NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 14 Round Up

CARTERSVILLE, GA – Week 14 of the 27-week 2015 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series season saw the best of times for some drivers, and the worst for times of others. Then there were some that didn’t see any racing thanks to Mother Nature. Some of the drivers with high Weekly Point Averages took a hit in that department with a variety of issues in Week 14 competition.

Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, MS still leads the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings, but he didn’t help his cause much in Week 14 competition. After a Friday night rainout at his home track, Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS, Arnold traveled to Greenville Speedway in Greenville, MS on Saturday night where he failed to start the feature race, and received 25 points.

What on the surface may seem as a setback for Arnold was actually a 25-point gain on the second-place driver in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings, Joseph Joiner of Milton, FL, who did not compete in Week 14 action mainly due to his home track, Southern Raceway in Milton, FL, raining out their NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race on Saturday night.

Arnold sits atop of the points list with 610 points after nine wins, 12 top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes in 17 races over 13 weeks of NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition in The Strength Center Special. Arnold now has one more week to earn full points before reaching the 14 week mark of his season. After that, he will begin netting points by trying to replace the lowest of his 14 weekly point totals with a higher one.

Joiner is 102 points behind Arnold with 508 points to hold the second spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings after one win, nine top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes in 12 races over 11 weeks of competition driving the Three Trade Consultants Special. Joiner also leads the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series point standings.

Bobby Jordan of McCarley, MS made the biggest jump among the Top 20 drivers in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings after driving the SMJ Race Parts Trak-Star to a seventh-place finish Saturday night at Greenville Speedway. That moved Jordan up to the third spot in the standings with 465 points.

Jordan has turned in two top five finishes and five top ten finishes in his last five races. For the season, Jordan has competed in 13 races over 11 weeks of NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition.

Cruz Skinner of Oxford, AL fell from third to fourth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings after being disqualified for rough driving on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL. The 13-year-old driver has 433 points after five wins, eight top five finishes and ten top ten finishes in 11 races over ten weeks driving the Skinner’s Body Shop CVR. Skinner also leads the Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series point standings for drivers 18 year of age and younger.

Billy Riels Racing teammates Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS and the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Champion Noah Daspit of Kiln, MS did not compete in Week 14 action, and are fifth and sixth respectively in the point standings.

Lee has 429 points after one win and 11 top five finishes in 11 races over nine weeks. Daspit has four wins, six top five finishes and nine top ten finishes in ten NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series races over nine weeks of competition.

Greg Fore of Greenville, MS is seventh in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 417 points after one win, six top five finishes and eight top ten finishes in 11 races over nine weeks. Fore drove the Washington Body Shop GRT to a third-place finish on Saturday night at Greenville Speedway.

Three-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion Lucky Keeton of Collinsville, MS is eighth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 373 points after one win, six top five finishes and nine top ten finishes in ten races over eight weeks driving the Byram Trucking GRT. Keeton did not compete in Week 14 action.

Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series driver, 17-year-old Cole Daffron of Pell City, AL drove the TSR Race Cars Special to a second-place finish on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track to move up to the ninth spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 366 points. In eight races over eight weeks, Daffron has four top five finishes and seven top ten finishes.

Mike Palasini of Leland, MS was involved in a Saturday night crash at Greenville Speedway, but the 41 points he earned for a 14th-place finish moved him up to the tenth spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 363 points. Palasini has four wins and seven top five finishes in nine races over eight weeks driving the MP Trucking Special.

In other NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 14 action, Dusty Leonard of Marysville, KS drove the Brice Leonard Insurance Special to his first win of the season on Friday night at Salina Speedway in Salina, KS. Ashley Newman of Ripley, TN took his third win of the season on Saturday night at Camden Speedway in Camden, TN driving the Greg’s Sawmill Special.

Mike Combs of Odenville, AL captured his first NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series win of the season on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track driving the Pro Grafx Special. Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS drove the Custom Spraying, Inc. Special to his first win of the season on Saturday night at Greenville Speedway.

In addition to Hattiesburg Speedway and Southern Raceway, Week 14 rainouts also included Penton Raceway in Penton, AL on Friday night. On Saturday night, a pair of $1,000-to-win races were rained out with the I-20 Challenge Series race at Jackson Motor Speedway in Jackson, MS and the Southern Crate Late Model Series race at Sabine Raceway in Many, LA.

Rocket Chassis of Shinnston, WV leads the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufacturers Challenge points eight wins on the season. Behind Rocket Chassis, things are crowed for the second spot in the Nesmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis points.

Four-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufactures Challenge Champion GRT Race Cars of Greenbrier, AR, three-time Chassis Champion Trak-Star Race Cars built by Boland Performance of Cuba, AL and CVR Race Cars of Lenoir City, TN share the second spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufacturers Challenge point standings with five wins apiece. Warrior Race Cars built by Goddard Performance of Knoxville, TN is still looking for their first win of the season.

For complete NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings, more information and rules about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.nesmithracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at NeSmith Racing. You can follow us on Twitter @NeSmithRacing.

NeSMITH CHEVROLET WEEKLY RACING SERIES POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 6/27/15:

POS CAR # DRIVER PTS RACES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 WKS/NET WPA
1 4 Michael Arnold 610 17 9 12 14 13 46.92
2 10 Joseph Joiner 508 12 1 9 11 11 46.18
3 J8 Bobby Jordan 465 13 2 5 11 42.27
4 11 Cruz Skinner - Y 433 11 5 8 10 10 43.30
5 47 Shannon Lee 429 11 1 11 11 9 47.67
6 347 Noah Daspit 421 10 4 6 9 9 46.78
7 17 Greg Fore 417 11 1 6 8 9 46.33
8 22 Lucky Keeton 373 10 1 6 9 8 46.63
9 7 Cole Daffron - Y 366 8 4 7 8 45.75
10 8 Mike Palasini Jr. 363 9 4 7 7 8 45.38
11 232 Jamey Boland 362 11 6 7 8 45.25
12 1b Bryant Marsh - Y 360 10 5 6 8 45.00
13 33 Sid Scarbrough 346 9 2 5 8 43.25
14 41 Al Kouhout 343 8 6 8 42.88
15 77 Robbie Starnes 335 8 2 7 8 7 47.86
16 81 Adam Cummings 331 7 1 6 6 7 47.29
17 7 Hunter Lewis 324 8 1 5 8 40.50
18 110 Brent Barrett 318 9 1 3 7 7 45.43
19 00 Monte Skinner 313 8 3 6 7 44.71
20 118 Randy Boyd 311 7 1 2 4 7 44.43

NeSMITH CHEVROLET WEEKLY RACING SERIES WEEK 14 RESULTS:

June 26:

SALINA SPEEDWAY – SALINA, KS:
1. 7d Dusty Leonard
2. 55 Chris Kratzer
3. 92 Delbert Smith
4. 194 Scott Phillips
5. 2x Lyle Shepard
6. 92s Daniel Smith
7. 70 Terry Malm
8. 2k Darrick Klima
9. 1tk Trinket Kinderknecht

HATTIESBURG SPEEDWAY – HATTIESBURG, MS:
Rained Out

PENTON RACEWAY – PENTON, AL:
Rained Out

June 27:

TALLADEGA SHORT TRACK – EASTABOGA, AL:
1. 5 Mike Combs
2. 7 Cole Daffron (Y)
3. 19 Drew Ashley
4. 19m Colten Miller
5. 17 Adam Gauldin
6. 44 Scott Davis
7. 11g Greg Skinner DNS
8. 11 Cruz Skinner (Y) DQ

CAMDEN SPEEDWAY – CAMDEN, TN:
1. 73 Ashley Newman
2. 1 Bryant Marsh (Y)
3. 63 Dennis Bush
4. 00 Ben Garner
5. 00b Bronson Berry
6. 6 Jimmy Halford
7. 12 Mike Bowles
8. 94 T.J. Hays
9. 10 Ronnie Cooper

GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY – GREENVILLE, MS:
1. 110 Brent Barrett
2. 30 Justin Paxton
3. 17 Greg Fore
4. 33 Sid Scarbrough
5. 33b Wesley Brown
6. 34 Doug Sanchagrin
7. J8 Bobby Jordan
8. C4 Cole Burns
9. D8jr Christopher Showah
10. 34 Rhett Burns
11. 44 Peyton Wilkerson (Y)
12. 88 Howard Irby Jr.
13. 21 Drew McMahon
14. 8 Mike Palasini Jr.
15. 5 Richard Fedrick
16. 7p Peter Hazzard
17. 7 Hunter Lewis
18. 4 Michael Arnold DNS

JACKSON MOTOR SPEEDWAY – JACKSON, MS:
Rained Out

SABINE RACEWAY – MANY, LA (Southern Crate Late Model Series):
Rained Out

SOUTHERN RACEWAY – MILTON, FL (NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series):
Rained Out