CHEVY SUPER SERIES POINT LEADER AND SMOKY MOUNTAIN SPEEDWAY SHARE HISTORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

            CARTERSVILLE, GA – The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series will head to historic Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN this Saturday night for a $3,000-to-win 50-lap main event, Round 3 of the 2018 season. The first two races were won by two-time Chevy Super Series National Champion Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN.
           
            Both Smoky Mountain Speedway and “The Chattanooga Flash” share a special history that spans over 50 years. Johnson has fond memories of “The Mountain” as a young boy, and later as a competitor. Johnson watched his father Joe Lee Johnson race at Smoky Mountain Speedway, and now Johnson races against the sons of drivers he raced against earlier in his 45-year career.
           
            The racing involvement of three generations makes it appropriate that Saturday night’s Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series race at Smoky Mountain Speedway is on Father’s Day Weekend and is called The Big Daddy 500.
           
            Smoky Mountain Speedway has an illustrious lifespan as a big half-mile dirt track, a big half-mile paved track, and in its current configuration, a 4/10-mile dirt track. In its early days, Smoky Mountain Speedway was a regular stop on the NASCAR Grand National Tour, now known as the Monster Energy Cup Series.
           
            Johnson has seen it in all configurations as a youngster with dreams of racing on the track he was watching his father, Joe Lee Johnson, race on, and then fulfilling those dreams by not only racing on Smoky Mountain Speedway, but being a frequent visitor to its Victory Lane through his illustrious racing career that started when he was 17 years-old.
           
            “I can remember going to Smoky Mountain Speedway as a young boy in the 1960s to watch my Dad race, as the track was a regular stop for the NASCAR Grand National Tour,” Johnson said. “All of the big names were there and I remember getting Richard Petty’s autograph, watching David Pearson and the rest of the big names. There used to be an airstrip behind the track, and I can remember seeing Bobby Allison flying in to race at Smoky Mountain.”
           
            Johnson has won many races at Smoky Mountain Speedway through the years that include Super Late Model races, Durrence Layne Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series races, but he is still looking for his first Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series win at the historic track.
           
            “I’ve come close to winning a couple of races with a Chevrolet Performance CT525 Circle Track Engine, so after winning the first two series races this season, you’d think it would be a good place to go for three straight, but in reality, it will be like going to a new track.” Johnson said. “It’s been a few years since I’ve raced at Smoky Mountain Speedway, and from what I’ve heard and seen, it has changed since then. From what I’ve seen on some videos, there’s a different groove around the track than there was the last time I was there.”
           
            Being on level ground with the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee is music to the ears of the rest of the Chevy Super Series competitors battling Johnson for the National Championship. At age 62, Johnson’s competition in the Chevy Super Series features young drivers that have fathers that raced with Johnson in the past.
           
            Johnson has a 20-point lead in the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series over second-generation driver Jake Knowles of Rome, GA who has 190 points. Two young drivers are tied for the third spot, as 16-year Cruz Skinner of Oxford, AL and Landon Bagby of Winston, GA each have 176 points. Skinner leads the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year point standings.
           
            Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA is fifth with 170 points, and Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year candidate Chase King of Seymour, TN is sixth with 168 points. Cruise With The Champions RoY driver Dale Thurman of Cartersville, GA is seventh with 162 points.
           
            Chad Wallace of LaGrange, GA and Joseph Brown of Columbus, GA are tied for the ninth spot in the Chevy Super Series point standings with 160 points apiece, and Zach Pilcher of Rome, GA rounds out the Top 10 with 158 points. Several drivers outside the Top 10 in the point standings will be trying to race their way in this Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway.
           
            Drivers just outside the Top 10 expected this Saturday night include Scott Hall of Rome, GA, Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year candidate Dalton Polston of Lithia Springs, GA, Buster Goss of Rome, GA, Randy Dillard of Epworth, GA, Oliver Gentry of Newnan, GA, and Rodney Martin of Cartersville, GA.
           
            Also expected this Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway for the $3,000-to-win Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series race are Steve Baird, Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA, and Cameron Marlar of Winfield, TN.
           
            The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series is a unique series in that it features dirt late model race cars powered by the economical Chevrolet Performance CT525 Circle Track Engine built and sealed at the factory to prevent any expensive modifications. The engine is based off the production LS3 engine that comes in the Corvette, the Camaro, Chevrolet and GMC Trucks.
           
            The all-aluminum Chevrolet Performance CT525 racing engine can be purchased for $7,100 and $9,950 with the start-up accessory kit from Durrence Layne Chevrolet, Buick GMC in Claxton, GA, the Official Chevrolet Performance Engine Supplier of the Chevy Super Series with free next-day delivery anywhere in the Southeast. To place an order, call 1-877-497-3624. 
           
            The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series is also the only Dirt Late Model Series to be branded by a major automobile manufacturer. The Chevy Super Series is also one of the few series anywhere in the country that Meets and Greets the race fans when they arrive at the track before the start of the action on the track.
           
            The Chevrolet Performance Fan Zone will greet race fans this Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. at Smoky Mountain Speedway in the main grandstand area. Chevy Super Series drivers will be bringing their race cars to the race fans in the main grandstand area. Race fans can meet the drivers, get their autographs, and see the Chevy Super Series race cars up close before they hit the historic 4/10-mile clay oval for competition later in the evening. 
           
            There will be something for race fans of all ages in the Chevy Fan Zone. There will be free Hero Cards for driver autographs, Special Prizes, a Coloring Contest for the kids, and Souvenir T-Shirts will also be available for purchase.
           
            This Saturday night at Smoky Mountain Speedway will be the first time ever that two Super Late Model Series will compete on the same night.  The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series will share the spotlight with the Southern All-Star Series. The Kajun Mini Stocks will also be in action for the extravaganza known as the Big Daddy 500 to commemorate Father’s Day weekend.
           
            On Saturday at Smoky Mountain Speedway, the Pit Gate opens at 3 p.m., and the Grandstand Gate opens at 4 p.m. Chevy Super Series Pre-Race Registration and Technical Inspection is from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Drivers Meeting is set for 6:30 p.m., with Hot Laps scheduled for 7 p.m.
           
            Smoky Mountain Speedway is located south of Maryville, TN just off U.S. Highway 411 at 809 Brick Mill Road, Maryville, TN 37801. For more information call 865-856-8989, or visit the track web site at www.smokymountainspeedway.com. You can also Like them on Facebook at Smoky Mountain Speedway or follow them on Twitter @smokymtnspeed.
           
            For more information about the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.525superseries.com, or visit the series on Facebook at Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. 

 

Chevrolet Performance Parts is the Title Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. VP Racing Fuels and Lubricants is the Official Race Fuel and Lubricant of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Cruise With The Champions is an Official Sponsor and Rookie of the Year Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2018 are CrateInsider.Com, Knowles Racing Parts And Bodies, Beyea Headers, and Freestyle Graphix.

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