SMITH WINS NIGHT TWO AT EAST BAY IN NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS ACTION
February 20, 2010 by eastbay
Filed under Featured, Racing Results, Stories
Shan Smith 17ss Friday Night Winner @ East Bay
Racing TNT to victory on Friday night at East Bay Raceway Park in the 50-lap
main event for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. Smith took the
lead on lap 22 from polesitter Charlie Henderson of Cottondale, AL then held
off a pair of challenges in lapped traffic from Randy Weaver of Crossville,
TN.
Smith made his bid for the win early in the race, as he
bolted from his tenth starting spot and was up to third by the end of the
first lap. Lap three saw Smith drive by Weaver in the Cardinal Paint and
Body Custom to take the second spot.
“I’ve got a lot of laps around this place, and I’ve got a set
up that works good when the track rubbers up,” Smith said. “I knew I had to
get to the front early, and we were able to use the track conditions to our
advantage.”
Weaver finished second followed by Henderson in the Century
Carriers, Inc. Mastersbilt, who was also the Rookie of the Race Award
winner. Keith Nosbisch of Valrico, FL was fourth in the Miller Lite Rocket,
and Devin Dixon of Apollo Beach, FL took the Race Car Engineering 5th-Place
Award in the Night Hawk Towing Rocket.
Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, WV drove the Adams Used Auto
Parts Warrior to the KRC 6th-Place Award, and Shane Hitt of Buchannon, WV
claimed the Joe Gibbs Driven 7th-Place Award. William Thomas of Phenix
City, AL started the J.W. Miller Land and Timber Scorpion in the 18th spot
and finished eighth to take the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger Award and
the Race Car Engineering 8th-Place Award.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA took the Maximum Signs and
Graphics 9th-Place Award, and Jeff Matthews of Dover, FL was the KRC
10th-Place Award winner in the Night Hawk Towing Warrior. Defending NeSmith
Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS
won the Mike’s Customs Tanks 11th-Place Award.
Turner remains the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
National point leader with a six-point lead over Cooley in second spot, and
a 16-point advantage over Thomas in the third position.
Henderson earned his second straight Pole Award by
out-qualifying the 53 entrants with a lap around the 1/3-mile clay oval in
15.344 seconds. Henderson started along side his teammate Justin McRee of
Cuba, AL in the Century Carriers, Inc. Trak-Star in the front row for the
start of the race.
When the green flag came out, things got busy in a hurry with
Henderson leading Weaver, McRee, Smith, and Nosbisch off the second turn.
McRee jumped the cushion in turn three on the opening lap, and that dropped
him back to tenth by the time he gathered up his race car. Smith passed
Weaver for the second spot on lap three, and Dixon moved up into the top
five.
The first of three caution flags came out on lap seven when
Chris McElhenney of Lake, MS spun the G&M Trucking Trak-Star in turn four.
Henderson led Smith, Weaver, Nosbisch, Dixon, Matthews, Horton, Hitt, Steve
Mathis of Plant City, FL in the Mathis Farms Rayburn, and McRee back to the
green flag.
Matthews jumped one car on the restart, and he would be
penalized two positions on the next caution period, which came out on lap 14
when David Pollen Jr. in the B&D Trucking Rocket caught fire. The fire was
extinguished by the track safety crew and Pollen was uninjured. Pollen’s
misfortune earned him the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
The top ten for the restart had Henderson leading followed by
Smith, Weaver, Nosbisch, Dixon, Horton, Hitt, Matthews, Mathis and Turner.
When the field went green, Turner passed Mathis for the ninth spot, and
McRee moved back into the top ten with a pass on Mathis on lap 15. Thomas
had charged from the 18th starting spot and passed McRee for tenth on lap
17.
Henderson was holding a steady three car-length lead over
Smith, but as the leaders approached lapped traffic on lap 20, Smith and
Weaver began to close the gap. Smith and Weaver got by Henderson for first
and second on lap 22, but a caution flag on lap 24 for the stalled SEG
Ramlaw Mastersbilt driven by Mitchell Godfrey of Crawford, GA brought out
the third and final caution flag, and kept the field tightened up.
When the field went back to green flag action, Smith was able
to open up a six car-length lead by lap 34 when the leader began to
encounter lapped traffic. Weaver closed in as Smith began to pick his way
around lapped cars running the groove he wanted to stay ahead of Weaver.
On lap 38, Weaver was able to get a run on Smith in turn one on the inside,
but Smith was up to the challenge and kept the lead. Weaver would get
another opportunity with ten laps to go, but couldn’t make the pass. Once
Smith cleared the lap cars, he could keep a three car-length gap between
himself and Weaver the rest of the way to the checkered flag.
In preliminary action, the four ten-lap heat races were won by Godfrey,
McElhenney, Horton, and Smith. The two 12-lap B-Main races were won by
Turner and Larry Harrod of Plains, GA in the Harrod Logging Scorpion.
The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series returns to East Bay Raceway
Park for its three-race finale on Saturday night with a 50-lap $3,000-to-win
main event.
