Clifton scores NeSmith WRS win at Flomaton Speedway

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Mark Clifton of Brewton, Ala. captured his first NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series win of the season on Saturday night with the victory in the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race at Flomaton Speedway in Flomaton, Ala. driving the Carboline Special.

The win comes at the halfway point of the 27-week 2015 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series season, as most of the drivers in the Top 10 of the point standings are still a few weeks away from reaching their respective 14-week points in the season when they can no longer earn full points. After the reach the 14-week mark, they will start netting points.

This is when the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series season gets very interesting as the drivers try to improve on their season total by replacing the lowest weekly point total in their best 14 with a higher one. In the meantime, drivers that have yet to reach the 14 week mark are still earning full points, and rising quickly in the point standings.

The NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point leader, Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, Miss. may be the first driver to reach the 14-week mark. In 12 weeks of racing, Arnold has nine wins, 12 top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes in 16 races. Arnold drove The Strength Center Special to his ninth win of the season on Saturday night at Greenville Speedway in Greenville, Miss.

Joseph Joiner of Milton, Fla. is second in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 508 points and trails Arnold by 77 points. Joiner has one win, nine top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes in 12 races over 11 weeks of competition. Joiner finished sixth on Saturday night in the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race at Flomaton Speedway in the Three Trade Consultants Special. Joiner also leads the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series point standings.

Cruz Skinner of Oxford, Ala. is third in the standings with 433 points after five wins, eight top five finishes and ten top ten finishes in ten races over nine weeks of NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition. The 13-year-old points leader in the Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series point standings for drivers 18 years of age and younger, finished seventh on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park driving the Skinner’s Body Shop CVR.

Shannon Lee of Lumberton, Miss. drove the Billy Riels Racing Special to a second-place finish on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, Miss. and is fourth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 429 points. In 11 races over nine weeks, Lee has one win and 11 top five finishes.

Week 13 of NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition was a good one for the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Champion Noah Daspit of Kiln, Miss., has he took a pair of victories. Daspit won at Hattiesburg Speedway on Friday night, and at Whynot Motorsports Park on Saturday night in the Billy Riels Racing Special.

Daspit is tied for the fifth spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with Bobby Jordan of McCarley, Miss. with 421 points apiece. Daspit has four wins, six top five finishes and nine top ten finishes in ten races over nine weeks.

Jordan has two top five finishes and four top ten finishes in 12 races over ten weeks in the SMJ Race Parts Trak-Star. Jordan had a pair top five finishes in Double Features on Saturday night at Greenville Speedway. Jordan finished fourth in the Week 4 Make-Up Feature Race and fifth in the Week 13 Feature Race.

Three-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion Lucky Keeton of Collinsville, Miss. is seventh in the standings with 373 points after one win, six top five finishes and nine top ten finishes in ten races over eight weeks. Keeton drove the Byram Trucking GRT to a fifth-place finish on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park.

Greg Fore of Greenville, Miss. picked up his first NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series win of the season in the Week 4 Make Feature on Saturday night at Greenville Speedway in the Washington Body Shop GRT to move up to the eighth spot in the standings with 369 points. Fore has one win, five top five finishes and seven top ten finishes in ten races over eight weeks of competition.

Jamey Boland of Cuba, Ala. is another driver making his first appearance of the season in the Top 10 of the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings. Boland had a pair of top five finishes in Week 13 competition with a fourth on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway and a third on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park.

Boland is ninth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 362 points after six top five finishes and seven top ten finishes in 11 races over eight weeks of competition driving the Boland Performance Trak-Star.

Al Kouhout of Hattiesburg, Miss. rounds out the Top 10 in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 343 points after six top ten finishes in eight races over eight weeks of competition. Kouhout drove the Tophen’s Rock and Roll Grill Special to a 12th-place finish on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway.

In other NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 13 action, Chris Kratzer of Haysville, Kan. had a big weekend with a pair of wins. Kratzer drove the Wichita Tire and Alignment Special to a win on Friday night at Salina Speedway in Salina, Kan., and followed that up with his third win of the season in the NCRA/NeSmith Late Model race on Saturday night at Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kan.

Ronnie Cooper of McKenzie, Tenn. won his third race of the season on Saturday night at Camden Speedway in Camden, Tenn. in the Ronnie Cooper Trucking Rocket.

Robbie Starnes of Livingston, Tex. drove the Lonestar Hydro and Maintenance Special to his second NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series win of the season on Saturday night at Battleground Race Park in Highlands, Tex. Starnes also continues to lead the NeSmith/Southern Crate Late Model Series point standings.

Daniel Smith of Beloit, Kan. took his second win of the season on Sunday night in the NCRA/NeSmith Late Model race at the Kansas State Fair Speedway in Hutchinson, Kan. driving the NCK Webtech Special. The Week 13 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series race scheduled for Saturday night at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala. was rained out.

Rocket Chassis of Shinnston, W.Va. continues to lead the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufacturers Challenge points after Cooper gave them their eighth win of the season. Fore’s win moved four-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufactures Challenge Champion GRT Race Cars of Greenbrier, Ark. into a three-way tie for the second spot in the Chassis standings.

GRT along with three-time Chassis Champion Trak-Star Race Cars built by Boland Performance of Cuba, Ala. and CVR Race Cars of Lenoir City, Tenn. 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, Tenn. is still looking for their first win of the season.

For more information about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at NesmithRacing.com.

NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series
Week 13 Race Results

June 19

SALINA SPEEDWAY – SALINA, KS
1. 55 Chris Kratzer
2. 2x Lyle Shepard
3. 194 Scott Phillips
4. 92s Daniel Smith
5. 92 Delbert Smith
6. 70 Terry Malm
7. 64 Kurt Abell
8. 70m Brad Morris
9. 1 Trinket Kinderknecht
10. 7 Dusty Leonard
11. 11 Justin Bussell DNS

HATTIESBURG SPEEDWAY – HATTIESBURG, MS
1. 347 Noah Daspit
2. 47 Shannon Lee
3. 4 Michael Arnold
4. 232 Jamey Boland
5. 21 Kody Barber
6. 14 Chase Cooper
7. 12 Tracey Sutton
8. 7 Hunter Lewis
9. 747 Dustin Blackwell
10. 00 Monte Skinner
11. C4 Chris Reid
12. 41 Al Kouhout
13. 24 Zack Cameron
14. 25 Connor Mills
15. 83 Joseph Penney
16. 3n Ronnie Graham
17. 75 Dustin Boykin DNS

June 20

WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK – MERIDIAN, MS
1. 347 Noah Daspit
2. 118 Randy Boyd
3. 232 Jamey Boland
4. 760 Jim McDuffie
5. 22 Lucky Keeton
6. 27 Larry Murphy
7. 11 Cruz Skinner (Y)
8. 2 Tyler Burgess
9. 28 Joey Hiatt
10. 11 Tim Dees
11. 4 Wiley Williams
12. 96 Trey Rickman
13. 14 Richie Beasley
14. 7 Jon Biles
15. 55 Aaron Fitzhugh
16. 18 Dewayne Lott
17. 25 Nick Thrash
18. 00 Monte Skinner
19. 48 Tody Ratcliff
20. 1T Terry Mosley
21. 14h Casey Haney
22. 121 Michael Blount
23. 25m Connor Mills DNS

FLOMATON SPEEDWAY – FLOMATON, AL
NeSmith Panhandle Challenger Series
1. 11 Mark Clifton
2. 12 Tracey Sutton
3. 57 Shep Lucas
4. 3 Cody Smith
5. 25 Josh Huss
6. 10 Joseph Joiner
7. 6 Brandon Hood
8. 79 Kyle Bryant
9. 1 Kevin Maher
10. 20 Kenneth Montiel
11. 8 Dewayne Morris
12. 47 James Gilmore

CAMDEN SPEEDWAY – CAMDEN, TN
1. 10 Ronnie Cooper
2. 63 Dennis Bush
3. 6 Jimmy Halford
4. 1 Bryant Marsh (Y)
5. 4 Joe Mike
6. 11 Kevin Fuller
7. 00w Eric Wooten
8. 00 Ben Garner
9. 12 Mike Bowles

GREENVILLE SPEEDWAY – GREENVILLE, MS
Week 4 Make-Up Feature
1. 17 Greg Fore
2. 4 Michael Arnold
3. 70 Dewayne Estes
4. J8 Bobby Jordan
5. 14 Chance Inman
6. 84 Randall Beckwith
7. 30 Justin Paxton
8. 5 Richard Fedrick
9. D8jr Christopher Showah
10. 46 Kenny Carpenter
11. 21 Drew McMahan
12. C4 Cole Burns
13. 88 Howard Irby Jr.
14. C12 Carl Kilgore
15. 113 Tim Knight
16. 17r Will Ross
17. 25 Billy Pate

Week 13 Race
1. 4 Michael Arnold
2. 70 Dewayne Estes
3. 17 Greg Fore
4. 84 Randall Beckwith
5. J8 Bobby Jordan
6. C4 Cole Burns
7. C12 Carl Kilgore
8. 14 Chance Inman
9. 46 Kenny Carpenter
10. 21 Drew McMahon
11. 30 Justin Paxton
12. 25 Billy Pate
13. D8jr Christopher Showah
14. 88 Howard Irby Jr.
15. 113 Tim Knight
16. 17r Will Ross
17. 5 Richard Fedrick DNS

THUNDERHILL SPEEDWAY – MAYETTA, KS
NCRA/NeSmith Late Models
1. 55 Chris Kratzer
2. 7 Dusty Leonard
3. 92s Daniel Smith
4. 2x Lyle Shepard
5. 92 Delbert Smith
6. 77 Jeremy Petty
7. 194 Scott Phillips
8. 64 Kurt Abell
9. 12 Ryan Grit

BATTLEGROUND RACE PARK – HIGHLANDS, TX
1. 77 Robbie Starnes
2. 56jr Colton Horner (Y)
3. 23 Howard Willis
4. 88 Steve Hamilton
5. 65 Lucas Peterson
6. 84 Mike Davenport
7. 117 Todd Jouett
8. 22 Trinity Richardson
9. 1 Doug Begnaud
10. 4 Cecil McCrary
11. 20 Kevin Sitton
12. 45 Earl Cannon
13. 33 Jose Moran
14. 99 Randy Lovell
15. 19 Dylan Allen DNS
16. 56 David Horner DNS
17. 0 Chris Jouett DNS

June 21

Kansas State Fair Speedway – Hutchinson, KS
NCRA/NeSmith Late Models
1. 92 Daniel Smith
2. 2x Lyle Shepard
3. 55 Chris Kratzer
4. 1 Justin Kinderknecht
5. 92 Delbert Smith
6. 64 Kurt Abell

Y – Denotes Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series Candidate

NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series
Week 13 Point Standings