BOLAND CHARGES TO NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS WHYNOT WIN

               MERIDIAN, MS – Mike Boland of Cuba, AL charged his way through the field to win the Coca-Cola Classic 50 for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park driving The Strength Center Trak-Star.  Boland started 15^th, took the lead on lap 38, and checked out to post his eighth career win with the series.

               Boland was the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger of the Race and beat his teammate Cliff Williams of Star, MS in the Ware Construction Trak-Star to the checkered flag by almost two seconds.  Enroute to the victory, Boland dodged a bullet on lap 15 when he was in the middle of a 12-car pile-up.  Boland made a hard right at the pit entrance in turn four to miss the melee.

               “The Lord really blessed us tonight when we got through the wreck in turn four,” Boland said.  “The track was good tonight with multiple racing grooves which was what we needed starting as far back as we did.  I was a little concerned we were going to have a good night starting 15^th, but everything seemed to go our way.”

               Another pair of teammates took the third and fourth spots with Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, AL finishing third in the 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle, and defending NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, AL grabbing the fourth position in his 78 Towing and Recovery Victory Circle.

               Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA was fifth in the Turner Excavating DWB and trails Cooley in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National point standings by 46 points.  Justin McRee of Tuscaloosa, AL finished sixth in the Century Dedicated, Inc. Trak-Star, and is third in the points chase, 42 points behind Turner.

               Lucky Keeton of Toomsuba, MS drove the Boland Performance Rock-Star to a seventh-place finish, and Larry Murphy of Meridian, MS was eighth in the Bo Haarala Autoplex GRT.  Jim McDuffie of Meridian, MS took the ninth spot in the H.E. Mosley, Inc. Trak-Star, and Evan Ellis of Plantersville, MS rounded out the top ten in the Ellis Certified Welders Trak-Star, and was the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Race.

               Williams set fast time for the second straight night with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 13.851 seconds to earn the pole position for the start of the race.  Williams took the lead when the green flag came out followed by McRee, Shep Lucas of McKenzie, AL in the Lucas Farms Trak-Star, Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA in the Bryson Motorsports Mastersbilt, and Turner.

               Larry Harrod of Plains, GA moved from the seventh starting hole to third by the second lap in the Harrod Logging Scorpion, while Williams and McRee raced side-by-side for the lead, with “J-Mac” grabbing the point on lap four.  Williams came back to challenge running the inside groove, while McRee sailed around the outside cushion.

               The lead duo raced side-by-side for four laps until they reached lapped traffic on lap 12.  The first caution flag came out on lap 13 when Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS lost a right-rear tire coming off the fourth turn.  Harrod got by Williams for the second spot on the restart, but Williams reclaimed the second spot on lap 14.

               Chris Ragan of Ramer, TN spun the Southeastern Ag Transport Trak-Star coming off the fourth turn on lap 15 and collected Greg Dedwylder of Vossburg, MS in the Bumpers By Goose Trak-Star to bring out the second yellow flag.  McRee led Williams, Harrod, Brindle, Turner, McDuffie, Lucas, and Chris McElhenney of Lake, MS in the G&M Trucking Trak-Star down for the restart.

               After the field went back to green flag racing, Brindle spun in turn four, and 12 cars piled in behind him, completely blocking the race track.  Boland, who was running just outside the top ten, weaved his way through crashing race cars, and made a hard right to drive up the pit gate on the high side of the track.

               The wreck eliminated Lucas, who was running seventh, and McElhenney, who was running eighth, which earned the sixth-place driver in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National points the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.  That shuffled the top ten with McRee, Williams, Harrod, Turner, McDuffie, Hollingsworth, Keeton, Boland, Murphy and Cooley taking the green.

               McDuffie passed Turner for the fourth spot on the restart, and Harrod pulled up along side Williams to take the second spot on lap 17.  Hollingsworth and Boland passed Turner and McDuffie on lap 18 to take over the fourth and fifth spots respectively. 

               McRee and Harrod raced side-by-side for the lead on lap 24, swapping the lead three times in one tour of the track.  Williams made it a three-car dance for the lead on lap 25.  Williams passed both Harrod and McRee on lap 25 to take the lead.  That opened the door for Hollingsworth to move up to the second spot on lap 26, and Harrod finally got around McRee on lap 28 to take over the third spot.

               Boland continued his march to the front on lap 30 when he passed McRee for the fourth spot.  Most of the leaders had chosen to run the bottom groove by lap 30, but the top five reshuffled and closed up on lap 35 when Harrod when up in a heavy plume of smoke and was out of the race while running third.

               With Williams in the lead, Hollingsworth, who was running second, got to choose the inside or the outside for the double-file restart.  Hollingsworth chose the outside, which put Boland on the inside from the third spot.  Boland drove under Hollingsworth when the field when green, and he quickly closed in on Williams to challenge for the lead.

               Boland stepped to the outside of Williams and took the lead coming off the fourth turn to complete lap 38.  Boland then pulled away to a half-straightaway lead by lap 45, and cruised home for the win.

               In preliminary race action, the three ten-lap heat races were won by Harrod, Hollingsworth, and McElhenney.  Tody Ratcliff of Meridian, MS won the 12-lap B-Main race in the Loctite Trak-Star.

               The next three races for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model National Tour will take place over the July 4^th Holiday weekend with the $2,00-to-win Stars and Stripes 40 on Friday night, July 2, and the $2,500-to-win Salute To America 50 on Saturday night, July 3 with both races being held at 441 Speedway in Dublin, GA.

               The weekend finale will be the $2,500-to-win Salute To The Armed Forces 50 at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL on Sunday night, July 4.  That event is scheduled to mark the 100^th NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National Touring event since the series inception in 2005.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 11 AT WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MERIDIAN, MS ON 6/26/10:

POS       STRT     CAR #   DRIVER                             HOMETOWN                   LAPS     $ WON 
1.            15           222        Mike Boland                     Cuba, AL                            50           $2,600
2.            1             4             Cliff Williams                  Star, MS                             50           $1,250
3.            8             33h        Ronnie Hollingsworth   Northport, AL                   50           $850
4.            13           33c         Eric Cooley                       Fulton, MS                        50           $800
5.            5             77           Matthew Turner               Dawsonville, GA             50           $650
6.            2             25           Justin McRee                    Tuscaloosa, AL                 50           $550
7.            11           5             Lucky Keeton                    Toomsuba, MS                  50           $500
8.            12           27m       Larry Murphy                   Meridian, MS                   50           $450
9.            6             760        Jim McDuffie                    Meridian, MS                   50           $400
10.          17           73           Evan Ellis (R)                   Plantersville, MS             50           $375
11.          23           121        Michael Blount (R)         Sumrall, MS                      50           $350
12.          18           47           Shannon Lee (R)               Lumberton, MS                50           $300
13.          14           118        Randy Boyd                       Marion, MS                       50           $280
14.          20           J88        Jered Smith                       Hazlehurst, MS                 49           $260
15.          4             21b        Chip Brindle                     Chatsworth, GA                49           $250
16.          10           88           Charlie Henderson (R)   Cottondale, AL                 49           $240
17.          22           34           Doug Sanchagrin              Florence, MS                    49           $220
18.          19           48           Tody Ratcliff                     Meridian, MS                   49           $200
19.          21           G33       Greg Dedwylder              Vossburg, MS                    48           $200
20.          7             27           Larry Harrod (R)             Plains, GA                         35           $200
21.          3             57           Shep Lucas                         McKenzie, AL                   14           $200
22.          9             28           Chris McElhenney           Lake, MS                            14           $200
23.          16           C16        Chris Ragan                      Ramer, TN                         14           $200
24.          24           19           Marcus Minga                  Shannon, MS                     12           $200

ENTRIES:  34
FAST QUALIFIER: C. Williams, 13.851 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  Blount and Minga
LEAD CHANGES:  3
LAP LEADERS:  Williams, 1-3; McRee, 4-24; Williams, 25-37; Boland, 38-50
LAPS LED:  McRee, 21; Williams, 16; Boland, 13
GM PERFORMANCE PARTS HARD CHARGER:  Boland (started 15^th and finished 1^st)
VP RACING FUELS ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Ellis
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  McElhenney
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Turner
KRC 6^TH-PLACE AWARD:  McRee
JOE GIBBS DRIVEN OIL 7^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Keeton
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Murphy
MAXIMUM SIGNS AND GRAPHICS 9^TH-PLACE AWARD:  McDuffie
KRC 10^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Ellis
MIKE’S CUSTOM TANKS 11^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Blount
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Lee
CAUTIONS:  5
MARGIN OF VICTORY:  1.834 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE:  49 Minutes and 46.948 Seconds

QUALIFYING:

HEAT RACES (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer To Main Event):

               1^ST HEAT:  1. Harrod (R); 2. C. Henderson (R); 3. Cooley; 4. Ragan; 5. Ratcliff; 6. Sanchagrin; 7. Blount (R); 8. Scarbrough; 9. Noah; 10. Wilson (R).

               2^ND HEAT:  1. Hollingsworth; 2. Keeton; 3. Boyd; 4. Ellis (R); 5. Dedwylder; 6. Greene; 7. Ames; 8. Minga; 9. J. Lawson.

               3^RD HEAT:  1. McElhenney; 2. Murphy; 3. Boland; 4. Lee (R); 5. Smith; 6. W. Williams; 7. T. Lawson; 8. K. Henderson; 9. Dixon (R).

B-MAIN (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer To Main Event):  1. Ratcliff; 2. Smith; 3. Dedwylder; 4. Sanchagrin; 5. Wilson (R); 6. W. Williams; 7. Ames; 8. Scarbrough; 9. J. Lawson; 10. Minga; 11. Blount; 12. Greene DNS; 13. T. Lawson DNS; 14. K. Henderson DNS; 15. Noah DNS; 16. Dixon (R) DNS.

NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 6/26/10:

1. 33c Eric Cooley – 998
2. 77 Matthew Turner – 952
3. 25 Justin McRee – 910
4. 88 Charlie Henderson (R) – 818
5. 47 Shannon Lee (R) – 798
6. 28 Chris McElhenney – 774
7. 27 Larry Harrod (R) – 742
8. 121 Michael Blount (R) – 696
9. 19 Marcus Minga – 654
10. 25b Jay Burchfield (R) – 524
11. 1 Johnny Stokes – 490
12. 18 Ronnie Lee Hollingsworth – 464
13. C16 Chris Ragan – 430
14. 73 Evan Ellis (R) – 418
15. 222 Mike Boland – 392
16. 72 Frank Wilson (R) – 386
17. 22 William Thomas – 366
18, T9 Troy Dixon (R) – 346
19. 116 Randy Weaver – 296
20. 95 Wesley Greene - 294

R – Denotes VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year Candidate

NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC of Claxton, GA is the Title Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC is the nation’s number one GM Powertrain Dealer four years running, and is also the nation’s number one volume dealer of Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC cars, trucks, SUVs and vans with free delivery anywhere in the Southeast.  GM Performance Parts is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series and Hard Charger Award sponsor.  Hoosier Race Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  VP Racing Fuel is the Official Racing Fuel of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2010 are Dominator Race Products, Race Car Engineering, KRC , Joe Gibbs Driven, Maximum Signs and Graphics, Mike Custom Tanks, Shorty’s Shock Service, Warrior Race Cars , Trak-Star Race Cars, GRT Race Cars, TNT Race Cars, and Rocket Chassis.