A couple of months ago, after the first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national points were released, leader Matt Bowling said it was too early to be concerned.
“You can’t get wrapped up in it too early. You really aren’t going to know where you stand until everyone gets to 18 races. Mid-July is the time to see where you are,” Bowling said in late May.
Well, July is almost over, he’s raced 26 times and he’s still leading the national points.
“It’s really cool to be in the position we are in, to be leading the national and South Boston points,” Bowling said. “We were fortunate enough to start off strong at South Boston and that really has helped us all the way around.”
That solid start at South Boston … a sweep of an opening-night doubleheader … did get the 23-year-old Bowling off to a blazing start. He’s followed up with three more South Boston wins, another at East Carolina Motor Speedway and one over this past weekend at Southern National Motorsports Park for seven victories on the season.
It’s been a busy summer for the Ridgeway driver. He’s visited six different tracks for the 26 starts. And while those seven wins have been key to leading the national points, his consistency has made a huge difference, too. In 22 of those 26 starts, he has finished in the top five; 25 times he’s been in the top 10.
At South Boston, Bowling has finished in the top five in 11 of his 13 starts.
A major factor in Bowling’s national points success has been the car count at South Boston. To score maximum points under NASCAR’s point structure, a full field of 18 cars or more are needed. South Boston is averaging over 25 cars a race, the highest Late Model car count on the East Coast.
Bowling will continue to be a road warrior for the remainder of the season, visiting as many other tracks as possible when South Boston doesn’t have races scheduled, hence his win and fifth-place finishes at Southern National over the weekend in twin 40-lap races. His concentration, though, will be centered on the historic Southern Virginia track.
“Our focus right now is to win as much as we can from now until the end of the national points,” said Bowling. “I think if we can do that running at South Boston we will be in a good position to possibly win the track points and the national championship.”
Bowling will be chasing another South Boston win Saturday with the 7 p.m. running of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center NASCAR Late Model 100 racing program.
A 100-lap Late Model race will headline the seven-race card. Also on the night’s schedule are twin 25-lap Limited Sportsman races, twin 15-lap races for the Budweiser Pure Stocks, a 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets and a 20-lapper for the Legendary Ford Flatheads touring series.
Adult general admission tickets are $10 each, with youth ages 7-12 admitted for $5 and kids ages six and under admitted free with a paid adult.
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