Morris Wins Twice, Takes Points Lead
Brian Harris closed out the season at West Liberty (Iowa) Raceway Saturday night with his 18th win of the season but Philip Morris earned a pair of wins at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. to surge into the lead in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national title chase.
Morris won both ends of the twin 75-lap features at Motor Mile to unofficially moved to 946 points. He took a nine-point lead over Harris.
Motor Mile, a .416-mile asphalt oval, moved its schedule two twin features Saturday because the impending inclement weather from Hurricane Ike is threatening to wash out next weekend’s racing. Morris said he is looking at his options to find another venue to race his Late Model at.
“We’re just going to keep racing until NASCAR says its over,” Morris said.
The deadline for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is Sunday, Sept. 14. All points totals are unofficial pending review by NASCAR Membership & Points, and complete updated standings will be released Tuesday.
Points total is based on a driver’s top 18 finishes for the year at any NASCAR-sanctioned track. A driver receives two points for every car they beat – up to 25 cars – and there is a five-point bonus for wins.
Harris has 937 points. Although he picked up the win, 20 cars started Saturday’s feature, earning Harris 45 points. His lowest points total of his top 18 finishes is 46, meaning Harris did not increase his overall total with Saturday’s win.
The victory at West Liberty did clinch the Late Model title at the .500-mile clay oval. Harris started the race fourth and took the lead from Andy Eckrich on lap 10 of the 35-lap feature. Eckrich moved back in front on lap 27, but Harris took it back with three laps remaining to secure the win. Tommy Elston slipped by Eckrich for second.
Last week, Harris wrapped up the Farley (Iowa) Speedway Late Model title. He will go for the trifecta Sunday at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway. He enters the final race at Dubuque trailing Eckrich – who is ranked sixth in the nation – by nine points. In addition, a win with a field of 25 cars would give Morris the maximum of 55 points and move him into a tie with Morris. Harris holds the tiebreaker by virtue of wins, 18-12.
Morris, the 2006 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion, won the pole and led every lap of both races Saturday at Motor Mile. Morris edged Tommy Lemons Jr. in the first feature and held off Davin Scites in the second. More than 25 cars started both races.
“Everybody was slipping and sliding – at least I was,” Morris said of the first race, which was run before the sun set. Morris said once the sun went down, the track cooled off. But a strong challenge from Scites and multiple green-white-checkered finishes kept things interesting for Morris.
“That was pretty amazing,” Morris said.
The two 55-point wins allowed Morris to drop a pair of third-place finishes – a 44-point night Aug. 2 and a 46-point night Aug. 16.
Sources: NASCAR PR