DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: A NASCAR Whelen All-American Series pavement Late Model rookie is making the most of his first season. Meanwhile the series’ national point leader won three times over the weekend, enhancing his quest for a second consecutive national championship. Six weeks of racing remain in a point race that ends Sept. 15.
Matt Sever, 21, of West Newton, Pa., became a first-time Late Model feature winner this year in his fifth start at Motordrome Speedway in Smithton, Pa. His 2013 record is now one win, six top-fives and 11 top- 10s in 12 starts. He’s third in the track point race behind leader Garry Wiltrout and Barry Awtey. Awtey won Saturday night’s feature while Sever finished seventh.
“Finally getting that first win was a big deal. I couldn’t believe it,” Sever said. “They had one of the largest crowds in the track’s history that night. Winning was a thrill.”
NATIONAL TOP 500 STANDINGS | STATE/PROVINCE TOP 20 STANDINGS
National point leader Lee Pulliam won in three of four NASCAR Late Model starts in Virginia over the weekend, while primary challenger Deac McCaskill won once. Pulliam increased his national point lead over McCaskill to 18, up from eight last week. Northeastern SK Modified drivers Keith Rocco and Ryan Preece, contending for a top spot in national points, were winless.
Pulliam and McCaskill each won 125-lap features at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., on Friday. Pulliam won the first feature over the series’ 2005 national champion Peyton Sellers while McCaskill finished sixth. McCaskill rebounded to win the second feature over Pulliam.
Pulliam then won a pair of 75-lap features, both over McCaskill, at South Boston (Va.) Speedway Saturday.
Pulliam’s record for the season is 20 wins, 31 top-fives and 32 top-10s in 34 starts. He won a total of 22 features en route to the 2012 national championship. He leads the standings over McCaskill 778-760.
Rocco and Preece took hits in their national point aspirations at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway Friday. Rocco placed 23rd in the 40-lap feature after an early-race skirmish. Preece had an even tougher night. He was leading in the closing laps when he was involved in a multi-car incident. The outcome was a 14th-place finish and loss of the track point lead. Eric Berndt took his first Stafford win in the event followed by Doug Coby. Coby took the track point lead from Preece, who is now six points behind.
Rocco, the 2010 national champion, also had a runner-up finish to James Monahan at Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl on Saturday. He’s retains third-place in national standings, 61 behind McCaskill. Preece holds onto fourth, 26 behind Rocco. Tommy Lemons Jr. maintains fifth-place and had finishes of fourth and third at Motor Mile. At South Boston he posted finishes of 12th and seventh. He closed to within six points of Preece.
Completing the top-10 in national standings are C.E. Falk III (Langley Speedway, Hampton, Va., and South Boston), Burt Myers (Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, N.C.), Chad Finchum (Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway and Motor Mile), Jason Myers (Bowman Gray), and Todd Ceravolo (Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway and Waterford.)
Sever appreciates the consideration he’s received from Motordrome’s veteran drivers.
“We pit next to Barry Awtey and one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in racing was when Barry and his crew came over to congratulate me when I won,” Sever said.
“Barry, Garry Wiltrout and Neil Brown all contributed something to help me as a driver. They race me clean and answered every question I ever had,” Sever said of the trio. All three hold NASCAR Late Model championships at the half-mile paved oval.
Sever produced more than a dozen years of steady growth since he started racing go-karts in 2000. He worked his way up the ladder of support divisions to reach the top NASCAR Late Model division.
After go-karts he began his stock car racing career at Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway in 2006. He started out in the Super Compact division at age 14. When Jennerstown closed at the end of 2008 he moved to Motordrome and won the Super Compact track championship in 2009. Then he advanced to Street Stocks in 2010 and won the 2012 track title. Sever also tested the Late Model division last year. He finished fifth in points in a Pennsylvania tri-track series that included Motordrome, Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pa., and the former Clearfield (Pa.) Speedway.
Jamey Sever, the driver’s father, is car owner and the crew chief is Bill Hribar. Team members include Richie Troup and Jim Lux. The 2006 Port City chassis has a Chevy Impala SS body and is powered by a Chevrolet crate engine.
Sponsors include Martinelli’s Auto Service, Lux Brothers and Elizabeth Equipment Service Inc. (EESI).
Sever is entering his senior year at West Virginia University in Morgantown where his studies are focused on mechanical engineering.
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 some 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.
Track operators also designate support classes as NASCAR Divisions II-V and drivers in those divisions compete for points in the NASCAR Finalist program. The program brings added recognition to support division drivers. Points are kept separately for asphalt and dirt tracks.
