crusapr
04-24-2012, 05:31 PM
CARTERSVILLE, GA – Success with the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series earned Chase Edge of Lafayette, AL a test in an ARCA car at Talladega Super Speedway on April 18. Edge impressed veteran observers after turning 40 laps on the 2.66-mile high banks in Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Driving School Chevrolet.
Edge turned in a top speed of 174.087 miles per hour in his first time driving a race car on an asphalt track. Edge said there is a big difference driving a dirt late model sideways at 100 miles per hour on a relatively flat clay surface and an asphalt car on track banked at 33 degrees in the turns.
“It was fun, it was fast, and I liked it,” Edge said. “It was a lot different than what I expected. It only took me about a half a lap to get used to it. I just held the throttle down to the floor and drove the car straight. Going down the backstretch, it was like driving on the interstate, but when you got to the end it was like looking at a brick wall with the banking in the third turn.”
On the dirt tracks, Edge is used to having to get up on the steering wheel, constantly turning in both directions to negotiate the turns sideways. At Talladega, Edge said that although the high-banked turns look intimidating, it didn’t take much effort, compared to a dirt car, to get through them.
“When you go into the corner at Talladega, the car does most of the work, and the banking holds the car,” Edge said. “I just held the wheel as straight as I could and once you’re in the corner, it pushes you down in the seat and the banking doesn’t seem as steep. The race car just rolls through there. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
Now that he was going faster than he ever had in his 18 years on the planet, the next challenge for Edge was to get the car slowed down from 174 to the pit road speed of 55 miles per hour.
”On the dirt track, we use one-way radio communication where the race director talks to all of the drivers on the track at the same time,” Edge said. “At the ARCA test, I had a crew chief and a spotter talking to no one else but me, so that was pretty cool. They let me make a pit stop and told me things on the radio like to make sure I pumped the brakes down the backstretch so I could get slowed down for pit road coming off the fourth turn.”
Edge was the 2010 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series East Region Champion and the Late Model Champion at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL. Last season, Edge won the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year honors and finished fourth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring points.
That success caught the eye of a marketing firm that opened the door for Edge to have an opportunity to test the Hillenburg ARCA car at Talladega Super Speedway.
Hillenburg’s background in racing is similar to Edge’s in that Hillenburg crafted his racing skills on the dirt tracks of the Midwest running USAC before moving to asphalt stock cars. Hillenburg also raced in the 2000 Indianapolis 500. Aside from driving, Hillenburg owns Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC and the Fast Track Driving School.
The Talladega test session was successful enough for Edge that he has been invited to participate in another test next month at Rockingham Speedway as a part of the Fast Track Driving School. But before then, Edge will be back behind the wheel of the Edge’s Gas Company dirt late model competing in NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division action.
This weekend, Edge will compete in a pair of NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring events at Albany Motor Speedway in Albany, GA. On Friday night, it’s a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race and then a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race on Saturday night.
Edge will travel to Malden Speedway in Malden, MO on Friday night, May 4 for a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race at Malden Speedway, and then it’s off to Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN on Saturday night, May 5 for a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race.
The freshman at Southern Union College may be going 70 miles per hour slower at these four events than he was going at Talladega Super Speedway, but he will be a lot busier behind the steering wheel slinging his NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series race car sideways around the corners.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at NeSmith Racing. Becoming a fan of the NeSmith Racing Facebook page will make you eligible for special prizes that will be given away each month. You can follow us on Twitter @NeSmithRacing.
NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC of Claxton, GA is the Title Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC is the nation’s number one GM Powertrain Dealer four years running, with free delivery anywhere in the Southeast. Chevrolet Performance Parts is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. VP Racing Fuel is the Official Racing Fuel of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. Hedman Hedders is the Official Hedder of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series and the Hedman Husler Award sponsor. RockAuto.com is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2012 are Dominator Race Products, Race Car Engineering, KRC, QA 1 Precision Products, Modern Images, Mike Custom Tanks, Shorty’s Shock Service, Schoenfeld Headers, Integra Racing Shocks, J.T. Kerr Racing Equipment, Kinser Air Filters, Trak-Star Race Cars, Warrior Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, TNT Race Cars, and Stinger Race Cars.
Edge turned in a top speed of 174.087 miles per hour in his first time driving a race car on an asphalt track. Edge said there is a big difference driving a dirt late model sideways at 100 miles per hour on a relatively flat clay surface and an asphalt car on track banked at 33 degrees in the turns.
“It was fun, it was fast, and I liked it,” Edge said. “It was a lot different than what I expected. It only took me about a half a lap to get used to it. I just held the throttle down to the floor and drove the car straight. Going down the backstretch, it was like driving on the interstate, but when you got to the end it was like looking at a brick wall with the banking in the third turn.”
On the dirt tracks, Edge is used to having to get up on the steering wheel, constantly turning in both directions to negotiate the turns sideways. At Talladega, Edge said that although the high-banked turns look intimidating, it didn’t take much effort, compared to a dirt car, to get through them.
“When you go into the corner at Talladega, the car does most of the work, and the banking holds the car,” Edge said. “I just held the wheel as straight as I could and once you’re in the corner, it pushes you down in the seat and the banking doesn’t seem as steep. The race car just rolls through there. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
Now that he was going faster than he ever had in his 18 years on the planet, the next challenge for Edge was to get the car slowed down from 174 to the pit road speed of 55 miles per hour.
”On the dirt track, we use one-way radio communication where the race director talks to all of the drivers on the track at the same time,” Edge said. “At the ARCA test, I had a crew chief and a spotter talking to no one else but me, so that was pretty cool. They let me make a pit stop and told me things on the radio like to make sure I pumped the brakes down the backstretch so I could get slowed down for pit road coming off the fourth turn.”
Edge was the 2010 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series East Region Champion and the Late Model Champion at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, AL. Last season, Edge won the VP Racing Fuels Rookie of the Year honors and finished fourth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring points.
That success caught the eye of a marketing firm that opened the door for Edge to have an opportunity to test the Hillenburg ARCA car at Talladega Super Speedway.
Hillenburg’s background in racing is similar to Edge’s in that Hillenburg crafted his racing skills on the dirt tracks of the Midwest running USAC before moving to asphalt stock cars. Hillenburg also raced in the 2000 Indianapolis 500. Aside from driving, Hillenburg owns Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC and the Fast Track Driving School.
The Talladega test session was successful enough for Edge that he has been invited to participate in another test next month at Rockingham Speedway as a part of the Fast Track Driving School. But before then, Edge will be back behind the wheel of the Edge’s Gas Company dirt late model competing in NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division action.
This weekend, Edge will compete in a pair of NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring events at Albany Motor Speedway in Albany, GA. On Friday night, it’s a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race and then a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race on Saturday night.
Edge will travel to Malden Speedway in Malden, MO on Friday night, May 4 for a 40-lap $2,000-to-win race at Malden Speedway, and then it’s off to Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN on Saturday night, May 5 for a 50-lap $2,500-to-win race.
The freshman at Southern Union College may be going 70 miles per hour slower at these four events than he was going at Talladega Super Speedway, but he will be a lot busier behind the steering wheel slinging his NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series race car sideways around the corners.
For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at NeSmith Racing. Becoming a fan of the NeSmith Racing Facebook page will make you eligible for special prizes that will be given away each month. You can follow us on Twitter @NeSmithRacing.
NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC of Claxton, GA is the Title Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC is the nation’s number one GM Powertrain Dealer four years running, with free delivery anywhere in the Southeast. Chevrolet Performance Parts is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. VP Racing Fuel is the Official Racing Fuel of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. Hedman Hedders is the Official Hedder of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series and the Hedman Husler Award sponsor. RockAuto.com is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series. NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2012 are Dominator Race Products, Race Car Engineering, KRC, QA 1 Precision Products, Modern Images, Mike Custom Tanks, Shorty’s Shock Service, Schoenfeld Headers, Integra Racing Shocks, J.T. Kerr Racing Equipment, Kinser Air Filters, Trak-Star Race Cars, Warrior Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, TNT Race Cars, and Stinger Race Cars.