BRASSTOWN, N.C. – John Ownbey of Cleveland, Tenn. became the tenth different winner in ten races for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division on Friday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, N.C.
Ownbey led the last nine laps of the 2nd Annual Bill Hendren Memorial 40 to take the win in the Auto Depot Special.
“It’s been 13 years since I’ve been to this track, but this is a new team, and everything just seemed to get better for us as night went on,” Ownbey said. “The car was pretty tight early in the race, but the longer we went, the race track came to us and we had what we needed at the end.”
After taking the lead on lap 32 from polesitter Matt Henderson, Ownbey began to pull away and took the checkered flag with a 2.615 second margin of victory over Ryan King, who was the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race and had his best finish of the season.
Defending Tri-County Race Track Late Model Champion Jason Deal finished third in front of an appreciative hometown crowd. Another local favorite, Ricky Smith of Hiawaussee, GA, was fourth and Jimmy Elliott finished fifth.
Ryan Crane, Cody Martin, Chase Edge, Ray Cook and Ronnie Johnson rounded out the top ten.
Johnson remains the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point leader with 844 points and has a 62-point advantage over Edge, who has 782 points. King’s second-place finish moved him to within 28 points of Edge in the third spot, and King also leads the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year point standings over Henderson, Crane, and Martin.
Henderson turned in his second Fast Time Award of the season after topping Jacky Jones Chevrolet Qualifying with a lap around the ¼-mile clay oval in 13.367 seconds. That earned Henderson the pole position for the $2,000-to-win feature.
Henderson took the lead at the start of the race followed by Paydon Shook, Ownbey, King and Johnson. King raced past Ownbey and Shook on lap two to move up to second.
Drew Deaver brought out the first caution flag of the race on lap six when he stalled in turn two. The field doubled up behind Henderson for the “Dixie-Style” Double-File Restart with King choosing the inside in second with Ownbey in third to his right on the outside.
The movers and shakers on the restart were on the outside, as Ownbey powered around King for second, and Johnson took the high line around Shook for the fourth spot. Ownbey moved up to challenge Henderson for the lead as they hit lapped traffic on lap 15. Henderson had dusted off the top shelf of the race track, while Ownbey was taking the short way around on the bottom groove.
At the halfway point in the race, Ownbey kept the pressure on Henderson for the lead, and things got tight in lapped traffic when Henderson made contact with a lapped car and turned him sideways in front of Ownbey. The second-place driver got slowed down enough to miss the lapped car, that straightened himself out, and the field remained under green.
The second caution flag of the race slowed the field on lap 23 when Nick Lyons and Sylvan Schuette tangled on the front straightaway.
With Henderson leading the way for the restart, Ownbey chose the inside behind him in second with King, Johnson, Deal, Smith, Elliott, Kenny Collins, Crane, and Martin in third through tenth respectively.
Shook brought out the caution flag on lap 25 when he spun in turn three. After the field slowed under the caution flag, some drama began to unfold for Johnson, the defending champion of the Bill Hendren Memorial 40. During the caution period, Johnson had to give up the fourth spot with a cut down right-rear tire that forced him to the pit area.
When the field went back to green flag action, Ownbey once again began to pressure Henderson for the lead. On lap 32, Henderson slipped just enough in turn two that Ownbey shot underneath the take the lead. Johnson brought out the final caution flag of the race on lap 33 when he spun in turn two.
With the race inside ten laps to go, Ownbey led a single-file restart back to green followed by Henderson, King, Deal, Smith, Elliott, Crane, Martin, Cook and Edge in the top ten. King got by Henderson for second on lap 35 down the backstretch. Henderson was suffering from handling issues and fell back through the top ten to finish 11th.
Ownbey was not challenged the rest of the way, and cruised home to claim his first career NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win and the $2,000 top prize.
For more information and rules about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at NeSmithRacing.com.
NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
Tri-County Race Track – Brasstown, NC
Bill Hendren Memorial 40 – June 5, 2015
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER
1. 4 44 John Ownbey Cleveland, TN 40 $2,000
2. 3 30 Ryan King (R) Seymour, TN 40 $1,125
3. 5 7 Jason Deal Copperhill, TN 40 $700
4. 7 88 Ricky Smith Hiawassee, GA 40 $550
5. 8 J39 Jimmy Elliott Cleveland, TN 40 $500
6. 11 10 Ryan Crane (R) Panama City, FL 40 $550
7. 10 21m Cody Martin (R) Christiana, TN 40 $500
8. 15 18 Chase Edge LaFayette, AL 40 $475
9. 20 53 Ray Cook
10. 6 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 40 $425
11. 1 H2 Matt Henderson (R) Loudon, TN 40 $500
12. 12 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 40 $250
13. 19 7 William Overbey Norris, TN 39 $225
14. 14 21 Mario Gresham Rome, GA 33 $200
15. 13 1 Kenny Collins Colbert, GA 32 $175
16. 16 22 Will Roland (Y) Jasper, GA 29 $150
17. 2 88p Paydon Shook Young Harris, GA 24 $140
18. 9 2x Nick Lyons
19. 17 14 Sylvan Schuette Blairsville, GA 22 $125
20. 18 12 Drew Deaver McCaysville, GA 5 $125
