CARTERSVILLE, GA – The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Tour will compete in a double-racing weekend with a stop at Southern Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS on Friday night for a 40-lap $2,500-to-win race, and then travel south down I-59 to A1 Raceway in Slidell, LA on Saturday night for a 50-lap $3,000-to-win event.

The championship battle for the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Championship remains tight with just eight points separating point leader Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA and second-place Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA. Chris Tays of Corinth, MS is third, just 22 points behind Fields.

Fifth-place Jay Blair of Angie, LA will be looking to step up his championship hopes in front of his hometown friends and family, as he will debut a new Mastersbilt race car at two tracks he is very familiar with. Blair has 274 points, just six points behind fourth-place driver Larry Boutwell of Baker, FL, and only 40-points behind Brindle.

Blair was the 2007 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Championship Runner-Up, but this season, the “Angie Assassin” is still looking for his first top ten finish this weekend in rounds five and six of the 2008 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series season.

Blair is hoping that saying “There’s No Place Like Home” has a true ring to it this Friday night at Southern Speedway and this Saturday night at A1 Raceway. Blair has visited victory lane in NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition at both Southern Speedway and A1 Raceway over the past two seasons.

The entry list will also feature the sixth through tenth-place drivers in the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National points chase with Ted Lackey of Munford, AL, Jason Hiett of Lincoln, AL, Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA, Scott Knowles of Lanett, AL, and Hunter Peacock of Macon, GA.

Hiett leads the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year point standings for the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS over Knowles and Peacock. Eric Cooley of Fulton, MS is also a Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year contender, and sits just outside the top ten in National points, 14 points behind Peacock.

Just 56 points separate the top four Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year candidates. Hiett, Knowles, and Peacock have competed in all four NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National events held this season, and Cooley has run just three of the four National events.

The defending and two-time NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series West Region Champion Lucky Keeton of Toomsuba, MS will be at both races this weekend, and has one win in NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series competition this season at both Southern Speedway and A1 Raceway. Keeton leads the WRS West Region points in quest of his third straight title.

Other local favorites to watch are Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS and Michael Santangelo of St. Rose, LA. Lee is the defending NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Track Champion at Southern Speedway, and Santangelo is the defending NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Track Champion at A1 Raceway.

At each track, the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series cars and stars will compete in Time Trials with the top ten drivers locked into the main event, and then there will be a pair of qualifying races to fill in starting spots 11 through 22, with two series provisional spots reserved for the 23rd and 24th starting spots.

Southern Speedway will host an open practice on Thursday night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Southern Speedway is located south of Hattiesburg, MS, one mile south of U.S. Highway 98 on U.S. Highway 49. For more information visit the track web site at www.southernspeedwayms.com.