GENTRY PICKS UP FIRST STORMPAY.COM DLMS OF THE SEASON AT PIKE COUNTY SPEEDWAY

                McCOMB, MS – David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN picked up his first StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series win if the season Saturday night at Pike County Speedway.  The defending StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Champion led all 75 laps of the main event in the Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt.

                The race, however, was no runaway effort for Gentry, as Jay Blair of Angie , LA kept the pressure on the leader throughout the event.  Despite getting close, Blair had to settle for second in the Parrish Disposal/B&K Motorsports Mastersbilt.

                “This is a brand new car, and it worked great all weekend long,” Gentry said.  “They gave us a great track to race on, and they’ve really done a good job here of making this place a good place to see a race for the fans, and I hope they enjoyed it.  This track has been good to me because I’ve got two StormPay wins here, and a second in a Super Late Model race.”

                Even more intense than the battle for the lead between Gentry and Blair was the battle for the third spot, which ended up going to Johnny Stokes of Columbus , MS in the NeSmith Chevrolet Mastersbilt.  Stokes grabbed the position from Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA on lap 73.

 Ingram even battled for the lead during the late restarts working the outside, which taxed his tires and cost him at the end of the race.  Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA passed Ingram on the last lap of the race to take the fourth position in the Dixon Hauling and Grading Rocket.  Rainey came back from a lap 18 spun while running fourth that sent him to the rear of the field.

David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN in the #56 Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt leads Jay Blair of Angie, LA on the inside in the #2x Parrish Disposal/B&K Motorsports Mastersbilt, and the outside running Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA in the #F9 Universal Concrete Rocket in late race action on Saturday night for the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series at Pike County Speedway in McComb, MS.  Gentry went on to post his first win of the season, with Blair finishing second, and Ingram fading to fifth.  (Mike Blevins Photo)

Ingram ended up fifth in the Universal Concrete Rocket, and gave up the point lead to Gentry, who now holds an eight-point lead over Ingram.  Rainey is third in the StormPay.com DLMS National points chase, 14 points behind Ingram, and Blair moved up to the fourth spot, 18 points behind Rainey, and 40 points out of first-place.

Danny Joe Thomas of Robertsdale, AL was sixth in the Bayou Express/Thomas Motorsports Mastersbilt, and Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA finished seventh in the Summerville Junkyard Mastersbilt.  Chip Brindle of Chatsworth , GA took the eighth spot in the Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT, and was the Rookie of the Race.

Robert Stutts of Murfreesboro, TN started 21^st and finished ninth in the Bob Parks Realty Rocket to earn the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award.  Rusty Hope of Ooltewah, TN rounded out the top ten in the H&H Powersports GRT.

One of the keys to the victory for Gentry came at the start of the race, when Gentry took the point from his outside front row starting position over the pole sitter Blair, who tucked into the second spot, followed by Ingram, Rainey, and Brindle.  Stokes moved into the top five from his eighth starting spot on lap eight when he got around Brindle.

The first of nine caution flags came out on lap 11 when Kevin Watts of Denham Springs , LA spun the Truck and Equipment Warrior in turn four.  Chris Tays of Corinth, MS stalled in turn two on the restart in the Bud Coley Trucking Rocket, and Watts spun for a second time in turn two on lap 13, putting him in the pits for the evening.

Gentry led Blair, Ingram, Rainey, Stokes and Brindle down for the restart.  Rainey began to pressure Ingram for the third spot, while Thomas got by Brindle for the sixth spot on the restart.  By lap 15, Rainey was waging a side-by-side battle for the third spot with Ingram, but that came to an end on lap 18 when Rainey ended up spinning in turn three.

When the field went back to green, Gentry led Blair, Ingram, Stokes, Thomas, Brindle, Kody Barber of Bogalusa, LA in the Magic City Lawn Care GRT, William Thomas of Phenix City, AL in the J.W. Miler Land and Timber Scorpion, Fields, and Hoge.

William Thomas was the man on the move after the restart.  Thomas got by Barber for the seventh spot, and then passed Brindle for sixth on lap 19.  Davin Bates of Independence, LA in the Fralick’s Construction Rocket had come from the 17^th starting position into the top ten by passing Hoge on lap 20.

Bill Flowers of Bremen, GA spun the Dixon Hauling and Grading Rocket in turn two on lap 27 to light the caution lamp for the fifth time.  Gentry still held the point over Blair, Ingram, Stokes, Danny Joe Thomas, William Thomas, Fields, Brindle, Barber and Bates.  After the restart, Gentry and Blair began to pull away from Ingram, while Stokes closed in to battle for the third spot.

Stokes was able to pull along Ingram on lap 35, but Ingram raced him hard in the outside groove to hold the position.  Further back in the pack, Rainey had stormed back up through the field to move back into the top ten by lap 35.  William Thomas continued his forward progress by passing Danny Joe Thomas for the fifth spot on lap 36.

Danny Joe Thomas was having a mid-race crisis in the handling department of his race car, as Fields passed him for sixth on lap 37, and Brindle passed him for the seventh position on lap 38.  Barber stalled in turn two on lap 43 while running ninth to bring out the sixth caution flag.  During the caution period, William Thomas went to the pits, giving up the fifth spot.

This reshuffled the top ten for the restart led by Gentry and followed by Blair, Ingram, Stokes, Fields, Brindle, Bates, Danny Joe Thomas, Rainey and Hoge.  Bates got by Brindle on the restart to take over the sixth spot, and by lap 48, Stokes was working the inside groove to pull along side Ingram to battle for the third spot.

With 25 laps to go, Gentry held a three-car length lead over Blair, and by lap 59, Ingram was pulling away from Stokes.  The field closed back up after a lap 60 caution flag for debris on the back straightaway.

Stokes was back hounding Ingram for the third spot by lap 65, but that battle was slowed by a caution flag on lap 66 when Richard Guidry spun the Tony’s Custom Carburetors Barry Wright in turn four.  Bates spun out of the sixth spot in turn two on the restart, collecting Danny Joe Thomas and Stutts, who were able to continue.

The ten lap dash to the checkered flag saw Blair and Ingram try to challenge Gentry for the lead.  Blair tried inside, while Ingram stepped to the outside groove and pulled up along side Blair.  Rainey passed Fields for the fifth spot on lap 68, and Danny Joe Thomas drove past Field for the sixth position on lap 72.

Ingram faded from the battle for the lead in the closing laps, as Stokes passed him for the third spot on lap 73, and Rainey got by Ingram for the fourth spot on the last lap.

Blair swept the preliminary action on Friday night by out-qualifying the 34-car field with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 17.769 seconds, and earned the pole position for the main event by winning the first ten lap heat race.  The three other ten lap heat races on Friday night were won by Gentry, Brindle, and Ingram.

In Saturday night’s preliminary action, Bates won the first 12-lap B-Main race, and Matthew Turner of Dawsonville , GA won the second 12-lap B-Main in the Turner Excavating Hicks.

The StormPay.com DLMS National Touring event that was scheduled for Friday night, May 4 at Simpson County Motorsports Park in Mendenhall, MS has been cancelled at the request of the track owner.

That moves the next event for the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Tour to Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS on Saturday night, May 5 with a 50-lap $3,000-to-win main event.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 8 AT PIKE COUNTY SPEEDWAY IN McCOMB , MS ON 4/21/07 :

POS       STRT     CAR #   DRIVER                             HOMETOWN                   LAPS     $ WON  
1.            2             56           David Gentry                    Lewisburg, TN                  75           $5,100
2.            1             2x           Jay Blair                            Angie , LA                            75           $2,500
3.            8             1             Johnny Stokes                   Columbus, MS                  75           $1,750
4.            6             87           Derrick Rainey                 Powder Springs, GA       75           $1,500
5.            4             F9          Frank Ingram                   Woodstock , GA                75           $1,250
6.            7             27           Danny Joe Thomas           Robertsdale, AL              75           $1,000
7.            11           16           Jeff Fields                          Aragon, GA                       75           $850
8.            3             38c         Chip Brindle (R)              Chatsworth , GA               75           $750
9.            21           302        Robert Stutts (R)             Murfreesboro , TN            75           $800
10.          10           21           Rusty Hoge                        Ooltewah, TN                    75           $650
11.          16           06           Bill Flowers                     Bremen , GA                      75           $600
12.          20           8             Chris Tays                         Corinth , MS                      75           $550
13.          18           10           Matthew Turner              Dawsonville, GA            75               $500
14.          12           usa1       Richard Guidry                Port Allen, LA                  75           $450
15.          22           44t         Jim Till (R)                       Greenville , AL                  75           $400
16.          15           D7          Jerry Inmon                      Bruce, MS                          75           $380
17.          17           248        Davin Bates                       Independence , LA             65           $360
18.          24           5             Jimmy Stuart                    LaPlace , LA                        62           $340
19.          5             21x         Kody Barber                     Bogalusa , LA                     45           $320
20.          9             22w       William Thomas               Phenix City , AL                 42           $300
21.          19           22           Jamey Smith                     Purvis, MS                         26           $300
22.          14           70-1/2   Anthony Rushing              Kosciusko , MS                   26           $300
23.          13           13           Kevin Watts                       Denham Springs, LA       6             $300
24.          23           77           Michael Santangelo         St. Rose , LA                        5             $300

 ENTRIES:  34
LAP LEADER:  Gentry, 1-75
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER:  Stutts (started 21^st and finished 9^th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Brindle
CAUTIONS:  9

QUALIFYING: