KALISPELL, Montana — Alex Lessor has been down this road before. In fact it was just last summer that Lessor and Bodie Morton battled to the last race of the season to decide the championship in the Lucas Oil Super Late Model Series at Montana Raceway Park.
Separated by a mere five points heading into this weekend's Bill Clark Memorial Northwest Late Model 150-lap showdown, Lessor knows that for history to repeat itself and he walks away with the division's championship he must be at the top of his game.
Debuting a new Rainbow Bar & Casino/Bob's Alley Speed Ford Fusion in May, Lessor has a June 12 win to his credit and comes off a runner-up finish in the series last race on Aug. 7. Much has changed from last summer's battle against the always competitive Morton, according to Lessor.
"Everything seems different this year," he explained. "The new Ford crate engine program underneath our Fusion has been a struggle for me. I get frustrated with it and my crew chief Charlie Thorn is always reminding me it's going to be fine. It gets tougher every year in this division with all of the other drivers running so well. It's not just one or two guys you have to watch out for now it's like ten.
"Bodie has always been tough and runs real strong but this year he has been running really well. I couldn't think of a better guy to battle for the championship then to go up against him."
Lessor's last race out, a late model show at Wenatchee Valley's Super Oval, nearly cost him his new race car. Suffering heavy damage in a late race incident, the crew has worked very hard to get the Fusion back together and ready for the weekend, he noted.
"We have been working on the car day and night since we got home from Wenatchee. It's almost back together but it's going to come right down to Saturday morning. There were a lot of bent and broken parts from that race. Hopefully there are no unknowns when we unload. We have a great Lefthander chassis and a solid team led by Charlie and my car owner, Bob Schweigert. They will make sure it's all put back together just the way it was before we left for Wenatchee."
Also racing this weekend will be the Westward Bound Construction/Keller Williams Realty Legend Series, Flathead Beacon Crusin' Compacts and the MRP Bandoleros.
Wrango West, driver of the No. 36 ProBuild Legend, leads the drivers championship standings by nine over 2009 title holder, Jake Bisset. As is the case in the late model division, West and Bisset battled last season for the championship with the year's final race deciding the outcome. This weekend's race marks the first of two in a row with the season's final race set for Sept. 18.
Bill Mitchell holds a 33-point advantage over Marvin Stone heading into Saturday's main event for the Flathead Beacon Crusin' Compact division with two races left in the season. Ernie Cahala, Nancy Davis and Danella White round out the top-5 in the championship standings.
Dalton Halden sits 24 points ahead of her closest competitor, Tristan Corpron, in the chase for the 2010 MRP Bandolero championship. Todd Holleman, Brock Denney and Nino Robinette round out the top-5.
In support of the Bill Clark Memorial late model race, the Canadian Baby Grands make their second stop of the 2010 season this weekend. Featuring drivers of all ages in scaled down versions of NASCAR Nationwide or Sprint Cup cars; this traveling series provides close racing action for fans across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Cameron Hayley picked up the series main event victory on July 4 at MRP.
This weekend's racing is sponsored by 103.9 The Monster, KOFI and Miller Lite. Fans will want to be sure and have a seat for all of the action on the track with plenty of excitement offered during intermission and on the midway.
Advanced tickets are on sale at www.montanaracewaypark.com Fans interested in staying up-to-date with the latest news from MRP can text MTRACE to 91011 or call (406) 257-RACE (7223).
