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February 19, 2010
SMITH WINS NIGHT TWO AT EAST BAY IN NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS ACTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TAMPA, FL – Shan Smith of Dade City, FL drove the Gardner Racing TNT to victory on
Friday night at East Bay Raceway Park in the 50-lap main event for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt
Late Model Series. Smith took the lead on lap 22 from polesitter Charlie Henderson of
Cottondale, AL then held off a pair of challenges in lapped traffic from Randy Weaver of
Crossville, TN.
Smith made his bid for the win early in the race, as he bolted from his tenth starting spot
and was up to third by the end of the first lap. Lap three saw Smith drive by Weaver in the
Cardinal Paint and Body Custom to take the second spot.
“I’ve got a lot of laps around this place, and I’ve got a set up that works good when the
track rubbers up,” Smith said. “I knew I had to get to the front early, and we were able to use the
track conditions to our advantage.”
Weaver finished second followed by Henderson in the Century Carriers, Inc. Mastersbilt,
who was also the Rookie of the Race Award winner. Keith Nosbisch of Valrico, FL was fourth in
the Miller Lite Rocket, and Devin Dixon of Apollo Beach, FL took the Race Car Engineering 5th-
Place Award in the Night Hawk Towing Rocket.
Doug Horton of Bruceton Mills, WV drove the Adams Used Auto Parts Warrior to the KRC
6th-Place Award, and Shane Hitt of Buchannon, WV claimed the Joe Gibbs Driven 7th-Place
Award. William Thomas of Phenix City, AL started the J.W. Miller Land and Timber Scorpion in
the 18th spot and finished eighth to take the GM Performance Parts Hard Charger Award and the
Race Car Engineering 8th-Place Award.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA took the Maximum Signs and Graphics 9th-Place
Award, and Jeff Matthews of Dover, FL was the KRC 10th-Place Award winner in the Night Hawk
Towing Warrior. Defending NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Eric
Cooley of Fulton, MS won the Mike’s Customs Tanks 11th-Place Award.
Turner remains the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National point leader with a
six-point lead over Cooley in second spot, and a 16-point advantage over Thomas in the third
position.
Henderson earned his second straight Pole Award by out-qualifying the 53 entrants with a
lap around the 1/3-mile clay oval in 15.344 seconds. Henderson started along side his teammate
Justin McRee of Cuba, AL in the Century Carriers, Inc. Trak-Star in the front row for the start of
the race.
When the green flag came out, things got busy in a hurry with Henderson leading Weaver,
McRee, Smith, and Nosbisch off the second turn. McRee jumped the cushion in turn three on the
opening lap, and that dropped him back to tenth by the time he gathered up his race car. Smith
passed Weaver for the second spot on lap three, and Dixon moved up into the top five.
The first of three caution flags came out on lap seven when Chris McElhenney of Lake, MS
spun the G&M Trucking Trak-Star in turn four. Henderson led Smith, Weaver, Nosbisch, Dixon,
Matthews, Horton, Hitt, Steve Mathis of Plant City, FL in the Mathis Farms Rayburn, and McRee
back to the green flag.
Matthews jumped one car on the restart, and he would be penalized two positions on the
next caution period, which came out on lap 14 when David Pollen Jr. in the B&D Trucking Rocket
caught fire. The fire was extinguished by the track safety crew and Pollen was uninjured. Pollen’
s misfortune earned him the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
The top ten for the restart had Henderson leading followed by Smith, Weaver, Nosbisch,
Dixon, Horton, Hitt, Matthews, Mathis and Turner. When the field went green, Turner passed
Mathis for the ninth spot, and McRee moved back into the top ten with a pass on Mathis on lap
15. Thomas had charged from the 18th starting spot and passed McRee for tenth on lap 17.
Henderson was holding a steady three car-length lead over Smith, but as the leaders
approached lapped traffic on lap 20, Smith and Weaver began to close the gap. Smith and
Weaver got by Henderson for first and second on lap 22, but a caution flag on lap 24 for the
stalled SEG Ramlaw Mastersbilt driven by Mitchell Godfrey of Crawford, GA brought out the third
and final caution flag, and kept the field tightened up.
When the field went back to green flag action, Smith was able to open up a six car-length
lead by lap 34 when the leader began to encounter lapped traffic. Weaver closed in as Smith
began to pick his way around lapped cars running the groove he wanted to stay ahead of Weaver.
On lap 38, Weaver was able to get a run on Smith in turn one on the inside, but Smith was up to
the challenge and kept the lead. Weaver would get another opportunity with ten laps to go, but
couldn’t make the pass. Once Smith cleared the lap cars, he could keep a three car-length gap
between himself and Weaver the rest of the way to the checkered flag.
In preliminary action, the four ten-lap heat races were won by Godfrey, McElhenney, Horton, and
Smith. The two 12-lap B-Main races were won by Turner and Larry Harrod of Plains, GA in the
Harrod Logging Scorpion.
The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series returns to East Bay Raceway Park for its three-
race finale on Saturday night with a 50-lap $3,000-to-win main event.
PENDING RESULTS OF ROUND 3 AT EAST BAY RACEWAY PARK IN TAMPA, FL ON 2/19/10:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 10 17ss Shan Smith Dade City, FL 50 $2,500
2. 4 116 Randy Weaver Crossville, TN 50 $1,250
3. 1 88 Charlie Henderson (R) Cottondale, AL 50 $850
4. 6 101 Keith Nosbisch Valrico, FL 50 $700
5. 5 33x Devin Dixon Apollo Beach, FL 50 $650
6. 9 11 Doug Horton Bruceton Mills, WV 50 $550
7. 11 2h Shane Hitt Buchannon, WV 50 $500
8. 18 22 William Thomas Phenix City, AL 50
$550
9. 19 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA
50 $400
10. 14 33 Jeff Matthews Dover, FL 50 $375
11. 21 33c Eric Cooley Fulton, MS 50 $350
12. 17 12 Jack Nosbisch Jr. Riverview, FL 50 $300
13. 20 27 Larry Harrod (R) Plains, GA 50 $280
14. 22 47 Shannon Lee (R) Lumberton, MS 50 $260
15. 13 95 Steve Mathis Plant City, FL 50 $250
16. 24 116r Greg Robertson Waynesboro, VA
49 $240
17. 12 31 Brian Force Indiana, PA 49 $220
18. 16 07 Doug Watson Lithia, FL 49 $200
19. 7 21b Mitchell Godfrey Crawford, GA 49 $200
20. 2 25 Justin McRee Cuba, AL 23 $200
21. 8 28 Chris McElhenney Lake, MS 22 $200
22. 15 88p David Pollen Jr. Tampa, FL
13 $200
23. 3 18h Ronny Hollingsworth Northport, AL 6 $200
24. 23 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 5 $200
ENTRIES: 53
FAST QUALIFIER: Henderson, 15.344 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: Minga
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Henderson, 1-21; Smith, 22-50
LAPS LED: Smith, 29; Henderson, 21
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Henderson
GM PERFORMANCE PARTS HARD CHARGER: Turner
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD: Pollen
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 5TH-PLACE AWARD: Dixon
KRC 6TH-PLACE AWARD: Horton
JOE GIBBS DRIVEN 7TH-PLACE AWARD: Hitt
RACE CAR ENGINEERING 8TH-PLACE AWARD: Thomas
MAXIMUM SIGNS 9TH-PLACE AWARD: Turner
KRC 10TH-PLACE AWARD: Matthews
MIKE’S CUSTOM TANKS 11TH-PLACE AWARD: Cooley
CAUTIONS: 3
TIME OF THE RACE: 28 Minutes and 22.578 Seconds
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