DAWSONVILLE, GA – Mike Boland of Cuba, AL received the 2017 Chevrolet Performance Bob Cross Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday night at the NeSmith Racing Annual Awards Banquet at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame and Thunder Road Museum. Boland was honored as a dirt late model driver and constructor over the past 38 years.

Since beginning his racing career in 1980, Boland has seven Mississippi State Dirt Late Model Championships and two Fall Classic wins on his resume as a driver. In NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series competition since 2005, Boland ranks 5th Career Wins with 11 victories, is 5th in Career Laps Led with 465, and is 8th in Career Fast Time Awards with six.

Boland opened Boland Performance in 1995 and started building Trak-Star Race Cars in 2006. Drivers competing in Trak-Star Race Cars have won four NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Championships.

Earlier in the evening, Boland’s son Jamey, who has become a top running driver in his own right and works alongside his dad at Boland Performance, collected the seventh and fourth straight NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufactures Challenge Championship on behalf of Trak-Star Race Cars.

Boland Performance began building Trak-Star Street Stocks in 2016, and Lee Ray drove a Trak-Star Street Stock to four NeSmith Performance Parts Track Championships in 2017. Over 100 race teams competing in three different NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Divisions in Trak-Star Race Cars.

“This is the biggest and most prestigious award I’ve ever received in 38 years of racing,” Boland said. “I am very humbled and honored to receive this award, and to be included among the legends in this sport that are prior recipients of the Bob Cross Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The late Bob Cross was a General Motors Mechanical Engineer who worked with the company’s Indy Car and NASCAR programs through the years, but truly loved the “grass roots” aspect of the sport and was always interested in helping the weekly racer. Cross is known as “the Father of the Crate Racing Engine” as he developed an economical racing engine that was built and sealed at the factory to prevent any expensive modifications.

Past recipients of the Chevrolet Performance Bob Cross Lifetime Achievement Award are National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductees Ronnie Johnson (2010) and Jeff Purvis (2012), Chevrolet Performance Special Projects Manager Bill Martens (2011), NeSmith Racing Announcer and Publicist Roby Helm (2013), Hoosier Tire South’s Charles Roberts (2014), Dirt Late Model Driver and Promoter Johnny Stokes (2015), and NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC (2016).

The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series was the first racing series in the country to mandate the use of the Chevrolet Performance 604 and 602 Circle Track Engines in 2005. They have also mandated the use of the Chevrolet Performance 602 Engine for the NeSmith Chevrolet Late Model Sportsman Division since 2017.

The newest Chevrolet Performance Sealed Circle Track Engine, the LS3-based CT525 all-aluminum racing engine, has been used in the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series since 2013. The Chevrolet Performance 602 Engine is also a popular option in the NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock Division since 2013, and NeSmith Racing’s newest Division, the Crate Racin’ USA Modified Sportsman Division in 2018.

For more information and rules about the NeSmith Racing Divisions, 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 Late Models. NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC is one of the nation’s top GM Powertrain and Performance Dealer seven years running, with free delivery anywhere in the Southeast. Chevrolet Performance Parts is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models. Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models. Sunoco Race Fuels is the Official Race Fuel of the NeSmith Late Models. RockAuto.com is an Associate Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models. Beyea Headers the NeSmith Late Model Hard Charger Sponsor. Knowles Race Parts and Bodies is the Official Parts Supplier for the NeSmith Late Models. Cruise With The Champions is the Official Vacation and Rookie of the Year Sponsor for the NeSmith Late Models. David Smith Carburetors is the Official Carburetor of NeSmith Racing. Freestyle Graphix is the Official Wrap, Banner, and Sign Company of NeSmith Racing. NeSmith Late Model Contingency Sponsors for 2017 are Out-Pace Performance, CrateInsider.Com, Gresham Racing Parts, Knowles Racing Parts and Bodies, and FreeStyle Graphix. 2017 Chassis Sponsors are Trak-Star Race Cars, Warrior Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, and CVR Race Cars.