October 14th 2023
Located on Georgia Highway 77, four miles outside of the small town of Lavonia, sits the beautiful Lavonia Speedway. The 3/8-mile, slightly banked dirt oval is a staple in the North Georgia mountains. This weekend, the GM Performance 602 Series came roaring to life in the Charlie Mize Memorial, and they brought a packed house with them.
The GM Performance 602 Series brought out competitors of all ages and sizes. The oldest of these drivers was in his mid 80’s, while the youngest was not even old enough to get their license! Before we recap the racing action of the night, there was one particular driver with an intersting background that we felt should be highlighted.
Seth Christensen has become a notable youngster in the asphalt late model world. The 2023 Alabama 200 winner is still getting his feet wet in the dirt racing world, with this being his third dirt late model race ever. Christensen drove the no. 94 machine in this race for TGR – Lazer Racing & Development.
The field was stacked, with a total of 34 cars. Only 24 would make the main event.
In qualifying, Daniel Doster would rocket his no. 15K machine straight to the top of the podium with a blazing fast 16.948 lap time around the 3/8 mile banks of Lavonia. Young gun Luke Cooper (57) was not far behind, just a mere .0013 of a second (16.961).
When asked about his qualifying run, Doster simply stated, “I would just like to thank all of my sponsors and God for this opportunity that has been given to me and hopefully we can finish right where we started.”
The first lap of the feature event was rather eventful, with the no. 21 car of Jay Merck spinning in turn 4, sending him to the rear of the field for the ensuing single-file restart.
Early on, Luke Cooper would find his groove and make a sliding pass around Doster, who eventually fell to the middle of the pack. Layton Sullivan (71) would charge hard against Cooper, but he could not be able to pass him. However, the battle between Sullivan and Cooper would come to an interesting climax with seven laps to go.
The caution flag would fly on lap 18, when the no. 121 of Blake Craft, the no. 49 of Taylor Griffith, and the no. 12 of Michael Smith made contact on the exit of turn 4, resulting in all 3 cars spinning out.
Cooper would lead the field back to green with Sullivan hot on his tail. Cooper would navigate his way around traffic and secure the win, his fourth in a row with the GM Performance 602 Series.
“We qualified the outside pole and we knew if we didn’t get him the first lap, it was going to be a challenge,” said Cooper.
“We found the groove early and boy it was a slick as could be, and the passing was minimal. Getting through the lapped traffic was a challenge, but we managed. We had a fantastic car. I can’t thank my dad enough, just blessed to be here.”
Charlie Mize Memorial Final Results:
- Luke Cooper
- Layton Sullivan
- Jay Coen
- David Smith
- Jake Jackson
- Daniel Doster
- Austin Mintz
- Frankie Beard
- Nathan Bray
- Kenny Collins
- Hoyt Partain
- Preston Dimsadale
- Chris Woods
- Seth Christensen
- Dustin Taylor
- Shane Yarbrough
- Colton Dimsdale
- Alex Vance
- Blake Craft
- Taylor Griffith
- Michael Smith
- Cody Segars
- Jay Merck
- Parris Simmons
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