Carlson Returns To Championship Form In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 3, 2008) – Steve Carlson looks back on 2007 with a special fondness. After a racing career that took him all over the country, competing against a who’s who of drivers, and collecting a multitude of wins and championships along the way, the Wisconsin driver captured the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship.

“Last year was really special,” Carlson said.

While this year hasn’t produced the exact same results, Carlson again earned an invitation to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet by successfully defending his Late Model division title at LaCrosse (Wisc.) Fairgrounds Speedway. The awards banquet is Friday, Nov. 7 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas.

This season was extraordinary for Carlson in a number of ways. He saw his teammate, Kevin Nuttleman, record his 100th career win. And Carlson watched his 20-year-old son, Mike, win his first career feature in April.

“He earned it, because I was really trying to beat him,” said Steve Carlson, who finished second in that race. “One of the really neat things is racing in front of the hometown fans and friends. And I get to pit next to my son; I get to help him race.”

Carlson finished the season with five wins, 16 top fives and 17 top 10s in 18 starts. He didn’t get his first win until June, and an 18th-place finish combined with a spring full of rainouts, negated a chance to defend his national title.

“We did get off to a bit of a slow start,” said Carlson, who is ranked 18th in the nation. “I really thought we were going to take off right where we left off last year. About six weeks into the season, we got it turned around again and got going.”

In addition to his third LaCrosse championship – he won his first track title in 1984 – Carlson holds a 37-point lead over Brent Larson of Cedar Lake Speedway for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Wisconsin state title. While Carlson’s season at LaCrosse is over; Larson has one race remaining.

The race to follow Carlson as the 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion is down to two drivers: Brian Harris of Iowa and Philip Morris of Virginia.

Harris had a win and a second-place finish in three starts over the weekend in his dirt Late Model to increase his points total to 937. Harris clinched the track title at Farley Speedway. He has the final races of the season remaining this weekend at West Liberty Saturday and Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway Sunday.

Harris has 17 wins and 32 top fives in 34 starts. And he’s been paying close attention to Morris’ asphalt Late Model success in the Southeast.

“It’s pretty neat to run against people from all over in different types of cars,” Harris said. “It’s a lot of fun – it’s going to be a lot more fun if we win the national championship. We just try to stay positive. Whatever’s going to happen will happen.”

Philip Morris won Saturday night’s feature Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., to improve to 926 points. He has two scheduled races remaining: Sept. 6 and Sept. 13 at Motor Mile.

The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season concludes Sept. 14.

The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion also earns a secure spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, to be held at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.) Jan. 23-24, 2009.

Under the points structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the 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.

FEATURE DIVISION

        National Top 25 NASCAR Leaders

PosDriver Name  Home Track      Starts  Wins    T-5     T-10    Pts

1       Brian Harris    West Liberty Raceway    34      17      32      32      937

2       Philip Morris   Motor Mile Speedway     23      10      19      21      926

3       Marty Ward      Greenville-Pickens Speedway     20      11      20      20      907

4       Keith Rocco     Waterford Speedbowl     44      9       29      34      869

5       Jeff Strunk     Grandview Speedway      20      4       19      19      868

6       Andy Eckrich    Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway    35      6       28      32      848

7       Coleman Pressley        Greenville-Pickens Speedway     27      7       24      26      828

8       Jason Gilbert   Altamont Motorsports Park       19      9       16      18      827

9       David Roberts   Greenville-Pickens Speedway     26      3       19      23      809

10      Woody Pitkat    Stafford Motor Speedway 26      6       13      16      766

11      Gary Glenn      All American Speedway   28      5       20      22      761

12      Jeremiah Hurst  West Liberty Raceway    34      2       16      27      760

13      Jimmy Blewett   Thompson Intl Speedway  28      4       12      19      754

14      Kenneth Headen  Greenville-Pickens Speedway     20      0       17      20      752

15      Nick Joanides   Toyota Speedway At Irwindale    17      9       15      15      711

16      Doug Manmiller  Grandview Speedway      20      0       9       14      708

17      Jonathan Bouvrette      Autodrome St. Eustache  22      7       12      20      705

18      Steve Carlson   Lacrosse Fairgrounds Speedway   18      5       16      17      705

19      Guy Jubinville  Autodrome St. Eustache  20      7       14      16      703

20      Doug Coby, III  Waterford Speedbowl     31      3       13      19      697

21      Anthony Anders  Greenville-Pickens Speedway     21      3       11      18      695

22      Ralph Carnes    Greenville-Pickens Speedway     23      0       7       23      694

23      Tony Hanbury    Chemung Speedrome       30      11      22      26      684

24      Brent Larson    Cedar Lake Speedway     15      6       13      15      668

25      John Hightower  Greenville-Pickens Speedway     18      0       9       17      666