National Late Model Sportsman Series Report and Results from Savannah
13 October 1997
MAINE GETS FIFTH IN SAVANNAHSavannah, GA - 1997 National Late Model Sportsman Series Champion "Southern Gentleman" Gene Maine, of Valdosta, GA got his record fifth win of the season at Oglethorpe Speedway in Savannah. GA, in the Savannah 75 driving the Russell Brown/Bennett Bros/Ives Racing/Carrera Chevrolet. Maine's victory came at the expense of apparent winner Gene Ross, also of Valdosta, whose engine failed to pass post race technical inspection.
The weekend began with qualifying time trials Friday evening and it was Maine, the last car to take to the track who set the fast time with a lap of 22.814 seconds around the 5/8 mile Oglethorpe Speedway for an average speed of 106.514 mph. Mike Carter, The "Blackshear Bandit", from Blackshear, GA was second quick and Ivedent "Speedy" Lloyd, the 1996 NLMS Champion was third fastest.
In the heat races that followed, wins went to Skip "Rip" Pannell, Ross, Lloyd and Lee Jackson of Brooklet, GA who garnered his first ever win of any sort on the Southern Dirt Tour. Consolation races on Saturday saw "Hollywood" Joe Kump and Bobby Oglesby take the victories.
Pannell was on the pole, by virtue of his win in Heat One, with Ross on the outside as the 28 car starting field came out of turn four to take the green flag. Ross jumped into the lead in turn one with Pannell in second, Lloyd third, Maine in fourth and Johnny Collins, of Jacksonville, FL, in fifth. The first lap was just completed when Andy Stewart, Terry Lumley, Kump, Jody Rodgers and Dennis Smith were involved in a tangle in turn three that brought out the first of eight caution flags. All but Smith were able to continue after minor sheet metal repairs.
On the restart Ross again jumped out into a lead while behind him a great battle was going on between Billy Godowns Jr of Louisville, GA running in sixth trying to get around Collins. Godowns was actually pushing the newly rebodied Collins Machine down the front straight, but could not get into position to make the pass. The battle continued unabated until lap 42 when Collins engine let go ending his race early.
Maine and Lloyd were also locked in a battle for the third spot behind Pannell and Ross, with Lloyd holding the position. On lap 11 Lloyd slid up a half-groove in turn three and four and Maine pounced , diving to the inside to take over the spot. Lloyd did not give up easily and for the rest of the race he would dog the rear of Maine's car as he tried to regain the position he lost.
On lap 14 Rookie of the Year points leader Henry Carter Jr slid to the inside of James Norris and Bobby Oglesby and Steve Jones followed him through the gap as they tried to move towards the front of the tightly packed field. Coming to the front after starting in the second half of the field is extremely difficult on the Southern Dirt Tour.
At the halfway point of the race, Ross still was enjoying a comfortable lead with Pannel running second, Maine and Lloyd continuing their fight for third next, and then Collins and Godowns still engaged in their fight for fifth. Pannell's race would come to an end on lap 47 when his engine let go on the back straight, moving Maine and Lloyd into second and third respectively.
The second half of the race saw some tremendous battles being waged in the pack of cars running 10th through 20th as Jones slid high in turn two in response to pressure from Mike Mishoe, and lost two places as both Mishoe and Kump slid by on the inside. Oglesby, Mishoe, Kump, and Jones had been bumping and banging each other all race and swapping places as their fight carried them up through the field to the middle of the running order. The order at the front was static, despite the best efforts of Lloyd to get around Maine, and with the departure of Collins, Godowns moved up to challenge Lloyd for fourth. This left rookie Jackson in fifth followed by Scotty Nipper, Ricky Brant and Carter next in line.
On the white flag lap Mishoe moved inside Oglesby to claim eighth and Jones outgunned Carter down the back straight to take over tenth as the checkers flew. Jackson's fifth place and Mishoe's eighth were both career bests. There were 14 cars on the lead lap at the finish of the race and eight caution flags slowed the pace.
It is standard procedure on the National Late Model Sportsman Series for the winner's engine to be torn down, and during this teardown procedure it was determined by technical officials that the motor did not meet specifications resulting in his disqualification. Maine's motor was then subjected to teardown and was found to be legal and he was awarded the win.
The final stop for the National Late Model Sportsman Series will be at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, GA on October 31 thru November 1 for the "Showdown on the Coast" which pays a possible $12,500 to the winner.
John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel
Oglethorpe Speedway - NLMS - Qualifying results for the
National Late Model Sportsman Series,
Savannah 75:
Ps.No. Driver , Car Lap Time M.P.H.
-- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- -------- -------
1 201 Gene Maine Ives Racing/Russell Brown Racing Chev 0:22.814 106.514
2 5 Mike Carter Pierce Auto Parts/M&M Refrig Chev 0:22.932 105.965
3 3 Ivedent Lloyd Trident Supply/Aggressive Signs Chev 0:23.145 104.990
4 1 Scotty Nipper Scotty's Muffler/Go-Fast GraphicsChev 0:23.252 104.507
5 HP3 Skip Pannell Seabolt & Leslie Dyno/Hollywood Chev 0:23.284 104.364
6 33 Gene Ross Cauthan Const/Scruggs Concrete Chev 0:23.294 104.319
7 2x4 Johnny Collins Castrol GTX/Fickling Bros Chev 0:23.314 104.229
8 75 Andy Stewart Wendy's Auto/Giffin Plumbing/BFI Chev 0:23.322 104.193
9 44 Ricky Brant Atlas Sand & Gravel/Compet Prod Chev 0:23.322 104.193
10 17 Alex Vickers AutoZone Chev 0:23.341 104.109
11 71 Jody Rogers Y-Delta Electrical/F&MB Bank Chev 0:23.388 103.899
12 112 Johnny Lieupo Lieupo Motorsports Chev 0:23.414 103.784
13 20 Billy Godowns Jr Godowns Farm/Henderson Chev Chev 0:23.417 103.771
14 22 Cecil Eunice Norman Pontiac/Ace Pole Chev 0:23.431 103.709
15 D21 Dennis Smith Holliman Heat & Air/Firecheck Chev 0:23.540 103.229
16 L17 Tommy Long Plantation Auto/Pooler Tire Chev 0:23.584 103.036
17 12 Chris Usry Washington Wood/Robinson Trking Ford 0:23.592 103.001
18 3T Mike Mishoe Little's Paints/Cork's Fabricare Chev 0:23.654 102.731
19 2 Tracy Walden Infiltrator Systems Inc Chev 0:23.667 102.675
20 10 Lee Jackson Mallard's Auto Parts/Bounty Hse Chev 0:23.675 102.640
21 19 David Bargeron Imhoff Laser Ctr/Sunshine Fence Ford 0:23.698 102.540
22 8 James Norris Bloomingdale LP Gas Co. Chev 0:23.881 101.755
23 721 Joe Kump A-1 Specialty/Car House Chev 0:23.930 101.546
24 28 Henry Carter Jr Mimbs Farms/Sweats Port Build Chev 0:23.937 101.516
25 55 Terry Lumley Hollywood Race Cars/Hadden WrkingChev 0:23.937 101.516
26 37 Bobby Oglesby T.E Hughes/Allside Vinyl Siding Pont 0:23.955 101.440
27 0 Steve Jones Quality Saw Works/Beardon Oil Chev 0:24.054 101.023
28 95 Larry Lee Larry Lee Motorsports Chev 0:24.468 99.313
29 99 Kit Chappell Big K Auto parts/DP Racing Chev 0:24.830 97.865
30 35 Randy Ellenburg Bagwell's Framing/Bagalo Chassis Chev No Time 0.000
#35 was light at the scales following Qualifying Time Trials
Track Length : 0.6750 Miles
Oglethorpe Speedway - NLMS - Provisional results for the
National Late Model Sportsman Series,
Savannah 75:
Ps.Ql.No. Driver , Car Laps
-- -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- -----
1 1 201 Gene Maine Ives Racing/Russell Brown Racing Chev 75
2 3 3 Ivedent Lloyd Trident Supply/Aggressive Signs Chev 75
3 13 20 Billy Godowns Jr Godowns Farm/Henderson Chev Chev 75
4 20 10 Lee Jackson Mallard's Auto Parts/Bounty Hse Chev 75
5 4 1 Scotty Nipper Scotty's Muffler/Go-Fast GraphicsChev 75
6 9 44 Ricky Brant Atlas Sand & Gravel/Compet Prod Chev 75
7 18 3T Mike Mishoe Little's Paints/Cork's Fabricare Chev 75
8 26 37 Bobby Oglesby T.E Hughes/Allside Vinyl Siding Pont 75
9 27 0 Steve Jones Quality Saw Works/Beardon Oil Chev 75
10 24 28 Henry Carter Jr Mimbs Farms/Sweats Port Build Chev 75
11 23 721 Joe Kump A-1 Specialty/Car House Chev 75
12 19 2 Tracy Walden Infiltrator Systems Inc Chev 75
13 11 71 Jody Rogers Y-Delta Electrical/F&MB Bank Chev 75
14 30 35 Randy Ellenburg Bagwell's Framing/Bagalo Chassis Chev 57
15 16 L17 Tommy Long Plantation Auto/Pooler Tire Chev 54
16 21 19 David Bargeron Imhoff Laser Ctr/Sunshine Fence Ford 51
17 5 HP3 Skip Pannell Seabolt & Leslie Dyno/Hollywood Chev 47
18 7 2x4 Johnny Collins Castrol GTX/Fickling Bros Chev 42
19 25 55 Terry Lumley Hollywood Race Cars/Hadden WrkingChev 41
20 10 17 Alex Vickers AutoZone Chev 29
21 12 112 Johnny Lieupo Lieupo Motorsports Chev 19
22 22 8 James Norris Bloomingdale LP Gas Co. Chev 16
23 2 5 Mike Carter Pierce Auto Parts/M&M Refrig Chev 15
24 14 22 Cecil Eunice Norman Pontiac/Ace Pole Chev 10
25 8 75 Andy Stewart Wendy's Auto/Giffin Plumbing/BFI Chev 7
26 15 D21 Dennis Smith Holliman Heat & Air/Firecheck Chev 0
27 17 12 Chris Usry Washington Wood/Robinson Trking Ford 0
28 6 33 Gene Ross Cauthan Const/Scruggs Concrete Chev 75 DQ
#33 Failed to pass Post Race Technical Inspection.
Time of Race : 52 min 28 secs
Margin of Victory : 2 car lengths
Lap Leaders : Ross 1-75
Cautions : 8
Track Length : 0.6750 Miles