By Roby Helm – BRUNSWICK, GA – Walker Arthur of Forest, VA was within five laps of victory on Friday afternoon at Golden Isles Speedway, but a mechanical issue reared its ugly head and it got away.  Walker got even with fate on Saturday night when he drove the Cecil B. Arthur Beef Farms Special to a wire-to-wire win in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series 50-lap main event.

Even though Arthur led all 50 laps of the Super Bowl of Racing Presented By Rock Auto.com finale at Golden Isles Speedway, it wasn’t a runaway.  Mack McCarter of Gatlinburg, TN turned up the wick on his CVR Race Cars House Car and put late race pressure on Arthur to the checkered flag.

“This win makes up for the frustration of yesterday afternoon because with the competition in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series has, this is a very special win in my career,” Arthur said.  “Mack and I are good friends, and his crew was signaling me that he was coming.  At least I knew if it came down to battle at the end of the race, it would be a clean battle because Mack is a friend and a good driver.”

McCarter fell a two car lengths short at the end and had to settle for second, which was his career best with the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  With drivers counting their best two out of three point totals for the weekend, the two friends Arthur and McCarter are now locked in a battle for the series point lead towards the $20,000 championship.

Even though Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC leads the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series point standings after a win and a third-place finish to total 194 points, the super late model pilot will not run the full season.  Arthur is second to Cook with 192 points, and McCarter is third with 188 points.

Chase Edge of LaFayette, AL charged from the 16^th starting spot and drove the Edge’s Gas Company Special to a third-place finish.  Mark Whitener of Middleburg, FL literally and figuratively turned the race upside-down to finish fourth in the Dave’s Towing Special.

Whitener was involved in a multi-car tangle in turn two on a lap five restart, and flipped his race car in the melee.  After the car landed on its wheels, Whitener fired it up, and drove away to line up for the restart.

Josh Adkins of Talladega, AL finished fifth in the Yellow Hammer Construction Special and Ben Faircloth of Swainsboro, GA was sixth in the CTH Rocket.  Robert Diekemper of Bloomingdale, GA drove the Baird Transport Special to a seventh-place finish and Chris Noah of Rainbow City, AL was the Rookie of the Race after an eighth-place effort in the Old Man’s Garage Special.

Cecil Eunice of Blackshear, GA finished ninth in the Ace Pole Company Special and Donald Brasher of Burlington, NC rounded out the top ten in the Mega Plumbing Rocket.  In preliminary action, Joey Coulter of Concord, NC was the fast qualifier among the 36 entrants with a lap around the 4/10-mile clay oval in 16.848 seconds in the Wolfpack Racing Rocket.

The two 12-lap B-Main Races were won by the two drivers that won main events at Golden Isles Speedway on Friday.  Cook, after winning the Friday afternoon show, drove the Tri-County Race Track Special to the win in the first B-Main on Saturday night, and the Friday night winner Jason Fitzgerald of Middleburg, FL won the second B-Main in the M&M Transport and Refrigeration GRT.

When the field went green to start the race, Arthur raced around the outside of the polesitter Coulter to take the down the backstretch.  Arthur and Coulter were followed by Jeremy Faircloth of Swainsboro, GA in the CJR Forestry Warrior, McCarter and Adkins.

Jeremy Faircloth moved up to challenge Coulter for second by lap five, but that battle was slowed by the first of five caution flags when Fitzgerald spun in turn three.  Coulter and Jeremy Faircloth started side-by-side behind the leader Arthur for the “Dixie Style” double-file restart.  They didn’t waste any time resuming their battle when the green flag came out.

Going into turn one, Jeremy Faircloth put the nose of his race car ahead of Coulter, who was on the inside.  Jeremy Faircloth began to lean on Coulter in turn two, forcing him down into the soft dirt at the bottom of the track.  That caused Coulter to lose control, spin and slide up the track in front of oncoming traffic.

That made for a huge pile-up that saw Whitener flip over the top of two other race cars.  When the dust settled, Whitener drove away, but three top ten cars were out of the race.  Chase Washington of Houlka, MS in the Jerry Inmon Racing Special, two-time series Champion David Earl Gentry of Murfreesboro, TN in the Hardy & Associates GRT, and Steven Roberts of Jesup, GA in the Roberts Bee Company Special were done for the night.

The field went back to green flag action for five more laps until the third caution flag came out on lap 11 when the defending NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN spun his NeSmith Chevrolet Special with an assist from Brasher coming off the fourth turn.

Brasher was ticketed with caution, and Johnson got his spot back for the restart.  Arthur led Jeremy Faircloth, McCarter, Adkins, Whitener, Edge, Noah, Diekemper, Ben Faircloth of Swainsboro, GA in the CTH Rocket, and Cook down to the green flag for the restart.

The top ten remained the same through lap 24 with a couple of position changes when the yellow caution bulb was lit up for the fourth time after Brent Barrett of Cleveland, MS lost power on the Custom Spraying GRT and stalled on the backstretch.  The Dixie Style double-file restart had Arthur leading Jeremy Faircloth, McCarter, Adkins, Edge, Whitener, Noah, Ben Faircloth, Diekemper and Cook.

Edge continued his charge to the front of the pack on the restart, as he got around Adkins for the fourth spot, but his progress to chase down McCarter for third was slowed by the final caution flag of the race on lap 27 when Hunter Carter of Blackshear, GA in the Bud Light Special slowed to a stop in turn four.

During the caution period, Jeremy Faircloth slowed on the front straightaway and stopped.  Something broke on his race car, as gave up the second spot and had to be towed to the pit area.  With Arthur leading McCarter, Edge, Adkins, Whitener, Ben Faircloth, Diekemper, Cook and Johnson to the green flag, business picked up for position changes after the restart.

Edge was able to nose ahead of McCarter for second, and Whitener got around Adkins for the fourth spot.  McCarter then got back around Edge for second on lap 29.  By lap 35, Arthur had built up a half straightaway lead over McCarter with Edge, Whitener, Adkins, Ben Faircloth, Diekemper, Cook, Noah, and Eunice running third through tenth respectively.

With ten laps to go, McCarter had a full straightaway advantage over Edge in the third spot, and was focused on the leader Arthur.  McCarter was chipping away at Arthur’s lead in the closing laps of the race, and closed to within a car length when the white flag signaled the final lap of the race.  The battle of the friends never took place, as Arthur kept McCarter behind him to the checkered flag.

For more information and rules about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series all-new web site at www.nesmithracing.com, or visit the series on Facebook at NeSmith Racing.  Becoming a fan of the NeSmith Racing Facebook page will make you eligible for special prizes that will be given away each month.  You can follow us on Twitter @NeSmithRacing.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 3 AT GOLDEN ISLES SPEEDWAY IN BRUNSWICK, GA ON 2/8/14:

POS        STRT     CAR #    DRIVER                               HOMETOWN                     LAPS     $ WON
1.             2              87           Walker Arthur                    Forest, VA                            50           $2,500
2.             4              51           Mack McCarter                  Gatlinburg, TN                   50           $1,250
3.             16           18           Chase Edge                          LaFayette, AL                     50           $850
4.             8              58           Mark Whitener                   Middleburg, FL                  50           $700
5.             5              19m        Josh Adkins                         Talladega, AL                     50           $650
6.             14           27           Ben Faircloth                      Swainsboro, GA                  50           $550
7.             9              5d           Robert Diekemper             Bloomingdale, GA             50           $500
8.             10           56n         Chris Noah (R)                    Rainbow City, AL              50           $450
9.             13           22           Cecil Eunice                        Blackshear, GA                  50           $400
10.          22           93           Donald Brasher                  Burlington, NC                   50           $375
11.          18           5              Ronnie Johnson                  Chattanooga, TN                50           $350
12.          1              2              Joey Coulter                        Concord, NC                        50           $300
13.          11           53           Ray Cook                             Brasstown, NC                    38           $280
14.          24           121         Michael Blount                   Sumrall, MS                        38           $260
15.          14           18           Tait Davenport                   Benton, KY                          29           $250
16.          3              4              Jeremy Faircloth               Swainsboro, GA                  26           $240
17.          21           25           Hunter Carter                     Blackshear, GA                  26           $220
18.          23           110         Brent Barrett                      Cleveland, MS                     21           $200
19.          17           11           Stacey Roberts                    Sylvester, GA                      18           $200
20.          15           35           Kitt Sealy                             Moultrie, GA                       17           $200
21.          12           7              Jason Fitzgerald                                Middleburg, FL                  16           $200
22.          6              38           Chase Washington             Houlka, MS                          5              $200
23.          7              111         Steven Roberts                    Jesup, GA                             5              $200
24.          20           2              David Earl Gentry             Murfreesboro, TN             5              $200

ENTRIES:  36
FAST QUALIFIER:  Coulter, 16.848 Seconds
PROVISIONALS:  Barrett and Blount
LEAD CHANGES:  None
LAPS LED:  Arthur, 1-50
ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Noah
DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS HARD LUCK AWARD:  Washington
PRC JUST MISSED IT AWARD:  Todd Neiheiser
STEALTH RACING CARBURETORS 7^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Diekemper
VELOCITA RACEWEAR 8^TH-PLACE AWARD: Noah
MODERN IMAGES 9^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Eunice
AR BODIES 10^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Brasher
MIKE CUSTOM TANKS 11^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Johnson
SHORTY’S SHOCK SERVICE 12^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Coulter
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 13^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Cook
J.T. KERR RACING EQUIPMENT 14^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Blount
KINSER AIR FILTERS 15^TH-PLACE AWARD:  Davenport
CAUTIONS:  5
MARGIN OF VICTORY:  .530 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE:  38 Minutes and 5.450 Seconds

QUALIFYING (Top 10 Transfer To Main Event):

B-MAINS (12 Laps – Top 6 Transfer To Main Event):

                1^ST B-MAIN:  1. Cook; 2. Eunice; 3. Sealy; 4. Sta. Roberts; 5. Davenport; 6. Carter; 7. Barrett; 8. Mitchell (R); 9. Hester; 10. Dudley (R); 11. Blount; 12. Minga; 13. Cantrell DNS.

                2^ND B-MAIN:  1. Fitzgerald; 2. B. Faircloth; 3. Edge; 4. Johnson; 5. Gentry; 6. Brasher; 7. Neiheiser; 8. Anderson; 9. Martin; 10. Kicklighter (R); 11. Jorgensen (R); 12. Herrington (R); 13. Dunn.

NeSMITH CHEVROLET DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 2/8/14:

1. 53 Ray Cook – 194
2. 87 Walker Arthur – 192
3. 51 Mack McCarter – 188
4, 58 Mark Whitener – 180
5. 19m Josh Adkins – 176
6. 56n Chris Noah (R) – 174
6. 5d Robert Diekemper – 174
8. 2 Joey Coulter – 170
9. 4 Jeremy Faircloth – 168
10. 5 Ronnie Johnson – 162
10. 18e Chase Edge – 162
12. 7 Jason Fitzgerald – 158
13. 93 Donald Brasher – 156
14. 18 Tait Davenport – 152
15. 7k Jak Kicklighter (R) – 150
16. 8 Scott Lagesse Jr. – 146
17. 110 Brent Barrett – 142
17. 27 Ben Faircloth – 142
19. 56 David Earl Gentry – 136
19. 121 Michael Blount – 136

R – Denotes Rookie of the Year Candidate

NeSmith Chevrolet, Buick, GMC of Claxton, GA is the Title Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  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 Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Hoosier Racing Tire is the Official Tire Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  RockAuto.com is an Official Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Racecar Engineering is the Official Parts Supplier of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  Renegade Race and Performance Fuels are a series Associate Sponsor and fuel supplier.  AR Bodies is an Associate Sponsor of the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series.  NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Contingency Sponsors for 2013 are Dominator Race Products, Stealth Racing Carburetors, Modern Images, Mike Custom Tanks, Shorty’s Shock Service, Schoenfeld Headers, J.T. Kerr Racing Equipment, Kinser Air Filters, Velocita Racewear, and Performance Rod & Custom.  2013 Chassis Sponsors are Trak-Star Race Cars, Warrior Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, TNT Race Cars, Stinger Race Cars, and CVR Race Cars.