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IOWA DRIVER INCREASES HIS NATIONAL POINTS LEAD Harris Rallies For 17th Victory By Jason Christley, NASCAR DUBUQUE, IA (August 31) - Brian Harris' long ride home Saturday night was made even more frustrating when he found out his closest competitor in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points standings - Philip Morris of Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. - had won his race to close the points gap to just one. Harris responded Sunday evening at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway with his 17th win of the season, leading the final six laps to capture the 25-lap Dubuque Moving & Storage Late Model feature on the .375-mile bank dirt oval. "The last two nights haven't been very good for us," said Harris, who was second Friday at Farley and fourth Saturday at West Liberty. "It seems like we haven't been in Victory Lane in forever." It's actually only been a week, but with former national champion Morris on his heels, every position is valuable for Harris. "The pressure's been on the last couple weeks," Harris said. "I'm running out of time to gain on him. He's really running strong at his track, and we're paying close attention." With Sunday's win, Harris improved his points total to 937. Morris is second at 926, and Marty Ward of Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C. is third at 907. All points totals are unofficial pending review by NASCAR Membership & Points, and complete updated standings will be released Tuesday. After Saturday's racing, Harris had a 927-926 edge over Morris. The 55 points for Sunday's win allowed Harris to drop the worst of his top 18 finishes - a 45-point win at Dubuque from June - and gain 10 points. Harris has two scheduled races remaining: the season finales at West Liberty Saturday, Sept. 6 and Dubuque Sunday, Sept. 7. His worst finish is a 46-point, third-place finish. Morris has two races at Motor Mile remaining (Sept. 6 and Sept. 13) and his worst finish is 44. Points total is based on a driver's top 18 finishes for the year at any NASCAR-sanctioned track. Morris has 10 wins and 19 tops fives in 23 starts, while Harris has 17 wins and 32 top fives in 34 starts. The deadline for results to count toward the championship is Sunday, Sept. 14. Harris started Saturday night's feature in 10th, and five cautions over the first 10 laps slowed his progress. Ron Klein was right behind Harris and was using the high line to take away third place. Harris elected to move up to the high side and was able to quickly move into second and pressure Andy Eckrich for the lead. Lapped traffic in the bottom groove helped Harris take the lead and hold on for the win. "(Klein) was the only one running that line," Harris said. "The car wasn't very good around the guard rail, so I was pretty much committed to the high side. And the car kept getting better and better." In addition to the national points race, Harris closed to within 10 points of Eckrich, who came home second, for the Dubuque track title. Harris clinched the Farley championship Friday and all but wrapped up the West Liberty title. 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. |