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Harris Jumps To Top Of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
August 27, Daytona Beach, FL--- Brian Harris is still searching for the perfect weekend. But he came pretty close in his last outing, and it was good enough to vault the Iowa dirt track Late Model driver to the top of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points standings.
Harris picked up wins Friday at Farley Speedway and Sunday at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway. He was second on Saturday at West Liberty Raceway.
“At the beginning of the year, as a team we talked about how with the five bonus points for a win, you need to go out and win every race you can,” said Harris, who has 16 wins in 31 starts. “We’ve been trying to get three in one weekend and it hasn’t happened yet. It looks like we’ve got one more weekend to get it done and help our points situation out.”
Harris entered the weekend trailing a pair of asphalt Late Model drivers: Philip Morris of Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. and Marty Ward of Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C. With Motor Mile off for the weekend, Morris ran the twin features at Langley (Va.) Speedway but finished ninth and 16th and was unable to increase his points total. Ward won at Greenville-Pickens to clinch his fifth track championship and move into a tie with Morris at 907 points. Harris’ performance pushed his total to 922.
Connecticut’s Keith Rocco picked up a win at Thompson International Speedway and a second-place at Stafford Motor Speedway to move up to 865 points. Jeff Strunk was second at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., and is fifth at 862.
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season concludes Sept. 13.
“I’ve been in this situation before,” Harris said. “We’re not done yet. We’ve got to buckle down and keep doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully it all comes together.”
Last year, Harris was leading in a regional touring series when a mid-season accident ended his championship hopes — and his season.
He returned to racing this year gunning for the NASCAR short-track championship.
Harris runs at the three tracks on a weekly basis. While he has 29 top fives in 31 starts, the closest he came to sweeping the weekend came June 20-22 when he won the first two races before finishing second at Dubuque.
Farley’s Hawkeye Truck & Trailer Late Model season ends this weekend, with Harris holding a 25-point lead over Andy Eckrich, who is seventh in the national standings. The seasons for the Fountain Transmission Late Models at West Liberty and the Dubuque Moving & Storage Late Models at Dubuque conclude Sept. 6 and 7, respectively. Harris leads the West Liberty points by 11 over Kurt Kile, but trails Eckrich by 21 at Dubuque.
Harris also holds a 110-point lead in the Iowa state standings.
He began the past weekend trailing Morris by 20 points in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. While the weather forecast included rain, which had been an issue all season, it was never an issue over the three days.
“The whole weekend was perfect and things went our way,” said Harris.
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion also earns a secure spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, to be held at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.) Jan. 23-24, 2009.
Under the 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. New this year, drivers receive five bonus points for a win.
FEATURE DIVISION - National Top 25 NASCAR Leaders
PosDriver Name Home Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 Pts
1 Brian Harris West Liberty Raceway 31 16 29 29 922
2 Marty Ward Greenville-Pickens Speedway 20 11 20 20 907
3 Philip Morris Motor Mile Speedway 22 9 18 20 907
4 Keith Rocco Waterford Speedbowl 42 9 28 33 865
5 Jeff Strunk Grandview Speedway 19 4 18 18 862
6 Coleman Pressley Greenville-Pickens Speedway 27 7 24 26 828
7 Andy Eckrich Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway 32 5 25 29 812
8 David Roberts Greenville-Pickens Speedway 25 3 19 23 809
9 Jason Gilbert Altamont Motorsports Park 18 9 15 17 795
10 Jeremiah Hurst West Liberty Raceway 32 2 16 25 756
11 Kenneth Headen Greenville-Pickens Speedway 20 0 17 20 752
12 Gary Glenn All American Speedway 27 4 19 21 748
13 Woody Pitkat Stafford Motor Speedway 24 6 12 15 738
14 Jimmy Blewett Thompson Intl Speedway 26 3 11 18 731
15 Nick Joanides Toyota Speedway At Irwindale 17 9 15 15 703
16 Doug Coby, III Waterford Speedbowl 30 3 13 19 697
17 Anthony Anders Greenville-Pickens Speedway 21 3 11 18 695
18 Ralph Carnes Greenville-Pickens Speedway 23 0 7 23 694
19 Doug Manmiller Grandview Speedway 19 0 9 13 686
20 Tony Hanbury Chemung Speedrome 28 10 20 24 684
21 Brent Larson Cedar Lake Speedway 15 6 13 15 668
22 John Hightower Greenville-Pickens Speedway 18 0 9 17 666
23 Dennis Gada Waterford Speedbowl 19 3 13 18 661
24 Jonathan Bouvrette Autodrome St. Eustache 20 5 10 18 659
25 C E Falk, III Langley Speedway 24 0 17 19 656
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