LUCAMA, NC – Two Southern National Motorsports Park drivers find themselves in the top-three in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) North Carolina State Championship Standings.
Bradley McCaskill, who won the season opening race at Southern National and has three consecutive second place finishes since then (two at Southern National, one at East Carolina Motor Speedway) is second in points to Hickory Motor Speedway driver Matt Piercy. Meanwhile, a win at East Carolina on Saturday night propelled Rusty Daniels to third.
McCaskill sits eight points behind Piercy, who has two more starts on the season. The number of starts for McCaskill, who is credited with four starts, and Daniels, is credited with five starts, will increase with East Carolina running twin races on May 30th followed by a 75-lap race on June 6th leading into twin races at Southern National on June 13th.
“We had no idea,” McCaskill said. “The biggest competition will probably be the Modifieds at Bowman Gray because they will have 18 races with 18 cars. We don’t like points racing but we’re leaning that way right now. We have tough competition at both tracks. Getting wins is going to be tough. The last three races, we’ve finished second to three different people so it’s not like it’s easy by any means.”
Daniels feels that, if drivers support both tracks, a state champion could legitimately emerge from Southern National Motorsports Park and East Carolina Motor Speedway.
“We’ll get all the wins we can to try to secure that championship,” Daniels stated. “It’s hard to say, we have four month. Bradley’s a strong competitor. He’s got as good a chance as anybody. We’ll try to be smart and be there at the end is what we’re after.”
“This region is poised to produce the State Champion in my opinion,” Southern National Motorsports Park track promoter Langley Austin said. “Most regions don’t have tracks working together and we’re on the same page with East Carolina. The rules are close and the races don’t conflict at all.”
While Bradley McCaskill and Rusty Daniels are in the top two, other drivers could emerge in the championship scenario as well with a little luck. Louis White, who became a grandfather on Tuesday when daughter Paige White and Brad Keselowski gave birth to a baby girl, has one win on the season at East Carolina but had fought mechanical problems at Southern National all season.
2014 Southern National Motorsports Park champion Haley Moody plans to continue racing part-time at both East Carolina and Southern National – she has a top-10 finish at both tracks in her only two starts this season. Kenneth Mercer has raced at both tracks in 2015 as well, scoring a top-five finish at East Carolina on May 2nd. The father-son duo of Tony and Andrew Grady could also join the championship discussion.
“I’d say right now Rusty Daniels and Bradley McCaskill have the best shot,” Austin said. “However, if Louis White has some luck here at Southern National, he could easily get in the mix. Andrew or Tony Grady could be early season sleepers too.”
East Carolina Motor Speedway promoter John Vick also feels that it is very likely that a state champion could emerge and credited that to the cooperation between Southern National and East Carolina.
“It’s very possible we can get a state champion,” Vick said. “If we can get our full fields, there’s no way in the world we won’t get a state champion. That would be really good for both of our tracks. I think it’s really cool too.”
East Carolina Motor Speedway will have twin races on Saturday, May 30th, which will also include the first race in the three race Ultimate Body Shop Triple Crown U-CAR Series, followed by a 75 lap race on Saturday, June 6th. Southern National Motorsports Park’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series regular season will resume on Saturday, June 13th with twin 50-lap Late Model feature races.
The next race at Southern National Motorsports Park will be on Saturday, May 30th when the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Tour returns with the “Don’t Tread On Me 250 presented by Military Missions in Action” featuring 125 laps of Late Model Stock Car racing and 125 laps of Super Late Model racing.
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.
