DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- At 65 race tracks across the United States and Canada, teams and drivers have seven more weeks to win the most prestigious prize in short track racing – the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series championship. After the season concludes Sept. 19, NASCAR will compile the final results, crown eight regional champions and distribute $1.7 million in prize money – the largest point fund of any short track racing series in North America.
Each regional champion can receive up to $45,000 in post-season awards. Also, the eight regional winners’ records will be compared to determine an overall NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series champion. That driver can receive a $125,000 bonus for a total prize of $170,000. All regional champions will be honored at NASCAR’s gala awards banquet, Oct. 30 in Nashville.
Here’s a rundown of the championship contenders from each region…
ATLANTIC REGION … Frank Deiny Jr., a resident of Mechanicsville, Va., has led the Atlantic Region standings for the past three weeks. Deiny, who has seven wins and 13 top-five finishes at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., leads Lonesome Pine International Raceway driver Steve Blackburn in the standings. Blackburn, of Prestonsburg, Va., has won 11 races at Lonesome Pine. Sitting third in the standings is Matt McCall, a Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway competitor who has eight wins at his home track.
EAST COAST REGION … Manassas, Va. driver Danny Fair leads this region, which includes tracks in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey and New York. Fair, who competes at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, has eight wins and 14 top-five finishes in 16 starts. 2003 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series regional champion Mark Wertz, of Virginia Beach, Va., has seven wins in 19 starts at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., and is ranked second in the East Coast Region. Jason Calhoun, of Marion, S.C., is making a run for his second track championship at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway and is ranked third with eight wins and 12 top-five finishes.
HEARTLAND REGION … Andy Bozell, of Portage, Mich., has led the Heartland Region standings for the entire season thanks to four wins and 13 top-five finishes at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Speedway. Bozell, who competes in the track’s Super Late Model division along with his brother and son, is a six-time track champion, but has yet to win a NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series regional title. Ray Guss Jr., of Milan, Ill., has chased Bozell in the standings for several weeks. This week, Guss remains in second place with three wins and 10 top-five finishes at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway.
MIDWEST REGION … Charlie Menard, an asphalt Late Model driver from Eau Claire, Wis., and dirt Modified driver Tim Karrick, from Basehor, Kan., have battled for the Midwest Region lead for several weeks. Karrick competes at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., the home track of 2002 regional champion Clint Bowyer, who now drives for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Busch Series. Karrick, the 2003 track championship runner-up at Lakeside, has five wins and nine top-five finishes and has led the Midwest Region on several occasions, and as recently as last week. Menard, meanwhile, has re-gained the top spot in the Midwest Region standings after recording his 11th top-five finish at LaCrosse (Wis.) Fairgrounds Speedway. Menard is attempting to become the first asphalt driver to win the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Midwest Region championship since Minnesota’s Jeff Martin accomplished the feat in 1997.
NEW ENGLAND REGION … Two-time New England Region champion Ted Christopher, of Plainville, Conn., is chasing his third regional crown at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway. Christopher, who also competes in the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series and many other racing divisions throughout New England, has seven wins and nine top-five finishes at Stafford. Christopher’s closest regional rival is Richard Wolf Jr., of Northwood, N.H., who competes at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire. Wolf has three wins and 11 top-five finishes in 12 starts. Jeff Strunk, of Bethel, Pa., sits third in the New England Region standings after recording four wins at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway. Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway driver Vinny Annarummo Jr., of Swansea, Mass., led the New England Region standings for first seven weeks of the season, but has dropped to fifth after going winless since June 5.
NORTHEAST REGION … Dirt Modified veteran Doug Hoffman, of Allentown, Pa., leads the Northeast Region standings after collecting seven wins and 15 top-five finishes at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa. Hoffman has led the Northeast Region standings for most of the 2004 season and is seeking his first NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series regional championship. Todd Hoddick, of Lancaster, N.Y., holds down the second position in the Northeast Region, with five wins and 10 top-five finishes at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pa.
NORTHWEST REGION … Jerry Robertson, of Arvada, Colo., continues to lead the Northwest Region standings with a record of seven wins and 11 top-five finishes at Colorado National Speedway near Denver. Robertson, like Heartland Region leader Andy Bozell, has led the standings for the entire season. Northern California driver Justin Westmoreland is second in this week’s rankings, with eight wins and 14 top-five finishes at Madera (Calif.) Speedway. John Zaretzke, of Monroe, Wash., holds down the third position in the Northwest, with six wins at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe.
SUNBELT REGION … Greg Pursley, of Santa Clarita, Calif., has won nine races in 13 starts at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway. He leads the Sunbelt Region standings and is pursuing his first NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series title. Cajon Speedway driver David Beat, of El Cajon, Calif., is ranked second with eight wins in 13 starts at his home track.
These and other NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series championship hopefuls will continue to race for top honors until NASCAR compiles the final Competition Performance Index (CPI), which measures wins, top-five finishes, starts and the average number of cars competing at each driver’s home track. The CPI establishes a ranking of drivers and, at season’s end, the eligible driver with the highest CPI rating wins the regional title.
While each regional champion can expect to win nearly $45,000 in prize money for the championship, the second-place drivers in each region can collect up to $24,000. In total, the regional leaders (in each of NASCAR’s eight geographic regions) will share nearly $140,000 in post-season awards. Along with the POWERade Local Track Awards, Lincoln Electric Car Owner awards, Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Awards, Lunati Cams Crew Chief Awards and other prizes, NASCAR will award $1.7 million to NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series competitors this year.
