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Philip Morris clinches fifth NASCAR All-American Series championship

Philip Morris got a phone call on Wednesday afternoon.

He was expecting it, but it was satisfying nevertheless when he answered and it was NASCAR vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell on the line to confirm Morris’ fifth NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I national championship.

The accomplishment ties the 53-year-old with the late Larry Phillips for the most national weekly series championships in NASCAR history. Morris won his titles in 2006, 2008-09 and 2011 before transitioning to a part-time role. He returned to a more prominent role to the Carolinas and Virginias in 2016 and finished sixth in the national standings last year.

“I just have a much bigger appreciation for what was accomplished,” Morris said in a NASCAR release. “Plus, I get to be mentioned in the same sentence as Larry Philips. That’s always a good thing.

“I don’t think I deserve it, but I think it’s amazing. That guy is a legend. I’m just glad to be in his company.”

Morris won the championship with 23 wins, 28 top-fives and 31 top-10s in 35 Late Model Stock car starts at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway and Dominion Raceway, North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway and Southern National Raceway Park, and South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Speedway. He finished second in the South Boston championship to Peyton Sellers and also won his sixth NASCAR Virginia State championship.

Morris finished with 670 points, easily outdistancing fellow short-track stalwarts Steve Carlson (623) and Keith Rocco (621).

Carlson, the 2007 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion, had nine wins, 15 top fives and 19 top 10s in 22 starts racing primarily at Wisconsin’s LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway. He also raced at Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway.

Like Morris, Carlson and Rocco have made their name as one of the best short-track racers in NASCAR history.

Carlson won his sixth Wisconsin championship and holds a four-point lead with one race remaining in his quest for a seventh Late Model title at LaCrosse. In addition, the 61-year-old driver from West Salem, Wisconsin, has five NASCAR championships in the former Midwest Series to go with four from its predecessor, the ARTGO Midwest Seres, and was the 2009 ARCA Midwest Tour champion.

Rocco tallied 10 wins, 17 top fives and 21 top 10s in 27 starts in the SK Modified Division at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway and the Sunoco Modified Division at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

The 33-year-old Wallingford, Connecticut, driver claimed his 10th Connecticut championship. The 2010 national champion holds a 48-point lead heading into Thompson’s 56th annual Sunoco World Series in October as he looks to claim his 16th career NASCAR Division I track title. It would give him sole possession of second place all-time and put him one behind the record set by Nebraska’s Joe Kosiski (17 titles from 1985-2005).

It is also the 11th time in the last 12 seasons that Rocco has finished in the top five in the national standings, and marks the eighth time since 2009 that he’s finished in the top three.

NASCAR uses a driver’s best 18 finishes from any sanctioned track within the state to determine the State Champion and the best 18 finishes from any sanctioned track in North America to determine the National Champion.

Carlson and Rocco had their chances but Morris won nine of his first 12 starts and never looked back.

“We worked so hard for every point,” Morris said. “That’s just the veteran side of me, where I’ve been in tight battles where we had a lead before and saw it close up at the end. Maybe we worked harder because of what I learned in the past.”

Morris put together a stretch run from 2006-11 when he won 74 of 159 races (46.5%) and his four titles. But following the final one, he stepped away from full-time competition to focus on his business, Trailer Town USA in Virginia. Over the next four year, he ran just 25 races. He came back and finished 32nd in the nation in 2016 before moving up to sixth last year.

Morris thought he was done racing weekly, but taking a step away made him realize just how much he missed it, and how much reaching the Larry Phillips tier meant to him.

“I didn’t realize the price I’d have to pay, not just on the national level, but just to be competitive at our local track,” Morris said. “It as so much more work to get back to being competitive physically and mentally and the equipment. Keeping up with the tires and track surfaces and engines — it was like I was starting over.

“I’m not going to say I took it for granted. But I didn’t realize how important it was for me to continue.”

Ronnie Williams finished sixth in the national standings and has already clinched the SK Modified title at Stafford.

A quartet of Modified drivers from North Carlina’s Bowman Gray Stadium rounded out the top 10: Tim Brown, Burt Myers, Jonathan Brown and Jason Myers. While Burt Myers won his ninth track title at the historic Winston-Salem oval, Brown claimed the North Carolina title by five points.

Morris, Carlson and Rocco will be joined by the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series U.S. state and Canadian province champions, track champions and other special award winners on Friday, Dec. 7, as part of NASCAR Awards Charlotte.

The top-20 in NASCAR national standings can be viewed below.

Driver Tracks Starts Wins T5 T10 Points
1 PHILIP MORRIS S BOSTON, MYRTLE, HICKORY, DOMINION, SOUTHERN NATL 35 23 28 31 670
2 STEVE CARLSON MADISON INTL, LACROSSE 22 9 15 19 623
3 KEITH ROCCO THOMPSON, STAFFORD 27 10 17 21 621
4 PEYTON SELLERS LANGLEY, S BOSTON 21 3 18 18 586
5 NICK PANITZKE LACROSSE, MADISON INTL 20 5 14 18 583
6 RONNIE WILLIAMS THOMPSON, STAFFORD, RIVERHEAD 25 4 15 21 582
7 TIM BROWN BOWMAN 25 5 18 23 567
8 BURT MYERS HICKORY, BOWMAN 27 5 18 25 562
9 JONATHAN BROWN BOWMAN 25 5 19 24 554
10 JASON MYERS BOWMAN 25 3 16 22 545
11 JACOB GOEDE ELKO, LACROSSE 31 9 27 29 538
12 TREVOR HUDDLESTON IRWINDALE, KERN COUNTY, TUCSON 31 14 25 29 525
13 JUSTIN MILLIKEN MYRTLE, ANDERSON 17 5 16 17 524
14 DANNY BENEDICT SUNSET, SAUBLE 28 8 22 26 522
15 GORD SHEPHERD SAUBLE, SUNSET 30 9 25 29 519
16 BOBBY WILBERG LACROSSE, MADISON INTL 20 2 10 20 500
17 NICK GOETZ SUNSET, SAUBLE 30 4 19 25 493
18 TODD OWEN THOMPSON, STAFFORD 27 1 11 20 492
19 LAWLESS ALAN IRWINDALE, KERN COUNTY 27 6 24 26 489
20 THOMAS SCOTT S BOSTON, LANGLEY 20 0 14 17 488

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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