[Task Force]

PIERSON WINS GATOR DIRT NATIONALS FINALE
By Zach Tasker

Saturday night February 14 saw the Southern States Midget Series Gator Dirt Nationals race at the North Florida Speedway in Lake City, Florida for the finale of the three-day open wheel extravaganza. The most prestigious D2 midget race in the country with a stacked field of cars from multiple states would see teammates Adam Pierson and Josh Sunn start on the front row for the 33 lap feature in honor of fallen racer Patrick Wilda Jr.

The field took the green, and it didn’t take long for calamity to break out. With just one lap completed in turn one, there was a four-car incident. Friday night's feature winner Josh Sunn got crossed up and looped the car in front of the field. Darrin Davis couldn’t avoid him and clipped the front end of Sunn’s car causing Davis to flip upside down while Frank Malec and Daniel Robinson were also collected. All drivers were uninjured. Pierson then began to open up his lead after the green flag came back out. The 2013 Lucas Oil Powri Outlaw Midget Series champion also had a lead on Friday night in the feature before losing it in the last stages.

After a restart with five laps to go due to a Brandon Denton spin in turn 3 Pierson would scoot away from the field and take a straightforward dominating win over Seth Carlson in the runner-up spot. The White River, Vermont native had a huge weekend of winning. Saturday's feature was his 5th win on the weekend (Thursday night heat race, Friday night heat race, Friday Race of Champions, Saturday night heat race, Saturday night feature).“I couldn’t have done it without a good team here behind me. It’s a team effort, it's not just about the driver its the whole thing. Brad Noffsinger, he set this car up perfect tonight. I have to thank Matt, he knows every bolt on this car, my cousin Chris; I want to thank my teammate Josh. Bobby and Matt and Bubby, Blackwatch Farms , and, of course, the man upstairs that has been watching over us the last year, Elliott. He's with us every night.”

The driver of the #76m Blackwatch Farms/Brad Noffsinger Racing Acadamy/BMRS Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Spike/Focus will definitely have a much easier drive back to Vermont with a huge Gator trophy to keep him company on the ride. "We will all talk about it for the first couple of hours but we have about a 20-22 hour drive, so we are leaving right after the races.”

Runner up Seth Carlson was a few car lengths behind Pierson but couldn’t mount a challenge in the end, still a respectable finish for the Brimfield, Massachutes racer who finished 3rd on Thursday and 4th on Friday. “We are really not used to a track like this and we are still new to it but we made a bunch of changes to the car and it got a lot better and I really want to thank Greg Olson for bringing us out here and giving me a great car to drive and good job to Adam.” The driver of the #7 Greg Olson Racing Ellis/Ecotec proved the northeastern midget racers are very talented when compared to the rest of the country. “People think midget racing in the Northeast is a joke but I think we did pretty good.”

One of the most amazing stories in the field was that of Chett Gehrke. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native was plagued with engine gremlins all of Thursday and Friday night and barely had any laps ran before Saturday. However, he was able to get the problems sorted out and drove an amazing race from 18th starting spot to 3rd position, running out of time to make a move on the leaders. “It's amazing to think what would have happened if this thing ran all weekend, I might have had a chance but once I got to 2nd and 3rd we were all about the same speed. I was a little faster if I could hit it perfect, but it was a very fine line there.” The driver of the #11c PPM Titanum Products/Skips Catering Beast/Ecotec showed he was a true racer though, always wanting more “I don’t know as much headache as it was all weekend a 3rd place still isn’t that good but from last I guess its alright.”

The night's dash races were won by Adam Pierson who had a great late race battle with Seth Carlson and Josh Sunn, who had a multiple car length win. The night's heat race was collected by Darrin Davis who benefited from an engine change Saturday afternoon. Thus concludes the inaugural Gator Dirt Nationals. The Southern States Midget Series would like to thank all of the drivers, car owners, crew members and fans that have supported this great event. Plans are already underway for next year's sequel. Next up for the SSMS is back at the North Florida Speedway on March 14. For more info visit Southren States Midget Series on Facebook or www.sssprints.com

SATURDAY FEATURE RESULTS (33 LAPS): 1)#76M Adam Pierson 2)#7ri Seth Carlson 3)#11c Chett Gehrke 4)#29 Anthony Nocella 5)#24 Dillon Buhr 6)#33 Tim Gallant 7)#47 Scott Holcomb 8)#45 Brandon Denton 9)#6 Frank Malec 10)#1 Brad Mcdaniel 11)#13 John Kahl 12)#46d Andy Barrows 13)#0 Daniel Robinson 14)#92 Darrin Davis 15)#76 Josh Sunn 16)#30 Terry Becker 17)#10c Jimmy Clark Jr. 18)#20x Clayton Mullett

[DaGuy]

Congrats

[Revolution Racing]

Way to hang in there Chet! Last to 3rd not a bad way to finish up!