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(Savannah, GA) As the
NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series season turned it’s corner last
weekend at Oglethorpe Speedway Park, the points chase for
all classes remain close and up for grabs. The title chases
in the Coca-Cola Late Models, Love’s Seafood Street Stocks
and Sunset Novelties Mini Stocks are some of the closest
races seen at this point of the season in years. Drivers
are fighting for their spot in the standings looking to cash
in on some of the near $25,000 in cash awards offered
through the speedway and even more from NASCAR.
Rincon’s
Donnie Bazemore has experienced the glamour of being the
Oglethorpe Speedway Park late model champion and basking in
the glory of a NASCAR crown. The sixteen year racing
veteran won back to back titles in 1996 and 1997, but has
not returned to the top spot since.
“It is a great
honor to win a championship,” said Bazemore. “Oglethorpe is
a tough place to win a title. But when you do, it is
special with all the NASCAR stuff, the trip to Nashville,
the regional money. You know, it’s pretty cool.”
Bazemore was
close last season losing in the final month of the year to
another hungry veteran, Bobby Morris. This year Bazemore
finds himself locked in a growing battle with 20-year-old
young gun Robert Diekemper. The two are only separated by
thirty-one points going into this Friday’s (July 8) NASCAR
Dodge Weekly Series event. Diekemper has claimed three
feature wins this season while Bazemore has been shut out.
“We are trying
to be more consistent this year,” said Bazemore. “Kind of
take what we can get and be ready for the race at the tail
of the season.”
The race for
first is not the only one brewing in the very competitive
Coca-Cola Late Model division. Shane Riner leads a list of
seven drivers currently third through ninth that are only
separated by fifty-three points. This includes a rookie of
the year race with Jay Hendricks, Lonnie Brant and Sean
Meeks where the trio is within fifteen points of one another
heading into Friday night.
“A driver
could go from third to ninth in one night,” said OSP
promoter Ted Austad. “That’s a swing of nearly $2000 in
year end bonus money. That’s enough to create some hard
racing among all the drivers in the top ten.”
The same is
true in the Love’s Seafood Street Stocks as only
twenty-three points separate the top three in NASCAR
points. Donald Norby took over the points lead last weekend
with a strong showing in the NASCAR Mid-Season
Championship. He now leads “Rapid” Ray Collins by eighteen
and former points leader Chris Litchfield by the
twenty-three. All three are looking for the championship
crown with only Norby claiming a prior crown, winning the
1999 Street Stocks title.
The Collins
family is also in the heat of a rookie of the year points
battle as Ray Collins son, Dustin Collins, finds himself
locked into a battle with Mike Helmly. The teenage drivers
are currently separated by twenty-two points for the first
year racing honors. Collins’ lead was slimmed last weekend
after being involved in a huge wreck along the back stretch
that tore the entire rear end housing from his race car.
Six points is
the difference in the Sunset Novelties Mini Stocks. Charles
Swann has led the points for most of the season with three
wins. But, Chris Johnson just completed a sweep of last
week’s action and also now has a three race win streak while
narrowing the gap to only six points. Third place driver
Mark Susen is not out of the picture trailing the top two
drivers by only 69 points.
There is also
a good fight for position going on between AJ Horton, last
year’s champion Bobby Morris, Ricky Cannady and rookie
contender Randy Fields. The foursome currently hold the
fifth through eighth spots in the Mini Stock standings. But
find themselves separated by only twenty-seven points.
The Southern
Racing Supplies Pure Stock division is the only class in
which the leader has a strong lead in the points. Defending
champion Terron Roberts, “The Walterboro Wildman”, leads
teammates Dan Douglas and Don Douglas by thirty-five and one
hundred and thirty respectively.
The NASCAR
Dodge Weekly Series action at Oglethorpe Speedway Park
continues this Friday, July 8, with a full schedule of
racing planned. The historic half mile speedway will also
host the Custom Marine “Waterless Boat Race” featuring cars
towing boats around the track without any trailers. The
gates open at 6pm with NASCAR racing set for 8pm. For more
information, contact the speedway at 912-964-8200 or visit
www.ospracing.net.
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