DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – As the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series heads into its final weeks of competition, the battle for the national championship has developed into a tough three-way race among a trio of veteran drivers.
Steve Carlson took the top spot in the standings last week – moving past Woody Pitkat, who topped the rankings for much of this season, and last year’s national champion Philip Morris.
Carlson of West Salem, Wis., wrapped up his season at his hometown track of LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway a week ago with eight wins, 18 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. His 860 points were enough for him to retain the lead in the national standings this week.
“When we started the season, we had no intentions of running for points,” Carlson said of his effort at this year at LaCrosse. “My crew convinced me into running for the championship here, because the car was so fast. They thought we had a chance to win it, even though we missed a night.”
As the season progressed, Carlson’s crew members began to focus on the national championship in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. “Half way through the year, a couple guys on my crew started talking about it a little bit,” he recalled. “They were watching the national points and they said if we kept doing what we were doing, that we had a chance for a top-two or three finish in the national points. We had such a good car. My worst finish all season was a seventh place. After we got 18 races in, I was able to throw that seventh out. So, my worst finish all season has been fourth.”
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competitors count their 18 highest point finishes through Sept. 30. Once drivers surpass 18, they are able to shed some of their sub-par finishes.
Although his season at LaCrosse is complete, Carlson is not content to just sit back. He plans to head to Elko (Minn.) Speedway for two races.
“This weekend we’re going to travel two hours north of here to Elko, Minn,” Carlson said. “They’ve got twin 40-lap features. We’re going to go up there and see if we can get a top-three finish – maybe get our points up a little bit more. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by going to Elko. If I could get better than a fourth-place finish, then I could throw out a fourth place. That will help my average.”
Pitkat of Manchester, Conn., trails Carlson with 848 points. Pitkat registered a ninth-place at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway over the weekend, along with finishing 32nd at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. Morris of Ruckersville, Va., scored his 10th win of the season, meanwhile, at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. He is third in the standings with 822 points.
Keith Rocco, who competes against Pitkat at Stafford and Thompson, is fourth with 818 points. Fifth is former national champion Joe Kosiski of I-80 Speedway in Nebraska. Two drivers from La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Kevin Nuttleman and Andy Burgess, are sixth and seventh, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 are Al Humphrey from I-80 Speedway, Duane Howard from Grandview Speedway and Kerry Malone from Stafford Motor Speedway.
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.
The national champion will earn a reserved spot in the 2007 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway in October.
FEATURE DIVISION
National Top 25 NASCAR Leaders
PosDriver Name Home Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 Pts
1 STEVE CARLSON LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 19 8 18 19 860
2 WOODY PITKAT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 31 7 23 27 848
3 PHILIP MORRIS MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY 23 10 17 19 822
4 KEITH ROCCO THOMPSON INTL SPEEDWAY 35 7 18 24 818
5 JOE KOSISKI I-80 SPEEDWAY 32 3 24 27 792
6 KEVIN NUTTLEMAN LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 20 2 15 17 792
7 ANDY BURGESS LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 19 2 13 18 792
8 AL HUMPHREY I-80 SPEEDWAY 26 5 18 23 790
9 DUANE HOWARD GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY 18 5 13 15 778
10 KERRY MALONE STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 31 2 12 23 778
11 JEFF STRUNK GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY 19 4 15 16 770
12 DAVID ROBERTS GREENVILLE-PICKENS SPEEDWAY 19 5 19 19 766
13 GUY JUBINVILLE AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 27 12 23 24 762
14 TED CHRISTOPHER STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 19 2 13 17 754
15 J BOUVRETTE AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 27 5 23 24 748
16 RANDY PORTER GREENVILLE-PICKENS SPEEDWAY 19 5 17 18 734
17 JASON HOBSCHEIDT I-80 SPEEDWAY 31 4 16 22 720
18 LEON ZEITNER I-80 SPEEDWAY 26 1 12 21 716
19 WILL THOMAS, III LAKE ERIE SPEEDWAY 24 4 22 23 710
20 STEVE HOLZHAUSEN LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 20 1 10 17 696
21 KENNETH HEADEN GREENVILLE-PICKENS SPEEDWAY 21 7 15 19 694
22 JAMEY CAUDILL SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 29 5 16 25 684
23 TOMMY LEMONS, JR MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY 23 0 11 18 678
24 DREW HERRING SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 26 5 18 22 672
25 MARTIN MARCOUX AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 19 1 11 17 668
