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Roby Helm
MERIDIAN, Miss. (June 26) - Mike Boland of Cuba, AL charged his way through the field to win the Coca-Cola Classic 50 for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park driving The Strength Center Trak-Star. Boland started 15th, took the lead on lap 38, and checked out to post his eighth career win with the series.
Boland was the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger of the Race and beat his teammate Cliff Williams of Star, MS in the Ware Construction Trak-Star to the checkered flag by almost two seconds. Enroute to the victory, Boland dodged a bullet on lap 15 when he was in the middle of a 12-car pile-up. Boland made a hard right at the pit entrance in turn four to miss the melee.
"The Lord really blessed us tonight when we got through the wreck in turn four," Boland said. "The track was good tonight with multiple racing grooves which was what we needed starting as far back as we did. I was a little concerned we were going to have a good night starting 15th, but everything seemed to go our way."
Another pair of teammates took the third and fourth spots with Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL finishing third in the 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle, and defending NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, AL grabbing the fourth position in his 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA was fifth in the Turner Excavating DWB and trails Cooley in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National point standings by 46 points. Justin McRee of Tuscaloosa, AL finished sixth in the Century Dedicated, Inc. Trak-Star, and is third in the points chase, 42 points behind Turner.
Lucky Keeton of Toomsuba, MS drove the Boland Performance Rock-Star to a seventh-place finish, and Larry Murphy of Meridian, MS was eighth in the Bo Haarala Autoplex GRT. Jim McDuffie of Meridian, MS took the ninth spot in the H.E. Mosley, Inc. Trak-Star, and Evan Ellis of Plantersville, MS rounded out the top ten in the Ellis Certified Welders Trak-Star, and was the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race.
Williams set fast time for the second straight night with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 13.851 seconds to earn the pole position for the start of the race. Williams took the lead when the green flag came out followed by McRee, Shep Lucas of McKenzie, AL in the Lucas Farms Trak-Star, Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA in the Bryson Motorsports Mastersbilt, and Turner.
Larry Harrod of Plains, GA moved from the seventh starting hole to third by the second lap in the Harrod Logging Scorpion, while Williams and McRee raced side-by-side for the lead, with "J-Mac" grabbing the point on lap four. Williams came back to challenge running the inside groove, while McRee sailed around the outside cushion.
The lead duo raced side-by-side for four laps until they reached lapped traffic on lap 12. The first caution flag came out on lap 13 when Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS lost a right-rear tire coming off the fourth turn. Harrod got by Williams for the second spot on the restart, but Williams reclaimed the second spot on lap 14.
Chris Ragan of Ramer, TN spun the Southeastern Ag Transport Trak-Star coming off the fourth turn on lap 15 and collected Greg Dedwylder of Vossburg, MS in the Bumpers By Goose Trak-Star to bring out the second yellow flag. McRee led Williams, Harrod, Brindle, Turner, McDuffie, Lucas, and Chris McElhenney of Lake, MS in the G&M Trucking Trak-Star down for the restart.
After the field went back to green flag racing, Brindle spun in turn four, and 12 cars piled in behind him, completely blocking the race track. Boland, who was running just outside the top ten, weaved his way through crashing race cars, and made a hard right to drive up the pit gate on the high side of the track.
The wreck eliminated Lucas, who was running seventh, and McElhenney, who was running eighth, which earned the sixth-place driver in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National points the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award. That shuffled the top ten with McRee, Williams, Harrod, Turner, McDuffie, Hollingsworth, Keeton, Boland, Murphy and Cooley taking the green.
McDuffie passed Turner for the fourth spot on the restart, and Harrod pulled up along side Williams to take the second spot on lap 17. Hollingsworth and Boland passed Turner and McDuffie on lap 18 to take over the fourth and fifth spots respectively.
McRee and Harrod raced side-by-side for the lead on lap 24, swapping the lead three times in one tour of the track. Williams made it a three-car dance for the lead on lap 25. Williams passed both Harrod and McRee on lap 25 to take the lead. That opened the door for Hollingsworth to move up to the second spot on lap 26, and Harrod finally got around McRee on lap 28 to take over the third spot.
Boland continued his march to the front on lap 30 when he passed McRee for the fourth spot. Most of the leaders had chosen to run the bottom groove by lap 30, but the top five reshuffled and closed up on lap 35 when Harrod when up in a heavy plume of smoke and was out of the race while running third.
With Williams in the lead, Hollingsworth, who was running second, got to choose the inside or the outside for the double-file restart. Hollingsworth chose the outside, which put Boland on the inside from the third spot. Boland drove under Hollingsworth when the field when green, and he quickly closed in on Williams to challenge for the lead.
Boland stepped to the outside of Williams and took the lead coming off the fourth turn to complete lap 38. Boland then pulled away to a half-straightaway lead by lap 45, and cruised home for the win.
In preliminary race action, the three ten-lap heat races were won by Harrod, Hollingsworth, and McElhenney. Tody Ratcliff of Meridian, MS won the 12-lap B-Main race in the Loctite Trak-Star.
The next three races for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model National Tour will take place over the July 4th Holiday weekend with the $2,00-to-win Stars and Stripes 40 on Friday night, July 2, and the $2,500-to-win Salute To America 50 on Saturday night, July 3 with both races being held at 441 Speedway in Dublin, GA.
The weekend finale will be the $2,500-to-win Salute To The Armed Forces 50 at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL on Sunday night, July 4. That event is scheduled to mark the 100th NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Touring event since the series inception in 2005.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 11 AT WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MERIDIAN, MS ON 6/26/10:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 15 222 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 50 $2,600
2. 1 4 Cliff Williams Star, MS 50 $1,250
3. 8 33h Ronnie Hollingsworth Northport, AL 50 $850
4. 13 33c Eric Cooley Fulton, MS 50 $800
5. 5 77 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 50 $650
6. 2 25 Justin McRee Tuscaloosa, AL 50 $550
7. 11 5 Lucky Keeton Toomsuba, MS 50 $500
8. 12 27m Larry Murphy Meridian, MS 50 $450
9. 6 760 Jim McDuffie Meridian, MS 50 $400
10. 17 73 Evan Ellis (R) Plantersville, MS 50 $375
11. 23 121 Michael Blount (R) Sumrall, MS 50 $350
12. 18 47 Shannon Lee (R) Lumberton, MS 50 $300
13. 14 118 Randy Boyd Marion, MS 50 $280
14. 20 J88 Jered Smith Hazlehurst, MS 49 $260
15. 4 21b Chip Brindle Chatsworth, GA 49 $250
16. 10 88 Charlie Henderson (R) Cottondale, AL 49 $240
17. 22 34 Doug Sanchagrin Florence, MS 49 $220
18. 19 48 Tody Ratcliff Meridian, MS 49 $200
19. 21 G33 Greg Dedwylder Vossburg, MS 48 $200
20. 7 27 Larry Harrod (R) Plains, GA 35 $200
21. 3 57 Shep Lucas McKenzie, AL 14 $200
22. 9 28 Chris McElhenney Lake, MS 14 $200
23. 16 C16 Chris Ragan Ramer, TN 14 $200
24. 24 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 12 $200
ENTRIES: 34
FAST QUALIFIER: C. Williams, 13.851 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Blount and Minga
LEAD CHANGES: 3
LAP LEADERS: Williams, 1-3; McRee, 4-24; Williams, 25-37; Boland, 38-50
LAPS LED: McRee, 21; Williams, 16; Boland, 13
GM PERFORMANCE PARTS HARD CHARGER: Boland (started 15th and finished 1st)
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Ellis
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: McElhenney
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: McRee
JOE GIBBS DRIVEN OIL 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Keeton
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Murphy
MAXIMUM SIGNS AND GRAPHICS 9TH-PLACE AWARD: McDuffie
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Ellis
MIKE'S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Blount
SHORTY'S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: Lee
CAUTIONS: 5
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.834 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 49 Minutes and 46.948 Seconds
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