DUNN DIPS AND DIVES FOR NEWSOME RACEWAY PARTS CLARKSVILLE LATE MODEL WIN

              CLARKSVILLE, TN – Corey Dunn of Milledgeville, GA made the right moves and checked out on the field to pick up his first Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series win Thursday night at Clarksville Speedway driving the Georgia Timber CVR. Dunn dodged a lap 20 wreck that put him in the lead, and he then pulled away for his first win of the season.

              Dunn was in the third spot behind early race leader Matt Cooper of McKenzie, TN in the Cooper Trucking Rocket, and second-place Oakley Johns on Hohenwald, TN in the Johns Farms Special. As the leaders came up to lap Dustin Rollins of Princeton, KY in the Rollins Auto Repair Special, Rollins and Cooper got together and they both spun collecting Johns.

              Dunn was able to make the right move at the right time and avoid the crash. The cars of Cooper and Johns were not able to restart the race, and Dunn took his spot as the leader. His maneuver through the crash earned Dunn the VP Racing Lubricants Slick Move of the Race Award, and he was also the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race.

              Dunn set a pace that kept him in front of the second-place David Seibers of Chapel Hill, TN in the S&S Plumbing and Electric Special, but he saw something on the scoreboard that got his attention, and led him to set a more aggressive pace in the opening race of the three event Salute TO America Nationals.

              “I was just laying back when Cooper and Johns got to the lapped traffic, and let them open the doors, so I was able to get through the wreck,” Dunn said. “After I got the lead, I just set a pace to keep Seibers behind me, but I kept looking up at the scoreboard and I saw by Georgia buddy Wil Herrington climbing up the top five. I figured I’d better open it up a little more because he’s been pretty tough lately.”

              By the time the checkered flag fell, Dunn had a 3.159 second margin of victory of Seibers, who drove most of the race on seven cylinders after a spark plug wire fell off his engine. Herrington started 16th in the 5m Construction Rocket and finished third to earn the Knowles Race Parts and Bodies Hard Charger of the Race Award.

              Levi Ashby of Cumberland Furnace, TN finished fourth in The Wheel Shop Rocket, and T.J. Brittain of Centre, AL took the fifth spot in the Brittain Hauling Warrior. Logan Brown of White Bluff, TN was sixth in the Gray Oak Racing Special, and Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series point leader Cruz Skinner of Oxford, AL drove the Skinner’s Body Shop Rocket to a seventh-place finish.

              Jody Knowles of Tyrone, GA finished eighth in the Clayton Signs/Gentry’s Used Auto Parts Special, and Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS was ninth in the B&M Salvage Rocket. Jeremy Greenway of Luray, TN rounded out the top ten in the R&R Towing CVR. Seibers was the Boyd Built Fabricators Fast Qualifier with a lap around the ¼-mile clay oval in 12.970 seconds.

              The lead changed hands early and often in the 40-lap main event. Johns led lap one followed by Seibers, Dunn, Cooper, and Brown. Seibers took the lead on lap two and Cooper grabbed the lead on lap three. Johns reclaimed the point on lap four before Cooper settled into the top spot on lap 5.

              Cooper’s pace was slowed on lap six when the leader’s father Ronnie Cooper of McKenzie, TN spun the Ronnie Cooper Trucking Special in turn three to bring out the caution flag. Matt Cooper led the field for the Dixie-Style Double-File Restart with Johns, Seibers, Dunn, Ashby, Brittain, Skinner, Hunter Blackwell of Clarksville, TN in the C. Blackwell Construction CVR, Jimmy Halford of Atwood, TN and Caleb Ashby of Cunningham, TN in The Wheel Shop Special doubled up behind him.

              Halford stalled out of the ninth spot on the restart in turn four to bring out the second caution flag. Dunn passed Seibers for the third spot on the next restart. Matt Cooper encountered the cars on the tail end of the lead lap by the 11th tour. Cooper was committed to the bottom groove trying to get by car desperate to stay on the lead lap.

              Rollins pushed the issue with the leader in turn three on lap 20 and they both spun. Johns tried to go under Cooper but clipped the left-front of Cooper’s car with his right-front. That brought out the third yellow flag of the race. With both Cooper and Johns sidelined for the night, Dunn took over the lead for the restart.

              Doubled up in second through tenth behind Dunn for the restart was Seibers, Brown, Levi Ashby, Skinner, Herrington, Brittain, Knowles, Greenway, and Minga. Herrington made a big move on the restart, getting by Skinner for the fifth spot, and sailed underneath Brown for fourth on lap 24 in turn one. Lap 30 saw Herrington drive under Ashby for the third spot.

              Dunn had his second close call of the race on lap 32 when Joseph Mike of Mayfield, KY overheated the Mike Farms CVR and slowed in front of the leader. Dunn was able to get by without contact, but it brought out the fourth caution flag of the race and a restart with nine laps to go.

              Officials called for a single-file restart with Dunn leading followed by Seibers, Herrington, Ashby, Knowles, Brittain, Brown, Skinner, Minga, and Greenway in the top ten. With the green light flashed back on, Dunn packed his bags, turned in the key and checked out on the field. Dunn was in a different zip code when he took the checkered flag.

              Night two of the Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series Salute To America Nationals will be at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL with a $2,500-to-win 50-lap main event on Friday night.

              The economical Aluminum Head, Steel Block, Chevrolet Performance 604 Circle Track Engine is the engine of choice for the Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series competitors. The Chevrolet Performance 604 Engine is in stock and available for free next day delivery from Newsome Raceway Parts in Hartsville, SC. 

            Newsome Raceway Parts gives a portion of the sales from each Chevrolet Performance Circle Track Engine sold back to the Crate Racin’ USA Point Funds in four different Divisions. Each economical Chevrolet Performance Circle Track Engine is built and sealed at the factory to prevent any expensive modifications. To place an order call 1-877-497-3624.

For more information and rules about the Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.crateracinusa.com, or visit the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CrateRacinUSA/.  You can follow us on Twitter @CrateRacinUSALM, and at Instagram at crateracinusa.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 5 AT CLARKSVILLE SPEEDWAY IN CLARKSVILLE, TN ON 7/2/2020:

POS      STRT   CAR #  DRIVER                            HOMETOWN                  LAPS    $ WON
1.           3            21          Corey Dunn (R)               Milledgeville, GA            40          $2,000
2.           1            1            David Seibers                   Chapel Hill, TN                40          $1,000
3.           16          14          Wil Herrington                Hawkinsville, GA            40          $700
4.           7            1a          Levi Ashby                        Cumberland Furnace, TN40        $550
5.           8            05          T.J. Brittain                     Centre, AL                        40          $500
6.           4            B10       Logan Brown                   White Bluff, TN               40          $425
7.           9            11          Cruz Skinner                    Oxford, AL                       40          $375
8.           18          03          Jody Knowles                   Tyrone, GA                       40          $350
9.           12          19          Marcus Minga                 Shannon, MS                    40          $325
10.         13          63          Jeremy Greenway           Luray, TN                         40          $300
11.         20          4            Joe Mike                           Mayfield, KY                   40          $275
12.         11          2            Trynt Lloyd (R/YG)        Jacksonville, FL               40          $250
13.         17          10          Cody Overton (R)           Grovetown, GA                40          $225
14.         10          10c        Ronnie Cooper                 McKenzie, TN                  39          $200
15.         21          1e          Ty Ellis (R)                       Covington, GA                 39          $200
16.         22          39          Troy Dixon (R)                Dallas, GA                        37          $200
17.         14          4x          Joseph Mike                     Mayfield, KY                   30          $200
18.         5            18          Matt Cooper                    McKenzie, TN                  19          $200
19.         2            C6         Oakley Johns                   Hohenwald, TN                19          $200
20.         23          88          Dustin Rollins                  Princeton, KY                  18          $200
21.         6            2x          Hunter Blackwell            Clarksville, TN                16          $200
22.         15          61          Caleb Ashby                     Cunningham, TN             16          $200
23.         10          6            Jimmy Halford                Atwood, TN                      5            $200

ENTRIES: 23
BOYD BUILT FABRICATORS FAST QUALIFIER: Seibers, 12.970 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: 4
LAP LEADERS: Johns, 1; Seibers, 2; M. Cooper, 3; Johns, 4; M. Cooper, 5-19; Dunn, 20-40
LAPS LED: Dunn, 21; M. Cooper, 16; Johns, 2; Seibers, 1
KNOWLES RACE PARTS HARD CHARGER: Herrington (started 16th and finished 3rd)
VP RACING LUBRICANTS SLICK MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Dunn
FULLMOON GRAPHICS LUCKY 7 AWARD: Skinner
CRUISE WITH THE CHAMPIONS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Dunn
CAUTIONS: 4
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 3.159 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 39 Minutes and 38.243 Seconds
NEXT RACE: July 3, $2,500-To-Win $250-To-Start 50-Laps, Talladega Short Track, Eastaboga, AL