DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 16, 2005) – It appears the race for the championship in Division II of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series will go down to the wire, as Joe Kosiski and Mike Hansen slowly close in on points leader Chris Spieker with five weeks remaining before the NASCAR season concludes on Sept. 18.
Kosiski closed to within 50 points of the leader this week, while Hansen edged to within 78 points of the top spot – as they chase the division title and its $25,000 bonus.
Spieker of Massena, Iowa, accumulated a big points lead early this year – competing at his home track of Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa, on Saturdays and I-80 Speedway at Nebraska Raceway Park in Greenwood, Neb., on Sundays. NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Divisional point standings are calculated using each driver’s best results from any races held at tracks within their division. Adams County Speedway and I-80 Speedway are both in Division II – meaning drivers can race at both tracks and accumulate points towards the title.
Spieker leads Division II with 1,072 points. Although Adams County Speedway cancelled their event this past weekend, Spieker was able to add to his points total with a fourth-place finish at I-80 Speedway on Sunday.
Kosiski, a former NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series national champion from Omaha, Neb., finished second in that event. He trails Spieker with 1,022 points.
Hansen was not as fortunate, however. Problems left the Alton, Iowa, driver with a 19th-place finish at Park Jefferson Speedway in Jefferson, S.D. Nevertheless, he is third in the division point standings with 994 points.
Making a strong run from fourth in the standings is Jeff Strunk of Bethel, Pa., with 942 points. He charged from 18th on the grid to score his fourth win of the year at Grandview Speedway, in Bechtelsville, Pa., on Saturday.
Eric Richardson of Bakersfield, Calif., is fifth in Division II with 822 points.
Completing the top 10 of the standings are Gerry Bergeron of Candiac, Quebec; John Moore of Granite Bay, Calif.; Travis Sharpe of North, S.C.; Stacey Gerken of LaGrange, Ohio; and Robert Barker of Boerne, Texas.
Under NASCAR’s new point’s format for the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series, a driver’s best 16 finishes are counted towards the divisional title. If a driver races more than 16 times, their poorer finishes are not counted in the NDWS point standings.
This Week’s Division II Leaders …
(Driver, Home Track, Points)
1. Chris Spieker, Adams County Speedway (Corning, Iowa), 1,072
2. Joe Kosiski, I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, Neb.), 1,022
3. Mike Hansen, Park Jefferson Speedway (Jefferson, S.D.), 994
4. Jeff Strunk, Grandview Speedway (Bechtelsville, Pa.), 942
5. Eric Richardson, Mesa Marin Raceway (Bakersfield, Calif.), 822
6. Gerry Bergeron, Autodrome St. Eustache (St. Eustache, Quebec, Canada), 802
7. John Moore, Stockton 99 Speedway (Stockton, Calif.), 788
8. Travis Sharpe, Concord Motorsport Park (Concord, N.C.), 758
9. Stacey Gerken, Lorain Speedway (Amherst, Ohio), 740
10. Robert Barker, San Antonio Speedway (San Antonio, Tex.) 688
11. Jamey Lee, Myrtle Beach Speedway (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), 654
12. Jeremy Lapainis, Edmonton International Raceway (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 634
13. Pete Vanderwyst, Delaware Speedway (Delaware, Ontario, Canada), 628
14. Scott Bonney, Lee USA Speedway (Lee, N.H.), 628
15. Dennis Pelphrey, Watsonville Speedway (Watsonville, Calif.), 616
16. Mark Bliss, Holland International Speedway (Holland, N.Y.), 550
17. Bill Hebing Jr., Spencer Speedway (Williamson, N.Y.), 534
18. Alan Pyszora, Shasta Raceway Park (Anderson, Calif.), 488
For More Information, Contact:
Jeremy Davidson, NASCAR Public Relations, (386) 681-4173 or jdavidson@nascar.com
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