DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 30, 2002) - A victory over the Memorial Day weekend has propelled Dennis Reno Jr., of Tarrant, Ala., into the lead in the Sunbelt Region of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by Dodge.
Reno notched his fourth win in five races this season at Birmingham (Ala.) International Raceway. His Competition Performance Index of .8367 tops the region. The index is used each week to rank the track leaders in each of the eight regions across the country.
Remaining second in the region this week is Scott Winters of Tracy, Calif. He has one win and three top-five finishes overall in the Grand American division at Madera (Calif.) Speedway.
Tony Green, of Oak Hills, Calif., holds the third spot in the rankings. Green has three wins and six top-five finishes in seven races in the Super Late Model division at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway.
Moving up one position to fourth in the region is Bobby Scott Jr. The Santa Cruz, Calif., competitor has three wins, six top fives and seven top-10 finishes overall in seven races this season on the .25-mile clay oval at Watsonville (Calif.) Speedway. Scott Gafforini, of Las Vegas, gained two spots in the rankings, moving to fifth place. Gafforini has one victory and five top-five finishes overall in six races at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Completing the top 10 in the Sunbelt Region are Gary Tamborelli, of Escondido, Calif., Orange Show Speedway, San Bernardino, Calif.; Ron Norman, of Tucson, Ariz., Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park; Mike Balzer, of San Antonio, San Antonio Speedway; Gene Fife, of Tehachapi, Calif., Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.; and Danny Gay, of Lakeside, Calif., Cajon Speedway near San Diego.
THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN: Pos Driver Name Home Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 CPI
1 RENO JR, DENNIS BIRMINGHAM INTL RACE 5 4 5 5 0.8367
2 WINTERS, SCOTT MADERA SPEEDWAY 3 1 3 3 0.8316
3 GREEN, TONY IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY 7 3 6 6 0.8192
4 SCOTT JR, BOBBY WATSONVILLE SPEEDWAY 7 3 6 7 0.7843
5 GAFFORINI, SCOTT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEE 6 1 5 5 0.7500
6 TAMBORELLI, GARY ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY 6 3 6 6 0.7492
7 NORMAN, RON TUCSON RACEWAY PARK 7 2 7 7 0.7070
8 BALZER, MIKE SAN ANTONIO SPEEDWAY 6 2 5 5 0.7032
9 FIFE, GENE MESA MARIN RACEWAY 7 0 6 7 0.6727
10 GAY, DANNY CAJON SPEEDWAY 7 1 5 7 0.5911
NEWS OF NOTE:
· Nick Woodward, the 2000 national championship runner-up in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Presented by Dodge, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Busch Series career debut this weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, in the No. 49 Ford for owner Jay Robinson. "It's going to be really exciting to drive my first Busch race so close to my hometown," said Woodward, who grew up in Preston, Maryland. "I started out by racing go-karts when I was nine years old and never have had the chance to compete at Dover. I've always wanted to race there, and now I'll get the opportunity to do so with plenty of friends and family on hand." Woodward finished runner-up for the 2000 national title, but earned the Atlantic Seaboard Region crown as well as track titles at Southampton Motor Speedway and Big Daddy’s South Boston Speedway. Last season, he progressed to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he made two starts and had a top finish of 11th at Indianapolis. His last competitive start came April 27 at South Boston, where he finished third in a late-model event.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
· On May 9, 1987, Bowman Gray Stadium honored Richard Childress at the track from which he emerged into the national spotlight. Childress sold peanuts at the Stadium as a child, and started his driving career in 1964. Among the VIPs that honored Childress during pre-race ceremonies were Dale Earnhardt, who had just captured the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series title; then Mayor of Winston-Salem Wayne Corpening; NASCAR vice president, Jim Hunter; and R.J. Reynolds executive T. Wayne Robertson.
