BRAY TAKES NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS ICEBOWL SEASON OPENER

Royce Bray of Hull, GA celebrates in Victory Lane along side his I-85 Garage & Towing Warrior after winning the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series 40-lap main event at the 17^th Annual Icebowl at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga , AL .  ( Mike Blevins Photo)

               EASTABOGA, AL – Royce Bray of Hull, GA won the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series 2008 season opener and the $3,000 top prize on Sunday in the 40-lap main event at the 17^th Annual Icebowl at Talladega Short Track.  Bray started third, took the lead on lap 18 driving the I-85 Garage & Towing Warrior and never looked back to take his first career season win.

               Hunter Peacock of Macon, GA started from the pole position in the Nasworthy Mechanical Bullet and led the first 17 laps before getting caught behind lapped traffic which opened the door for Bray.

               “I talked with all of the guys starting up front, and we talked about driving a good clean race and not trying to win it on the first lap,” Bray said.  “When we got into lapped traffic, Hunter got caught in the high groove, I went inside, and that line went faster coming off the second turn.”

Royce Bray of Hull, GA powers his I-85 Garage & Towing Warrior to a $3,000 win on Sunday night during the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series 40-lap main event at the 17^th Annual Icebowl at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga , AL .  ( Mike Blevins Photo)

               Peacock held off a late race charge from Jordy Nipper of Gray, GA to finish second, and earn the Rookie of the Race honors.  Nipper had to settle for third in the Scotty’s Muffler TNT.

Ted Lackey of Munford, AL put on a passing clinic in his C.S. Beatty Construction Warrior equipped with a $3,000 GM Performance 602 Crate Engine.  Lackey started 14^th and finished fourth to earn the Hard Charger of the Race honors.

               Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA finished fifth in the CSC Trailer Repair/Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT to give Peach State drivers our of the first five finishing spots.  Brindle was looking for his third straight NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series win at Talladega Short Track, and ran in the top five all day.

               Billy Mayo of Cleveland, TN drove his A&K Transport GRT to a sixth-place finish, and Brian Conner of Martinez , GA was seventh in the Lazer’s Trailers Barry Wright.  Terrance Nowell of Phenix City, AL took the eighth spot in The Racing Zone GRT, and Shanon Buckingham of Morristown, TN was ninth in the Rusty Wallace Toyota Barry Wright.  Mike Boland of Cuba, AL rounded out the top ten in the Strength Center Trak-Star.

               Peacock and Brindle led the field down for the start of the race from the front row, and Brindle took the lead coming off the second turn.  That start was negated when three cars spun in turn four before the first lap could be completed necessitating a complete restart.

               When the field went back to green flag racing, Peacock got the hole shot and took the lead into turn one followed by Bray, Brindle, Nipper, and Richard Stephens of Phenix City, AL in the Pass Racing GRT.  The caution flag came out for a second time on lap three when Steve Godsey of Bedford, IN had something in the front end break on his J&J Transport Rayburn in turn four.

               Peacock and Bray pulled away from Brindle on the restart, while Nipper closed in from the fourth spot.  Stephens was running fifth when the handle went away on his car, and he began losing positions on the race track.  Stephens stopped on the backstretch on lap eight to bring out the third caution flag, and he went to the pits for the night.

               When the field went back to green, Bray followed Peacock’s tire tracks, and they began to encounter lapped traffic by lap 15.  As the lead pair raced into turn one on lap 18, Peacock got caught on the high side trying to negotiate the traffic, and Bray got the inside line.  Bray drove off the second underneath Peacock to take the lead, and pulled away.

               While Bray opened up a lead, Peacock was busy trying to hold off the challenge of Nipper, who got around Brindle for the third spot by the halfway point, and Lackey charged into the top five.  The field stayed green until lap 38 when Logan Yates of Delta, AL cut down a tire on The Bargain Barn TSR.

Bray was able to keep Peacock behind him for the three-lap dash to the checkered flag, while Peacock was in defensive mode to keep ahead of Nipper.  Lackey passed Brindle for the fourth spot in the closing laps.

In preliminary race action on Saturday, Peacock was the fast qualifier among the record 95 entrants with a lap around the ¼-mile clay oval in 14.633 seconds.  Brindle was second quick with a lap in 14.655 seconds to join Peacock as a front row starter.

The six 10-lap heat races on Saturday night were won by Bray, Stephens, Nipper, Brandon “Cornbread” Haley of Lavonia , GA in the Reed Mobile Home Service Barry Wright, Nowell, and Scott Knowles of Lanett , AL in the All-Star Graphics GRT.  The four 12-lap B-Main races on Sunday were won by Boland, Buckingham, Godsey, and John Ownbey of Cleveland , TN in the Mowery Trucking GRT.

The next event for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will be the 40-lap $2,500-to-win Winter Classic at Columbus Speedway in Columbus, MS on January 26.  For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 1 AT TALLADEGA SHORT TRACK IN EASTABOGA , AL ON 1/5-6/08:

POS       STRT     CAR #   DRIVER                             HOMETOWN                   LAPS     $ WON 
1.            3             21           Royce Bray                        Hull , GA                             40           $3,000
2.            1             12           Hunter Peacock (R)         Macon, GA                        40           $1,500
3.            5             1n           Jody Nipper                      Gray, GA                           40           $1,250
4.            14           4             Ted Lackey                        Munford, AL                     40           $1,200
5.            2             38c         Chip Brindle                     Chatsworth , GA                               40           $1,000
6.            9             115        Billy Mayo                        Cleveland, TN                   40           $850
7.            10           c21         Brian Conner                    Martinez , GA                    40           $750
8.            7             7             Terrance Nowell                             Phenix City , AL                 40           $700
9.            16           50           Shanon Buckingham        Morristown , TN                              40           $650
10.          15           222        Mike Boland                     Cuba , AL                             40           $600
11.          11           F22        Carlton Freeman             Eastaboga, AL                   40           $550
12.          13           16           Jeff Fields                          Aragon, GA                       40           $500
13.          6             51           Brandon Haley                 Lavonia, GA                      40           $450
14.          12           LA31     Jody Davidson                  West Monroe, LA             39           $400
15.          23           2x           Jay Blair                             Angie , LA                            39           $350
16.          24           87           Derrick Rainey                 Powder Springs, GA       39           $300
17.          21           33c         Eric Cooley                       Fulton , MS                         39           $280
18.          8             66k        Scott Knowles (R)            Lanett , AL                           39           $250
19.          20           1             Johnny Stokes                    Columbus, MS                  38           $250
20.          22           75           Carnell Parker III           Clarksville , TN                 38           $250
21.          25           5             Logan Yates                       Delta, AL                             37           $250
22.          18           48           John Ownbey                    Cleveland, TN                   18           $250
23.          19           T1          Todd Morrow                   Cleveland, TN                   15           $250
24.          4             00           Richard Stephens (R)      Phenix City , AL                 7             $250
25.          17           14           Steve Godsey (R)              Bedford , IN                        2             $250

ENTRIES:  95
FAST QUALIFIER:  Peacock, 14.633 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  Blair and Rainey
TRACK PROVISIONAL:  Yates
LEAD CHANGES:  1
LAP LEADERS:  Peacock, 1-17; Bray, 18-40
LAPS LED:  Bray, 23; Peacock, 17
HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE:  Lackey (started 14^th and finished 4^th)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Peacock
CAUTIONS:  4
TIME OF THE RACE:  26 Minutes and 1.304 Seconds

QUALIFYING: