INGRAM TAKES STORMPAY.COM DLMS POINT LEAD WITH DUEL AT THE DUCK WIN

               WHEEL, TN – Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA drove the Universal Concrete Rocket to his third StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series victory of the season on Saturday night at the “Duel At The Duck” 50 at Duck River Speedway.  Ingram came from the fourth starting spot to take the lead on a lap 31 restart from Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA.

                The win gave Ingram a two-point lead in the StormPay.com DLMS National point standings over the defending StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Champion David Gentry of Lewisburg , TN.

                Gentry looked like he was on his way to his second win of the season, and his second straight series win at his home track, but a tangle with a lapped car on lap 31 sent Gentry to the pits with a flat right-rear tire, and left-rear suspension damage.  Gentry made repairs, and returned to the track.

                Fields and Ingram, who were running second and third respectively at the time, were also involved in the tangle on lap 31, but were able to line up in first and second for the restart.  Ingram passed Fields on the restart, and led the rest of the way.  Gentry restarted 16^th, got up on the wheel, and “manhandled” his race car back into the top ten for a sixth-place finish.

                “David Gentry was the man to beat here, as he always is, so to leave here with a win is great,” Ingram said.  “Even though David had trouble tonight, I knew he was capable was coming back to the front.  This point battle is close,  and that’s what makes it so exciting.  We had the point lead, then we got thrown out at East Alabama , and David had the point lead.  Tonight, David had problems, we won the race, and now we have the point lead.  I think it’s going to be that way for the rest of the season.”

                The amazing thing about Gentry being able to come back and finish sixth in the race, was the fact that Gentry’s Dixon Plumbing Mastersbilt did not have any left-rear suspension under it for the last 20 laps of the race.

                “We broke a left-rear bird cage when we got hit in the right-rear by the lapped car, and those last 20 laps we didn’t have any left-rear suspension,” Gentry said.  “I had to manhandle the car and I kept hearing all of this noise back there.  I figured I’d keep driving it until it wouldn’t go anymore.”

                Fields in a brand new Summerville Junkyard Mastersbilt just edged Jay Blair of Angie, LA for the second spot.  Fields led the first 28 laps of the race from his outside front row starting spot.  Blair in the Parrish Disposal Mastersbilt was the fast qualifier after a lap around the ¼-mile high-banked clay oval in 14.297 seconds, and picked up the $100 Pole Award from Missy’s Bedford Market.

                Chip Brindle of Chatsworth , GA was the Rookie of the Race with a fourth-place finish in the Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT.  Brindle had a good run coming from the ninth starting spot, and attributed his success to “going back to basics.”

                “We’ve been trying some high-tech stuff in the last few races with expensive shocks that everyone said we needed,” Brindle said.  “We just couldn’t get our car to work with all of that stuff, so we went back to our basic set up with the old-style shocks, and we’re back in the top five.  It’s easy to out-engineer yourself in this business.”

                Steve Godsey of Bedford, IN made his debut with the StormPay.com DLMS National Tour a successful one with a fifth-place finish in the Indiana Stone Works Rayburn.  The son of National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee Ray Godsey said a top five felt like a win.

                “To come here and leave with a fifth-place finish feels like a win with this tough competition,” Godsey said.  “We ran well, made some good money, and it was a successful trip for us.  We’re looking forward to running some more StormPay.com National races.”

                Following Gentry in the seventh spot was local favorite Josh Lawwell of Lewisburg, TN in the Automation Center Rocket, and former track champion-turned StormPay.com DLMS regular Robert Stutts of Murfreesboro, TN took the eighth spot in the Robert Parks Realty Rocket.  Dixon Hauling and Grading teammates Bill Flowers of Bremen, GA in his Rocket and Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA in his Warrior finished ninth and tenth respectively.

                StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series East Region Championship contender Jimmy Elkins Jr. of Talladega, AL started 20^th and finished 12^th in the Millennium Heat and Air Mastersbilt to earn the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award.

                When the field went green, Blair and Fields raced side-by-side through turns one and two, but Fields blasted off the second turn to take the lead down the backstretch.  The first start was called off by a multi-car tangle on the front straightaway.  On the restart, it was Fields repeating his initial move to take the lead followed by Blair, Ingram, Lawwell, and Gentry.

                Spins by 2006 StormPay.com Rookie of the Year Frankie Beard of Hartwell, GA in the Freeman Plumbing Mastersbilt on lap two, Rusty Hoge of Ooltewah, TN in the H&H Powersports GRT on lap four, and a front straightaway wall climb by Jim Till of Greenville, AL in the Dafor Heavy Timber Fabricators Trak Star on lap 11 brought out yellows to keep the field bunched up.

                On each restart, the single file formation that Fields led down to the green flag gave way to two and three-wide racing.  On lap 16, Gentry changed grooves from the top to the bottom, and passed Lawwell and Ingram to move up to the third spot.  Two laps later, Gentry dove inside Blair in turn three to move into the second spot.

                Gentry took the lead from Fields on lap 20, but Hoge hit the second turn wall to bring out the caution flag.  The field went back to the last completed lap for the restart, giving the Fields the point, followed by Gentry, Blair, Ingram, Lawwell, Brindle, Chris Tays of Corinth, MS in the Bud Coley Trucking Rocket, Godsey, Flowers, and Stutts.

                Fields and Gentry battled for the lead side-by-side when the field went back to green flag action.  Gentry kept gaining inch-by-inch using the inside groove on the high-riding Fields lap after lap.  On the 29^th lap, Gentry was scored as the leader.

                Just as Gentry had cleared Fields for the lead, and began to pull away, disaster struck the leaders in turn one.

                The lapped car of Beard hit the turn one wall just in front of the leaders.  Instead of staying up high on the track, Beard’s car ricocheted off the concrete and did a pirouette in the air into the right side off Gentry’s race car, puncturing the right-rear tire, and damaging the left-rear suspension.  Fields and Ingram had to lock down the brakes and spin to stay away from Beard.

                Gentry rolled to the pit area, while Fields and Ingram were righted and able to continue in their spots for the restart.  Ingram’s race car suffered some torn sheet metal on the nose piece, which didn’t affect the workings of the race car.  Gentry came back out to restart 16^th, while Fields led Ingram, Blair, Brindle, Lawwell, Godsey, Flowers, Stutts, Tays and Joshua Putnam of Killen, AL in the Texas Roadhouse Rayburn down for the restart.

                Ingram worked to the inside of Fields on the restart, pulled along side the leader down the backstretch, and took the lead coming off the fourth turn.  Just as Ingram began to pull away, the fielded was slowed by the caution flag on lap 33 when Tays spun coming off the fourth turn.

                When the field went back to green, Ingram pulled away from Fields, who was busy battling side-by-side with Blair for the second spot.  The crowd through, seemed to be paying close attention to their hometown hero Gentry, who was on the high side of the track putting on a passing clinic.  By lap 40, Gentry was back inside the top ten and up to the eighth spot.

                A spin on lap 46 in turn two by Marvin Parker of Shelbyville, TN in the Parker Brothers Construction Warrior bunched up the field under caution to set up a five-lap dash to the finish.  Ingram led Fields, Blair, Brindle, Godsey, Lawwell, Stutts, Gentry, Flowers, and Putnam down for the green flag.

                Ingram pulled away during the last five laps, but there was plenty of action behind the leader for the last five laps.  Fields and Blair raced side-by-side for the remaining laps, with Fields taking the runner-up spot by inches at the checkered flag.  Gentry scooted by Stutts and Lawwell to finish sixth, and Rainey got by Putnam to record a top ten finish.

                If Gentry goes on to win the championship by less than 20 points, one should remember this night at Duck River Speedway .  When Ingram took the lead on the lap 31 restart while Gentry was in the 16^th position, 22 points then separated the two drivers.  With a broken race car that most drivers would have parked for the night, Gentry came back up to sixth spot to gain another 20 points.

                With two points separating Ingram and Gentry in the StormPay.com DLMS title chase, the series moves next to Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS for a two-day, $5,000-to-win event on August 31 and September 1.  There have been two series events at Whynot Motorsports Park , and guess who the winners were?

                Gentry was the winner at the StormPay.com DLMS event at Whynot on Labor weekend last year, and Ingram took the win at WMP on May 5 of this season.  Get your tickets now!

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 15 AT DUCK RIVER SPEEDWAY IN WHEEL, TN ON 8/18/07 :

POS       STRT     CAR #   DRIVER                             HOMETOWN                   LAPS     $ WON 
1.            4             F9          Frank Ingram                   Woodstock , GA                50           $3,000
2.            2             16           Jeff Fields                          Aragon, GA                       50           $1,500
3.            1             2x           Jay Blair                            Angie , LA                            50           $1,350
4.            9             38c         Chip Brindle (R)              Chatsworth , GA                               50           $1,100
5.            6             14           Steve Godsey                     Bedford , IN                        50           $1,000
6.            5             56           David Gentry                    Lewisburg, TN                  50           $950
7.            3             02           Josh Lawwell                   Lewisburg, TN                  50           $750
8.            14           302        Robert Stutts (R)             Murfreesboro , TN            50           $700
9.            7             06           Bill Flowers                     Bremen , GA                      50           $650
10.          12           87           Derrick Rainey                 Powder Springs, GA       50           $600
11.          11           212        Joshua Putnam                 Killen, AL                          50           $550
12.          20           07           Jimmy Elkins Jr.             Talladega , AL                     50           $600
13.          17           75           Chad Williams                 Wartrace, TN                    50           $450
14.          18           44           Jim Till (R)                       Greenville , AL                  49           $400
15.          19           90           Jimmy Kay                        Taylorsville , GA                             49           $350
16.          15           10           Matthew Turner                              Dawsonville, GA                             49               $300
17.          16           4             Marvin Parker                 Shelbyville, GA                46           $280
18.          13           8             Chris Tays                         Corinth , MS                      35           $250
19.          21           F1          Frankie Beard                  Hartwell, GA                    29           $250
20.          8             21           Rusty Hoge                        Ooltewah, TN                    19           $250
21.          10           27           Danny Joe Thomas           Robertsdale, AL                              0             $250

ENTRIES:  22
FAST QUALIFIER:  Blair, 14.297 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  None
LEAD CHANGES:  3 Among 3 Drivers
LAP LEADERS:  Fields, 1-28; Gentry, 29-30; Ingram, 31-50
LAPS LED:  Fields, 28; Ingram, 20; Gentry, 2
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER:  Elkins (started 20^th and finished 12^th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Brindle
CAUTIONS:  8

MISSY’S BEDFORD MARKET QUALIFYING (Top 10 Transfer To Main Event):

HEAT RACES (10 Laps):

               1^ST HEAT:  1. Putnam; 2. Tays; 3. Turner; 4. Williams; 5. Kay; 6. Freeman DNS.

               2^ND HEAT:  1. Rainey; 2. Stutts (R); 3. Parker; 4. Till (R); 5. Elkins; 6. Beard.

STORMPAY.COM DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 8/18/07 :

1. Frank Ingram – 1306
2. David Gentry – 1304
3. Derrick Rainey – 1262
4. Jay Blair – 1244
5. Chip Brindle (R) – 1180
6. Jeff Fields – 1098
7. Chris Tays – 1096
8. Robert Stutts (R) – 1058
9. Matthew Turner – 1000
10. Jim Till (R) – 912
11. Rusty Hoge – 800
12. Bill Flowers – 634
13. William Thomas – 572
14. Shanon Buckingham – 566
15. Curtis Cline – 544
16. Johnny Stokes – 420
17. Jimmy Kay – 400
18. Carnell Parker III – 396
19. Kody Barber – 386
20. Larry Boutwell - 354

R – Denotes Rookie of the Year Candidate