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Roby Helm
GREENVILLE, Miss. (April 9) - Dan Breuer of Troutman, NC found the gumbo clay at Greenville Speedway a familiar surface on Saturday night, as the Iowa native won the Rumble On The Gumbo 75 Saturday night for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series driving the AES Special.
Breuer restarted in fifth-place on a lap 68 restart, stepped to the outside groove, and took the lead on lap 72 from Mike Boland of Cuba, AL in The Strength Center Trak-Star. Boland led the first 71laps, but reported after the race that he had a tire going down in the last half of the race. Boland hung on to finish second, 1.832 seconds behind Breuer.
"I grew up in Eastern Iowa and began my racing career there, so I'm used to racing on this Mississippi River gumbo clay," Breuer said. "When we were working lapped traffic, I found out that my car worked good on the high side. I went to the outside after that last restart because there was nothing left on the bottom, and I had nothing to lose."
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA in the Hedman Husler joined Breuer on the outside for the seven lap dash to the finish and came from the sixth spot on the restart to finish third. Turner started the race from the 14th spot and earned the Hedman Husler Award.
Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS took the fourth spot in the TJC Mortgage/Maximum Signs and Graphics GRT and two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN finished fifth in the Eads Farms/Dixon Plumbing Special. Gentry restarted second on the lap 68 restart, but also cut down a tire in the final laps.
Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS had an up and down night to finish sixth in the Billy Riels Racing GRT. Lee was involved in a lap 23 tangle, cut down a tire on lap 34 and had to go to the tail of the cars on the lead lap. Lee worked his way back up to the fourth spot late in the race.
Jeremy Shaw of Millport, AL finished seventh in the Summit Resource Development Trak-Star, the last car on the lead lap. Mark Tice of Avon, MS took the eighth spot in the Precision Marine Trak-Star and was the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race. Chase Washington of Houlka, MS was ninth in the Greg's Sawmill GRT, and Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL rounded out the top ten in the Edge's Gas Company Special.
After setting fast time honors and winning the first heat race on Friday night, Boland led the field down for the green flag at the start of the race. Boland took the lead followed by Breuer, Edge, Washington and Lee. Shaw moved up to the fifth spot on lap three before Gentry passed him on lap five to take the spot.
Edge passed Breuer for second down the backstretch on lap six, as Boland had pulled out to a half straightaway lead. Boland was working lapped traffic by lap seven, and on lap eight, Breuer got by Edge to retake the second spot.
While Boland worked lapped traffic, Breuer closed the gap to three car-lengths by lap 15. Boland and Breuer opened up a half straightaway advantage on Edge by lap 20. Lap 22 saw Gentry pass Lee for the fourth spot. The first of six caution flags came out on lap 24 when Lamar Furr of Hollandale, MS spun the Geddies Repair GRT in turn two.
On the double-file restart, the caution flag came out again when Tice and Bobby Jordan of McCarley, MS in the Henderson Waste and Recycling Trak-Star tangled in turn two. The next double-file restart saw Edge and Shaw get together in turn four to bring out the third caution flag, Shaw was ticketed for the caution, and Edge got his spot back for the restart.
On the third try for a restart, Jordan drove over the nose of Lee's car in turn four. This necessitated a red flag, as it took several minutes to separate the two cars. NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series officials elected to make the next restart a single-file affair, as Boland led Breuer, Edge, Gentry, Lee, Stokes, Turner, Washington, Wesley Greene of Winona, MS in the Transport Service Center Trak-Star, and Tice down to the green flag.
Stokes passed Lee for the fifth spot on the restart, and Gentry passed Edge for third on lap 25. Turner went inside on Lee to take the sixth spot on lap 27, and Stokes passed Edge to take fourth on lap 28. By lap 30, Boland was once again in lapped traffic with a half straightaway lead, while Gentry got by Breuer for second on lap 31 with an inside move off turn four.
Lee dropped out of the sixth spot on lap 34 when he stopped in turn one with a cut tire to bring out the fifth caution flag of the race. When the field lined up for the restart, Boland led Gentry, Breuer, Stokes, Turner, Edge, Shaw, Washington, Tice, and Jordan down for the green flag.
When the green bulb was reignited, drivers running seventh on back got busy. Shaw got by Edge for the sixth spot on the restart, and Washington also got by Edge for the seventh spot with an inside move on lap 35. Tice and Lee began to dust off the outside groove on lap 38, as they sailed back into the top ten, with Tice moving up to sixth and Lee settling into the seventh spot.
Gentry began to close on Boland, as the leader encountered lapped traffic on lap 42. Stokes got to the inside of Breuer on lap 46 and made the pass for the third spot going down the backstretch. Lee continued his march to the front by passing Turner for fifth with an inside move down the front straightaway on lap 47.
With 25 laps to go, Boland held a four car-length lead on Gentry, who had a full straightaway advantage over Stokes. Lee picked up another position on lap 56 when he got by Breuer for the fourth spot. By lap 65, Boland had opened up a half-straightaway lead over Gentry, but it appeared both of the top two cars were having handling issues.
The sixth and final caution flag of the race came out on lap 69 when Bubba Harrison stalled the Harrison Racing GRT in turn four. That closed up the field for the wild seven-lap dash to the finish of the race. Boland led Gentry, Stokes, Lee, Breuer, Turner, Shaw, Tice, Washington, and Edge down to the green flag.
The top four cars went to the bottom of the track in turn one, while Breuer and Turner climbed the banking to run the outside. Breuer went from fifth to second in one lap, and began closing fast on Boland. Coming off the second turn on lap 72, Breuer got to the outside of Boland, who slid up in front of him due to the tire problem.
Breuer then crossed over to the inside, and got under Boland to take the lead in turn three, In the last four laps of the race, Breuer pulled away to take the win, while Boland held off a hard charging Turner to finish second. The win extended Breuer's NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point lead over Gentry to 24 points.
Going into the next event for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series on April 22 and 23 with another 75-lap $5,000-to-win race at Delta Bowl Speedway in Tunica, MS, Breuer leads the series standings with 454 points, while Gentry has 430, Turner is third with 406 points, Lee is fourth with 326 points, and Breuer's teammate, Steve Cooke of Mt. Airy, NC is fifth with 300 points.
Edge moved up to the eighth spot in the point standings with 280 points to also lead the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year point standings. Tice is ninth overall and second in the rookie points with 274 points.
In Friday night preliminary action, Boland out-timed the 34-car field with a lap around the ¼-mile gumbo clay oval in 15.104 seconds, and won the first of the four 12-lap heat races to earn the pole position for the Big Show. Breuer, Tice and Washington won the other three heat races.
The two 12-lap B-Main races on Saturday night were won by a pair of VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year candidates. Jake Knight of Georgetown, MS won the first B-Main in the Got Dirt, Inc. Trak-Star, and Tootie Arnold of Bude, MS took the second B-Main driving the Autozone GRT.
National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee Jerry Inmon of Bruce, MS was battling for a transfer spot in the first B-Main when he tangled up with several cars in turn two and flipped twice before his Indian River Furniture GRT landed on the driver's side. The 68-year-old veteran was uninjured, but his misfortune earned him the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
Chad Washington of Greenville, MS finished fifth in the first B-Main race driving the Washington Body Shop GRT and was the first driver that did not transfer to the main event. That earned Washington the Integra Racing Shocks Just Missed It Award.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 5 AT GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY IN GREENVILLE, MS ON 4/9/11:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 2 B7 Dan Breuer Troutman, NC 75 $5,000
2. 1 222 Mike Boland Cuba, AL 75 $2,500
3. 14 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 75 $1,850
4. 8 1 Johnny Stokes Columbus, MS 75 $1,500
5. 10 56 David Earl Gentry Murfreesboro, TN 75 $1,250
6. 7 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 75 $1,000
7. 6 1s Jeremy Shaw Millport, AL 75 $850
8. 3 24 Mark Tice (R) Avon, MS 74 $750
9. 4 19w Chase Washington Houlka, MS 74 $700
10. 5 18 Chase Edge (R) Lafayette, AL 74 $650
11. 11 J8 Bobby Jordan McCarley, MS 74 $600
12. 16 17c Steve Cooke Mt. Airy, NC 73 $550
13. 24 7 Eric Carr Bruce, MS 73 $500
14. 19 110 Brent Barrett Cleveland, MS 72 $450
15. 23 26 Glenn Craft Greenville, MS 72 $400
16. 9 F5 Lamar Furr Hollandale, MS 71 $380
17. 20 33 Wesley Brown Greenville, MS 71 $360
18. 18 2T Tootie Arnold Bude, MS 71 $340
19. 17 93 Jake Knight (R) Georgetown, MS 69 $320
20. 23 56h Bubba Harrison Cleveland, MS 64 $300
21. 13 91 Billy Tedford Pontotoc, MS 29 $300
22. 15 95 Wesley Greene Winona, MS 26 $300
23. 12 V8 Duke Palasini Leland, MS 23 $300
24. 22 46 Kenny Carpenter Cleveland, MS 18 $300
ENTRIES: 34
FAST TIME: Boland, 15.104 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Boland, 1-71; Breuer, 72-75
LAPS LED: Boland, 71; Breuer, 4
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tice
HEDMAN HUSLER AWARD: Turner (started 14th and finished 3rd)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Jerry Inmon
INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS JUST MISSED IT AWARD: Chad Washington
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Gentry
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Lee
QA 1 PRECISION PRODUCTS 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Shaw
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Tice
MAXIMUM SIGNS AND GRAPHICS 9TH=PLACE AWARD: Chase Washington
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Edge
MIKE'S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Jordan
SHORTY'S SHOCK SERVICE 12TH-PLACE AWARD: Cooke
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13TH-PLACE AWARD: Carr
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14TH-PLACE AWARD: Barrett
COFIELD RACING STARTERS 15TH-PLACE AWARD: Craft
KINSER AIR FILTERS 16TH-PLACE AWARD: Furr
CAUTIONS: MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.832 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 1 Hour, 3 Minutes and .0952 Seconds
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