BRINDLE SWEEPS STORMPAY.COM DLMS NIGHT TWO AT EAST BAY

                TAMPA, FL – Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA posted his second StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series win of the season on Friday night in the 40-lap main event at East Bay Raceway Park .  After missing the show on Thursday night, Brindle came back to sweep the Friday night event, as he set fast time, and then led all 40 laps in the Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT.

                The defending StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN stayed right on Brindle’s back bumper right down to the finish, and at one point was able to pull along side Brindle.  Gentry was looking to mix it up with Brindle in lapped traffic, but just about every time the lead duo would encounter lapped cars, the caution would come out.

 
Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA in the #38c Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT leads the defending StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN in the #56 Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt during the 40-lap StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series event on Friday night at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, FL.  (Mike Blevins Photo)

                On one side of the coin, the cautions were good for Brindle in that it gave him a clear track in front of him for the restart, but on the other side of the coin, the restarts made Brindle very nervous.

                “Every time the caution flag came out, I was worried on the restart because my engine would just shut off for a moment when I picked up the throttle for the restart,” Brindle said.  “I caused Carnell Parker to spin on one restart because the engine shut off, and I apologize for that.  Once we got going, the engine ran O.K.”

                Gentry had to settle for second in the Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt, and moved up to second in the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National point standings, eight points behind the point leader Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA.  Brindle moved up to the third spot in the StormPay.com DLMS National points chase, 30 points behind Gentry.

Jay Blair of Angie, LA posted his third straight top three finish with a third-place effort in the Parish Disposal Mastersbilt.  Blair won round two at Columbus Speedway in Columbus, MS on January 21, and finished second on Thursday night at East Bay Raceway Park .  Despite missing the first race of the season, Blair moved up to the fifth spot in points.

David Schmauss of Tampa, FL posted his second straight top five finish with a fourth-place effort in the Cardinal Paint and Body Warrior.  Jack Nosbisch of Riverview, FL moved into his second straight top five finish driving the Adams Used Auto Parts Rocket when the apparent fifth-place finisher, William Thomas of Phenix City, AL, was light at the scales in the J.W. Miller Land & Timber Scorpion.

Randy Korte of Highland, IL finished sixth in the Servpro of S.E. Tampa Rocket, and Ingram posted his fourth straight top ten finish with a seventh-place effort in the Universal Concrete Rocket.  Jim Till of Greenville, AL was eighth in the Dafor Heavy Timber/GEI Trak Star, and Robert Stutts of Murfreesboro, TN drove his Bob Parks Realty Barry Wright to a ninth-place finish.  Shan Smith of Dade City, FL rounded out the top ten in the Seckman Fire Sprinklers TNT.

Chad Wallace of LaGrange , GA had an up and down night before finishing 11^th in the Mason Racing GRT.  Wallace appeared to transfer into the 22^nd starting spot with a third-place finish in the fourth 12-lap Qualifying Race, but he was disqualified for being light at the scales.

He then drew the number one spot among the non-qualifiers in the 50-car field for the ten-car, ten-lap Adams Used Auto Parts Strawberry Dash.  Wallace won the race to earn the 25^th Track Provisional starting spot in the main event.  His run from 25^th to 11^th earned Wallace the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award.

Schmauss took the lead at the start of the race followed by Brindle and Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA in the Summerville Junkyard Mastersbilt.  The start was negated after a three-car tangle in turn two involving Blair, Rusty Hoge of Ooltewah, TN in the H&H Powersports GRT, and Keith Nosbisch of Valrico, FL in the Adams Used Auto Parts Rocket brought out the caution flag.

Schmauss was ruled to have jumped the start, and was penalized one row for the restart.  That moved Marshal Austin of Plant City , FL in the Servpro of S.E. Tampa Rocket to the right of the pole sitter Brindle for the restart.  Brindle took the lead on the restart followed by Fields, Schmauss, and Gentry.

The caution light burned again on lap two when the point leader Ingram spun in turn two while running in the fifth spot.  On the restart, Michael Keener of Temple , GA spun his Dixon Hauling and Grading Rocket in turn one while running tenth.  Brindle led Fields, Gentry, Schmauss, and Austin down for the restart.

By lap four, Gentry moved up to race Fields side-by-side for the third spot. On lap five, Gentry drove under Fields for the second spot coming off the fourth turn.  When Brindle encountered lapped traffic on lap ten, Gentry began to close the gap, but the caution flag came out on lap 12 when Chris Tays of Corinth , MS stalled his Bud Goley Trucking Rocket in turn three.

When Brindle hit the throttle for the restart, his car took off, and then stumbled, causing a chain reaction through the field.  By the time it got to the tenth-place running Carnell Parker III of Clarksville , TN , he spun his CPM Racing Mastersbilt with Stutts and Wallace.  On the next restart try, Brindle got going, as he and Gentry pulled away from the third-place running Fields.

Fields began to fade back through the pack after the restart with an ill-handling race car.  Schmauss passed him for third on the restart, and Austin got by him for fourth on lap 13.  Coming off the fourth turn on lap 21, the right-front suspension on Field’s car collapsed, he hit the front stretch wall, and collected Erik McKinney of Felton , DE in the Vending Technology Rocket.

McKinney’s car also piled into the front straightaway wall, but neither he, nor Fields were injured in the hard crash that necessitated a red flag.  Once the field took the green flag to resume racing, things got busy in the second half of the race.

Gentry began to put the pressure on Brindle for the lead, while Blair moved into the top five on lap 25 by passing Jack Nosbisch.  On lap 28, Gentry pulled along side Brindle in turn three with an inside move.  Brindle was up to the challenge to keep the lead, but he was quickly approaching lapped traffic.

Brindle came up on the lapped car Dorsey Strickland of Gibsonton , FL in the Top Notch Home Repair Warrior, who was in the bottom and faster groove.  Brindle made a bold move to the outside of Strickland on lap 30, which opened the door on the inside for Gentry.  Brindle cleared Strickland, and got back on the bottom groove before Gentry could mount another challenge.

The leaders dodged a big bullet on lap 34 when three cars got together right in front of them in turn one.  McKinney, Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA in the Turner Excavating Hicks, and Josh Peacock of Dover, FL in the Peacock Farms Rocket all tangled in front of Brindle and Gentry in turn one.  The leaders just barely got by on the outside.

Just after the restart, the final caution flag of the race came out when Hoge stalled in turn two.  Blair made a final move on the restart by passing Schmauss for the third spot, but he could not catch Brindle and Gentry in the six-lap dash to the finish.

Brindle was the fast qualifier among the 50 entrants with a lap around the 1/3-mile clay oval in 15.810 seconds.  Brindle was also the Rookie of the Race.  In other preliminary action, the four 12-lap Qualifying Races were won by Keener, Stutts, Parker and Smith.

The StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Tour returns to East Bay Raceway Park on Saturday night for the 50-lap, $3,000-to-win finale of the three-race series.

 OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND FOUR AT EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK IN TAMPA , FL ON 2/23/07 :

 POS       STRT     CAR #    DRIVER                                HOMETOWN                      LAPS     $ WON

1.             1              38c         Chip Brindle (R)  Chatsworth , GA                    40           $2,500
2.             5              56           David Gentry                        Lewisburg, TN                     40           $1,350
3.             10           2x            Jay Blair                               Angie , LA                              40           $850
4.             2              105         David Schmauss                  Tampa , FL                             40           $700
5.             6              12           Jack Nosbisch Jr.               Riverview, FL                       40           $650
6.             9              42k         Randy Korte                         Highland , IL                         40           $550
7.             8              F9           Frank Ingram                      Woodstock , GA                    40           $500
8.             7              44t          Jim Till (R)                           Greenville , AL                      40           $450
9.             12           302         Robert Stutts                        Murfreesboro , TN               40           $400
10.          14           17ss       Shan Smith                           Dade City , FL                        40           $375
11.          25           34           Chad Wallace                       LaGrange , GA                       40           $450
12.          24           v75          Erik McKinney                    Felton, DE                             40           $300
13.          23           10           Matthew Turner                  Dawsonville, GA                  40           $280
14.          18           02           Keith Nosbisch                    Valrico, FL                           40           $260
15.          4              42           Marshall Austin Jr.            Plant City , FL                       40`          $250
16.          22           03           Dorsey Strickland              Gibsonton, FL                       38           $240
17.          29           21           Rusty Hoge                           Ooltewah, TN                       34           $220
18.          15           21p         Josh Peacock                       Dover , FL                              33           $200
19.          17           44           Shannon Buckingham       Morristown , TN                   20           $200
20.          3              16           Jeff Fields                             Aragon, GA                          20           $200
21.          11           25           Michael Keener (R)            Temple , GA                           20           $200
22.          21           8              Chris Tays                            Corinth , MS                         11           $200
23.          13           75           Carnell Parker III               Clarksville , TN                    11           $200
24.          16           7              Ross Robinson                     Georgetown , DE                   0              $200
25.          19           22           William Thomas                  Phenix City , AL                    DQ-LT   $200

ENTRIES:  50
PROVISIONAL:  Turner
PROMOTER’S PROVISIONAL:  Wallace
LEAD CHANGES:  None
LAP LEADER:  Brindle, 1-40
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER:  Wallace (started 25^th and finished 11^th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Brindle
CAUTIONS:  8

QUALIFYING: