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Cedar Lake Speedway
NEW RICHMOND, Wisc. (October 1) - Cedar Lake Speedway's decision to add NASCAR sanctioning paid off for Brent Larson. The Lake Elmo, Wisc., driver finished third in the track's final feature event Sept. 12 to claim the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Wisconsin state championship by one point over defending state and national champion Steve Carlson.
Larson's margin of victory was the smallest for the 25 U.S. state and Canadian province champions announced by NASCAR today.
"It's a pretty neat deal," said Larson. "I'm pretty impressed with the NASCAR program. I know the guys at the track are happy to get some recognition."
Larson didn't think it would be that close. His finish Sept. 12 gave him just enough to edge Carlson, but the track had two more races scheduled for that final weekend before the Sept. 14 deadline for points to count toward a driver's total. Rain, however, washed away those two races.
"I knew what we needed to do coming in," Larson said. "After we finished third, I thought, it's good but we have a couple more days to add to it. Turns out, it was a good thing we got it done on Thursday."
Larson earned the top prize in the state and an invitation to join all of the NASCAR Whelen All-American track and state/province champions at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet Friday, Nov. 7 at
the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas.
Other highlights among the U.S. state and Canadian province champions:
• Erica Thiering became the first female to win a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship. The 18-year-old won the Osman Auction-Family Motors Cam FM NASCAR Feature Stocks Division title at Edmonton International Raceway and captured the Alberta province title.
• National champion Philip Morris won his second straight Virginia state title. Brian Harris, who finished two points behind Morris in the national title race, earned his first Iowa state championship with his performance at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway, Farley Speedway and West Liberty Raceway. Third-place Marty Ward won his first South Carolina state championship by virtue of his performance at Greenville-Pickens Speedway
• Morris, Bruce Yackey (Colorado), Bub Bilodeau (Maine) and Andy Bozell Sr. (Michigan) were the only drivers to successfully defend their state championships. Bilodeau held off challenger Bobby Babb Jr. at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway by just 14 points. Yackey won his title driving Colorado National, while Bozell competed at Kalamazoo Speedway.
The crowning of U.S. state and Canadian province champions was resumed in 2007, continuing a NASCAR tradition of honoring the top drivers at the regional level that dates back to the earliest days of NASCAR. The list of NASCAR drivers who have won state championships includes Richie Evans, Red Farmer, Ned Jarrett, Jerry Cook, Ralph Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Sterling Marlin, Harry Gant, Geoff Bodine and Jack Ingram.
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.
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