LUCAMA, NC – After five months of racing, championship battles in five Southern National Motorsports Park divisions will be decided on September 12th and four of those championship battles are going down to the wire.
Southern National’s headline division is the Late Models and the Late Models are putting on an epic championship battle that currently sees the top two contenders, teammates Andrew Grady and Jonathan Findley, tied atop the championship standings. These two drivers might be teammates, but on September 12th, they will be mortal enemies.
Jonathan Findley has stolen the headlines as of late after scoring his first career Late Model victory back on July 11th. The 16-year-old from Bristow, Virgini followed that up with a sweep of twin races this past weekend (August 29th). It has been a breakthrough season for Findley who now finds himself on the brink of championship glory.
Standing in Findley’s way is 21-year-old Andrew Grady from Knightdale, North Carolina
Grady scored five wins in 2014 running a Limited Late Model and has added to that this year with four wins on the season. Grady came into the season with a chip on his shoulder after finishing third in points last year, behind eventual Limited Late Model champion Haley Moody and runner-up Dillon Spain. This season, he has every expectation of winning a championship. Now, the avid baseball fan, finds himself metaphorically in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded. It’s time for Grady to be the closer.
Lurking behind those two sits Tyler Matthews, 21 points back. Matthews may be a distant longshot but, if the championship contenders have troubles early, those troubles could result in a major upset if Matthews has a strong run on September 12th. Then there’s the veteran, Rusty Daniels. Daniels sits 30 points back and he too is ready to strike if Findley and Grady have problems.
The chase for the championship in the Charger division. Points leader Michael O’Brien and current runner-up Paul Williamson are separated by only two points. On August 1st, Williamson scored his first career Southern National win. He followed that up with a second place finish in the first of two Charger feature races on Saturday night. But, O’Brien answered. His championship hopes were unraveling fast due to mechanical issues until the 2014 Charger division champion, Wayne Goss, stepped in. O’Brien scored the victory in the second of two races, reclaiming the points lead. Behind them, Tom Sauls sits nine points back and Alton Coombs sits 10 points back.
The battle for the U-CAR championship has become a two horse race between Tyler Horne and Travis Miller. Horne has scored four wins on the season, compared to Miller’s three. Horne currently leads the points by a narrow five point margin over Miller. Both drivers, racing in the dominant Toyota Celica cars, have not just been fast but consistent as well. Neither driver has more than two finishes outside the top-three. The battle for third, between Ronnie “Buckshot” Jones and Joseph Pittman, who are both mathematically incapable of winning the division championship, will also come down to the wire with the local favorites separated by only eight points.
While Will Bristle has the Legends championship all but locked up, the race is on for second. Chris Stancil, 17 points out of first, has only a three point cushion on Mason Diaz. Diaz has improved significantly throughout the 2015 season but Lady Luck has not been his ally. Diaz has been in contention to win on a handful of occasions when circumstances, some out of his control, have relegated him from contention. Stancil, on the other hand, has a victory. But with three points separating the two drivers, a strong run by Diaz could propel him to second in the championship standings.
Finally, the Bandolero division championship is another one that has come to the wire. Don’t let these kids and their little cars fool you. They are just as determined as anyone, none moreso than teenager Kailey Murray. Murray comes to the track with an expectation of excellence and enters the championship round fresh off three consecutive victories which has propelled the teenager within striking distance of points leader Josh Kossek. Murray has been consistent all year but a little bit of bad luck mid-way through the season allowed Kossek to build up what appeared to be an insurmountable advantage. That advantage is insurmountable no more as the red hot Murray is now five points back and ready to make a final charge.
Championship Night at Southern National Motorsports Park will be held on Saturday night, September 12th as part of the Whelen 9/11 Tribute.
For more information about Southern National Motorsports Park, check out SNMP’s website at www.snmpark.com, “like” Southern National Motorsports Park on Facebook or “follow” @SNM_Park on Twitter.
Championship Standings
Bandolero Points Standings
1. #44 Josh Kossek – 275 ( -0)
2. #81 Kaily Murray – 270 ( -5)
3. #25 Dustin Yeoman – 255 ( -20)
4. #51 Ethan Johnson – 241 ( -34)
5. #110 Kade Lambert – 229 ( -46)
6. #06 Cameryn Rice – 214 ( -61)
7. #12 Savannah Beasley – 204 ( -71)
8. #19 Jaiden Reyna – 130 ( -145)
9. #11 Tailar Wilson – 105 ( -170)
10. #24B Blaise Brinkley – 102 ( -173)
11. #31 Cole Bruce – 80 ( -195)
12. #24 Kaleb Bradley – 66 ( -209)
13. #29 D.J. Canipe – 64 ( -211)
14. #23 Peyton Ferree – 57 ( -218)
15. #74 Henry Broadbent Jr – 54 ( -221)
16. #3 Tyler Roberson – 52 ( -223)
17. #47 Xander Broadbent – 49 ( -226)
18. #24 Bryson Roff – 47 ( -228)
19. #42 Jacob Bradley – 47 ( -228)
20. #7G Zack Lightfoot – 30 ( -245)
21. #07 D.J. Elzey – 29 ( -246)
22. #14 Conner Jones – 25 ( -250)
23. #14 Ashley Pantoulas – 25 ( -250)
24. #13 Luke Akers – 20 ( -255)
Charger Points Standings
1. #61 Michael Obrien – 209 ( -0)
2. #29 Paul Williamson – 207 ( -2)
3. #45 Tom Sauls – 200 ( -9)
4. #06 Alton Coombs – 199 ( -10)
5. #77B Nicholas Fulghum – 193 ( -16)
6. #31 Wayne Goss – 91 ( -118)
7. #72 Jeremy Bohne – 61 ( -148)
8. #11 Travis Green – 60 ( -149)
9. #3 Frankie Dominick – 59 ( -150)
10. #74 Jeff Rogers – 29 ( -180)
11. #33 Johnathan Kornegay – 29 ( -180)
12. #11 Bruce Bizzel – 29 ( -180)
13. #6 Mike Jones – 26 ( -183)
14. #11 Josh Vanwinkle – 26 ( -183)
15. #9 Johnathan Langley – 26 ( -183)
16. #33 Scott Liles – 25 ( -184)
Late Model Points Standings
1. #1G Andrew Grady – 325 ( -0)
2. #4r Jonathan Findley – 325 ( -0)
3. #63 Tyler Matthews – 304 ( -21)
4. #16 Rusty Daniels – 295 ( -30)
5. #29 Melvin Langley – 250 ( -75)
6. #19 Brandon Hobbs – 162 ( -163)
7. #07 Ronald Renfrow – 131 ( -194)
8. #55 Gerald Benton – 100 ( -225)
9. #7 Dillion Spain – 100 ( -225)
10. #18 Bradley McCaskill – 94 ( -231)
11. #14D Mike Darne – 89 ( -236)
12. #4T Tony Grady – 66 ( -259)
13. #25 Kate Dallenbach – 59 ( -266)
14. #M3 Shelton McNair – 57 ( -268)
15. #5 Bobby Gower – 56 ( -269)
16. #44 T.J. Barron – 53 ( -272)
17. #72 Jeremy Bohne – 51 ( -274)
18. #2 Joshua Yeoman – 50 ( -275)
19. #99 Zach Henshaw – 49 ( -276)
20. #97 Brian Henderson – 47 ( -278)
21. #59 Johnny Petrozelle – 45 ( -280)
22. #17 Devin Steele – 45 ( -280)
23. #2 Tommy Peregoy – 39 ( -286)
24. #98 J.D. Eversole – 37 ( -288)
25. #7W Louis White – 35 ( -290)
26. #51 Matt McCall – 32 ( -293)
27. #08 Deac McCaskill – 29 ( -296)
28. #77 Logan Jones – 28 ( -297)
29. #14 Adam Resnick – 27 ( -298)
30. #50 Haley Moody – 24 ( -301)
31. #24 Kenneth Mercer – 22 ( -303)
32. #07 Matt Waltz – 22 ( -303)
33. #54 Michael Fose – 19 ( -306)
Legends Points Standings
1. #91 Will Bristle – 262 ( -0)
2. #11 Chris Stancil – 245 ( -17)
3. #24 Mason Diaz – 242 ( -20)
4. #7 Dillion Spain – 202 ( -60)
5. #110 Kade Lambert – 183 ( -79)
6. #12 Eric Courtney – 180 ( -82)
7. #88 Zack Brown – 170 ( -92)
8. #30 Billy Hall – 165 ( -97)
9. #29 Brandon Rice – 144 ( -118)
10. #10 Justin Mitchell – 143 ( -119)
11. #22 Ryan DeMartini – 138 ( -124)
12. #99 Williams West – 125 ( -137)
13. #7 Tony Mangini – 107 ( -155)
14. #13 Hunter Hansen – 89 ( -173)
15. #2 Timmy Mangini – 78 ( -184)
16. #B1 Brenton Irving – 78 ( -184)
17. #20 Shane Irving – 51 ( -211)
18. #07 Matt Dail – 48 ( -214)
19. #77 Alex Pacheco – 46 ( -216)
20. #8 Travis Weber – 43 ( -219)
21. #3 Ryan A Polenz – 42 ( -220)
22. #51 Todd McCollum – 41 ( -221)
23. #15 Michael Torres – 31 ( -231)
24. #84 John Davis – 29 ( -233)
25. #7X Spencer Saunders – 28 ( -234)
26. #39 Grayson Massey – 28 ( -234)
27. #84 Kyle Beattie – 27 ( -235)
28. #8 Gerad Miller – 26 ( -236)
29. #6 Chris Hammett – 25 ( -237)
30. #87 Tommy Jackson Jr. – 24 ( -238)
31. #7s Kevin Jefferys – 24 ( -238)
32. #51 David Johnston – 21 ( -241)
33. #9 Gene Traxler – 20 ( -242)
34. #96 Michael Conti – 20 ( -242)
35. #86 Stephen Ford – 19 ( -243)
36. #17 Ryan Millington – 0 ( -262)
U-CAR Point Standings
1. #28 Tyler Horne – 240 ( -0)
2. #99 Travis Miller – 235 ( -5)
3. #4J Ronnie Jones – 204 ( -36)
4. #08 Joseph Pittman – 196 ( -44)
5. #99 Mickey Connor – 147 ( -93)
6. #4 James Stroud – 144 ( -96)
7. #18 Aaron Miller – 142 ( -98)
8. #5 Lynn Waller – 135 ( -105)
9. #60 Lee Horner – 129 ( -111)
10. #86 Brandon Allen – 118 ( -122)
11. #89 John Ordiway – 111 ( -129)
12. #00 Aaron Crumpler – 106 ( -134)
13. #48 Duane Walker – 79 ( -161)
14. #31 Wayne Goss – 73 ( -167)
15. #14 David Wiggins – 69 ( -171)
16. #77 Jamie Tucker – 56 ( -184)
17. #8 Mike Lucas – 47 ( -193)
18. #01 Chad Scott – 47 ( -193)
19. #02 Brian Hatch – 45 ( -195)
20. #15 Jessie Jones – 43 ( -197)
21. #97 Michael Myrick – 43 ( -197)
22. #61 Matt Myrick – 43 ( -197)
23. #4 Tony Housman – 41 ( -199)
24. #14b Haley Wilson – 41 ( -199)
25. #3 Greg Wood – 41 ( -199)
26. #1L Scott Liles – 24 ( -216)
27. #48H Eddie Howard – 23 ( -217)
28. #14 Tim Rice – 22 ( -218)
29. #11 Jeff Bray – 21 ( -219)
30. #31 Roger Peeden – 20 ( -220)
31. #42 Darrell Haynie – 16 ( -224)
32. #93 Jake Edgley – 0 ( -240)
33. #1 Alex Whatley – 0 ( -240)
