SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., (March 24, 1998) -- There are many new faces in the NASCAR Winston West Series this season. And among the many competitors are some young faces.
Eight drivers who competed in one or both of the first two NASCAR Winston West Series races this season are 24 years old or less.
At the top of the championship standings is 22-year-old Kevin Harvick, who picked up his first win in the series last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Bakersfield, Calif., competitor began his racing career in go-karts and later raced in stock cars at his hometown track, Mesa Marin Raceway. He competed in the Featherlite Southwest Series, a NASCAR touring division, in 1995 -- winning at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park.
Harvick drove the Spears Motorsports entry in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last season, while also competing for the team in three NASCAR Winston West Series races. This year the Spears team has announced plans to run the full schedules in both.
"We're going to try to do the (Winston) west and the (Craftsman) truck series," Harvick said. "Hopefully, we'll have a good year."
Another driver in the top-10 of the championship standings is Davey Manthei. The 24-year-old competitor is from West Richland, Wash., but currently resides in Las Vegas. He competed in Sprint Kart Racing, Northwest Formula Indy Cars, Northwest Super Four stock cars and Late Model Stock Cars before stepping up to the NASCAR Winston West Series this season in the T-Bird Lounge/Star Nursery Pontiac owned by Butch Jensen.
Teenager Randy Nelson of El Cajon, Calif., is another of the new faces in the series. He had a top-five finish last month in his first race in the series. Nelson, who turned 19 years old in January, started the Las Vegas event from the 22nd position and finished fourth in the Rhino Linings Ford of Steve Lucore. The former Dwarf Car competitor raced in two races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last season.
Other young drivers competing in the NASCAR Winston West Series this season include Brandon Ash, 20; Austin Cameron, 21; Brendan Gaughan, 22; Sammy Potashnick, 23; and Jeff Streeter, 18.
Ash competed in nine races in the series during the past two seasons, finishing as high as eighth last year. The Umpqua, Ore., competitor drives the Ash Motorsports Ford. He is one of 15 drivers registered for the Sears Point Raceway Rookie of the Year Program.
Last month's event at Las Vegas was the first series race for Cameron, who drives the Mar-Con/Cement Cutting Inc.-sponsored Chevrolet. The El Cajon, Calif., resident -- another of the Sears Point Raceway Rookies -- came to the series from a background in go-karts.
Gaughan also made his debut in the series at Las Vegas, which is his hometown. In addition to competing in the NASCAR Winston West Series, Gaughan drives for the Walker Evans Racing Team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and in off-road events.
Potashnick, of Sikeston, Mo., is another of the talented young drivers registered for the Sears Point Raceway Rookie Program. He competed in three NASCAR Winston West Series events last season, winning the Bud Pole Award in his first race. He picked up a top-10 finish in the PTI/Hart Transportation Chevrolet later in the year.
Streeter, meanwhile, is the youngest of the current competitors in the NASCAR Winston West Series. The Brawley, Calif., teenager raced go-karts and Grand American Modifieds prior to competing in eight events with the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1997. He has entered two NASCAR Winston West Series races in the Streeter Motorsports Ford.
The next NASCAR Winston West Series event is April 19 at Phoenix International Raceway in conjunction with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
