NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series News Release:  Contact – ROBY HELM – (865) 207-4157

June 1, 2015

NeSMITH CHEVROLET WEEKLY RACING SERIES WEEK 10 ROUND UP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

                CARTERSVILLE, GA – Michael Arnold of Hattiesburg, MS remains on top of the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series point standings, but after Week 10 competition over the weekend, there is a new challenger on the horizon.  Third-generation driver Mike Palasini Jr. of Leland, MS showed up on Arnold’s home turf and made a big statement.

                Palasini traveled to Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS on Friday night and won his fourth straight NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Late Model race driving the MP Trucking Special to vault him up to the eighth spot in the point standings.  Arnold leads the standings with 430 points after competing in nine weeks of competition, while Palasini has 248 points after just five weeks of racing.

                The Weekly Point Average tells the tale of the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings.  Palasini has the top WPA among the Top 20 drivers in the point standings at 49.6 out of a possible 50, while Arnold has the fifth highest WPA at 47.78. 

Arnold drove The Strength Center Special to a fifth-place finish on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway.  Arnold has six wins, eight top five finishes and ten top ten finishes in 12 races over nine weeks of NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition.  Arnold has four wins at Hattiesburg Speedway, and one win apiece at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, MS and at St. Tammany Raceway in Lacombe, LA.

Palasini has four wins and six top five finishes in six races over five weeks.  Two of Palasini’s wins have come at his home track, Greenville Speedway in Greenville, MS, and he has one NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series win apiece at Underwood Speedway in Chatham, LA and Hattiesburg Speedway.  In the two races that Palasini did not win, he finished third and fifth, both at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS.

Joseph Joiner of Milton, FL finished fifth on May 25 in the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race at Flomaton Speedway in Flomaton, AL and moved up to second in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 372 points.  Joiner, who also leads the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series point standings, has one win and eight top five finishes in nine races over eight weeks driving the Three Trade Consultants Special.

Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS has missed the last two weeks of NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition and has dropped to third in the standings with 332 points.  Lee has one win and nine top five finishes in nine races over seven weeks driving the Billy Riels Racing Special.

The 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series National Champion Noah Daspit of Kiln, MS is still in contention for his second $10,000 National title, and is fourth in the standings with 326 points after two wins, four top five finishes and six top ten finishes in seven races driving the Billy Riels Racing Special.  Daspit finished second on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway.

Al Kouhout of Hattiesburg, MS is fifth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 302 points after six top ten finishes in seven races.  Kouhout drove the Tophen’s Rock and Roll Grill Special to an eighth-place finish on Friday night at Hattiesburg Speedway.

Cruz Skinner of Oxford, AL is sixth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 291 points after a second-place finish on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL.  The 13-year-old driver has four wins, six top five finishes, and seven top ten finishes in seven races over six weeks of racing driving the Skinner’s Body Shop CVR.

Skinner also leads the Sunoco Young Guns Challenge Series point standings for NeSmith Late Model drivers 18 years of age and younger.  Skinner is a NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series title contender and has the third highest WPA among the Top 20 in the point standings at 48.5.

Three-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion Lucky Keeton of Collinsville, MS did not compete in Week 10 action and dropped to seventh in the standings with 282 points.  Keeton has one win, five top five finishes and seven top ten finishes in eight races over six weeks of competition in the Byram Trucking GRT.

Bobby Jordan of McCarley, MS is ninth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series standings with 246 points after competing in seven races over six weeks driving the SMJ Race Parts Trak-Star. 

Adam Cummings of Odenville, AL drove the Cummings Racing GRT to his first NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Late Model win of the season on Saturday night at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL.  Cummings will be a driver to watch in the weeks ahead, as he moved into the tenth spot in the standings 243 points.  Cummings has one win and five top five finishes in five races.  He also has the second highest WPA at 48.6.

In other NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 10 action, Cody Smith of Holt, FL drove the Smith’s Performance Rocket to his second win of the season on May 25 in the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race at Flomaton Speedway.  Two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS was the winner on Friday night at Magnolia Motor Speedway in the Bryson Motorsports/Cooley Transportation Special.

Daniel Smith of Beloit, KS won the first-ever NeSmith/NCRA Late Model Series race on Saturday night at 81 Speedway in Wichita, KS driving the NCK Webtech Special.  Ronnie Cooper of McKenzie, TN drove the Ronnie Cooper Trucking Rocket to his second win of the season on Saturday night at Camden Speedway in Camden, TN.  Taylor Jarvis of Milton, FL won the NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series race on Saturday night at Northwest Florida Speedway in Baker, FL driving the Jarvis Racing Special. 

There were three NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Week 10 rainouts that began on Thursday night at Talladega Short Track.  Battleground Race Park in Highlands, TX and Greenville Speedway were rained out on Saturday night.

Rocket Chassis of Shinnston, WV continues to lead the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufactures Challenge, as wins by Smith and Cooper have brought their season win total to six.   Cummings gave four-time champion GRT Race Cars of Greenbrier, AR their fourth win of the second and into a tie for the second spot with CVR Race Cars of Lenoir City, TN.

The defending and three-time champion Trak-Star Race Cars built by Boland Performance of Cuba, AL is fourth in the NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Chassis Manufacturers Challenge with two wins, and Warrior Race Cars built by Goddard Performance of Knoxville, TN is still looking for their first win of the season.

A total of 226 different drivers have earned NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series points in the first ten weeks of competition.  For complete 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 5/30/15:

POS

CAR #

DRIVER

PTS

RACES

WINS

TOP 5

TOP 10

WKS/NET

WPA

1

4

Michael Arnold

430

12

6

8

10

9

47.78

2

10

Joseph Joiner

372

9

1

8

8

8

46.50

3

47

Shannon Lee

332

9

1

9

9

7

47.43

4

347

Noah Daspit

326

7

2

4

6

7

46.57

5

41

Al Kouhout

302

7

6

7

43.14

6

11

Cruz Skinner - Y

291

7

4

6

7

6

48.50

7

22

Lucky Keeton

282

8

1

5

7

6

47.00

8

8

Mike Palasini Jr.

248

6

4

6

6

5

49.60

9

J8

Bobby Jordan

246

7

6

41.00

10

81

Adam Cummings

243

5

1

5

5

5

48.60

11

C11

Cliff Williams

241

7

1

4

5

5

48.20

12

7

Hunter Lewis

240

6

1

4

6

40.00

13

77

Robbie Starnes

236

6

1

5

6

5

47.20

14

00

Monte Skinner

228

5

3

4

5

45.60

15

232

Jamey Boland

226

6

3

4

5

45.20

16

7

Cole Daffron - Y

225

5

2

4

5

45.00

17

17

Greg Fore

224

7

2

4

5

44.80

18

110

Brent Barrett

224

6

2

5

5

44.80

19

25

Josh Huss

224

6

3

6

5

44.80

20

1b

Bryant Marsh - Y

223

6

3

4

5

44.60

NeSMITH CHEVROLET WEEKLY RACING SERIES WEEK 10 RESULTS:

May 25:

FLOMATON SPEEDWAY – FLOMATON, AL:
1. 3 Cody Smith

2. 03 Chris O’Connor
3. 11 Mark Clifton
4. 25 Justin McRee
5. 10 Joseph Joiner
6. 25h Josh Huss
7. 47 James Gilmore
8. 40 Bo Slay
9. 79 Kyle Bryant
10. C4 Chris Reid
11. 24 Zack Cameron
12. 4 Michael Arnold

May 28:

TALLADEGA SHORT TRACK – EASTABOGA, AL
Rained Out

May 29:

HATTIESBURG SPEEDWAY – HATTIESBURG, MS:
1. 8 Mike Palasini Jr.
2. 347 Noah Daspit
3. 00 Monte Skinner
4. 14 Chase Cooper
5. 4 Michael Arnold
6. 8 Owen Stockstill
7. 78 Calvin Martin
8. 41 Al Kouhout
9. 25 Connor Mills
10. 24c Zack Cameron
11. C4 Chris Reid
12. 21 Kody Barber

MAGNOLIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY – COLUMBUS, MS:
1.  33b Eric Cooley
2. 1s Jeremy Shaw
3. 73 Evan Ellis
4. 232 Jamey Boland
5. 1 Bryant Marsh (Y)
6. 2s Kyle Shaw
7. 1m Chase Washington
8. 91 Billy Tedford
9. 2 Tyler Burgess
10. 110 Brent Barrett
11. 311 Henry Pullen
12. G4 Shelby Sheedy
13. J8 Bobby Jordan
14. 17 Greg Fore
15. 84 Randall Beckwith
16. 91 Justin Carter
17. 196 Billy Scarbrough
18. 147 Hunter Carroll
19. 20 Larry Stacy
20. 51 John Polasini
21. 11 Wayne Byrd
22. 5 Richard Fedrick
23. 67 Lance Johnson
24. 3 Shay Knight

May 30:

TALLADEGA SHORT TRACK – EASTABOGA, AL:
1. 81 Adam Cummings
2. 11 Cruz Skinner (Y)
3. 7 Cole Daffron (Y)
4. 19 Gathan Burns
5. 67 Kyle Clifton
6. 222 Carlton Freeman
7. 71 Dustin Knighten
8. F2 Hayden Franklin
9. 22 Austin Franklin
10. 66 Wesley Ford
11. E4 Brad Whittle
12. D19 Drew Ashley
13. 19c Rocky Cotton
14. F97 Red Farmer

CAMDEN SPEEDWAY – CAMDEN, TN:
1. 10 Ronnie Cooper
2. H17 Steven Holcomb
3. 00 Ben Garner
4. 36 Evan Taylor
5. 4 Joe Mike
6. 63 Dennis Bush
7. 7 Rex Berry
8. 11 Kevin Fuller
9. 6 Jimmy Halford
10. 00b Bronson Berry DNS

NORTHWEST FLORIDA SPEEDWAY – BAKER, FL (NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series):
1. 36 Taylor Jarvis
2. 57 Shep Lucas
3. 25 Josh Huss
4. 11 Mark Clifton
5. 10 Joseph Joiner
6. 72 Frank Wilson
7. 47 James Gilmore
8. 3 Cody Smith
9. 79 Kyle Bryant DNS

81 SPEEDWAY – WICHITA, KS:
1. 92s Daniel Smith
2. 55 Chris Kratzer
3. 77 Jeremy Petty
4. 194 Scott Phillips
5. 2k Darrick Klima
6. 92 Delbert Smith
7. 7 Dusty Leonard
8. 12 Ryan Grit

 

NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC of Claxton, GA is the Title Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models.  NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC is the nation’s number one GM Powertrain and Performance Dealer six years running, with free delivery anywhere in the Southeast.  Chevrolet Performance Parts is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models.  Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models.  RockAuto.com is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models.  Racecar Engineering is the Official Parts Supplier of the NeSmith Late Models.  Beyea Headers is the NeSmith Late Model Hard Charger Sponsor.  Sunoco Race Fuels is the Official Race Fuel of the NeSmith Late Models.  Panama City Cycles is the Official ATV Provider of the NeSmith Late Models.  AR Bodies is an Associate Sponsor of the NeSmith Late Models.  NeSmith Late Model Contingency Sponsors for 2015 are CrateInsider.Com and Image Screen Printing.  2015 Chassis Sponsors are Trak-Star Race Cars, Warrior Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, TNT Race Cars, and CVR Race Cars. 

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