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Nelms Jr Takes His First Victory of 2014

After a couple of weeks off, one due to weather & one that was scheduled, staff, fans, drivers & crew filed into County Line Raceway on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. With temps in the upper 80's, and a slight chance of weather in the area, everyone was ready to get this night started.

Up first, the Super Stock 4 cylinder division with Glenn Bottoms and James Bailey on the front row for this 20 lap feature. The caution would come out early for Hunter Bailey, who spun on the backstretch. Back green with James Bailey leading John Proctor, Glenn Bottoms, Bill Winstead & Austin Holcombe. Holcombe was trying his best to get around Winstead, but Winstead held fast and began a challenge on Bottoms for 3rd. Winstead & Holcombe would get around Bottoms on lap 4 and as they came around to complete lap 5, Chris Moore would lose an engine bringing out the caution flag. Back green with Bailey leading Proctor, Winstead Holcombe & Bottoms. Caution over in turn 4 for Eric Hill, who spun around on lap 7. Wesley Outland, filling in for our normal flagman, waved the green flag over the field as we were back racing. James Bailey leads John Proctor, Bill Winstead, Austin Holcombe & Glenn Bottoms. Proctor pulled up alongside of Bailey, challenging for the lead. These 2 raced side by side for 2 laps, never touching. Proctor would get around Bailey to take the lead on the backstretch, but Bailey wasn't giving up. Austin Holcombe got around Winstead to take over the 3rd spot, as Hunter Bailey got around Bottoms to move up into the top 5. Up front, Bailey was all up on the bumper of Proctor, but Austin Holcombe was there as Bailey went high out of turn 4 to take over 2nd spot! The top 4 set a blistering pace as the laps wound down putting about half a track between 4th and 5th spot. Proctor never looked back as he took home his 3rd win of the 2014 season & 15th career win at County Line Raceway. He was followed by Austin Holcombe, James Bailey, Bill Winstead & James Manning. Excellent racing all through the field!! Great jobs guys!

Our 2nd feature of the night, the PL Woodard Pure Stock V8 division would line up on the backstretch with Paul Peele & Mike Wall on the front row. At the drop of the green flag, these guys were flat out down the front stretch with Gary Whitley charging up from his 4th starting spot to make it 3 wide for the lead going into turn 1! All the way through turn 1 & coming out of turn 2, these guys were door to door for that top spot. Gary Whitley would get out front followed by Mike Wall, Paul Peele, Wade Ferrell & Willie Schwann. Wall would bring out the caution with a spin over in turn 4, but was able to continue under his own power and we were quickly back green flag racing. Whitley lead Peele, Ferrell, Schwann & Dennis Kearney in dominating fashion. Whitley had about a half a track lead over 2nd spot when the caution came out for some debris in the racing groove on lap 10. Green flag with Gary Whitley hard in the gas. Paul Peele held down 2nd spot but Wade Ferrell was there. Willie Schwann and Dennis Kearney rounded out the top 5. Willie Schwann slowed over in turn 1, but Mike Wall couldn't slow down enough to avoid him & made contact bringing out the caution again. With a green white checker looming, Gary Whitley lead this field to the green. Wade Ferrell peeked down underneath Peele trying to get around to take over 2nd but couldn't. Gary Whitley would bring home the win, his 46th overall win, followed by Paul Peele, Wade Ferrell, Amanda Liles & Dennis Kearney.

Up next, the ever popular Late Model division with Russell Erwin & Dustin Mitchell leading this 16 car field to the green. Russell would power down the front stretch, slamming into turn 1 with the lead of this 30 lap feature. Dustin Mitchell tried to hold Roger Lucas off, but Lucas powered by to take over 2nd as Michael Batten got around to take over 3rd spot. Caution out early for a few cars on the front stretch, but we were back green with Erwin leading Lucas, Batten, Mitchell and Joyner. Michael Batten would power around Lucas to take over 2nd spot as Spencer Liggon was itching to get around Joyner to take over 5th spot. JP Cascell would get up in the mix and get around Liggon to take over 6th spot as Travis Hair got racy as he tried to get around Cascell! Lap 8 would see the caution again as Spencer Liggon drove it in deep in turn 4 and spun around almost collecting a few other cars. Luckily, the tail of the field was able to get by, although it looked like Bobby Bottoms may have suffered some cosmetic damage as he hit the berm trying to get around. Back green with Erwin leading Batten, Lucas, Mitchell & Joyner. At the half way mark, Russell Erwin was catching the tail of the field and lapping cars. Lap 17 would see another caution as William Carroll made contact with the wall in the middle of turn 3 & 4. Back green with Russell Erwin leading Michael Batten, Roger Lucas, Dustin Mitchell & JP Cascell. We were able to complete one lap before the caution came out again for Christian Joyner, who was running 6th, when some kind of mechanical issue slowed him down on the front stretch. Pulling into the hot pit area to receive attention from his crew, he was able to come back out to join the tail of the field. With 11 laps to go, we were back green with Russell Erwin leading Michael Batten, Roger Lucas, Dustin Mitchell & JP Cascell. Dykes Maynard would bring out the caution on lap 21 when he spun down in turn 4. There was no change in the top 5 as we went back green. Christian Joyner was able to recover from an earlier issue to get back up to the 7th spot as the leaders took the white flag. Russell Erwin would bring home the win followed by Michael Batten, Roger Lucas, Dustin Mitchell & JP Cascell. This would be Russell's 16th win at County Line Raceway.

The Pure Stock 4 cylinder division lined up outside of turn 4 with Brent Atkinson & Michael Webb on the front row. As these 2 lead this 17 car field to the green, they would battle hard down into turn 1, but as they exited turn 2, it would be Brent Atkinson taking the lead. A 2 car spin would bring the caution out early, just as the leaders crossed the line to complete lap 1. Back green with Atkinson leading Webb, Jeremy Benson, Gary Dillon & JP Brantley rounding out the top 5. Another quick caution would come out just as we completed lap 2, and as we went back green, there was no change in the top 5. Gary Dillon got around Benson to take over 3rd spot, and made a move on Webb to take over 2nd only to lose control over in turn 2, getting completely sideways. Jeremy Benson got a little bit of damage but the caution flag would come out for the J5 of JP Brantley who slowed to a stop prior to Dillon getting sideways in turn 2. Back green with Atkinson leading Webb, Dillon, Lee Hardie & Chris Collins. Gary Dillon would make a move again to get around Webb and would complete the pass going into turn 1. He would then set his sights on Atkinson, getting around him as they completed the circuit back into turn 1. Michael Webb would get around Atkinson for 2nd, and just as we were completing lap 8 the caution would come out for David Haggins as he had a fire underneath the car. Safety for our drivers is very important to the staff here at County Line, therefore we decided to throw the caution to ensure that David could safely exit his car. Back green with Gary Dillon leading Michael Webb, Brent Atkinson, Lee Hardie & Robby Causby. Chris Collins would bring out the caution on lap 11 as he slowed to a stop on the backstretch. Back green with Dillon leading Webb, Atkinson, Hardie & Causby. Gary Dillon would lead the remaining laps bringing home the win. He was followed by Michael Webb, Brent Atkinson, Lee Hardie & Robby Causby. This was Gary's 25th career win at County Line.

Our final event of the night, the always exciting Thunder & Lightning division with Cy Nelms, Jr. & Lane Proctor on the front row. Cy Nelms, Jr. jumped out front followed by Lane Proctor, Skeeter Liles Matthew Bissette & Mark Boykin. Liles made the move to get around Proctor, as Boykin made the move to get around Owens bringing his #7 up into the top 5. Lap 6 would see the first caution as a car spun down in turn 4. Back green with Nelms, Jr. leading Liles, Proctor, Bissette & Boykin. As the cross flags came out to signify half way, Cy Nelms, Jr. continued to lead Skeeter Liles, Lane Proctor, Matthew Bissette & Mark Boykin. Lap 12 would see the #7 of Mark Boykin have something happen that would cause him to pull down to the inside retaining wall briefly. He was able to continue under his own power, as the drivers were given the 1 to go signal. Cy Nelms, Jr. continued to lead Skeeter Liles, Lane Proctor, Matthew Bissette & Luke Owens. A caution would come out late in the race setting up a green, white, checker finish. Could Cy Nelms, Jr. hold off Skeeter Liles to bring home his first win of the season? Yes he would! Cy Nelms, Jr. would bring home the win followed by Skeeter Liles, Lane Proctor, Matthew Bissette & Mark Boykin, who shot around Luke Owens right before the line, to take over 5th spot.

Thanks everyone for coming out for an awesome night of racing!! Be sure to join us next Friday night, for the Ultimate Super Late Models - Road to Jamaica 50! The Ultimate Super Late Models will run 50 laps for $5,000 to win, joined by Thunder & Lightning, Super Stock Four Cylinder, Pure Stock V-8, Pure Stock Four Cylinder. Pit Gates open at 4, with spectator gates opening at 5. If you have any questions, please call the track at 252-985-1949.

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