One weekend left in season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 20, 2001) - With just one week remaining in the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, competitors across the nation are seeking to gain an advantage and improve their position. Competitors at each of the nearly 90 tracks in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series track champions will be crowned as champions in the coming weeks and those competitors will seek to gain local, regional and possibly national notoriety. Their performances are reflected in the Competition Performance Index (CPI) standings.

Atlantic Seaboard Region: Jimmy Naylor of Dalzell, S.C., remains on top in the Atlantic Seaboard Region of the ShorTrack Division. Naylor, who competes in the Late Model division at Florence (S.C.) Motor Speedway, has 13 victories this season in 17 starts. Naylor has 17 top-five finishes. Mark Wertz of Newport News, Va., continues to hold second in the region. Wertz, who competes in the Grand Stock division at Langley Speedway, has six wins this season. Peyton Sellers, Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C.; Jim Hardin, Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Va., and Ray Ashworth, Southside Speedway in Richmond, Va., round out the top five in the Atlantic Seaboard Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Blue Ridge Region: David Miley of Knoxville, Tenn., has maintained the top spot in the Blue Ridge Region of the ShorTrack Division for another week. Miley, who competes in the Modified Street division at Atomic Motor Speedway in Knoxville, Tenn., earned his eighth victory of the season this past weekend. Miley has 15 top-five finishes in 16 starts. Robby Robbins, of Greenville, S.C., is second in the regional standings. Robbins, who competes in the Super Stock division at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway, has captured 10 victories in 21 starts. Clay Campbell, Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.; Tony Sarver, New River Valley Speedway in Radford, Va., and Jerry Scott, Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C., round out the top five in the Blue Ridge Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Great West Region: Shane Brim of Malaga, Wash., holds down the top spot in the Great West Region of the ShorTrack Division. Brim, who competes in the Sportsmen division at Wenatchee (Wash.) Valley’s Super Oval, captured his tenth victory of the season this past weekend. Chris Leaf of Kersey, Colo., has moved to second in the region. Leaf, who competes in the Pro Truck division at Colorado National Speedway in Erie, Colo., has seven wins this season. Dave Lund, Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash.; Nick Parker, Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah, and Ray Van Holland, Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls, Idaho, round out the top five in the Great West Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Heartland Region: Tandy Marlin of Franklin, Tenn., continues to hold his advantage and lead in the Heartland Region of the ShorTrack Division. Marlin, who competes in the Supertruck division at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway USA, has scored eight victories this season. Marlin has 14 top-five and 17 top-ten finishes in 19 starts. Donald Fleming of Xenia, Ohio, has a hold on second in the regional standings for another week. Fleming, who competes in the Pro Stock division at Kil-Kare Speedway in Xenia, Ohio, has five wins in 16 starts this season. Bobby Ohrenberg, Lakeside Speedway; James Hunt, Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway and Randy Ainsworth, I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., round out the top five in the Heartland Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Mid-America Region: Kevin Propst of Holts Summit, Mo., continues to lead in the Mid-America Region of the ShorTrack Division. Propst, who competes in the Modified division at Captial Speedway in Holts Summit, Mo., has scored 14 victories in 24 starts. Ricky Martin of Farmington, Minn., continues to hold second in the regional standings. Martin, who competes in the Sportsman division at Elko (Minn.) Speedway, scored his eighth win of the season this past weekend. Brett McCoy, Rockford (Ill.) Speedway; Chad Naylor, Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., and Ryan Dolan, Dubuque (Iowa) Fairgrounds Speedway round out the top five in the ShorTrack Division Mid-America Region in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Midwest Region: Randy Kutzke of Topeka, Kan., has moved into the lead in the Midwest Region of the ShorTrack division. Kutzke, who competes in the Grand National division at O’Reilly Auto Parts Motor Speedway at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., has captured eight victories this season. Mark Wyman of Papillion, Neb., slipped to second in the regional standings. Wyman, who competes in the Modified division at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa, has five victories in 19 starts this season. Scott Megonigle, West Liberty (Iowa) Raceway; Mike Wallace, Nebraska Raceway Park in Greenwood, Neb., and Jon Stepan, Viking Speedway in Alexandria, Minn., round out the top five in the Midwest Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

New England Region: Robert Wilcox of Londonderry, N.H., has maintained his advantage in the New England Region of the ShorTrack Division for another week. Wilcox, who competes in the 350 Super Modified division at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., has 13 victories this season. Jim Peterson of Monson, Mass., continues to hold second in the regional standings. Peterson, who competes in the Late Model division at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, has collected five victories in 18 starts. Wayne Helliwell, Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway; Allen Coates, Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl and Aaron Fellows, Claremont (N.H.) Speedway round out the top five in the New England Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Northeast Region: Edward Brehio of Baldwinville, Mass., continues to hold the lead in the Northeast Region of the ShorTrack Division for another week. Brehio, who competes in the Late Model division at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., has scored five victories in 18 starts this season. Doug Meyer of North Canton, Ohio, remains second in the regional standings. Meyer, who competes in the Modified division at Lorain County Speedway in Amherst, Ohio, has nine victories this season. Dave Dissinger, Big Diamond Raceway; Todd Price, Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway in Minersville, Pa., and Peter‘ Buzzy’ Eriksen, Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway round out the top five in the Northeast Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Pacific Coast Region: Mark Shackleford of Riverside, Calif., has a hold on the top spot Pacific Coast Region of the ShorTrack Division. Shackleford, who competes in the Stock Pony division at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, Calif., has 10 wins this season. Shackleford has 14 top-five and 16 top-ten finishes in 16 starts. Gene Fife of Tehachapi, Calif., jumped to second in the regional standings. Fife, who competes in the Limited Late Model division at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., has collected seven victories this season. Ryan Philpott, Atlamont Raceway Park in Tracy, Calif.; Deryk Ward, Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway and Rich Green, Cajon Speedway, El Cajon, Calif., round out the top five in the Pacific Coast Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

Sunbelt Region: Donald Clark of Cottageville, S.C., continues to hold the lead in the Sunbelt Region of the ShorTrack Division. Clark, who competes in the Late Model division at Summerville (S.C.) Speedway, has 15 victories in 20 starts. Steve Whitener of Middleburg, Fla., has moved to second in the regional standings. Whitener, who competes in the Sportsman division at Jax Raceways in Jacksonville, Fla., has visited victory lane on 12 occasions this season. Jon Paques, Sandia Motorsports Park in Albuquerque, N.M.; Jeremy Ash, Thunder Valley Speedway in Alexandria, La., and Jeff Anderson, Thunder Raceway in Show Low, Ariz., round out the top five in the Sunbelt Region of the ShorTrack Division in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.

The ShorTrack Division in the NWRS was developed in 1998 to provide regional and national recognition for another NASCAR Weekly Racing Series division.

Each of the nearly 90 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series tracks across the country have designated a feature division that competes for local, regional and national recognition and a $1.7 million point fund. These same tracks have designated another division to compete in the ShorTrack Division. The ShorTrack Division includes divisions such as Limited Sportsman, Sportsman, Street Stock, Modified and Truck classes.

To be eligible for regional and, therefore, national championship recognition, ShorTrack Division drivers must compete in a minimum of 16 events. The same rules and geographic regions are administered as in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. Regional standings, using the same formula to calculate the Competition Performance Index (CPI) as the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, are posted on Thursdays.

NASCAR officials have announced a seven-day modification to the current NASCAR Weekly Racing Series schedule regarding the conclusion of the point season, from September 16th to September 23rd. This modification has been granted to tracks which had events scheduled for last weekend and chose to postpone them due to the events of last week.

Each of the 10 regional champions and the national champion will be recognized and receive their awards at the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series banquet on November 16th at the Peabody Hotel and Resort in Orlando, Fla.

- nascar/wrs-