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Roby Helm
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (June 12) - Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA won the Fabgrill 40 Presented By Motorhead Grills for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series on Friday night at Hattiesburg Motorsports Park driving the Hays Family Racing/Barto Enterprises/C&S Auto Electric Warrior.
Rainey dominated the race program after starting on the pole and leading all 40 laps to take the $2,000 top prize. In victory lane, Rainey felt emotional relief as he finally put his early season bad luck behind him.
"We have led a lot of laps this season, but we always seemed to have some kind of bad luck that kept us from winning," Rainey said. "This just feels great to finally put all of that bad luck behind us and win one of these races. I feel like we're really on a roll now."
Rainey started the evening by taking the McLeod Construction Fast Qualifier Award with a lap around the ¼-mile clay oval in 14.008 seconds. He took the lead at the start of the race and never looked back. Rainey was held up in lapped traffic late in the race, but once he worked through that, he held a 5.6 second advantage over the rest of the field at the checkered flag.
"Most of the lapped cars did a good job getting up high and letting me by, but I got behind two guys racing for position, and I was starting to get a little concerned," Rainey said. "We don't run radios or mirrors, so I didn't know how big of a lead I had until after the race when my crew told me."
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA had his best finish of the season with a second-place effort in the Turner Excavating DWB. Two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN took the third spot in the Eads Farms/Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt.
Ben McCreary of Baldwyn, GA was fourth in the Waddle Trucking Mastersbilt which earned him the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Race Award, and gave him the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year point lead. Larry Boutwell of Baker, FL picked up the Race Car Engineering Fifth-Place Award in the McLeod Construction Rocket.
Cliff Williams of Star, MS finished sixth in the Ware Construction Trak-Star, and NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National point leader Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS was seventh in the 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle. Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS took the Race Car Engineering Eighth-Place Award in the Billy Riels Racing GRT.
Michael Santangelo of St. Rose, LA started the Harahan Paint and Body Trak-Star 14th and finished ninth to earn the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger Award, and Kody Barber of Bogalusa, LA rounded out the top ten in the Barber's Hardware Mastersbilt.
Cooley still holds the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National point lead, but Gentry closed the gap to 12 points. Boutwell has the third spot, six points behind Gentry. Rainey's win moved him up one spot in the points chase to the fourth position, 78 points behind Boutwell.
Rainey started the race from the pole position and beat outside front row starter Turner into the first turn at the drop of the green flag with Gentry, McCreary and Boutwell settling into the third through fifth positions respectively. The field was slowed on lap two when Johnny Rogers of Carrire, MS spun the Rogers Masonry GRT in turn four.
Rainey led Turner, Gentry, McCreary, Boutwell, Williams, Lucky Keeton of Toomsuba, MS, Cooley, Barber and Lee down for the green flag. Barber tried to race on the high side and that opened the door for Lee to drive underneath for the ninth spot. Rogers brought out the second caution flag on lap seven when he stalled in turn two.
The third caution flag came out on lap 12 when NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region point leader Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, MS in the Reynolds Racing Trak-Star got into the back of Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS in turn four causing Minga to spin the B&M Salvage Mastersbilt. Arnold was charged with the caution, and sent to the back of the pack for the restart.
Keeton had a problem on the restart and Cooley got by coming off the second turn to take over the seventh spot. A pair of Purvis, MS drivers got together in turn four on lap 15 when Ashley Stockstill in the Stockstill Trucking GRT and Jamey Smith in the 4th Street Tattoo GRT spun into the infield.
During the caution period Keeton took his Boland Performance Trak-Star to the pit area and the two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion was done for the night. That earned Keeton the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award. The fifth and final caution flag came out on lap 19 when Chase Washington of Houlka, MS spun the Jerry Inmon Race Cars GRT in turn four.
Gentry made a bid on Turner for the second spot during the restart, but Turner was able to protect the bottom groove and hold the position. While Turner and Gentry battled for the second spot, race leader Rainey was able to open up a half straightaway lead by the halfway point, stretched that out to a full straightaway lead by lap 27 when he began to encounter lapped traffic.
Rainey had lapped the field up to the tenth spot when came up on Barber and Santangelo battling side-by-side for the ninth position on lap 32. Rainey spent an agonizing five laps behind the two cars with no place to go. When Barber adhered to the move over flag and went high to let Rainey by on lap 37, Santangelo followed the leader by Barber to grab the ninth spot.
Once he cleared the lapped cars of Barber and Santangelo, Rainey then packed his bags, turned in the key, and checked out on the field in the remaining laps of the race to take his first win of the season with a 5.6 second advantage over Turner at the checkered flag.
In preliminary action, the two eight-lap heat races were won by Williams and Cooley. The next two events for the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Tour will be on Saturday night at Jackson Motor Speedway in Jackson, MS with a 50-lap $2,500-to-win main event, and on Sunday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS with a 40-lap $2,000-to-win show.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 11 AT HATTIESBURG MOTORSPORTS PARK IN HATTIESBURG, MS ON 6/12/09:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 1 87 Derrick Rainey Powder Springs, GA 40 $2,100
2. 2 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 40 $1,000
3. 3 2 David Gentry Lewisburg, TN 40 $700
4. 4 21 Ben McCreary (R) Baldwyn, GA 40 $550
5. 5 58 Larry Boutwell Baker, FL 40 $500
6. 7 4 Cliff Williams Star, MS 40 $425
7. 8 33c Eric Cooley Fulton, MS 40 $375
8. 9 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 40 $350
9. 14 77 Michael Santangelo St. Rose, LA 39 $425
10. 12 21k Kody Barber Bogalusa, LA 39 $300
11. 11 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 39 $275
12. 10 9 Michael Arnold Hattiesburg, MS 39 $250
13. 13 38 Chase Washington (R) Houlka, MS 39 $225
14. 17 121 Michael Blount Sumrall, MS 25 $200
15. 18 S16 Ashley Stockstill Purvis, MS 16 $175
16. 6 22 Lucky Keeton Toomsuba, MS 14 $150
17. 15 R14 Tracy Brown Lumberton, MS 14 $140
18. 16 22s Jamey Smith Purvis, MS 14 $125
19. 20 45 Johnny Rogers Carrire, MS 5 $125
20. 19 8 Owen Stockstill Purvis, MS DNS $35
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