Cleveland Speedway
Weaver outruns Arms for victory at Cleveland
Randy Weaver (116) slips by Ricky Arms (4). (carlsonracephotos.com)
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (May 23) — Fourth-starting Randy Weaver of Crossville, Tenn., overtook polesitter and race-long leader Ricky Arms of Moss, Tenn., on the 21st lap Saturday at Cleveland Speedway and cruised the rest of the way to win the 32nd annual Coca-Cola Tennessee Memorial. The low-running Weaver earned $5,000 for his second O'Reilly Southern All Star Series victory of the season and ninth of his career. | Slideshow
“Man we just had a great race car," Weaver said. "I knew when we went green we had a car that was capable of winning. I just had to bide my time and get through the traffic to get a good run on Ricky."
Arms, denied his first-ever series victory, settled for second while Skip Arp of Georgetown, Tenn., started and finished third. Hometown driver Billy Mayo rallied from 13th to finish fourth and outside front-row starter Todd Morrow of Oldfort, Tenn., rounded out the top five. Series points leader Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, Ala., was 12th. The race was slowed by a single lap-37 caution for consolation race winner Jake Knowles.
Notes: Weaver's GRT Race Car has a Race Engine Design powerplant and sponsorship from Glenn’s Auto Parts, Byrd’s Radiator and PPM Racing Products ... Weaver won despite racing with a broken index finger, an injury he suffered the previous night at a racing event at Boyd's Speedway in Ringgold, Ga. ... Eight of the top 10 finishers were home-state drivers. .. His previous series victory came April 3 at North Georgia Speedway which, like Cleveland, is promoted by Monty Morrow. ... The 50-lapper lasted 16 minutes; with rain threatening in the area, officals moved the feature up in the program and the green flag dropped at 9:38 p.m. ... Next up for the series is a June 6 event at Mountain Raceway Park in Maryville, Tenn. The race pays $5,000 to the winner.
Coca-Cola Tennessee Memorial: (1) Randy Weaver, (2) Ricky Arms, (3) Skip Arp, (4) Billy Mayo, (5) Todd Morrow, (6) Lamar Scoggins, (7) Kevin Gibson, (8) Mark Vineyard, (9) Joe Armes, (10) Randle Chupp, (11) Derek Ellis, (12) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, (13) Shawn Chastain, (14) Kayne Hickman, (15) David McCoy, (16) David Payne, (17) Ethan Hunter, (18) Rodney Weeks, (19) Jake Knowles, (20) Gabe Wilson, (21) Chuck Proctor, (22) Mike Hill, (23) Brad Coffey, (24) Johnny Chastain. Fast qualifier (among 29 cars): Arms, 14.197 seconds. Consolation race winners: Knowles, J. Chastain. Provisional starters: Hunter, Coffey.
