THREE-WAY STORMPAY.COM DLMS CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE HEADS TO INDIANA THIS WEEKEND

               CARTERSVILLE, GA – A tight three-way battle for the 2007 StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Championship heads to Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, IN this Friday and Saturday night for a $5,000-to-win event highlighted by a 75-lap main event.  Just 28 points separate the top three drivers in the StormPay.com DLMS National point standings.

               The defending StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg , TN leads the title chase with 1,550 points.  Gentry has one win this season with nine top five finishes, 14 top ten finishes, and two pole awards in 18 starts. 

               Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA is currently second in the StormPay.com DLMS National standings with 1,526 points.  Rainey has one win, a series leading 12 top five finishes, 14 top ten finishes, and one pole award in 18 races.

                Jay Blair of Angie, LA will make the trip to Indiana third in the StormPay.com DLMS National standings with 1,522 points, despite having run only 17 of the 18 races held this season.  Blair has two wins, 11 top five finishes, 15 top ten finishes, and two pole awards.

 
The defending StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN in the #56 Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt leads Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA in the #87 Hays Racing/Barto Enterprises Warrior, and Jay Blair of Angie, LA in the #2x All-Star Graphics Mastersbilt.  Gentry, Rainey, and Blair are one-two-three respectively in the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National point standings heading into this weekends $5,000-to-win event on Friday night and Saturday night at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, IN.  (Mike Blevins Photo)

               A series of events during last Saturday night’s StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Touring race at Columbus Speedway in Columbus, MS set up the tight three-way point battle going into this Friday and Saturday nights show at Twin Cities Raceway Park.

                Gentry went into the Mississippi race ten points behind point leader Frank Ingram of Woodstock , GA.   Gentry crashed early in the race, and ended up in the 20^th position.  Ingram went on to win the race, but during the post-race engine inspection, his car was found to have non-approved valve train components.

                 Ingram lost the victory, plus all of his earned points for the night, and received a 30-day suspension from StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series competition.  Gentry moved up to 19^th, Blair finished second, and Rainey ended up fifth after Ingram’s penalty was handed out.  Ingram dropped to fourth in the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National points chase.

Another points race up for grabs are the top six point fund paying positions in the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region, of which Twin Cities Raceway Park is a part of.  The StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series is designed to give weekly racers a chance to compete against drivers at other tracks using a Regional points system.

TCRP StormPay.com WRS drivers compete against drivers from Mississippi and Arkansas each week for Regional points.  Drivers have been traveling the roads between Indiana and Mississippi over the last couple of weeks in an effort to pick up ten StormPay.com WRS Regional bonus points that are awarded to each driver that enters a StormPay.com National Touring event.

 A pair of Mississippi drivers will make the trip to Indiana to grab their ten bonus points to stay in the top six of the West Region point standings.  One of the TCRP drivers is right in that battle where just nine points separate second through sixth in the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region point standings.

 While the defending StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion Lucky Keeton of Toomsuba, MS pretty much has a lock on his second straight title, his son Brandon Keeton is looking to make the top two West Region spots a family affair.  Keeton is currently second in the West Region standings with 707 points, and will make the trip this weekend to Indiana .

Larry Murphy of Meridian, MS is second with 701 points, but he has said he will not be making the trip to Indiana this weekend.  That’s break for local favorite Steve Godsey of Bedford , IN , who is tied with Jamie Pickard of Columbus , MS for the fourth spot with 699 points.

Godsey has three StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region wins this season, and ten bonus points would move him up to the third spot in the StormPay.com WRS West Region points, if Murphy is a no-show.  Pickard has also said he will not be traveling to Indiana this weekend.

 
Steve Godsey of Bedford, IN in the #14 Indiana Stone Works Rayburn will lead the Hoosier State contingent of drivers that will take on the top drivers from the South when the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series competes at Twin Cities Raceway Park this Friday night and Saturday night highlighted by a 75-lap $5,000-to-win main event.  Godsey has turned in one top five finish, and two top ten finishes in three StormPay.com DLMS National Touring events this season, and away from the National Tour, he has three wins this season in StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series action at TCRP, and is fourth in the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region point standings.  (Mike Blevins Photo)

Godsey made the trip to Mississippi last weekend to collect 20 bonus points in the two StormPay.com DLMS National events in Columbus, MS.  In three StormPay.com DLMS National Touring events this season, Godsey has shown well with one top five, and two top ten finishes.

 Also making the trip to Indiana this weekend will be the 2006 StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region Runner-Up Terry Mosley of Gilbertown, AL, who is currently sixth in the West Region standings with 698 points.  Mosley will be looking for his ten bonus points to move up to the fourth spot in the Regional points around Murphy and Pickard.

This weekend’s StormPay.com DLMS National Touring event will take on a North vs. South flavor with the touring regulars representing the South, and a strong contingent of TCRP regulars defending their Northern home turf.

Tennessee’s Gentry, Georgia’s Rainey, and Louisiana’s Blair will be joined by StormPay.com DLMS top ten drivers Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA, who is also the leading Rookie of the Year candidate, Chris Tays of Corinth, MS, Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA, Robert Stutts of Murfreesboro, TN, Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA, and Jim Till of Greenville, AL.

Also coming from south of the Mason-Dixon line will be Rusty Hoge of Ooltewah, TN, Bill Flowers of Bremen, GA, Curtis Cline of Douglasville, GA, the 2006 StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series Rookie of the Year Frankie Beard of Hartwell, GA, and Keith Freeman of Commerce, GA.

Joining Godsey among the Hoosier State contingent will be StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series West Region race winners Brad Barrow of Bloomington, IN, Jim Moon of Zionsville, IN, Steve Barnett of Franklin, IN, and Mark Barber of North Vernon, IN.  Other Indiana drivers expected are Christian Rayburn of Whiteland , IN , and fan favorite Jeff Wilson of Butlerville , IN will return to action as a teammate to Jeff Fields.

There will also be an Indiana driver making history with the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series this weekend at TCRP, as 11-year-old Tyler Allen of Greenwood, IN will be the youngest driver to ever compete in a National Touring dirt late model event.  Allen is the cousin of former NASCAR Busch Grand National driver Glenn Allen Jr.

The StormPay.com DLMS will compete in Qualifications and Heat Races on Friday night, then on Saturday night, there will be B-Main races and the $5,000-to-win 75-lap main event, Round 19 of the 2007 StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series season.  The gates will open at 3 p.m. both Friday and Saturday, with hot laps at 7 p.m. , and racing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Twin Cities Raceway Park is located 1.3 miles south of U.S. Highway 50 on State Road 7, then ¼-mile east, then 1/3-mile north on Rockcrest Road .  For more information call Twin Cities Raceway Park at 812-346-4040, or visit the track web site at www.twincitiesracing.net.