Fans And Drivers Win At Gresham Season Finale, The JEGS 50

JEFFERSON, GA – Gresham Motorsports Park had an exciting and eventful season-ending race event, the JEGS 50, on Saturday night. Mini Stock and Truck drivers raced more laps, Points Champions were revealed and fans won big prizes.

The Mini Stock race was an exciting start to the night’s events. Scotty Beck started on the pole and stayed in the lead for the first half of the race with Calvert challenging him from second.  Behind Calvert, Dion Ciccaelli and Bill George were having their own battle for third.

When smoke began filling the cockpit of Beck’s Mini Stock, Calvert was able to get around him to take the lead.  The smoke didn’t stop Beck, he remained in second place and kept close to Calvert.  After a caution was called, Beck won the restart and Calvert moved from fourth to second within a few laps.  With only two laps to go, Beck had trouble and Calvert jumped to the lead and won the 50-lap Mini Stock race and the 2012 GMP Mini Stock point championship.  Dion Ciccaelli, Allen Cantrell, Scotty Beck and Brandon Amos made up the top five.

“We have never won a track Championship, and we have finally done it,” said Calvert, driver of the No. 01 Mini Stock.  “We don’t realize how lucky we are to have a track like Gresham to race at, it’s such a great track.”

The Renegade and Sportsman race added to the excitement!  Jackie Daniel and Jeff Chadwick had a side-by-side battle before Daniel took the lead.  Chadwick stayed nose-to-tail with Daniel and Brian Sosebee ran steady in third for the majority of the race.  Daniel held Chadwick and Sosebee behind him to win the race and the 2012 GMP Sportsman Point Championship.

In the Renegades, Mike Childers ran strong out front and landed in victory lane. Rob Hubbard, Brian Beckner and Nathaniel Carlisle finished behind Childers. Childers also, earned the title of 2012 GMP Point Champion for the Renegade division.

Jason Bates started in the front of the Outlaw Late Model Field and stayed there throughout the Outlaw Late Model race with Russell Fleeman challenging him from second place.  Todd Vanderford and Matthew Wragg had a tough competition for the fourth place position and Vanderford finally pulled ahead of Wragg, only to close in on Lee Langford and gain the third place spot.  Vanderford, behind Bates and Fleeman, tried to gain another spot, but Fleeman held him off for the remainder of the race.  Bates earned the win with Fleeman, Vanderford, Langford, Wragg, David Murphy and Michael Silvey rounding out the top six.  Matthew Wragg won the 2012 GMP Outlaw Late Model Point Championship.

The 75-lap Truck race kept fans on the edge of their seats!  After a caution was called on the first lap, due to Emilee Riley and Joel Townsend making contact and Riley spinning into the wall, Cody Haskins took the lead off of the restart.  With only eight laps completed, another caution was called because of a huge wreck that involved six of the thirteen trucks.  Haskins was the fastest off of the restart in front of Spencer Davis.  Truck Point Champion leader, Matt Vassar, challenged Davis from behind for the second place position while Aaron Calvert, Andy Gaddis and Ronnie Wehunt battled for fourth position.  The last 10 laps, Davis gave it his best and tried to gain the first place position, but Haskins would not let him have it.  Haskins won the race and Davis, Wehunt, Townsend, and Riley rounded out the top five.

With Max Gresham winning the pole for the JEGS 50, the Pro Late Model race was off to an exciting start!  Michael Lance made a move to the lead position with Spencer Davis right behind him, leaving Gresham and Kyle Plott competing for the third place position and Russell Fleeman and R.S. Senter close behind.

After a caution, due to Dale Tomazin’s wreck, Fleeman moved to second, leaving Davis to run third. While Davis and Fleeman were fighting up front, Gresham worked his way to sixth place from twelfth place.

Plott had run consistent in fourth place throughout the majority of the race until he and Fleeman made contact and Plott ended up in the wall on the backstretch.

R.S. Senter made an effort to gain second place over Fleeman off of the restart with Davis and Gresham close behind.  Davis was able to regain third place and with only seven laps to go, he pushed past Fleeman and finished second behind Lance.  Senter, Rodney Benefield and Kyle McCallum rounded out the top five.  Michael Lance won the JEGS 50 and Spencer Davis won the 2012 GMP Pro Late Model Point Championship.

Drivers weren’t the only ones who won big Saturday night.  Some lucky race fans received t-shirts, Texas Roadhouse gift certificates, a photo shoot with J. Harris Photography, a WalMart gift card and $100 from the Pumpkin throw.  Earl Shaddix won a 2013 trackside parking space and James Threatt won two tickets to the UGA/Georgia Tech game.  The raffle for the GA/Georgia Tech tickets raised money to help the Jefferson Fire Department for all that they have done for GMP and for the community.