Arnold scores NeSmith WRS victory at Hattiesburg

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point leader Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, Miss. picked up two more wins in Week 20 competition to bring his best 14 week point total to 698, and his win total to 15. With seven weeks left in the 27-week season, drivers are going to have to keep Arnold out of victory lane to keep him from the $10,000 prize that goes with the National Championship.

Arnold drove The Strength Center Special to win number 14 on the season on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, Miss., and followed that up with win number 15 on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss. Arnold is now tied with two other drivers for the most 50-point wins in a single season, Noah Daspit of Kiln, Miss. in 2013 and Chris Holley of Dayton, Texas in 2014.

The best 14 week 698 point total for Arnold is represented by 12 50-point wins and two 49-point second place finishes. He has 19 top five finishes and 22 top ten finishes in 27 races. If Arnold can replace the two 49s with 50-point wins in the remainder of the season, he will also join Daspit and Holley as the only drivers in the ten-year history of the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series to turn in a perfect 14 week score of 700 points.

Using a scenario of weeks remaining and the possibility of double features being scheduled, any driver with two or more wins still has a mathematical chance to tie or beat Arnold for the $10,000 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Championship at this point in the season. As the weeks wind down, and if Arnold posts any additional wins, those chances are reduced dramatically with the passing of each week.

Week 21 of the 2015 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series season will feature eight races in four states. Greenville Speedway in Greenville, Miss. and Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, Miss. will host Friday night NeSmith Late Model races.

Saturday night NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 21 races are scheduled for Battleground Race Park in Highlands, Texas, Camden Motor Speedway in Camden, Tenn., Flomaton Speedway in Flomaton, Ala. with a NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race, Jackson Motor Speedway in Jackson, Miss., Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss. with a $1,000-to-win 45 Challenge Series race, and Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala.

Looking back at Week 20 action, 13-year-old Cruz Skinner of Oxford, Ala. made the biggest move among the Top 20 in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings after the Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series point leader finished second on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track in the Skinner’s Body Shop CVR. Skinner used his last week to earn full points to vault up to the second spot in the standings.

Skinner has a 14 week total of 680 points after seven wins, 13 top five finishes and 15 top ten finishes in 16 races. Skinner will try to improve on his best 14 week point total in Week 21 competition by netting on the lowest weekly point total among his 14, which is a 43.

Shannon Lee of Lumberton, Miss. is third in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with a best 14 week total of 667 after one win, 16 top five finishes and 18 top ten finishes in 18 races. Lee drove the Billy Riels Racing Special to a third-place finish on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway. Lee will be trying to net on a 44 in Week 21 action.

Daspit is fourth in the standings with a best 14 week total of 665 points after five wins, 11 top five finishes and 15 top ten finishes in 17 races. The 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Champion finished second on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway in the Billy Riels Racing Special. Daspit will try to net on a 41 in Week 21 racing.

Joseph Joiner of Milton, Fla. did not compete in Week 20 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series action and fell to the fifth spot in the standings with a best 14 week total of 653 points. Joiner is also the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series point leader and has two wins, 13 top five finishes, and 15 top ten finishes in 16 races driving the Three Trade Consultants Special. Joiner will try to net on a 41 in Week 21.

Mike Palasini, Jr. of Leland, Miss. is sixth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with a best 14 week total of 651 points after six wins and 12 top five finishes in 15 races driving the MP Trucking Special. Palasini did not compete in Week 20 action, but will be trying to net on a 25 in Week 21 competition.

Greg Fore of Greenville, Miss. also did not compete in NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 20 action and is seven in the standings with a best 14 week total of 634 points. Fore has two wins, nine top five finishes and 13 top ten finishes in 16 races driving the Washington Body Shop GRT. Fore will be trying to net on a 41 in Week 21 competition.

Bobby Jordan of McCarley, Miss. is eighth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 633 points after two wins, eight top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes in 20 races driving the SMJ Race Parts Trak-Star. Jordan did not finish high enough on Saturday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway to net on a 41.

Robbie Starnes of Livingston, Texas drove the Lonestar Hydro and Maintenance Special to a third-place finish on Saturday night at Battleground Race Park to move up to the ninth spot in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 622 points and one more week to earn full points. In 15 races, Starnes has four wins, 13 top five finishes and 15 top ten finishes.

Sid Scarbrough of Florence, Miss. rounds out the Top 10 of the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with a best 14 week total of 612 points after four top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes in 16 races. Scarbrough finished seventh on Saturday night at Whynot Motorsports Park in the Villa South Trak-Star. Scarbrough will be trying to net on a 41 in Week 21 action.

In other NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 20 action, Kevin Sitton of Baytown, Texas drove the Mirage Construction Special to his fifth win of the season on Friday night at Battleground Race Park and moved up to the 20th spot in the standings with 477 points. Sitton still has four more weeks to earn full points, and is a strong candidate for a Top 10 points fund-paying spot at the end of the season.

Evan Ellis of Plantersville, Miss. took his second NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series win of the season on Saturday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway driving the Ellis Welding Special. Josh Adkins of Talladega, Ala. was a first time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Late Model winner on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track in the CRM Motors GRT.

Arnold has the highest Weekly Point Average among the Top 20 in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings at 49.86 out of a possible 50. Skinner has the second highest WPA at 48.57, and Starnes has the third highest WPA at 47.85. Sitton has the fourth highest WPA at 47.70, and Lee has the fifth highest WPA at 47.64.

Daspit carries the sixth highest WPA into Week 21 competition at 47.50, and Adam Cummings of Odenville, Ala., who is 16th in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 520 points, has the seventh highest WPA at 47.27. Cummings also has three more weeks to earn full points.

Joiner has the eighth highest WPA at 46.64 and Palasini has the ninth highest WPA at 46.50. Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series driver, 17-year-old Cole Daffron of Pell City, Ala. has the 10th highest WPA at 46.31. Daffron is 11th in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 602 points and one more week to earn full points before reaching the 14 week mark of his season.

Drivers in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series will compete against each other nationally using a points system that will count their best 14 weekly point totals over a 27-week season from March 23 through September 27. The $20,000 National point fund will pay $10,000 to the National Champion and pay back to the Top 10 drivers in the final point standings.

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

NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series
Week 20 Race Results

August 7

BATTLEGROUND RACE PARK – HIGHLAND, TX
1. 20 Kevin Sitton
2. 23 Howard Willis
3. 77 Robbie Starnes
4. 65 Lucas Peterson
5. 37 Garrett Higgins
6. 83 Joseph Penney
7. 17 Josh Brock
8. 00 Brandon Nichols
9. 84 Mike Davenport
10. 95 Jamie Green
11. 33 Jose Moran
12. 56jr Colten Horner – Y
13. 22 Trinity Richardson
14. 88 Steve Hamilton

HATTIESBURG SPEEDWAY – HATTIESBURG, MS
1. 4 Michael Arnold
2. 347 Noah Daspit
3. 47 Shannon Lee
4. 14 Chase Cooper
5. 119 Kent Davis
6. 12 Tracey Sutton
7. 75 Dustin Boykin
8. 41 Al Kouhout
9. 55 Pat Nichols
10. 15 Jeremy Cooper
11. 66 Lee Barfield

August 8

MAGNOLIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY – COLUMBUS, MS
1. 73 Evan Ellis
2. 1s Jeremy Shaw
3. 34 Doug Sanchagrin
4. 3 Shay Knight
5. 196 Billy Scarbrough
6. 2s Kyle Shaw
7. 14 Chance Inman
8. R3 Ryan Rigdon
9. F11 Keith Flurry
10. 1m Johnny Smith
11. 311 Henry Pullen
12. 1 Bryant Marsh – Y
13. 43 Kurt Radojcsics
14. 84 Randall Beckwith
15. 14 Brant Tirello
16. 21 Steven Jones
17. 38 Chase Washington
18. G4 Shelby Sheedy
19. J8 Bobby Jordan
20. 51 John Polasini
21. 2 Mark Stokes
22. 67 Lance Johnson
23. 3 James Andrews

TALLADEGA SHORT TRACK – EASTABOGA, AL
1. 57 Josh Adkins
2. 11 Cruz Skinner – Y
3. 17 Adam Gauldin
4. 81 Adam Cummings
5. 7 Cole Daffron – Y
6. 99 Toney Revis
7. 07 Steve Waters
8. 33 Shane Layfield
9. 5 Mike Combs
10. 37 Tim Parker
11. 119 Drew Ashley
12. 19 Chase Cotton
13. 44 Scott Davis
14. 19w Trey Wood

WHYNOT MOTORSPORTS PARK – MERIDIAN, MS
1. 4 Michael Arnold
2. 11 Tim Dees
3. 760 Jim McDuffie
4. 22 Lucky Keeton
5. 118 Randy Boyd
6. 01 Nick Thrash
7. 33 Sid Scarbrough
8. 7 Jon Biles
9. 27 Larry Murphy
10. 232 Jamey Boland
11. 2T Tootie Arnold
12. 2 Tyler Burgess
13. 12 Tracey Sutton
14. 347 Noah Daspit
15. 28j Joey Hiatt
16. 11 Hunter Holloway
17. 50 Joey Credidio
18. 72 Carl Wilson
19. 4w Wiley Williams
20. 7 Hunter Lewis

BOOTHILL SPEEDWAY – GREENWOOD, LA
Southern Crate Late Model Series
Cancelled

THUNDER HILL SPEEDWAY – MAYETTA, KS
NeSmith/NCRA
Did Not Report

NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series
Week 20 Point Standings