Smokey Tops at the Gassy Smith Memorial

[NC Ghost Hunter]

Gaffney, South Carolina - A packed house Friday night at the Cherokee Speedway got alot to cheer about from the local racers. Chris Madden, Chris Ferguson, Jeff Cooke, Jeff Smith, Brent Dixon and Furman Parton all had strong showings againt the stars of the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series.



Madden in Victory Lane

Chris Ferguson, of Gastonia, NC took the fast time over Jeff Cooke by the slimmest of margins. The officials in the tower initally called it a dead heat and give it to Cooke due to Cooke's earlier draw position. Timing and Scoring over ruled the tower due to the readout they have reads to the 10,000ths of a second, the tower only sees to the 1,000th. This was Ferguson's 1st career fast time for a Lucas event. After collecting his awards, he spun the wheel for the inversion and got a 2. The heats were pretty racy raising hopes for a great A Main.

Chris Ferguson collecting his PRC Fast Time award


Ferguson's luck ended before the race began though. When sitting on the grid, he developed a leaky left front. Per Lucas rules once you present your car on the grid for lineup, you cannot make change tires. One the opening lap young chis jumped the cushion in turn 3 and slipped back to fourth. Madden assumed the point and controlled the remaining 34 laps to take the victory. The nights biggest incident came on the restart at lap two when Ferguson's tire gave up the ghost and John Blankenship got into Dennis "Rambo" Franklin while taking evasive action, forcing Franklin into the turn 2 wall. Franklin was not a happy camper at all. Ferguson and Blankenship would continue.

Opps!! Dennis Franklin

Madden set sail opening a 15 car length lead before encountering lap traffic on lap 21. This allowed the duo of Dale McDowell and Jimmy Owens to reel Madden in. Lap 29 Owens started to show McDowell his nose but never got clear enough to complete the pass. A late caution set up, a green, white, checkers finish. Madden was on a rail for the last 2 laps with clear track ahead.


Dale McDowell

“We went to qualify early and the car was real good, we’ve run well here all year, it’s great to win in front of all these people here, the track was fast and racy tonight, I have to thank my crew, my wife, kids and all my sponsors I couldn’t do it without them and to win a Lucas Oil race is great against this tough competition they have,” said the 34-year-old driver.


Furman Parton, Steve Casebolt and Dan Schliper

Race Notes

PRC Fast Time: Chris Ferguson/ 15.415 seconds

Hawk Brake First Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Chris Ferguson, Petey Ivey, Scott Bloomquist, Brent Dixon, Brad Neat, Ricky Weeks, Dan Schlieper, Johnny Pursley, Freddy Smith, Daniel Baggerly

Hawk Brake Second Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Chris Madden, Jeff Cooke, Jonathan Davenport, Don O’Neal, John Blankenship, David Breazeale, Ray Cook, Shon Flanary, Michael Walker

AFCO Racing Products Third Heat (10 Laps-Top 6 Advance): Jimmy Owens, Dale McDowell, Jeff Smith, Dennis Franklin, Ed Basey, Furman Parton, Steve Casebolt, Monk Gulledge, Josh McGuire, Benji Cole-DNS

Mason Racin’ Rebel Shock Dyno First B-Main (12 Laps- Top 4 Advance): David Breazeale, Dan Schlieper, Johnny Pursley, Steve Casebolt, Ray Cook, Freddy Smith, Shon Flanary, Daniel Baggerly, Monk Gulledge, Josh McGuire, Michael Walker-DNS, Benji Cole-DNS


Jonathon Davenport

Finish (Start) Car Number Driver Name
1. (2) #44M Chris Madden
2. (6) #17M Dale McDowell
3. (3) #20 Jimmy Owens
4. (5) #99C Jeff Cooke
5. (7) #0 Scott Bloomquist
6. (9) #18M Jeff Smith
7. (13) #41N Brad Neat
8. (10) #1D Brent Dixon
9. (18) #6P Furman Parton
10. (22) #c9 Steve Casebolt
11. (11) #71 Don O’Neal
12. (20) #s9 Dan Schliper
13. (23) #53 Ray Cook
14. (8) #6 Jonathan Davenport
15. (21) #09 Johnny Pursley
16. (19) #54 David Breazeale
17. (14) #23 John Blankenship
18. (17) #44 Earl Pearson Jr.
19. (25) #00 Freddy Smith
20. (15) #4B Ed Basey
21. (1) #22 Chris Ferguson
22. (24) #41 Josh McGuire
23. (4) #75 Petey Ivey
24. (12) #2 Dennis Franklin
25. (16) #1w Ricky Weeks


:The Newport Nightmare" Jimmy Owens

Race Statistics

Entries: 30
Caution Flags: Ricky Weeks (Lap 2); Dennis Franklin, John Blankenship (Lap 2); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 33)
Lap Leaders: Chris Madden (1-35)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Ray Cook, Josh McGuire
PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Steve Casebolt
Allstar Performance Performer of the Race: Brad Neat
K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Dale McDowell
Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: David Breazeale
Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Cornett Racing Engines
Time of the Race: 30 minutes 28 seconds

2009 Championship Points Standings Top 10

1. Scott Bloomquist (Mooresburg, TN) 3175
2. Dale McDowell (Chickamauga, GA) 2815
3. Jimmy Owens (Newport, TN) 2795
4. Earl Pearson Jr. (Jacksonville, FL) 2755
5. Ray Cook (Brasstown, NC) 2690
6. Don O’Neal (Martinsville, IN) 2645
7. Steve Casebolt (Richmond, IN) 2610
8. Brad Neat (Dunnville, KY) 2550
9. Josh McGuire (Grayson, KY) 2425
10. John Blankenship (Williamson, WV) 2260

Sources NC Ghost Hunter and lucusdirt.com
All Photos by NC Ghost Hunter