CARLSON INCHING CLOSER TO NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES TITL


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Dec 4, 2008

NASCAR WEEKLY RACING SERIES

Date: 09/26/2007

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DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – All that’s left is to wait.

Steve Carlson has already wrapped up the track championship at LaCrosse (Wisc.) Speedway and sits atop the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship standings. He maintains a 12-point cushion over second-place Woody Pitkat.

Pitkat’s points season is over at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway and he has one race remaining this weekend at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway before the Sept. 30 deadline.

Following the weekend of racing, NASCAR will verify the results and issue the final official points standing. Until then, Carlson is spending his time “wondering … and watching Woody.”

“My car owner (Tim Jacobs) checks on it regularly and calls me,” said Carlson of tracking his fellow challengers around the country. “We had such a good year at my home track. At the end of the year, I did some traveling to gain some more points, and we realized just how difficult it is just to gain even two points.”

Carlson has 862 points, while Pitkat has 850. Defending champion Philip Morris from Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia, is third at 844.

After that, there is a gap to Keith Rocco, who won the Thompson track title and also races at Stafford. Rocco has 828. Carlson’s teammate at LaCrosse, Kevin Nuttleman, is fifth with 808.

Former national champions Ted Christopher from Stafford and Joe Kosiski from I-80 Speedway in Nebraska are sixth and seventh, respectively, followed by Andy Burgess of LaCrosse, Al Humphrey of I-80 and Kerry Malone of Stafford and Thompson.

The national championship won’t be the only thing decided this weekend.

The 24 U.S. state and four Canadian provencial champions will also be determined. It resumes a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of NASCAR, where the best racers in each state are recognized.

For example, Morris is poised to become the first Virginia state champion since former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver Geoff Bodine took the state’s Late Model Sportsman title in 1981. And Mark Day heads into the final weekend at Nashville’s Music City Motorplex with an eight-point lead over Josh Adams in the battle for the Tennessee state championship – a lineage that traces back to two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin winning the Grand American Stock Car title in Tennessee in 1981.

For Carlson, though, the main focus is on the big picture.

And he’s more than happy to watch and wait.

Under the simplified point structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the race winner will receive two points for every car in the event up to 25 cars. Second place will receive two fewer points, and so-on through the field. For example, if there are 25 cars, the winner receives 50 points, second gets 48 and third 46. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 30 points, second gets 28 and third 26.

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FEATURE DIVISION

National Top 25 NASCAR Leaders

PosDriver Name Home Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 Pts

1 STEVE CARLSON LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 23 8 20 21 862

2 WOODY PITKAT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 35 8 26 31 850

3 PHILIP MORRIS MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY 27 11 21 23 844

4 KEITH ROCCO STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 41 8 21 27 828

5 KEVIN NUTTLEMAN LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 24 2 16 19 808

6 TED CHRISTOPHER STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 21 2 15 19 800

7 JOE KOSISKI I-80 SPEEDWAY 32 3 24 27 792

8 ANDY BURGESS LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 19 2 13 18 792