Greenville, Mississippi (10/04/14) – Timothy Culp won his first-career Dirt Late Model feature at Greenville Speedway in 2011, and on Saturday night he won the richest of his young career with a $10,000 triumph in the 8th Annual Gumbo Nationals.

“This place has always been special to me since it’s the first place I won in a Super Late Model, but it hasn’t always been kind to me,” said an elated Culp in victory lane after successful completing nearly a dozen doughnuts in the infield after bagging the victory in the richest event in the history of the facility. “Tonight we had no mechanical failures, no bad luck, and we did what few have been able to do and that’s beat Bub McCool at Greenville.”

Culp jumped to the lead at the drop of the green flag from his outside-front-row starting spot for the 75 lapper. He paced the opening circuits, which were plagued by a series of cautions. Bub McCool, Neil Baggett, Tyler Erb, and Ronnie Johnson gave chase during the opening laps, and McCool used a lap 8 restart to catapult into the lead.

Culp would remain persistent though, and on a lap 18 restart he used a strong run on the low side to retake the lead as McCool slipped as far back as the third spot before mounting a charge back to the lead three circuits later. Culp continued to use restarts to his advantage, and on a lap 30 restart he raced into the top spot.

The next several laps found Culp and McCool tap dancing around the high groove. Behind the lead duo incredible battles waged through the pack with three and four wide action with Baggett, Erb, Ronnie Johnson, and Morgan Bagley fighting tooth and nail for the third spot.

A lap 41 slide job in turn two sent McCool to the lead, but a lap 48 restart saw Culp rocketing back into the lead once again. The next ten laps found Culp and McCool waging war for the lead through lapped traffic. That all came to an end on lap 59, when McCool bounced off the turn 4 wall, resulting in a broken driveshaft, which ended his night.

Despite a late-race charge from Neil Baggett, Timothy Culp went on to power his Bennings Heat & Air #c8 Bob Pierce Super Late Model to the $10,000 victory. Neil Baggett, Chad Thrash, Tyler Erb, and Morgan Bagley rounded out the top five finishers.

A bevy of bonuses in memory of Greg Camponovo, who lost his life a week earlier in an accident on his family farm, were distributed throughout the payout.

Full results from the event are available at www.GreenvilleSpeedway.net .
8th Annual Gumbo Nationals – October 3rd – 4th, 2014
Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series (MSCCS)
Greenville Speedway (Greenville, MS)
Main Event (75 Laps)
1) Timothy Culp (Sheridan, Arkansas) – $10,200
2) Neil Baggett (Shannon, Mississippi) – $5,000
3) Chad Thrash (Meridian, Mississippi) – $2,500
4) Tyler Erb (Magnolia, Texas) – $2,000
5) Morgan Bagley (Longview, Texas) – $1,500
6) Kyle Beard (Trumann, Arkansas) – $1,200
7) Robert Baker (Bryant, Arkansas) – $1,150
8) Eric Cooley (Fulton, Mississippi) – $1,125
9) David Breazeale (Four Corners, Mississippi) – $1,100
10) Clay Fisher (Dewitt, Arkansas) – $1,075
11) Rick Rickman (Columbus, Mississippi) – $1,050
12) Doug Showah (Indianola, Mississippi) – $1,025
13) Garrett Alberson (Las Cruces, New Mexico) – $1,000
14) Robbie Stuart (Deridder, Louisiana) – $1,100
15) Chris Huckabay (West Monroe, Louisiana) – $1,000
16) Duke Palasini (Leland, Mississippi) – $1,000
17) Bub McCool (Vicksburg, Mississippi) – $1,200
18) Ronnie Johnson (Chattanooga, Louisiana) – $1,150
19) Chase Washington (Houlka, Mississippi) – $1,000
20) Brian Rickman (Columbus, Mississippi) – $1,000
21) Mark Dodson (Caledonia, Mississippi) – $1,000
22) Jon Mitchell (Texarkana, Texas) – $1,000
23) Dane Dacus (Lakeland, Tennessee) – $1,000
24) Ray Moore (Haughton, Louisiana) – $1,000

Entries: 50
Group A Fast Qualifier: David Breazeale 14.593 seconds (Overall)
Group B Fast Qualifier: Timothy Culp 15.397 seconds
Heat Race Winners: Neil Baggett, Timothy Culp, Bub McCool, Tyler Erb, Robert Baker, Ronnie Johnson
B-Main Winners: Chris Huckabay, Robbie Stuart
Lap Leaders: Timothy Culp (1-7, 18-20, 30-40, 48-75); Bub McCool (8-17, 21-29, 41-47)

Heat Race #1: Neil Baggett, Brian Rickman, Eric Cooley, Chase Washington, Tanner Kellick, Zach McMillan, Justin Paxton, Jack Sullivan, David Breazeale,

Heat Race #2: Timothy Culp, Morgan Bagley, Chad Thrash, Robbie Stuart, Rob Litton, Eddie Rickman, Greg Fore, Lynn Beach

Heat Race #3: Bub McCool, Dane Dacus, Jon Mitchell, Chris Huckabay, Bo Gordon, Bubba Harrison, Scott Abraham, Clint Logan

Heat Race #4: Tyler Erb, Clay Fisher, Duke Palasini, Anthony Burroughs, Casey Findley, Kyle Pleasant, Lynnsee Provence, Chad Dupont

Heat Race #5: Robert Baker, Rick Rickman, Garrett Alberson, Ross Camponovo, Patrik Daniel, Mark Dodson, Edmond Jenkins, Brandon Hightower

Heat Race #6: Ronnie Johnson, Doug Showah, Ray Moore, Kyle Beard, Jason Michau, Tommy Surrett, Trey Beene, Mark Edwards

Thanks!
Ben Shelton, Owner
MSR Mafia Marketing & Website Services – www.MSRMafia.com
The Midsouth Racing Scene – www.MidSouthRacing.com