Skip Arp
Claims Lester Weeks Memorial at Smoky Mountain
(October
9, 2026) Despite not racing since June, Skip Arp showed
signs of rust in claiming the Topless Outlaws Lester Weeks Memorial.
(MRM Racing Photo)
Kyle Courtney and Chase King started the 40-lap race from the
front row. King looked to have the advantage in turn 1 of the
opening lap, but Courtney grabbed the lead going into turn 2.
A few laps later, Arp passed King for second and chased down the
leader.
After a number of restarts, the race settled in to a long green
flag run. By the race’s midway point, Arp began pressuring
Courtney for the lead. Courtney managed to hang on to the lead
until lap 27. Arp got a run under Courtney and took the lead going
into turn one. Arp remained unchallenged the final 13 laps. John
Ownbey came from 7th starting spot to briefly take second from
Courtney. But Courtney took the position on the final lap.
Chandler Hickman made it 3 wins in a row in the sportsman late
model division. Mitchell Stanley finished second and Jed Emert
used a series of slide jobs to move up to and finish in third.
Eric Hughes claimed another street stock feature win. Hughes
had to battle Chris Kelly for the initial lead before Kelly had
a spin in turn 4. Shannon Emery came from 4th to finish 2nd. Austin
Byrd rallied from sixth to finish third.
Nick Romesburg came from 5th to win the front wheel drive feature.
Nathan Adams was the early race leader. As the race worn on, Adams’
car began smoking before forcing him to retire from the race with
a handful of laps to go. James Burnette held onto second and James
Klaucke came from 14th to finish 3rd.
Raymond Nelson won another Crown Vic feature. Johnathan Allen
held off Ashton Allen for second.
The next race at Smoky Mountain Speedway will be Saturday, November
21 for the 3rd annual Thanksgiving Thunder event.
(MRM Racing Photo)
Topless Outlaws Dirt Late Model Series:
1. 31-Skip Arp[3]; 2. 171-Kyle Courtney[2]; 3. 44J-John Ownbey[7];
4. 97-Bobby Giffin[5]; 5. 18-Hayden Ownbey[6]; 6. 32-Jason Manley[14];
7. 22-Mike Weeks[10]; 8. 8-David Payne[12]; 9. 51-Jed Emert[13];
10. 44-Chase King[1]; 11. 84-Ryan Tims[16]; 12. 29-Rusty Ballenger[15];
13. 39-Heath Hindman; 14. 6C-Chandler Hickman[21]; 15. 20-Daniel
Boles[8]; 16. C5-David Crabtree[19]; 17. 83-Skylar Marlar[4];
18. 90J-Jason Trammell[11]; 19. 31L-Brady Lee[17]; 20. 16-Austin
Horton[23]; 21. 17-Taylor Puckett[9]; 22. 95-Brandon Williams[18];
23. 5H-Bryan Hendrix[22]; 24. (DNS) P1-Andy Picklesimer; 25. (DNS)
23C-Layne Clifton
(MRM Racing Photo)
Sportsman Late Models:
1. 6C-Chandler Hickman[1]; 2. 11-Mitchell Stanley[2]; 3. 98E-Jed
Emert[5]; 4. 34-Evan McReynolds[3]; 5. 5J-Jesse Lowe[9]; 6. 14-Adam
Ogle[4]; 7. 28-Jesse Helton[6]; 8. 21-Braxton Swint[8]; 9. 2-Mitchell
Childress[7]; 10. P7-Matt Steward[14]; 11. 1-Keith Dishman[11];
12. 22D-Tyler Dennis[12]; 13. 5P-Jake Presley[16]; 14. 24-Brett
Baer[15]; 15. 98-Hunter Johnson[19]; 16. 17J-Justin Ballew[17];
17. 777-Joey Bishop[13]; 18. 71-Chad Elliot[18]; 19. (DNS) 96-Ohlin
Williams
(MRM Racing Photo)
Street Stocks:
1. 10-Eric Hughes[1]; 2. M2-Shannon Emery[4]; 3. A13-Austin Byrd[6];
4. 21XP-Bobbie Petty[8]; 5. 19-Austin Helton[10]; 6. 5-Duke Lowe[5];
7. 27-David Clark[9]; 8. 88-Sam Burgess[3]; 9. 57-David Marlar[14];
10. B01-Josh Driskill[15]; 11. J3-Chad McLemore[7]; 12. 1-Chris
Kelly[2]; 13. T11-Tim Kilby[12]; 14. 8-Eli Keck[13]; 15. C12-Chase
Hoffman[11]
(MRM Racing Photo)
Front Wheel Drive:
1. 519-Nick Romesburg[5]; 2. 18-James Burnette[2]; 3. K3-James
Klaucke[14]; 4. 92-Donnie Lowe[7]; 5. 22-Caleb Manning[8]; 6.
10-Dan Sandiford[9]; 7. 9E-Raymond Ledbetter[10]; 8. 21-Shaun
Harper[20]; 9. 45-Colton Keasler[11]; 10. 7707-Mitchell Ledbetter[18];
11. 26-Michael Lambert[4]; 12. A93-Nathan Adams[1]; 13. 4J-Darrell
Stinnett[23]; 14. 84-Bryan Grant[24]; 15. 13H-Tyler Locklear[12];
16. 12-Trent Lee[17]; 17. 38-Bryan Williams[3]; 18. J4-Jacob Anderson[13];
19. 14J-Jeremy Murray[6]; 20. B01-Elias Dalton[26]; 21. 96-Chayse
McDaniel[16]; 22. J1-Jake Bumgarner[19]; 23. 3-Matthew Sullivan[21];
24. 21H-Shayne Hawkins[22]; 25. (DNS) 21T-Travis Taylor; 26. (DNS)
32L-Jamie Locklear
(MRM Racing Photo)
Crown Vics:
1. 15-Raymond Nelson[2]; 2. 22A-Johnathan Allen[3]; 3. 20-Ashton
Allen[5]; 4. 12-Dustin Stephens[6]; 5. 48-Trent Turner[12]; 6.
17-Steve Owens[27]; 7. 10-Colby Long[21]; 8. 21X-Travis Banther[28];
9. 74X-Steve Allen[16]; 10. 21-Brandon McKamey[1]; 11. 77-Jake
Hamby[25]; 12. 76-Kevin Flint[22]; 13. ?-Daryl Whitney[9]; 14.
78-Tyra Pry[26]; 15. 71-Bobby Bunch[24]; 16. 47-Timmy Cummings[15];
17. 2-Spencer Walton[17]; 18. 16-Wes Johnson[19]; 19. 22-Logan
Chambers[13]; 20. 3-Jesse Bradshaw[8]; 21. 54-Chris Naillon[10];
22. 13-Tim Cummings[7]; 23. 119-Jordan Gregory[11]; 24. 13G-Amber
Gilpatrick[18]; 25. 27Z-Zach Pry[14]; 26. 13L-Leanna Morgan[20];
27. 1-Kirk Turner[4]; 28. (DNS) 41-John Scarbrough
###
