DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Drivers battling for glory at NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series tracks across the United States and Canada now have something else to race for.
NASCAR officials announced Thursday during the annual NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series promoters meeting that the sanctioning body is re-introducing regional championships to its weekly racing format.
Champions will be crowned in four regions: Southeast, Northeast, Midwest and West.
Each Division I regional champion will receive a $15,000 prize for their achievement, with a total of $35,000 being paid out to the top-10 drivers in each region. Drivers racing in Divisions II-V will compete for regional championship recognition.
A driver’s 14 best finishes within their respective regions will count towards regional championships.
Tracks that are part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series include North Carolina’s historic Hickory Motor Speedway, California’s Irwindale Speedway and Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway, among many others. Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., the home track of 10-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Clint Bowyer, also recently returned to the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series previously crowned regional champions from 1982 to ’04. Among the drivers to earn regional titles during that time period were Bowyer, Ted Christopher, David Rogers and Philip Morris, as well as NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans and Hall of Fame nominees Larry Phillips and Sam Ard.
NASCAR will also continue to crown track champions, U.S. state and Canadian province champions, in addition to the overall NASCAR Weekly Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion. The national champion will earn a $25,000.
Drivers do not need to be a regional champion in order to qualify to race for the overall NASCAR Weekly Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship; a driver’s best 18 finishes, regardless of region, will count towards the overall Division I national championship.
Drivers in Divisions II-V will see their 14 best finishes counted towards their respective national championships.