Talladega Short Track
Southern tours combine for Talladega action
From series reports
With their points seasons winding down, two Southern-based crate Late Model tours are running Oct. 26-27 Alabama Fall Jamboree weekend at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala. The Carl Black-sponsored Top Tracks Challenge Series opens the weekend with Friday night action while the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series runs on Saturday night. Talladega hosts an open practice session on Thursday night from 7-10 p.m.
Top Tracks Challenge
Jake Knowles of Tyrone, Ga., merely has to start the final main event of 2007 to clinch the championship on the tour, while the next seven positions in series points are still up for grabs.
Chuck Padgett holds the second spot entering the season finale with Lamar Haygood trailing by six points.�Current Cruise with the Champions Rookie of the Year leader J.J. Nye sits in fourth followed by John Owenby, Alan Brewer and Kenny Gaither.
The 30-lap feature is scheduled to pay $1,500 to the winner. The top six in points will be honored at the conclusion of the night, and the series will give away a crate engine to one of the drivers who has competed in each series event in 2007.
StormPay.com Series
The second-to-last series event of 2007 begins with 30 points separating the top three in the point standings.�Defending series champion David Gentry of Lewisburg, Tenn., holds a 20-point lead over second-place Jay Blair of Angie, La., and a 30-point lead over third-place Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, Ga.
Gentry has been tough to beat at Talladega the past two seasons. He swept both events at TST in 2006 and finished third in January's season opener. Gentry has 1,642 points with one victory and 10 top-five finishes.
Blair, who missed the January event, has three victories in the 18 events since and has amassed 1,622 points with 12 top-five finishes. Rainey is just ten points behind Blair with 1,612 points with one victory and a dozen top-five finishes.
Among other drivers expected is Logan Yates of Delta, Ala., Talladega's champion in the crate division and the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series East Region champion. Yates posted nine victories at TST.
