SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif -- Butch Gilliland moved back into the lead in the NASCAR Winston West Series championship standings following the July 11 event. He now holds a 25-point lead.
*** Gilliland also took over the lead in the category of most laps led this season in the eight regular races. He has had the Stroppe Motorsports/Pro Insulation Ford out front for 392 laps, which is 29 percent of the time.
*** Gary Smith remains the leader in the most laps completed in the eight regular races. He has run 1,349 of the 1,350 laps possible this season.
*** Smith holds the highest average finish in the eight events He has an average finish of 2.9.
*** The NASCAR Winston West Series swing through the Pacific Northwest resulted in two good finishes for Smith and Sean Woodside. While Woodside picked up a win and a third-place finish, Smith had two runner-up results.
*** Several NASCAR Winston West Series drivers will be celebrating birthdays during the next several weeks. Series veteran Jack Sellers will turn 53 on July 27, Lew Miller will turn 50 on Aug. 4, Rich Woodland Jr. will turn 27 on Aug. 5 and Scott Gaylord will turn 39 on Aug 12.
Turning to Pikes Peak
*** This is the first visit by the NASCAR Winston West Series to Pikes Peak International Raceway and the only visit by the series to the one-mile superspeedway this year.
*** This is the third of four superspeedway races on the NASCAR Winston West Series schedule for 1997.
*** This will be the third consecutive year for the NASCAR Winston West Series to travel to Colorado. Events in 1995 and 1996 were held on the 3/8-mile track at Colorado National Speedway. Prior to 1995, the last series race in Colorado was held on the road course at Castle Rock in August of 1982.
Stats of the Week
*** This will be the 13th stand-alone event on a superspeedway for the NASCAR Winston West Series in its modern era, 1971 to present. Eight races were at Phoenix International Raceway, one was at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway, two were at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and one was at California Speedway.
