersbilt. Larry Murphy of Meridian, MS took the fourth spot in the Bo Haarala Auto Plex GRT. Murphy was the McLeod Construction Fast Qualifier with a time of 14.133 seconds.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA was fifth in the Turner Excavating DWB, for his second-straight top five finish, and earned the Race Car Engineering Fifth-Place Award. Jason Wilson of Margaret, AL finished sixth in the Tommy Pope Construction Warrior, and was the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Race.
Rick Rickman of Columbus, MS started 19th and finished seventh in the Rickman Trucking Mastersbilt to earn the Hard Charger of the Race Award. Jay Blair of Angie, LA finished eighth in the J&A Trucking Mastersbilt to earn the Race Car Engineering Eighth-Place Award.
Ben McCreary of Baldwyn, MS made a nice recovery from his Friday night misfortunes, as he and his crew worked all night to replace a front clip on his Waddle Trucking Mastersbilt, and McCreary took the ninth spot to earn the Maximum Signs Ninth-Place Award. Aaron Ridley of Chatsworth, GA rounded out the top ten in the True Temp Heating and Air Barry Wright.
Two and three-wide racing was the rule once again at Whynot Motorsports Park, as the 24-car field was split with one half using the inside groove, and the other half hanging it out on the high side cushion. Murphy took the lead on lap one followed by Cooley, McRee, Boland, and Larry Boutwell of Baker, FL in the McLeod Construction Rocket.
Boutwell drove inside Boland on lap three to take over the fourth spot, and McRee drove his Boland Performance Trak-Star inside Cooley to take over second place. Cooley stayed with the outside groove and passed McRee for second on lap six.
Cooley quickly reeled in Murphy, and drove around the outside to take the lead coming off the fourth turn on lap seven. McRee stayed committed to the bottom groove, and got under Murphy for the second spot on lap nine. One lap later, McRee drove up to battle Cooley in a side-by-side battle for the lead.
The first caution flag came out on lap 11 when Chris O'Connor of Cantonment, FL hit the third turn wall. Cooley lead the double-file restart with McRee, Murphy, Boland, Boutwell, Brindle, Turner, Chase Washington of Houlka, MS in the Jerry Inmon Race Cars GRT, Evan Ellis of Plantsville, MS in the Ellis Certified Welders Trak-Star, and Wilson stacked up behind him.
Boland worked inside Murphy coming off the fourth turn on the restart to take over the third spot, as drivers were working high and low around the speedway. At the halfway point, things got busy with several position changes.
McRee had a side-by-side battle with Cooley going on for the lead, and he made the inside pass stick on lap 20, while Brindle was able to get by Boutwell to move up to the top five. On lap 22, Boland began to stick the nose of his car inside Cooley to challenge for the second spot. Boland used a lapped car as a pick, and got under Cooley for second coming off the second turn on lap 26.
McRee was in heavy lapped traffic, and had to get off his preferred bottom groove to pass them. McRee got into Gentry in the Dixon Plumbing Warrior coming off the fourth turn on lap 33, but the two cars separated, and the field stayed green. Boland used patience in working the lapped cars, and stayed on the bottom of the track, passing lapped cars where he could.
McRee ran into more trouble on lap 44 when he jumped the cushion on the high side of turn three and hit the wall. Boland was there to take the lead, and McRee retired his race car to the pit area. That earned McRee the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
While most drivers had taken to the bottom groove in the last ten laps of the race, Cooley stayed up high in his quest of catching Boland in heavy lapped traffic. The caution flag came out on lap 46 when Brian Rickman of Columbus, MS spun the Rickman Trucking Mastersbilt in turn three.
Boland led Cooley, Brindle, Boutwell, Murphy, Turner, Wilson, Blair, McCreary, and Ridley down for the restart. When the green flag came out, Cooley and Boutwell when to the outside groove, while everybody else stuck to the bottom of the track. Boutwell got too wide coming off the fourth turn on lap 47, and hit the front straightaway wall.
Boutwell came to a stop in turn one to bring out the caution flag, and set up a four-lap dash to the finish. Cooley went back to the outside on the restart, and got things wound up on lap 48, as he pulled along side Boland going down the backstretch. Boland answered the challenge and pulled away to take his second series win at Whynot Motorsports Park.
In preliminary action, the four ten-lap heat races were won by Boutwell, Brindle, Turner, and Washington. The two 12-lap B-Mains were won by McCreary and Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA in the Hays Family Racing/Barto Enterprises Warrior.
The next three events for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour will be held over the Memorial Day weekend at Penton Raceway in Penton, AL on May 22 for a 40-lap $2,000-to-win event, East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL on May 23 for a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race, and Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL on May 24 for 40 laps and $2,000-to-win.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 8 AT WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MERIDIAN, MS ON 5/2/09:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 4 222 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 50 $2,500
2. 2 33c Eric Cooley Fulton, MS 50 $1,250
3. 6 38c Chip Brindle Chatsworth, GA 50 $1,150
4. 1 27 Larry Murphy Meridian, MS 50 $800
5. 7 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 50 $650
6. 12 22w Jason Wilson (R) Margaret, AL 50 $550
7. 19 86 Rick Rickman Columbus, MS 50 $600
8. 15 2x Jay Blair Angie, LA 50 $450
9. 17 21m Ben McCreary (R) Baldwyn, MS 50 $400
10. 20 81 Aaron Ridley Chatsworth, GA 50 $375
11. 8 38 Chase Washington (R) Houlka, MS 49 $350
12. 18 87 Derrick Rainey Powder Springs, GA 49 $300
13. 11 2 David Gentry Lewisburg, TN 49 $280
14. 9 28 Chris McElhenney Lake, MS 49 $260
15. 23 68 Eddie Rickman Columbus, MS 49 $250
16. 10 73 Evan Ellis Plantsville, MS 49 $240
17. 13 90 Brian Rickman Columbus, MS 49 $220
18. 5 58 Larry Boutwell Baker, FL 46 $200
19. 3 25 Justin McRee Woodstock, AL 44 $200
20. 16 118 Randy Boyd Marion, MS 44 $200
21. 22 2s Justin Shaw Greenwood, IN 30 $200
22. 21 18 Chris Jimerson Gilbertown, AL 20 $200
23. 24 21k Kody Barber Bogalusa, LA 15 $200
24. 14 03 Chris O'Connor Cantonment, FL 9 $200
ENTRIES: 40
McLEOD CONSTRUCTION FAST QUALIFIER: Murphy, 14.133 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: 3
LAP LEADERS: Murphy, 1-6; Cooley, 7-19, McRee, 20-43, Boland, 44-50
LAPS LED: McRee, 24; Cooley, 13; Boland, 7; Murphy 6
HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE: R. Rickman (started 19th and finished 7th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: McRee
SUNOCO RACE FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Wilson
RACE CAR ENGINEERING FIFTH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
RACE CAR ENGINEERING EIGHTH-PLACE AWARD: Blair
MAXIMUM SIGNS NINTH-PLACE AWARD: McCreary
CAUTIONS: 3
TIME OF THE RACE: 24 Minutes, 35.408 Seconds
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