HARRIS CHASING NASCAR POINTS THROUGHOUT IOWA

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Brian Harris needed to make a decision: continue to chase points on a regional dirt-track circuit, or make a run at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship.

He had already missed the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season opener at West Liberty Raceway in Iowa. But his subsequent performance was good enough, even without that race, to have him thinking about what they could accomplish if they devoted all their attention to one goal.

“We had to make a tough decision,” said Harris. “But we’re going to go for it and try to pull this NASCAR thing off. Everybody’s pretty excited about it.”

And why not? Harris’ win at West Liberty this past Saturday helped him move up to fifth place in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings. And he sits 78 points ahead of defending Iowa state champion Andy Eckrich, who is 10th in the nation.

“This is the first year we’ve been following the points,” said the 29-year-old Harris, who lives in Davenport, Iowa and works for a family-owned concrete contractor business. “It took a little getting used to. Now, with the car counts, we just need to go out there and win races.”

Keith Rocco continues to lead the national points with 760. He was second in the SK Modified feature at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway Friday night and third at the Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl on Saturday. Rocco is followed by a trio of Late Model drivers from South Carolina’s Greenville-Pickens Speedway: Coleman Pressley with 719, Marty Ward with 618 and David Roberts with 608.

Harris has seven wins and 15 top-fives in 15 starts this season, racing three nights a week in Iowa. He’s at the .500-mile Farley Speedway on Friday night, the .500-mile West Liberty on Saturday and the .375-mile Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway on Sunday.

His win at West Liberty this past weekend was his second in a row at the track, which is also the only one he’s not leading the points at – thanks to missing the first race. He is 16 points behind Jeremiah Hurst in West Liberty’s Fountain Transmission Late Model division. Harris leads Eckrich by 12 points in the Dubuque Moving & Storage Late Model division at Dubuque and by six points in the Hawkeye Truck & Trailer Late Model division at Farley.

“The guys have really found a good setup for West Liberty,” said Harris, who takes a different dirt Late Model to the other two tracks. “We’re starting back in eighth or ninth after the invert, and either getting first or second. You just have to put yourself in position to win.”

Harris is just glad to be back on the track after suffering a broken neck during a race at the end of last season. The injury ended his racing year prematurely and sidelined him for the entire offseason.

“That was kind of scary for everybody,” Harris said. “I had to wait all winter. It was tough, every day thinking about whether everything was going to be okay. If I was going to be able to go out there and win races and not look stupid.

“And everything has been okay.”

Under the point 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. The final day for the 2008 points is Sunday, Sept. 14.

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