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Roby Helm
MERIDIAN, Miss. (September 4) - Larry Harrod of Plains, GA won the NOS Energy Drink 75 for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park driving the Harrod Logging Scorpion. "The Big Tree" held off challenges from several drivers in a three-wide battle for the lead in lapped traffic to post his second win of the season.
In addition to taking the $5,000 top prize to the bank, Harrod also takes over the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year point lead and the fourth spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National point standings. VP Racing Fuels will pay the top Rookie driver in the National points chase $5,000 at the end of the season. Harrod was also the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race.
Harrod raced for the lead with Mike Boland of Cuba, AL, Larry Murphy of Meridian, MS and the defending NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS in heavy lapped traffic. The only time it seemed anyone could get close to Harrod was in lapped traffic, as Murphy led the 46th lap, but it was Harrod leading all of the rest of them.
"When we were in lapped traffic, I knew everyone was coming and I gave up the lead for a lap before I could find my line to get the lead back," Harrod said. "The last time we were here in June we learned a lot that we put to use this weekend, and it worked. The first part of the race, my car worked so well I never lifted off the throttle."
Harrod ran up on lapped traffic again in the closing laps of the race, but it was not enough time for Boland to close in to make a challenge. Boland had to settle for second in the Strength Center Trak-Star, and Murphy took the third spot in the Bo Haarala Autoplex GRT.
Cooley finished fourth in the 78 Towing and Recovery/Bryson Motorsports Victory Circle, and after starting 14th and running as high as second, Cooley was also the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger of the Race. "Chargin' Charlie" Henderson of Cottondale, AL was fifth in the Century Dedicated, Inc., Mastersbilt.
Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS finished sixth in the TJC Mortgage/Maximum Signs and Graphics Mastersbilt and Cliff Williams of Star, MS took the seventh spot in the Ware Construction Trak-Star. Williams was also the Fish Depot Fast Qualifier by out-timing the 38-car field with a lap around Whynot Motorsports Park in 13.634 seconds.
Chris Ragan of Ramer, TN was eighth in the Southeastern Ag Transport Trak-Star and Jim McDuffie of Meridian, MS finished ninth in the H.E. Mosley, Inc. Trak-Star. Todd Morrow of Old Fort, TN rounded out the top ten in the A&K Cab DWB.
Williams and Harrod raced side-by-side through the first two turns at the start of the race before Harrod took the lead coming off the second turn followed by Williams, Henderson, Justin McRee of Tuscaloosa, AL in the Century Dedicated, Inc., Trak-Star and Murphy. On the third lap, Murphy used the inside groove to move up to the third spot.
Harrod pulled out to a full straightaway lead over Williams by lap five, as Henderson and Murphy got by the polesitter for the second and third spots respectively. Harrod's big lead was erased by the first of nine caution flags on lap six when Chris McElhenney of Lake, MS stalled the G&M Trucking Trak-Star on the backstretch.
Harrod led Henderson, Murphy, Williams, McRee, Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA in the Bryson Motorsports Pro 1, Rodney Wing of Meridian, MS in the NOS Energy Drink Trak-Star, Boland, Stokes and Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS in the Billy Riels Racing DWB down for the green flag.
Brindle was on the move after the restart, as he got by Williams for the fourth spot on lap eight. Harrod pulled out to another full straightaway lead by the tenth lap over Henderson. Boland took the inside groove and passed Williams for the fifth spot on lap 12.
Monte Skinner of Saraland, AL brought out the second caution flag of the race on lap 14 when he had a mechanical failure on the Skinner Racing TNT in turn three. A false start on the restart accounted for the third caution flag. Once the field got back to racing, Boland got by Brindle for the fourth spot on lap 16.
Wing cut down a left-rear tire on lap 19 to bring out the fourth caution flag of the race, and McRee also pitted during the caution period. That shuffled the top ten as Harrod led Henderson, Murphy, Boland, Brindle, Williams, Stokes, McDuffie, and Cooley down for the green flag.
With the Delaware double-file restart in play, Henderson chose the outside and Murphy used the inside to drive under him for the second spot on the restart. Boland also used the inside groove to his advantage, as he drove under Henderson for the third spot on lap 22. Harrod stretched out a full straightaway lead over Murphy by lap 25 as Stokes moved into the top five.
Cooley was on the move as began to battle Brindle side-by-side for the sixth spot. It was the 2009 champ getting by the 2008 NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Champion. Harrod caught the cars on the tail of the lead lap on lap 30 and Murphy began to close the gap. Murphy was challenging Harrod for the lead by 33 on the inside of the high-riding leader.
Lap 36 saw Cooley continue his charge to the front as he moved up to the fourth spot. On lap 38, Harrod, Murphy and Boland were riding the outside cushion, and Cooley was digging on the bottom groove of the track. By lap 40 the top four drivers were in heavy lapped traffic battling for the lead.
Murphy got under Harrod coming off the fourth turn to take the lead on lap 46, but Harrod drove back around Murphy on the next tour, bringing Cooley with him up to the second spot. Boland and Murphy got by Cooley for second and third respectively on lap 49. Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA spun the Turner Excavating DWB in turn four on lap 50.
At the two-thirds point of the race, Harrod led Boland, Murphy, Cooley, Henderson, Stokes, Brindle, Williams, McDuffie, and Ragan down for the restart. Lee spun in turn two on lap 53 to bring out the sixth caution flag.
The biggest incident of the race occurred on lap 63 when Brindle cut down a tire and spun in turn two collecting several other cars. Brindle's car was hit several times and it took two wreckers to get it back to the pit area. That earned Brindle the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award after running in the top ten all night up to that misfortune.
Harrod pulled away from Boland on the restart, and was never challenged the rest of the way to the checkered flag, despite running up on lapped traffic in the final four laps of the race. Boland closed to within a few car-lengths, and ran out of laps to make a bid for the lead.
The next event for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour will be on Sunday night for the $2,000-to-win GM Performance Parts Black Ice 40 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS.
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.
RESULTS PENDING TECH OF ROUND 19 AT WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MERIDIAN, MS ON 9/3-4/10:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 2 27 Larry Harrod (R) Plains, GA 75 $5,000
2. 9 222 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 75 $2,500
3. 6 27m Larry Murphy Meridian, MS 75 $1,750
4. 14 33c Eric Cooley Fulton, MS 75 $1,450
5. 4 88 Charlie Henderson (R) Cottondale, AL 75 $1,000
6. 7 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 75 $850
7. 1 4 Cliff Williams Star, MS 75 $1,000
8. 17 C16 Chris Ragan Ramer, TN 75 $700
9. 11 760 Jim McDuffie Meridian, MS 75 $650
10. 16 T1 Todd Morrow Old Fort, TN 75 $600
11. 12 77 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 75 $550
12. 18 28 Chris McElhenney Lake, MS 75 $500
13. 13 55 Terrance Nowell Phenix City, AL 75 $450
14. 23 121 Michael Blount (R) Sumrall, MS 75 $400
15. 10 47 Shannon Lee (R) Lumberton, MS 75 $380
16. 5 38b Chip Brindle Chatsworth, GA 62 $360
17. 15 22 Lucky Keeton Toomsuba, MS 62 $340
18. 22 25x Josh Huss Flomaton, AL 61 $320
19. 19 73 Evan Ellis (R) Plantersville, MS 56 $300
20. 7 118 Rodney Wing Meridian, MS 51 $300
21. 24 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 48 $300
22. 3 25 Justin McRee Tuscaloosa, AL 30 $300
23. 20 44 Roger Rolison Meridian, MS 18 $300
24. 21 00 Monte Skinner Saraland, AL 12 $300
ENTRIES: 38
FISH DEPOT FAST QUALIFIER: C. Williams, 13.634 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Blount and Minga
LEAD CHANGES: 2
LAP LEADERS: Harrod, 1-45; Murphy, 46; Harrod, 47-75
LAPS LED: Harrod, 74; Murphy, 1
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Harrod
GM PERFORMANCE PARTS HARD CHARGER: Cooley (started 14th and finished 4th)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Brindle
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: C. Henderson
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Stokes
JOE GIBBS DRIVEN OIL 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Williams
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Ragan
MAXIMUM SIGNS AND GRAPHICS 9TH-PLACE AWARD: McDuffie
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Morrow
MIKE CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
SHORTY'S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: McElhenney
CAUTIONS: 9
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .368 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 1 Hour, 2 Minutes and 8.340 Seconds
HEAT RACES (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer To Main Event):
1ST HEAT: 1. C. Williams; 2. Brindle; 3. Boland; 4. Nowell; 5. Tollison; 6. Ratcliff; 7. Lawson; 8. Arnold; 9. Skinner; 10. Hickman DNS.
2ND HEAT: 1. Harrod (R); 2. Murphy; 3. Lee (R); 4. Cooley; 5. McElhenney; 6. Minga; 7. Flurry; 8. Ames; 9. Smith; 10. Blount (R) DNS.
3RD HEAT: 1. McRee; 2. Wing; 3. McDuffie; 4. Keeton; 5. Ragan; 6. Ellis (R); 7. Maher; 8. Haney; 9. Edge.
4TH HEAT: 1. C. Henderson (R); 2. Stokes; 3. Turner; 4. Morrow; 5. Rolison; 6. Huss; 7. K. Henderson; 8. Wilson; 9. W. Williams.
B-MAINS (15 Laps - Top 3 Transfer To Main Event):
1ST B-MAIN: 1. Ragan; 2. Ellis (R); 3. Skinner; 4. Maher; 5. Tollison; 6. Lawson; 7. Ratcliff; 8. Arnold; 9. Haney DNS; 10. Edge DNS; 11. Hickman DNS.
2ND B-MAIN: 1. McElhenney; 2. Rolison; 3. Huss; 4. Minga; 5. Ames; 6. K. Henderson; 7. Blount (R); 8. W. Williams; 9. Wilson; 10. Flurry DNS; 11. Smith DNS.
NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 9/4/10:
1. 33c Eric Cooley - 1,728
2. 77 Matthew Turner - 1,656
3. 25 Justin McRee - 1,446
4. 27 Larry Harrod (R) - 1,418
5. 47 Shannon Lee (R) - 1,408
6. 88 Charlie Henderson (R) - 1,386
7. 28 Chris McElhenney - 1,352
8. 121 Michael Blount (R) - 1,260
9. 19 Marcus Minga - 1,114
10. 38b Chip Brindle - 844
11. 1 Johnny Stokes - 830
12. 222 Mike Boland - 684
13. C16 Chris Ragan - 656
14. 73 Evan Ellis (R) - 612
15. 25b Jay Burchfield (R) - 598
16. T9 Troy Dixon (R) - 502
17. 4 Cliff Williams - 492
18. 18 Ronny Lee Hollingsworth - 464
19. 72 Frank Wilson (R) - 416
20. 8 Mike Palasini Jr. and 24 Mark Tice - 406
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