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Points Battles For State And Provincial Titles Heat Up Across North America

By Jason Christley, NASCAR
July 22, 2008 - 4:18pm

The list of drivers who have won NASCAR U.S. state and Canadian provincial championships is a long and distinguished one, consisting of local legends as well as names like Morgan Shepherd, David Pearson, Jack Ingram, Ralph Earnhardt and Richie Evans.

The NASCAR tradition was resumed last year and champions from across North America were crowned at the season-ending banquet in Las Vegas. As the 2008 season heats up in the summer months, the state and provincial battles throughout the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series follow suit.

The coronation of this year’s U.S. state and Canadian provincial champions will take place at the 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet Friday, Nov. 7 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas.

A look at some of the championship races:

• Keith Rocco earned his fourth win of the season at the New Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl and his sixth overall to maintain his lead in the overall standings with 830 points. Rocco also leads the Connecticut standings, where all three of the tracks are represented in the top four. Last year’s state champion and overall runner-up, Woody Pitkat, has moved into second place.

• Coleman Pressley, Marty Ward and David Roberts are not only chasing Rocco, but they’re racing each other for the South Carolina state title. Pressley is second to Rocco in the overall standings with 791 points, with Ward third at 777 and Roberts fifth at 736. But the state races only count feature results within the state, and Ward’s nine wins at Greenville-Pickens Speedway give him the advantage over Roberts and Pressley in the South Carolina race.

• Former national champion Philip Morris leads Virginia as he pursues his fifth Late Model title at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford. The Virginia standings feature a representative of three different tracks in the top three and all four NASCAR-sanctioned tracks in the top six.

• There is similar parity in California, where drivers from all four of the state’s NASCAR tracks reside in the top seven. All American Speedway’s Gary Glenn and Jon Moore lead the way, followed by Madera Speedway’s Joey Stearns and Kyle Gottula. Jason Gilbert of Altamont Motorsports Park is fifth, one point behind Gottula and just 112 back of Glenn. Moore, Gilbert, sixth-place Paulie Harraka of All American, and seventh-place Nick Joanides of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale have all yet to run 18 races, which means a good performance could result in a drastic jump in the standings. Last year, the California race was a three-car battle decided in the final weekend.

• Louie Mechalides of All-Star Speedway maintained his lead in New Hampshire, where drivers from the three tracks occupy the top four spots.

• Defending NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Steve Carlson vaulted from third to first in Wisconsin with his fourth win of the season at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway. Carlson took a 22-point lead over Rick Egersdorf of Cedar Lakes Speedway.

• States with one NASCAR-sanctioned track also feature plenty of excitement. The tightest battle is in Maine, where defending champion Bub Bilodeau holds a one-point edge on Bobby Babb Jr. as the two go head-to-head at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Ronnie Hults has a six-point lead on defending champion Bruce Yackey in Colorado, where both race at Colorado National. And, in Illinois, Jerry Gille is eight points up on Ricky Bilderback as both run at Rockford Speedway.

Under the point structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the drivers top 18 finishes are counted toward his point total. A race winner will receive two points for every car in the event up to 25 cars. Second place will receive two fewer points, and so-on through the field. For example, if there are 25 cars, the winner receives 50 points, second gets 48 and third 46. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 30 points, second gets 28 and third 26. New this year, drivers receive five bonus points for a win. The final day for the 2008 points is Sunday, Sept. 14.