|
HALL WINS
NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS ICE BOWL WITH A 602 ENGINE
EASTABOGA, AL – Brad Hall of Knoxville, TN became
the new “Poster Boy” for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model
Series on Sunday night by winning the 40-lap season opener at
Talladega
Short Track in the Tazewell
Speedway Rocket. It was not how Hall won the race that was so
impressive, but what he won the race with.
Hall became the first driver in the five-year
history of the series to win with a GM Performance steel-head
602 Crate Engine, which was a two-year-old $3,000 engine with
the original factory sealing bolts. The engine sat in a
six-year-old Rocket Chassis that was towed to the track on an
open trailer behind a ½-ton pick-up truck. It was just Hall and
one helper working on the car.
“One of the main reasons we started this series
in 2005 utilizing the economical GM Performance Crate Engines
was for the Brad Halls of this sport,” NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt
Late Model Series Founder and Director Mike Vaughn said. “Brad
Hall just proved that you don’t have to spend money a lot of
money on equipment to win on the national level. Just bring
your talent.”
After starting fourth, Hall settled into the
third spot by lap 11, and then chased down the top two cars of
early race leader Scott Knowles of Lanett, AL in the All-Star
Graphics Warrior and Danny Peoples of Margaret, AL in the Tommy
Pope Construction Warrior. Hall and Peoples traded the second
spot on a pair of restarts on lap 16 and 28.
Knowles, Peoples and Hall raced off the second
turn on lap 31 three-wide for the lead. People led the 31st
lap, and then Hall took the lead coming off turn four on lap
32. Hall would lead the remaining eight laps to post a
remarkable victory, and hoist the Ice Bowl trophy in victory
lane with the $3,000 check. Hey! Hall paid for his engine in
just one race!
Peoples finished second followed by Owen Osteen
of Woodruff, SC in the Osteen Racing Mastersbilt. Osteen
started his run to the third spot from the 17th spot,
and earned the Mechanix Wear Hard Charger of the Race Award.
Jason Hiett of Lincoln, AL also had a good run after starting 15th
in the Green Valley Speedway GRT, and finishing fourth.
Jason Wilson of Margaret, AL took the fifth spot
in the Tommy Pope Construction Warrior which earned the 2006
NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series East Region Champion the
Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Race Award. Tim Busha of Boaz,
AL
finished sixth in the
Kilpatrick Chevrolet GRT.
Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN was seventh in
the Miller Brothers Coal Warrior, and eighth-place went to
18-year-old Kyle Berry of Poplar Bluff, MO in the Berry Roofing
GRT. Two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National
Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN finished ninth in the
Pogue Body Shop GRT.
The defending NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing
Series East Region Champion and Talladega Short Track Champion
Adam Martin of Talladega, AL rounded out the top ten in the
Martin Racing Barry Wright.
Knowles set fast time among the 87 entrants with
a lap around the ¼-mile clay oval in 14.638 seconds to earn the
$100 McLeod Construction Pole Award. Knowles led Busha, Gentry,
Jordy Nipper of Gray, GA in Universal Concrete Rocket, and Hall
at the start of the race. Hall passed Nipper for the fourth
spot on lap five.
Brian Ponder of Talladega,
AL
spun his T&L Outdoors TSR in
turn two on lap seven to bring out the first of four caution
flags. Knowles led Busha, Gentry, Hall and Peoples down for the
double-file restart. Gentry passed Busha for the second spot,
and brought Peoples with him by Hall and Busha into the third
spot.
Peoples was on a mission, as he passed Gentry for
the second spot on lap 10, and Hall moved around Gentry for the
third position on lap 11. Chris Tays of Corinth, MS stalled his
Bud Coley Trucking/Circle H Concrete Trak-Star on the
backstretch while running seventh on lap 16 to light the caution
bulb for the second time.
After the caution had come out, Ponder slammed
into the back of Tays disabled race car wrecking both cars.
Tays’ unfortunate situation earned him the Dominator Race
Products Hard Luck of the Race Award.
When the field went green for the double-file
restart, Hall passed Peoples for the second spot and Osteen had
rallied from the 17th starting spot to fourth. The
field stayed green long enough for Knowles to start encountering
lapped traffic, as Hall and Peoples closed in.
The 2007 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series
East Region Champion Logan Yates of Delta, AL in the Cofield’s
Starter and Alternator TSR tangled with Lee Burdett of Hueytown,
AL in the City Auto Sales GRT on lap 28 in turn three to bring
out the third caution flag. Peoples reclaimed the second spot,
getting by Hall on the double-file restart.
Peoples and Hall reeled in Knowles on lap 31, and
they went three-wide for the lead off the second turn. Peoples
drove around Knowles for the lead coming off the fourth turn,
and brought Hall with him up into the second spot. Hall kept
charging, and pulled along side Peoples on lap 32, and took the
lead he would never relinquish coming off the fourth turn.
With handling going away on Knowles’ race car,
the 2008 Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year began to fade, and
spun in turn two on lap 36, collecting Nipper. That brought out
the final yellow of the race, and set up a five-lap dash to the
finish. Hall led Peoples, Osteen, Busha, Hiett, and Wilson down
for the green flag.
Hiett and Wilson got around Busha
in the final five laps, and Hall kept a three car-length
advantage over Peoples to take the win. There were 22 cars
still running at the end of the race with 21 on the lead lap.
In addition to the win, Hall was also the fourth fastest
qualifier, and won the second 10-lap heat race.
In other preliminary action, the
five other heat race wins went to Gentry, Nipper, Peoples, Tays
and
Berry
. The four 10-lap B-Main races
were won by Hiett, James Cline of
Oxford
,
AL
in the
Coosa
Heating and Cooling JC3, Osteen,
and Ben McCreary of
Baldwyn
,
GA
in the Waddle Trucking
Mastersbilt.
The next event for the NeSmith
Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour will be on
January 24 at
Columbus
Speedway
in
Columbus
,
MS
for a 40-lap $2,500-to-win main
event.
OFFICIAL
RESULTS OF ROUND 1 AT
TALLADEGA
SHORT TRACK AT EASTABOGA,
AL
ON 1/3-4/09:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER
HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1.
4 47 Brad Hall
Knoxville
, TN
40 $3,000
2. 6 22p Danny
Peoples
Margaret
,
AL
40 $1,250
3. 17 20 Owen
Osteen Woodruff, SC
40 $850
4. 15 1 Jason Hiett
Lincoln,
AL
40 $700
5. 12 22w Jason Wilson
(R)
Margaret
,
AL
40 $650
6. 2 15 Tim Busha
Boaz,
AL
40 $550
7. 11 5 Ronnie
Johnson
Chattanooga
, TN 40
$500
8. 8 00 Kyle
Berry
Poplar Bluff
, MO 40
$450
9. 3 11 David
Gentry Lewisburg, TN
40 $400
10. 19 47 Adam
Martin
Talladega
,
AL
40 $375
11. 13 2x Jay
Blair
Angie
,
LA
40 $350
12. 24 58 Larry Boutwell
Baker, FL 40 $300
13. 16 3c James
Cline
Oxford
,
AL
40 $280
14. 23 38c Chip
Brindle
Chatsworth
,
GA
40 $360
15. 9 12 Hunter
Peacock Macon, GA
40 $250
16. 20 77 Doug
Stevens
Lovejoy
,
GA
40 $240
17. 5 1n Jordy
Nipper
Gray
,
GA
40 $220
18. 25 07 Jimmy Elkins
Jr.
Talladega
,
AL
40 $200
19. 10 B97 Lee
Burdett Hueytown, AL
40 $200
20. 14 F9 Frank
Ingram
Woodstock
, GA
40 $200
21. 21 93 Donald Bradsher
Burlington
, NC
40 $200
22. 18 21m Ben McCreary (R)
Baldwyn, MS 39 $200
23. 1 66k Scott
Knowles Lanett, AL
35 $300
24. 26 5y
Logan
Yates
Delta,
AL
28 $200
25. 7 8 Chris Tays
Corinth
, MS
14 $200
26. 22 29 Brian
Ponder
Talladega
,
AL
14 $200
ENTRIES:
87
McLEOD CONSTRUCTION FAST QUALIFIER: Knowles, 14.638 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Brindle and Boutwell
TRACK PROVISIONALS: Elkins and Yates
LEAD CHANGES: 2
LAP LEADERS: Knowles, 1-30, Peoples, 31, Hall, 32-40
LAPS LED: Knowles, 30; Hall, 9; Peoples, 1
SUNOCO RACE FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Wilson
MECHANIX WEAR HARD CHARGER: Osteen (started 17th and
finished 3rd)
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Tays
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD:
Wilson
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD:
Berry
MAXIMUM SIGNS 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Gentry
CAUTIONS: 4
|