JASON SMALL LEADING ROOKIE STANDINGS

Typical of a division as competitive as the NASCAR Winston West Series, point battles are heating up for both the Championship title and the Rookie-of-the-Year honors. As the series has witnessed at least three different point leaders this season, it has also seen the Rookie-of-the-Year battle rage on.

Currently Jason Small holds a 6-point advantage over fellow rookie contender, Sammy Potashnick. Small said, "I feel real good about where we are right now. I know we have to stay focused to win the ROY and I have settled down and am concentrating on running my own race."

Whatever happens, Small and Potashnick have taken what could be a bitter battlefield and turned it into a friendship. "Sammy is a great competitor, one I have a lot of respect for both as a driver and as a friend. To be able to be running for the Rookie title with someone like Sammy just makes it a lot of fun. We're good friends at the track and that makes it a lot easier for both of us."

Both Small and Potashnick were running strong at Irwindale. Potashnick had the lead several different times. Small was up-front racing with the leaders when a cut tire sent him into the pits costing him what might have been a top-five finish. Small finished the race in 14th, Potashnick finished 5th.

Said one of the Small Motorsports team managers, "The tire letting go at Irwindale was a disappointment. We had a car that could have won the race. We have a driver that could have won the race. Jason has a good rhythm and a good feel for the cars. He knows what the car is doing and can communicate that to us. He has been driving hurt, maybe this next couple of weeks will give him time to heal. We are still leading the Rookie-of-the-Year standings. That has been our goal all along. We just have to go on to Salt Lake and pick it up there"

With four races remaining, the Rookie-of-the-Year honors are definitely anyone's to take. As much as each of these contenders would like to walk away with the title at the end of the year, they will still be there to congratulate the other. They will leave the 1999 season knowing it was one of the hardest and best rookie battles ever waged in the NASCAR Winston West Series.