Kosiski Watching More Than His NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Points
by: Jason Christley, NASCAR Public Relations

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 18, 2007) – Joe Kosiski has raced for enough NASCAR weekly championships that he knows you don’t start really looking at the national standings until the middle of August.

And that’s also when the driver from I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Neb., turns 50 this year.

Kosiski, who was named in 2006 as one of NASCAR’s All-Time Top 25 weekly series drivers, is already thinking about his retirement years from racing – a thought that’s been spurred on by watching his son Andrew’s accelerated learning curve in the driver’s seat.

“He’s really picking up and really doing a good job,” Joe Kosiski said of his son, who turned 16 in January. “I’m getting ready to have my last couple years to compete with him and have fun.”

Before he’s through, though, Kosiski may just add some more hardware to the trophy case.

Kosiski won last Sunday night’s Super Late Model feature at I-80. It was his second win and fourth straight top-two finish, helping Kosiski climb up to fifth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings. He was seventh last week.

“I started off slow,” Kosiski said. “I had a couple of crashes early in the year, so that slowed me down some. I’ll start throwing (the poor finishes) away and I’ll start picking up a few spots.”

Kosiski has 608 points. Guy Jubinville of Autodrome St. Eustache in Quebec had a fourth-place finish this past weekend to maintain his overall lead. Woody Pitkat, who was third at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway last Friday, is second. Both Jubinville and Pitkat have 652 points, but Jubinville has the tiebreaker by virtue of more wins (6-2). Jamey Caudill of Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, N.C., is third at 648 and Jean Francois Bouvrette of Autodrome St. Eustache is fourth at 646.

Kosiski isn’t worried about them, just yet.

“I always look at the track and state championship first. And then we look if there’s a possibility further than that,” Kosiski said. “I start looking at nationals when you get to the middle or latter part of August.”

Kosiski has already won 16 track titles, five regional/divisional championships and the 1986 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship. He came within two points of adding another national title last year.

He’ll get an added test this weekend when NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series star Carl Edwards runs in the Sunday night feature.

“It’s just part of what really needs to be done,” said Kosiski of Edwards’ appearance. “What makes heroes out of Whelen All-American Series stars is having the big stars come in, and showing that the local guys can race with them.”

Edwards also ran at I-80 last year, crashing out early in an event in which Kosiski finished second.

Kosiski’s biggest thrill, however, was earlier this year when his son, Andrew, won a track “race of champions” event. The race consisted of drivers who had won a big race or championship at I-80 over the last three years driving in cars from the Crate Late Model class.

“He drove one hell of a race,” Kosiski said of his son’s victory.

Andrew, who drives in the Late Model division on I-80’s Saturday night program – which features a separate point system than the division his dad runs on Sundays – picked up his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series win in May and is 245th in the nation.

Under the simplified point structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the race winner will receive two points for every car in the event up to 25 cars. Second place will receive two fewer points, and so-on through the field. For example, if there are 25 cars, the winner receives 50 points, second gets 48 and third 46. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 30 points, second gets 28 and third 26.

Competitors will count their 18 highest point finishes through Sept. 30. The national champion will earn a reserved spot in the 2007 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway in October.

FEATURE DIVISION

National Top 25 NASCAR Leaders

PosDriver Name Home Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 Pts

1 GUY JUBINVILLE AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 17 6 14 15 652
2 WOODY PITKAT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 17 2 11 14 652
3 JAMEY CAUDILL SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 20 4 11 17 648
4 JEAN FRNS BOUVRETTE AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 17 4 15 15 646
5 JOE KOSISKI I-80 SPEEDWAY 19 2 14 15 608
6 DREW HERRING SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 18 1 11 15 604
7 MARTIN MARCOUX AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 17 1 9 15 600
8 KERRY MALONE STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 17 1 6 13 600
9 KEITH ROCCO STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY 17 4 9 11 592
10 DANIEL BELANGER AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 17 1 8 15 564
11 STEVE CARLSON LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 12 4 11 12 562
12 DEAC MCCASKILL SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 18 4 9 12 554
13 JONATHAN COTE AUTODROME ST. EUSTACHE 17 1 7 14 552
14 SCOTT YOUNG SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 19 0 7 11 538
15 JEREMIAH HURST FARLEY SPEEDWAY 23 7 20 22 536
16 AL HUMPHREY I-80 SPEEDWAY 15 4 9 12 536
17 MARK LAMOREAUX LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 13 3 10 11 534
18 KEVIN NUTTLEMAN LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 13 1 10 11 530
19 ANDY LODEN HICKORY MOTOR SPEEDWAY 20 7 12 15 528
20 JAKE RYAN ELKO SPEEDWAY 21 4 15 20 524
21 ANDY BURGESS LACROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY 12 0 8 12 520
22 CURTIS TRUEX, JR SOUTHERN NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK 20 2 8 12 514
23 JASON HOBSCHEIDT I-80 SPEEDWAY 17 2 7 11 514
24 PHILIP MORRIS MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY 15 5 9 11 512
25 RODNEY COOK ACE SPEEDWAY 32 2 18 25 512