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WINGER WINS BLUE RIDGE RACEWAY PARK DURRENCE LAYNE LATE MODEL RACE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BLUE RIDGE, GA – Gary Winger will have some dents to pound out of his race car this week, as his 18-year-old son Ashton Winger of Senoia, GA picked up his second Durrence Layne Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win of the 2018 season Saturday night at Blue Ridge Motorsports Park driving the Keyser Manufacturing Rocket.
The younger Winger has started a fan favorite tradition when he wins the series event by climbing out of the car in Victory Lane and jumping up on top of the machine for a roof dance. This always leads his father to exclaim, “Get off the damn roof!” It has yet to be determined which the fans enjoy more; the son’s actions, or the father’s words.
Winger took the lead on a lap 27 Dixie-Style Double-File Restart when he came from the third spot and threw a slide job pass at the early race leader Jamey Boland of Cuba, AL. Winger was able to dive to the bottom of turn one and then slide up in front of Boland in turn two to take the lead.
“I was able to get a good run on the restart and get enough momentum on the bottom of the track to be able to slide up in front of Jamey,” Winger said. “Jamey was strong the first part of the race, and I felt like the restart was my best chance to make something happen.”
In addition to the race win, Winger also earned two post-race awards. The pass for the lead earned Winger the VP Racing Lubricants Slick Move of the Race Award, and he was also the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race.
The closing laps of the race saw Winger encounter some heavy lapped traffic. With ten laps to go, Winger had over a half straightaway lead over Greg Martin of Oliver Springs, TN. Martin was able to make up half that distance, but he had to settle for second in the Biff Motorsports Special.
The defending and two-time Durrence Layne Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, TN racked up his seventh top five finish in the first nine races of the 2018 season with a third-place showing in the Eagle Racing Engines Rocket. Andy Picklesimer of Ooltewah, TN took the fourth spot in the Hyma Motorsports Special.
Jake Knowles of Rome, GA rallied from the 13th starting spot to finish fifth in the Knowles Race Parts and Bodies Rocket, and Boland came home in the sixth spot driving the Boland Performance Trak-Star “House Car.” The top five in the point standings finished in the first six spots of the race.
Hedgecock remains on top of the National standings with 846 points, and Winger, who also leads the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year point standings, is second with 798 points. Knowles is third with 752 points, while Picklesimer is fourth with 694. Boland is fifth with 666 points and he is second in the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year point standings.
Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS drove the B&M Salvage Rocket to a seventh-place finish. Jimmy Elliott of Cleveland, TN started 21st and finished eighth in the Car Smart Auto Sales Special to earn the Beyea Headers Hard Charger of the Race Award.
Jacob Anderson of Murphy, NC came back from an early race spin to take the ninth spot in the Regional Disposal and Rental Special, and Will Roland of Jasper, GA rounded out the top ten in the Roland Tire Warrior.
In preliminary action, Kyle Courtney of Knoxville, TN was Knowles Race Parts and Bodies Fast Qualifier with a lap around Blue Ridge Motorsports Park in 15.311 seconds driving the Advance Transportation CVR. Unfortunately for Courtney, mechanical issues on the pace lap before the race sent him to the pit area. The two ten-lap B-Main Races were won by Hohenwald, TN drivers Tyler Wood in the Speedy B’s GRT and Donald Johns in the Johns Timber Special.
Boland took the lead at the start of the race from the outside front row starting spot followed by Roland, Martin, Picklesimer, and Ross White of Knoxville, TN in the Royal Flush, Inc. Rocket. The first of six caution flags came out on lap three when Drew Deaver of McCaysville, GA stalled the Weeks Tire Special in turn one.
On the restart, Anderson spun coming off the fourth turn to the green flag, which was replaced by the second yellow flag of the race. When the field went back to green flag action, Boland was able to pull out to a five car-length lead, while Roland, Martin and Picklesimer battled two and three-wide for second.
Roland tagged the wall coming off the fourth turn on lap four to light up the yellow caution bulb for the third time. Martin, as the new second-place driver, chose the outside for the restart, and the field doubled up behind Boland. The restart order was Boland, Martin, Picklesimer, White, Winger, Hedgecock, Ethan Hunter of Harrison, TN in the Ron’s & J.C.’s Home Repair Special, Johns, Minga, and Oakley Johns of Hohenwald, TN in the Johns Timber Special.
Picklesimer drove under Martin to take over the second spot on the restart, and Winger sailed around the outside of Martin for third on lap 12. Boland caught the cars on the tail of the lead lap by the 15th tour and Picklesimer began to reel in the leader.
Before Picklesimer could get close enough to challenge for the lead, the caution flag came out on lap 27 when Matt Steward of Ooltewah, TN tagged the backstretch wall in the Tony Woodward Racing Special. The restart saw Boland leading the field back to green with Picklesimer choosing the outside, with third-place Winger to his left on the inside.
The green flag came out when Boland picked up the throttle in turn four, and Winger got a strong run down the front straightaway to pull to the inside of Boland in turn one. Winger threw the slider by diving to the bottom of the track, and he had enough momentum to slide up in front of Boland.
Coming off the second turn, Boland tried to pull off the defense crossover move to the slide job pass. When the passing car of Winger cleared the front of Boland’s car, Boland tried to turn hard left and dive back under Winger. The only problem with that was Martin and Picklesimer were occupying that piece of real estate.
Boland got sideways, to keep from hitting the duo battling each other, and by the time he got everything gathered up, he had dropped to the fourth spot. Picklesimer was able to hang on to the second spot with Martin in third and Hedgecock in fifth behind Boland.
Donald Johns hit the backstretch wall on lap 29 and collected his son Oakley Johns and Bryant Marsh of Corinth, MS in the Modern Woodmen of America Rocket. The Johns boys were done for the night, but Marsh was able to restart. The top ten for the restart was Winger, Picklesimer, Martin, Boland, Hedgecock, Knowles, Minga, Hunter, Anderson, and Elliott.
Drivers got busy after the restart, as Martin got by Picklesimer to take over the second spot, and Hedgecock passed Picklesimer on the outside coming off the fourth turn on lap 30 to move up to third. Hunter caught the wall on lap 34 to bring out the final caution flag of the race.
The top ten for the final double-file restart was Winger, Martin, Hedgecock, Picklesimer, Boland, Knowles, Minga, Anderson, Elliott, and Jake Rainey of Powder Springs, GA in the Wren’s Body Shop Special. Winger began to pull away on the restart and he held a ten car-length lead with ten laps to go.
Winger caught lapped traffic with five laps to go, and had a couple of close calls while Martin tried to close the gap. Winger put a couple of lapped cars between himself and Martin with two laps to go, and that sealed the deal for Winger’s second Durrence Layne Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win of the 2018 season.
The next on the schedule for the Durrence Layne Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series is not until September 28-29 with a two-day $5,000-to-win race at North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, AL. With ten rainouts so far in w2018, series officials are looking to reschedule several races between now and then.
NeSmith Racing is now Durrence Layne Racing! For more information and rules about the Durrence Layne Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.durrencelayneracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at Durrence Layne Racing. You can follow us on Twitter @DurrenceLayneRacing.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 9 AT BLUE RIDGE MOTORSPORTS PARK IN BLUE RIDGE, GA ON 7/28/18:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 5 12 Ashton Winger (R) Senoia, GA 50 $2,500
2. 3 24 Greg Martin Oliver Springs, TN 50 $1,250
3. 10 23 Cory Hedgecock Loudon, TN 50 $850
4. 6 P1 Andy Picklesimer Ooltewah, TN 50 $700
5. 13 66 Jake Knowles Rome, GA 50 $650
6. 2 232 Jamey Boland (R) Cuba, AL 50 $550
7. 14 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 50 $500
8. 21 J39 Jimmy Elliott Cleveland, TN 50 $450
9. 7 200 Jacob Anderson Murphy, NC 50 $400
10. 4 22 Will Roland Jasper, GA 50 $375
11. 22 87 Jake Rainey Powder Springs, GA 50 $350
12. 11 17jr Tyler Wood Hohenwald, TN 50 $300
13. 18 05 T.J. Brittain Centre, AL 50 $280
14. 15 91 Heath Hindman Signal Mtn,, TN 50 $260
15. 25 6 Chris Ledbetter Summerville, GA 50 $250
16. 19 1 Bryant Marsh (R) Corinth, MS 49 $240
17. 23 14 Jerry Green (R) Knoxville, TN 48 $220
18. 9 15 Ethan Hunter Harrison, TN 33 $200
19. 12 C66 Donald Johns Hohenwald, TN 28 $200
20. 16 C6 Oakley Johns Hohenwald, TN 28 $200
21. 8 22w Ross White Knoxville, TN 26 $200
22. 20 73 Matt Steward Ooltewah, TN 25 $200
23. 24 23a Barry Anderson Murphy, NC 5 $200
24. 17 24 Drew Deaver McCaysville, GA 2 $200
25. 1 171 Kyle Courtney Knoxville, TN 0 $200
ENTRIES: 26
KNOWLES RACE PARTS AND BODIES FAST QUALIFIER: Courtney, 15.311 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Boland, 1-26; Winger, 27-50
LAPS LED: Boland, 26; Winger, 24
VP RACING LUBRICANTS SLICK MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Winger
CRUISE WITH THE CHAMPIONS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Winger
BEYEA HEADERS HARD CHARGER AWARD: Elliott (started 21st and finished 8th)
CAUTIONS: 6
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.426 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 39 Minutes and 6.189 Seconds
NEXT RACE: September 28-29, $5,000-to-win, North Alabama Speedway, Tuscumbia, AL
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