JOHNSON SHOWS HALL OF FAME FORM IN LOXLEY , AL STORMPAY.COM DLMS WIN

                LOXLEY, AL – Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN returned to StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series action by winning the 75-lap main event on Saturday night at Deep South Speedway driving the Miller Brothers Coal Warrior.  Johnson stated the race from the 18^th starting spot, and kept the crowd on their feet all night working his way through the pack.

               Johnson took the lead from William Thomas of Phenix City, AL on lap 65.  Thomas tried to stay with Johnson, and even tried to retake the lead on lap 66, but Johnson checked out to during the last ten laps to win by a full straightaway.  After leading the first 64 laps of the race, Thomas had to settle for second in the J.W. Miller Land and Timber Scorpion.

Ronnie Johnson (#5) dives under William Thomas (#22) in turn four to take the lead.  (Mike Blevins Photo)

               It was a typical weekend for Johnson that he has become known for in his Hall of Fame career.  On Friday night, he showed up late and missed qualifying, started in the back of a heat and failed to transfer to the main event, won the B-Main on Saturday night, and then came from the 18^th starting spot to win the main event.

“Being late and winning might have been typical 20 or 30 years ago for me, but to do it now is pretty hard,” Johnson said.  “I just about gave up coming to this race because I was putting my tools away at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon.  We left Chattanooga at 4 p.m. , and got here just in time for the heat race.”

Johnson knew he had a fast race car right out of the trailer, and after warming up the car in his heat race, the Chattanooga Flash came back on Saturday night to turn the fastest lap times recorded for the two-day event.

“The car was good in the heat race, but I got us behind by being late and missing qualifying,” Johnson said.  “I knew if I could get in the race out of the B-main, I had a chance in the feature to win it.”

According to Johnson, the win at Deep South Speedway was the 50^th different race track where he has won a feature race in his career.

“I was in an ambulance headed to the hospital with a broken arm four months ago, and after the surgery to fix it, I missed the last part of last season, and the first part of this season,” Johnson said.  “It really feels good to able to still be able to come out after that and do this.”

Ronnie Johnson celebrates his St. Patrick's Day StormPay.com DLMS win at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL.  (Mike Blevins Photo)

The run from the 18^th starting spot to the win also earned Johnson the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award.

While Johnson checked out during the last ten laps of the race, Thomas prevailed in a late race battle for second among Jay Blair of Angie, LA, Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA, and Shannon Buckingham of Morristown, TN.

Rainey took the third spot in the Dixon Hauling and Grading Rocket, with Blair finishing fourth in the Parish Disposal Mastersbilt, and Buckingham rounded out the top five in the S&S Millwright Barry Wright.

The third-place finish moved Rainey up to the third spot in the StormPay.com DLMS point standings, 18 points behind the point leader, while Buckingham, and Blair moved up to fourth and fifth respectively in the points chase.

James Ussery of Cottondale, FL was sixth in the Shores Construction GRT, and Chris Coggin of Orange Beach, AL finished seventh in the Coggin Land Service Warrior.  Johnny Stokes of Columbus, MS finished eighth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Mastersbilt, and Frank Wilson of Harold, FL took the ninth spot in the Wilson Lumber Company Rocket.

Chris Hoomes of Brenton, AL was tenth in the Speedy Lube GRT.  Robert Stutts of Murfreesboro, TN was the Rookie of the Race with an 11^th-place finish in the Bob Parks Realty Barry Wright.

StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series point leader Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA never got to take the green flag due to an electrical problem that kept his Universal Concrete Rocket from starting when the command was given to start the engines.  Ingram was able to hold on to a ten-point lead, however.

Caution flags marred the first third of the race, as seven of the ten caution flags in the race were waved in the first 25 laps.  Thomas took the lead from the pole position followed by Blair, Rainey, Buckingham and Ussery.  Chip Brindle of Chatsworth , GA brought out the first caution flag on lap two with a spin in turn two.

Brindle, who came into the race third in points, spun his Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT again on the restart, which ended his night with the two-spin rule.  Brindle fell to sixth in the point standings, but he still leads the Rookie of the Year point standings.

Thomas led Blair down for the restart, while Buckingham got around Rainey for third with a turn four slide job.  Ryan Little of Satsuma, AL in the Little’s Auto Sales GRT and Jim Till of Greenville, AL in the Dafor Heavy Timber and Fabricating Trak Star got together in turn one on lap three to bring out the third yellow flag.

After the restart, the defending StormPay.com DLMS National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN passed Ussery for fifth on lap nine, and Rainey got around Buckingham for third on lap ten.

Top ten points driver Matthew Turner of Dawsonville , GA had a fast car all weekend, but just couldn’t find the luck.  He spun his Turner Excavating Hicks in turn one on lap 13, and then had two cut tires on lap 16, and lap 25.  Gentry also suffered a cut tire on lap 16, and had to give up the fifth spot.  Gentry dropped out of the race on lap 44, but he still remains second in the points chase.

On the lap 16 restart, Buckingham passed Rainey for the third spot, and Johnson put his car into the top ten.  Johnson was up to the ninth spot on the lap 25 restart, and the fans came to their feet watching Johnson carve his way through the field during the next 40 laps.

Johnson drove by Ricky Haugen of Pace, FL in the MasterCard Larry Shaw and Stokes on lap 28 to move to the seventh spot, and then reeled in Stephen Brantley of Monroeville, AL in the Airport Sports Center Rocket.  Johnson passed Brantley for the sixth position on lap 36.

Haugen made hard wall contact on the front straightaway on lap 42 to bring out the caution flag.  Haugen spun to the infield, and climbed out of the car uninjured.  Thomas led Blair, Buckingham, Rainey, Ussery, Johnson, Brantley, Stokes, Coggin, and Wilson down for the restart. 

Johnson went to the outside and passed Ussery for the fifth spot on lap 48.  Joey Thomas of Vancleve, MS stalled his Thomas Motorsports Mastersbilt on the front straightaway on lap 49 to bring out the sixth caution flag.

After the restart, Johnson again went to the outside and passed Rainey for fourth on lap 50.  Two laps later, Johnson drove around Buckingham for third, and on lap 55 he got by Blair for second.  With an appreciative crowd cheering him on, Johnson caught race leader William Thomas by lap 57. 

Johnson made several attempts both high and low to pass Thomas for the lead, but the young third-generation driver was up to the challenge.  Brantley spun off turn four on lap 62 to bring out the final caution flag of the race. 

When the field went back to green flag action, Johnson again began to pressure Thomas for the lead.  On lap 64, Johnson turned the fastest lap of the race in 16.676 seconds, and in turn four on lap 65, Johnson dove underneath Thomas to take the lead.  Thomas tried the same move Johnson used to pass him on lap 66, but his car got loose, and Johnson pulled away.

“I think as the race went on our tires got worse, and Ronnie’s tires got better,” Thomas said.  “After Ronnie got by me, I tried to get under him coming off turn four on the next lap, but my car got loose, and Ronnie pulled away.”

                Thomas had to race hard, as Blair, Buckingham, and Rainey caught up to him to battle for the second spot in the closing laps of the race.  Rainey made the best of it, moving up from fifth to third when the checkered flag fell.

 Thomas was the fast qualifier among the 34 entrants on Friday night with a lap around the 4/10-mile high-banked clay oval in 17.333 seconds.  Thomas then earned the pole position for the main event with a win in the first ten-lap heat race.  Blair won the second heat race, with Rainey winning the third heat race, and Buckingham taking the fourth heat race.

 Randy Little of Satsuma, FL won the first 12-lap B-Main on Saturday night in the Little’s Auto Sales GRT, and Johnson turned a 16.920 second lap on his way to the second B-Main win.  The next fastest lap time before the main event was a 17.012 second lap turned in by Thomas during the pre-race hot lap session for qualified cars.

 The clock showed Johnson was fast on paper, and Johnson showed he was the man to beat on the race track.

 The next two races for the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series will be $3,000-to-win events at Southern Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS on Friday night, March 30, and then they will travel to Swinging Bridge Raceway in Jackson, MS on Saturday night, March 31.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 6 AT DEEP SOUTH SPEEDWAY IN LOXLEY , AL ON 3/16/07 :

POS       STRT     CAR #   DRIVER                             HOMETOWN                   LAPS    $ WON 

1.            18           5             Ronnie Johnson                Chattanooga , TN              75           $5,100
2.            1             22           William Thomas              Phenix City , AL                 75           $2,500
3.            3             87           Derrick Rainey                 Powder Springs, GA       75           $1,750
4.            2             2x           Jay Blair                            Angie , LA                            75           $1,500
5.            4             44           Shannon Buckingham     Morristown , TN               75           $1,250
6.            5             71           James Ussery Jr.              Cottondale, FL                 75           $1,000
7.            8             17           Chris Coggin                    Orange Beach, FL            75           $850
8.            10           1             Johnny Stokes                   Columbus, MS                  75           $750
9.            12           72           Frank Wilson                    Harold , FL                         75           $700
10.          9             00           Chris Hoomes                   Brenton, AL                      75           $650
11.          13           302        Robert Stutts – R             Murfreesboro , TN             75           $600
12.          21           8             Chris Tays                         Corinth , MS                      75           $550
13.          7             02           Stephen Brantley             Monroeville , AL                75           $500
14.          24           16           Jeff Fields                          Aragon, GA                       74           $450
15.          16           27           Joey Thomas                     Vancleve, MS                    74           $400
16.          17           L97        Randy Little                      Satsuma, AL                       72           $380
17.          20           58           Larry Boutwell                Baker, FL                          59           $360
18.          6             56           David Gentry                    Lewisburg, TN                  43           $440
19.          11           22g        Ricky Haugen                   Pace, FL                             41           $320
20.          25           99           Isaiah Day                          Flomaton, AL                    30           $300
21.          19           44t         Jim Till – R                       Greenville , AL                  30           $300
22.          14           10           Matthew Turner               Dawsonville, GA           23               $300
23.          22           97           Ryan Little                        Satsuma, AL                       2             $300
24.          23           38c         Chip Brindle – R             Chatsworth , GA                1             $300
25.          15           F9          Frank Ingram                   Woodstock , GA                0             $300

ENTRIES:  34
PROVISIONALS:  Brindle and Fields
PROMOTER’S CHOICE:  Day
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  W. Thomas, 1-64; Johnson, 65-75
LAPS LED:  W. Thomas, 64; Johnson, 11
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER:  Johnson (started 18^th and finished 1^st)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Stutts
CAUTIONS:  10

QUALIFYING: