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Roby Helm
GREENVILLE, Miss. (July 30) - Mike Boland of Cuba, AL drove The Strength Center Trak-Star to victory Friday night in the 40-lap NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour main event at Greenville Speedway, Boland led wire-to-wire in the opening race of the Delta Dirt Nationals for his third series win of the season, and his second straight at Greenville Speedway.
Boland also picked up his ninth career NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS victory and gave him sole possession of second-place on the all-time win list. It was also a "Clean Sweep" for the seven-time Mississippi State Late Model Champion, as he was the fast qualifier among the 34 entrants with a lap around the 3/10-mile gumbo clay oval in 15.720 seconds.
The route to victory for Boland was the bottom groove of Greenville Speedway, as he worked through lapped traffic to keep all challengers behind him. Boland carried a 1.668 second margin of victory to the checkered flag over the 2008 NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Champion Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA in the Bryson Motorsports Pro 1 by Brindle.
Brindle was able to make couple of challenges for the lead on restarts, and that got Boland's attention. Brindle was making his first series appearance driving a chassis of his own make and design.
"It was our plan to stay on the bottom of the track as much as we could," Boland said. "I don't know who was behind me, but I knew they were there. This series has been good for both my career and my business because we have sold a lot of race cars to teams and drivers in this series."
Boland builds Trak-Star Race Cars at his business, Boland Performance in Cuba, AL. Five of the top six qualifiers were running Trak-Star Race Cars, who leads the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS Chassis Manufacturers Challenge point standings.
Mike Palasini Jr. of Leland, MS finished third in the Medicaid Planning Specialists Trak-Star after an up, down, and back up night of racing. The local favorite qualified second-quick, but dropped back to the sixth-spot before charging back late in the race for his third-place finish.
The defending NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Champion and current point leader Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS started ninth and finished fourth in the 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle. Cooley has now opened up a 66-point lead over Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA, who finished seventh in the Turner Excavating DWB.
Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS started 17th and finished fifth in the TJC Mortgage/Maximum Signs and Graphics Mastersbilt to earn the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger of the Race Award and the Race Car Engineering 5th-Place Award. Stokes went to the high side of the track in closing laps to move from tenth to fifth.
Larry Harrod of Plains, GA drove the Harrod Logging Scorpion to a sixth-place finish and was the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race and the KRC 6th-Place Award winner. Turner picked up the Joe Gibbs Driven Oil 7th-Place Award. Jeremy Shaw of Millport, AL won the Race Car Engineering 8th-Place Award in the Summit Resource Development Trak-Star.
Chris McElhenney of Lake, MS picked up the Maximum Signs and Graphics 9th-Place Award driving the G&M Trucking Trak-Star, and Bubba Harrison of Merigold, MS drove the Redden Farms GRT to the KRC 10th-Place Award.
Doug Showah of Indianola, MS won the Mike's Custom Tanks 11th-Place Award in the Wilkerson Dirt and Gravel Rocket and Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS picked up the Shorty's Shock Service 12th-Place Award in the Billy Riels Racing GRT.
Jason Hiett of Lincoln, AL was running sixth on the final lap of the race, but was involved in a tangle, not of his own making, and finished 14th in the OMG/Cofields Racing Starters GRT. That earned Hiett the Dominator Racing Products Hard Luck Award.
In preliminary action, the four eight-lap heat races were won by Hiett, McElhenney, Cooley and Showah. The two 10-lap B-Main races were won by Greg Fore of Greenville, MS in the Sluder Racing Rayburn and Jason Michau of Kilmichael, MS in the Michau Logging Warrior.
The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour returns to Greenville Speedway on Saturday night for the second night of the Delta Dirt Nationals, and Round 17 of the 2010 season with a 50-lap $2,500-to-win main event.
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 16 AT GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY IN GREENVILLE, MS ON 7/30/10:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 1 222 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 40 $2,000
2. 5 38c Chip Brindle Chatsworth, GA 40 $1,000
3. 2 8 Mike Palasini Jr. Leland, MS 40 $700
4. 9 33c Eric Cooley Fulton, MS 40 $650
5. 17 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 40 $600
6. 11 27 Larry Harrod (R) Plains, GA 40 $425
7. 14 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 40 $375
8. 4 1s Jeremy Shaw Millport, AL 40 $350
9. 8 28 Chris McElhenney Lake, MS 40 $325
10. 12 56 Bubba Harrison Merigold, MS 40 $300
11. 10 44 Doug Showah Indianola, MS 40 $275
12. 21 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 40 $250
13. 19 23 Greg Fore Greenville, MS 40 $225
14. 7 1h Jason Hiett Lincoln, AL 40 $200
15. 6 24 Mark Tice (R) Avon, MS 39 $175
16. 18 88 Charlie Henderson (R) Cottondale, AL 39 $150
17. 16 17 Chad Washington Greenville, MS 39 $140
18. 20 88j Jason Michau Kilmichael, MS 39 $125
19. 23 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 39 $125
20. 22 4h Kevin Henderson Cottondale, AL 39 $125
21. 3 25 Justin McRee Tuscaloosa, AL 38 $125
22. 24 46 Kenny Carpenter Cleveland, MS 34 $125
23. 15 121 Michael Blount (R) Sumrall, MS 5 $125
24. 13 4 Cliff Williams Star, MS 3 $125
ENTRIES: 34
FAST QUALIFIER: Boland, 15.720 Seconds
PROVISIONAL: Minga
LEAD CHANGES: None
LAP LEADER: Boland, 1-40
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Harrod
GM PERFORMANCE HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE: Stokes (started 17th and finished 5th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Hiett
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Stokes
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Harrod
JOE GIBBS DRIVEN OIL 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Shaw
MAXIMUM SIGNS AND GRAPHICS 9TH-PLACE AWARD: McElhenney
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Harrison
MIKE'S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Showah
SHORTY'S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: Lee
CAUTIONS: 7
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.668 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 50 Minutes and 51.285 Seconds
HEAT RACES (8 Laps - Top 3 Transfer To Main Event):
1ST HEAT: 1. Hiett; 2. Harrod (R); 3. Blount (R); 4. Fore; 5. Lee (R); 6. Jordan; 7. Carpenter.
2ND HEAT: 1. McElhenney; 2. Harrison; 3. Washington; 4. K. Henderson; 5. Minga; 6. McMahon; 7. Brown.
3RD HEAT: 1. Cooley; 2. Williams; 3. Stokes; 4. Barrett; 5. Smith; 6. Craft; 7. T. Shaw.
4TH HEAT: 1. Showah; 2. Turner; 3. C. Henderson; 4. Michau; 5. Derryberry; 6. Sides; 7. Parker.
B-MAINS (10 Laps - Top 2 Transfer To Main Event):
1ST B-MAIN: 1. Fore; 2. Lee (R); 3, Carpenter; 4. Smith; 5. Barrett; 6. Craft; 7. T. Shaw; 8. Jordan.
2ND B-MAIN: 1. Michau; 2. K. Henderson; 3. Minga; 4. Derryberry; 5. McMahon; 6. Sides; 7. Brown; 8. Parker DNS.
NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 7/30/10:
1. 33c Eric Cooley - 1,450
2. 77 Matthew Turner - 1,384
3. 25 Justin McRee - 1,276
4. 47 Shannon Lee (R) - 1,186
5. 88 Charlie Henderson (R) - 1,166
6. 27 Larry Harrod (R) - 1,150
7. 28 Chris McElhenney - 1,128
8. 121 Michael Blount (R) - 1,066
9. 19 Marcus Minga - 916
10. 38c Chip Brindle - 608
11. 1 Johnny Stokes - 580
12. 25b Jay Burchfield (R) - 524
13. T9 Troy Dixon (R) - 502
14. 222 Mike Boland - 492
15. 18 Ronnie Lee Hollingsworth - 464
16. C16 Chris Ragan - 430
17. 73 Evan Ellis (R) - 418
18. 72 Frank Wilson (R) - 416
19. 116 Randy Weaver - 366
19. 22 William Thomas - 366
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