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NASCAR: Late Model driver James Weston claims Pacific Coast Region Title

15 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Goleta Driver's Points Total Good Enough To Grab Second Place In National Standings

Irwindale, Calif. - - James Weston, 34, of Goleta, California, the quiet bear of a man with the ready smile who possesses as much talent working under the hood as behind the wheel, is the new 2000 season Pacific Coast Region Champion.

Winning an impressive 10 of his 16 Irwindale Speedway NASCAR Late Model starts and finishing every race of those 16 in the top five, Weston easily outdistanced all of the other Pacific Coast Region contenders in NASCAR's Exide ShorTrack Series.

The series pits drivers from NASCAR tracks located across California, Alaska, and Nevada against each other using a mathematical formula. Winning races is paramount, but other factors, such as the number of cars in the main event, the particular driver's top 10 and top 5 finishes, are all weighed in the quest to quantify performance between different drivers at different tracks.

Weston's convincing numbers carried the tough Pacific Coast region and took him to a lofty number two in the nation just behind the Heartland Region's Mike Reynolds who races at Nashville Speedway in Tennessee. Reynolds won a whopping 14 of his 18 starts and had a top five finish tally of 16 that was identical to Weston's.

Weston will be a special guest of NASCAR at the national NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Champion's Banquet to be held on November 17 at the Peabody Hotel and Resort in Orlando, Florida. He'll receive round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, and a well-deserved check for $3,500.00 from NASCAR for his winning efforts in the region. Weston will also be recognized as one of the top ten in his category nationally and the only California to put his name on that list.

With two races left on the Irwindale calendar for the NASCAR Late Models, Weston has already clinched the Speedway's 2000 season championship. "We're not going to let up though, this winning season was a real team effort and I owe it to my team to run for the win every time we're on the track. Their late hours, hard work, and moral support are the reason that my name ended up being engraved on those trophies."

Weston will bring his all-conquering Chevy to the line this Saturday night looking to put one more notch in his well-notched belt. "We really don't know how to do anything but run hard for the win, that's what we'll be doing every time we're on the track!"

Weston's winning ways are right easy to spot. His attitude in the pits and in the cockpit makes everything look easy, even when large economy-size bullets are being sweated. His demeanor in victory and in defeat is even, almost reverent.

His talent and determination thermostats are always set on "high". Weston learns something about something (his car, himself, the track, the other drivers, the other driver's car), every time out, every lap on the track, and then puts it to use in just the right place at just the right time....The true mark of a winner.

James Weston: Champion ...That works.

Text provided by Doug Stokes

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