Chevy Super Series Plus Tazewell Speedway Equals Fast Close Competition

CARTERSVILLE, GA – America’s first “Factory Backed and Factory Built” dirt late model series, the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series, will make their second appearance of the 2014 season on Sunday night at Tazewell Speedway in Tazewell, TN for the $4,400-to-win $400-to-start 6th Annual Buddy Rogers Memorial 44 Presented By West Chevrolet.

Tazewell Speedway, nestled in the foothills just a few miles from the Cumberland Gap, has had a long reputation of being a small, action-packed, and very fast high-banked quarter-mile clay oval. It’s a reputation that race fans have grown to love, and one that some drivers fear. But one thing is certain; they all respect the track known as the “Bad Fast Taz.”

Different types of dirt late models have their own characteristics when running at speed at Tazewell Speedway. It’s kind of like the Three Bears Syndrome – One is too hot, one is too cold, and one is just right.

The Super Late Models with high-dollar open engines can showcase their high horsepower, but in doing so, are on the brink of disaster. The Super Late Models with open engines find the “Sweet Spot” around the Taz for maximum speed, and fight each other for that piece of real estate. Running at the limit, or “Too Hot” around the close confines of Tazewell Speedway can put a driver in the middle of a wreck before they know they’re in it.

Dirt late models powered by the Chevrolet Performance 604 Circle Track Engine can spread out and move around Tazewell Speedway. They are still going fast enough to get into trouble, but they lack the extra horsepower to maneuver out of harm’s way and a lot of wrecked race cars is the result. That makes them “Too Cold” for The Taz.

Last season the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series arrived at Tazewell Speedway as an unknown commodity. The Chevy Super Series dirt late models are powered by the all-aluminum Chevrolet Performance CT 525 Racing Engine based on the production LS 3 Engine that is under the hood of the Chevrolet Corvette, Chevrolet Camaro and the Chevrolet SS available at Chevrolet dealerships world-wide.

The horsepower rating of the CT 525 Engine lands somewhere between the open engine and the Chevrolet Performance 604 Circle Track Engine. Knowing the reputation of The Taz, nobody knew what expect. The fear some drivers have of Tazewell Speedway was still there and kept some drivers away, as it still does today.

For the fearless drivers that came to give it a try, they were pleasantly surprised with the machines they raced that night at Tazewell Speedway. All most every driver that competed at Tazewell Speedway in that first Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series race said the same thing.

Drivers that were Tazewell Speedway veterans said the Chevrolet Performance CT 525 Engine gave their dirt late models drivability like they had never experienced at The Taz. Drivers that raced at Tazewell Speedway for the first time said they’re fears were gone and replaced with fun.
The CT 525 Engine didn’t over power the track to take the race cars to the brink of disaster, but they were fast enough to avoid trouble. This led to fast close quarters racing that was “Just Right!”

And the race fans, well they saw something they rarely had seen at a Tazewell Speedway dirt late model race - three-wide racing. Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA drove in a groove higher than had ever been seen before at Tazewell Speedway to pass William Thomas of Phenix City, AL and Tim Busha of Boaz, AL, who were side-by-side below Turner battling for the lead.

The fans that were at Tazewell Speedway that night couldn’t believe what they saw, but that three-wide wall-to-wall image of dirt late models racing each other without touching each other was etched in their minds, and keeps them coming back when the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series comes to town.

The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series made their second visit to Tazewell Speedway on June 14, and National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN, a Tazewell Speedway fan favorite for over 40 years, took the win in a race that featured the same two and three-wide racing the first race produced.

There were side-by-side battles for position throughout the field by drivers that had never seen Tazewell Speedway before. They had heard about the reputation of Tazewell Speedway, but their fears were quickly overcome by the fun they had racing their Chevy Super Series dirt late models around “The Bad Fast Taz.”

Turner was back, this time as a fan favorite after his spectacular win the previous season, and he didn’t disappoint with a fearless charge. Turner missed the set in qualifying and started 12th for the main event. Using the same daring moves in what is now known as the “Turner Groove,” the Georgia driver went higher than the high groove of Tazewell Speedway to finish sixth.

When the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series returns this Sunday night to Tazewell Speedway for the $4,400-to-win $400-to-start 6th Annual Buddy Rogers Memorial 44, Johnson and Turner will return looking for their second win at The Taz. Tyler Crowder of Lamont, FL returns to battle Johnson for the 2014 Chevy Super Series $10,000 National Championship.

Chase Edge of LaFayette, AL and Jadon Frame of Winchester, TN will battle each other for the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series Rookie of the Year Award. Other top drivers expected include Jake Knowles of Tyrone, GA, Lavon Sparks of Phenix City, AL, Mark Dowdy of Waterloo, AL, David Brannon of Elora, TN, Mack McCarter of Gatlinburg, TN, Brad Hall of Knoxville, TN, Brandon Williams of Crossville, TN, and Matthew Summers of Winchester, TN.

While the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series brings the Tazewell Speedway race fans close, fast racing, the drivers of the Chevy Super Series bring one more thing to the fans before the races even begin that they are not used to seeing – themselves and their race cars in the Chevy Fan Zone.

The drivers will bring their race cars to the fans in the grandstand area of Tazewell Speedway before the races begin in the Chevy Fan Zone. Race fans can meet the drivers and see their super dirt late model race cars up close and personal.

Drivers will have autographed Hero Cards and there will also be special dirt late coloring books for the kids. There will also be Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series apparel available for purchase that the drivers will autograph.

Race fans can see the Chevrolet LS 3 engines that power the race cars of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series, the same engine that is equipped in a passenger car they can purchase at West Chevrolet, and other Chevrolet dealerships world-wide to drive to the track. This is something that is not seen in any other dirt racing series.

Mark Dowdy is the “Mayor” of the Chevy Fan Zone. Even though he has yet to win his first series even, Dowdy has become a fan favorite just for the courage and inspiration he gives those who meet him and become to know him. Dowdy was critically injured in a motorcycle accident a few years ago that left him with a severed spinal cord and paralyzed from the waist down.

Dowdy drives his race car using hand controls. As he sits in the door of his race car in the Chevy Fan Zone, one would not know he cannot stand or walk. He even has a sense of humor about his disability that leaves people that meet him for the first time comfortable around him and with a new outlook on life. Dowdy has said that when he wins a Chevy Super Series race, you won’t see him do a roof dance, but you’ll see the wildest victory celebration you’ve ever seen from the waist up!

On Sunday night, the pit gate opens at 4 p.m. and the grandstand gate opens at 5 p.m. Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series Pre-Race Registration and Technical Inspection will be from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Chevy Fan Zone will be open in the Grandstand area from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Drivers Meeting is set for 7 p.m. with racing scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Tazewell Speedway is located three miles northwest of Tazewell, TN off U.S. Highway 25E at 1400 Bacchus Road, Tazewell, TN 37879. For more information call 423-626-2222, or visit their web site at www.tazewellspeedway.net. You can also like their Facebook page at Tazewell Speedway.

For more information about the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visit the series web site at www.525superseries.com, or visit the series on Facebook at Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series.


Chevrolet Performance Parts is the Title Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Schaeffer’s Oil Presented By Chad Wallace and Heather Newsome is the Official Oil of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. AR Bodies is an Official Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Cruise With The Champions is an Official Sponsor of the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series. Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2014 are Modern Images, Mike Custom Tanks, KRC Power Steering, David Smith Carburetors, Kinser Air Filters, and Shorty’s Shock Service.