By Andrew Kunas
VANCOUVER, Wash. – Though he is winless so far in the 2011 season, Corey Esteban is in the drivers seat as he holds a 10-point lead in pursuit of his first Northwest Wingless Tour sprint car series championship. He resumes his chase of the title on Saturday as the NWWT makes its second appearance at Sunset Speedway this season.
Esteban, out of Gaston, Ore. has a pair of runner-up finishes along with a sixth place effort over four completed NWWT events. If not for mechanical issues while running in second place at Coos Bay Speedway on June 4th, Esteban perhaps could’ve had a bigger lead over Vancouver, Wash.’s Mike Romig than the one he has now. While Esteban hasn’t found victory lane yet, his consistency over the course of the season so far has put him at the top of the point standings.
After finishing second again at Sunset Speedway on June 25th, Esteban can be considered nothing less than a big threat to pick up his first career NWWT victory this Saturday when the tour resumes action at the same track. He will have to deal with Albany, Ore.’s Gary Davis, who is coming off a clean sweep of the NWWT’s last event at Sunset Speedway. A rough night at Coos Bay also has Davis relegated to seventh place in the point standings, but the strong comeback at Sunset was a statement by Davis that he’ll still be a force to be reckoned with over the ten remaining NWWT events this year.
Romig, meanwhile, has also yet to find victory lane but back-to-back third place finishes has also put him within striking distance of Esteban, and Creswell, Ore.’s Jesse Thistle sits only 19 points back of Esteban as well.
With the ASCS Northwest Region winged sprint car tour starting its annual Speedweek on Monday, July 11th in Medford, Saturday’s event at Sunset Speedway could potentially give traveling teams from Washington an extra race to run in on their way down to Medford. The Northwest Wingless Tour openly invites all teams to take part in Saturday’s event at Sunset Speedway as registration with the NWWT is not required.
After Saturday’s event, the NWWT next races on Saturday, July 30th at Cottage Grove Speedway, marking the first of three straight weeks of racing for the NWWT as it also races August 6th at Coos Bay Speedway and August 13th at Sunset Speedway.
More information on the Northwest Wingless Tour, the Pacific Northwest’s premier touring non-wing sprint car series, can be found online at http://www.nwwinglesstour.com
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NWWT: The NorthWest Wingless Tour sprint car series
http://www.nwwinglesstour.com