Shane Clanton (left) opened the Southern Nationals Bonus Series season on Friday night with a victory at Tri-County Race Track, while Ricky Weiss (right) took the series win on Saturday night at Toccoa Raceway. Photos by Brian McLeod
Shane Clanton and Ricky Weiss opened the 2018 Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals Bonus Series in fine fashion over the weekend.
Clanton scored the win in Friday night’s season opener at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, North Carolina, while Weiss scored the victory on Saturday night at Georgia’s Toccoa Raceway.
On Friday night, Clanton, who hails from Zebulon, Georgia, led start-to-finish to record his third career series event, and the $3,000 winner’s paycheck.
“I don’t know what to say about this Ray Cook, (series promoter) he’s trying to be the innovator of the sport for safety and put racing back in our hands,” Clanton said. “It’s pretty exciting to come and win a first race with the chains on.”
Three cautions slowed the 40 lap feature. The first came out on lap 10 as Shanon Buckingham slowed in turn four with a right-rear flat tire. Robby Moses brought out the second caution flag of the night when he spun in turn four. The third came out on the restart when Austin Smith spun in turn four, collecting Chicky Barton.
Weiss finished in second, with Casey Roberts in third, Shawn Chastain in fourth and Jamie Oliver in fifth.
David Payne, Tyler Bruening, Kenny Collins, Aaron Ridley, and Brent Dixon rounded out the top 10.
On Saturday night, the tour moved to the oldest continually operating dirt speedway in the state of Georgia, historic 5/16-mile Toccoa Raceway.
Ricky Weiss of Headingly, Manitoba, Canada soared past Casey Roberts on lap 18 to lead the remaining distance and capture his first-career series win, pocketing a cool $6,400 for the victory.
Polesitter Roberts and Cla Knight brought the field to the green flag, with Roberts going to the lead early on. By the 15th lap, Weiss was poised to make a challenge for the lead as he had gotten to the back bumper of Roberts. Weiss made the pass for the lead on the 17th lap.
Weiss would hold on to the point for the remaining distance as a great race ensued behind the leader as drivers would swap positions multiple times until the end of the race. Shanon Buckingham would make the bottom side of the race track work to his advantage and finish second ahead of David Payne at the finish line.
“Once I got rolling there, I knew we were good,” said Weiss. “I just tried to be patient, it’s a different track to pass on. I knew we had a good hot rod. I’ve (messed up) a few times and took myself out of a race, so I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to see that caution (late with three laps left) but we made it work,” Weiss said.
Six caution flags slowed the event that took just over thirty minutes to complete. The first caution came as Drew Collins and David McCoy slowed on lap nine. Clayton Turner would slow on lap 15 to draw the second yellow flag. Kenny Collins slowed on lap 29 for the third caution, while a slowing Cla Knight slowed on lap 32 brought out the fourth caution. Casey Roberts slowed in turn four to bring out the next caution. The final yellow flag came on lap 61 as Benji Hicks slowed at the top of turn one.
Zack Mitchell finished in fourth, with Brent Dixon in fifth.
Ridley, Roberts, Barton, Robby Moses, and Hicks rounded out the top 10.
The Southern Nationals Bonus Series returns to action on Saturday, April 28 at Georgia’s Blue Ridge Motorsports Park. Meanwhile, the Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals Series opens on March 30-31 at Georgia’s Senoia Raceway.
For more information, visit SouthernNationalsSeries.com.
Southern Nationals Bonus Series
Tri-County Race Track – Brasstown, NC
Race Results – March 16, 2018
1. Shane Clanton – Zebulon, GA
2. Ricky Weiss – Headingly, Canada
3. Casey Roberts – Toccoa, GA
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5. Jamie Oliver – Murphy, NC
6. David Payne – Murphy, NC
7. Tyler Bruening – Decorah, Iowa
8. Kenny Collins – Colbert, GA
9. Aaron Ridley – Chatsworth, GA
10. Brent Dixon – Elberton, GA
11. Benji Hicks – Mt. Airy, NC
12. Shanon Buckingham – Morristown, TN
13. Robby Moses – Maryville, TN
14. Payton Freeman – Commerce, GA
15. Chicky Barton – Middlesboro, KY
16. Joey Standridge – Tellico Plains, TN
17. Craig Greer – Cleveland, TN
18. Austin Smith – Rome, GA
19. Jason Croft – Woodstock, GA
20. Randy Nichols – Young Harris, GA
21. Kip Cochran – Franklin, NC
Southern Nationals Bonus Series
Toccoa Raceway – Toccoa, GA
Race Results – March 17, 2018
1. Ricky Weiss – Headingly, Canada
2. Shanon Buckingham – Morristown, TN
3. David Payne – Murphy, NC
4. Zack Mitchell – Enoree, SC
5. Brent Dixon – Elberton, GA
6. Aaron Ridley – Chatsworth, GA
7. Casey Roberts – Toccoa, GA
8. Chicky Barton – Middlesboro, KY
9. Robby Moses – Maryville, TN
10. Benji Hicks – Mt. Airy, NC
11. Cla Knight – North Augusta, SC
12. Kenny Collins – Colbert, GA
13. Jeremy Ledford – Mt. Airy, GA
14. Clayton Turner – Toccoa, Ga.
15. David McCoy – Franklin, NC
16. Drew Collins – Auburn, GA
DNS: Randy Nichols – Young Harris, GA
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