National Standings Dead Even

DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: With two and a half months remaining in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season, Deac McCaskill and defending national champion Lee Pulliam are virtually even.

Both Late Model drivers have 728 points, which Pulliam holding the tiebreaker edge by virtue of wins, 15-10.

“It’s pretty cool, to be honest,” McCaskill said. “We set a goal this season to finish in the top three in the nation, and we’ve been surpassing that goal all year. There’s still a long way to go and a lot of racing to do.”

McCaskill erased Pulliam’s points lead with a pair of wins at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C. Saturday. McCaskill won the opening 150-lap feature while Pulliam finished fifth. In the second event, a 100-lapper, McCaskill won by six car-lengths over runner-up Pulliam.

McCaskill has held the No. 2 spot in national points throughout the 2013 season, but was 99 points behind Pulliam on May 14. He closed to within 10 points on June 18, but Pulliam beat him twice in double features June 22 at Motor Mile in Radford, Va., to push the lead back to 26.

Pulliam has 15 wins, 23 top fives and 23 top 10s in 25 starts; McCaskill has 10 wins, 18 top fives and 22 top 10s in 23 starts.

NATIONAL TOP 500  |  TOP 20 BY STATE & PROVINCE

Asphalt Modified driver Keith Rocco, the 2010 national champion, jumped a spot into third place after finihsing ninth at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway Friday, and picking up his fifth Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl win of the season Saturday night. Rocco is 96 behind Pulliam and McCaskill with eight wins, 13 top fives and 19 top 10s in 23 races.

Tommy Lemons Jr. had finishes of third and sixth at Southern National to drop to fourth. And C.E. Falk III held onto fifth in points despite two 14th place finishes in twin 75s at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., Saturday.

Ryan Preece (Stafford, Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway and Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway) is sixth in points followed by Anthony Anders (Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway, Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway, Hickory (N.C.) Speedway, Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway and Southern National), Chad Finchum (Kingsport and Motor Mile), Burt Myers (Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, N.C.), and Brandon Dean (Southern National, Hickory, and Motor Mile).

For drivers like McCaskill, Anders and Lemons, there best shot at catching Pulliam is to beat him head-to-head.

“Lee is so good at South Boston and Motor Mile. We have to beat him at his tracks, and he’s hard to beat,” McCaskill said.

South Boston (Va.) Speedway hosts a 200-lap NASCAR Late Model feature Wednesday. Other opportunities include Friday at either Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C. for a 171-lap event or Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., for a 150-lap event. Southern National is expected to be the hot spot on Saturday, when it hosts twin 100s.

The next event at Motor Mile are twin 125-lap features on July 13.

McCaskill plans to compete at South Boston and Southern National.

“We’re just going to stick to our plan,” he said. “I’ve got a job and a family to support, too.”

Southern National’s Saturday night twin 100s could be intense. Each race offers an additional bounty if a driver can beat McCaskill, the defending track champion.

“Our fans are into it,” said Southern National co-owner Michael Diaz. “Deac has six wins in a row here.”

McCaskill ran as high as fourth in national points midway through the 2012 season before finishing with an eighth place ranking. He won the North Carolina state championship and NASCAR Late Model track championship at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C., last year. His record for the year included 18 wins, 27 top-fives and 29 top-10s in 30 starts.

Now in its 32nd season, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is NASCAR’s national championship program for weekly short track auto racing. There are 55 sanctioned tracks throughout the United States and Canada that participate.

A NASCAR Division I driver’s best 18 results through the Sept. 15 closing date count toward their state and national point totals and the champions are decided on overall point total. Once a driver reaches 18 starts, their point total increases incrementally as they replace poorer runs with better results.

Under the point structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, a race winner receives two points for every car in the event up to 20 cars. Second place receives two fewer points and so on through the field. Race winners receive an additional five points. For example, if 20 cars are in the field, the winner receives 45 points, second place 38 and third 36. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 35 points, second 28 and third, 26.

More information on the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is available at www.nascarhometracks.com.

National Top 500 (from NASCAR Home Tracks)