Dexter Canipe Wins NASCAR Winston Racing Series National Championship
17 September 1997
BLUE RIDGE REGION'S DEXTER CANIPE WINS
NASCAR WINSTON RACING SERIES NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP;
NINE OF THE TEN REGIONS ARE FIRST TIME WINNERS
For Immediate Release
DAYTONA BEACH, Fl. (Sept. 17, 1997) - Dexter Canipe, 37, of the Blue
Ridge Region's Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, SC, is the
1997 NASCAR Winston Racing Series national champion, the National
Association for Stock Car Auto Racing's national title for weekly
short track stock car racing.
Canipe, of Clermont, N.C., finished the season this past weekend by
winning his 17th race in 21 starts to secure the track
championship. He also had three second place finishes and an 11th
place finish. Canipe is the first driver from the 51-year-old track,
one of the oldest tracks sanctioned by NASCAR, to win the NASCAR
Winston Racing Series national championship.
Canipe will receive a record $132,500 for the championship title
sponsored by R.J. Reynolds' Winston brand. Additionally, he won this
year's $5,000 Gatorade Front Runner Award for leading the national
points chase at the halfway point of the season.
"Any weekly racer who works hard can have a chance to win the NASCAR
Winston Racing Series national championship," said Dexter Canipe. "I
came to Greenville-Pickens Speedway as an outsider, and everyone took
me in and made me feel welcome. Now I'll do my best to represent the
NASCAR Winston Racing Series as the national champion."
This is the fourth season Canipe has competed in the NASCAR Winston
Racing Series Late Model Stock Car division for G&G Motorsports,
posting a fifth place ranking in the 1996 Clue Ridge Region points
race.
"Dexter Canipe has accomplished one of the most sought after goals in
motorsports," said Dennis Huth, NASCAR vice president for
administration. "Winning the NASCAR Winston Racing Series national
championship is to weekly short track racing what the NASCAR Winston
Cup Championship is to stock car racing in general. Dexter and the
entire G&G Motorsports team have proved that they are the top team in
the country for weekly short track racing."
Prior to joining G&G Motorsports in 1994 Canipe was Tri-County
Speedway's (Hudson, NC) 1993 Limited Sportsman Division champion, and
was crew chief for NASCAR Winston Racing Series Late Model Stock Car
driver Karen Schulz in the late 198Os and early 199Os. Canipe also has
shown his talents on the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series, winning the
inaugural race at the Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex by
taking the lead on the last lap in 1996.
Greenville-Pickens Speedway is one of the oldest tracks sanctioned by
NASCAR, and has a past that unfolds like a history book. Canipe's
accomplishment may then be remembered to rival those of drivers who
competed at the storied track such as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison,
Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, David Person, Lee Petty, and Ralph
Earnhardt.
"As far as each person running in their own era, Dexter ranks right
along with David Pearson and Ralph Earnhardt," said Pete Blackwell,
Greenville-Pickens Speedway track operator.
Regional winners, according to their national ranking, include:
Region Name Track CPI
1. Blue Ridge Dexter Canipe Greenville-Pickens Speedway .8193259
2. Atlantic Seaboard Allen Chinners Jr Summerville Speedway .8132487
3. Heartland Anziel Kirby Nashville Speedway USA .7833333
4. Pacific Coast Robert Hogge IV Watsonville Speedway .7574449
5 Mid-America Paul Proksch Lacrosse Fairgrounds Speedway .7359943
6 Northeast Jeffrey Dunmyer Jennerstown Speedway .7226083
7. Great West Bruce Yackey Colorado National Speedway .7046548
8. Sunbelt Keith Green Heart 0' Texas Speedway .7031398
9. New England Jimmy Broderick Stafford Motor Speedway .7022155
10 Midwest Jeffrey Martin Elko Speedway .5878152
"Nine out of the ten regional champions have never won a NASCAR
Winston Racing Series Regional Championship," said Huth. "The
diversity in winners across the country shows how challenging it is to
win a NASCAR Winston Racing Series regional and national
championship."
Chinners, 22, won the Atlantic Seaboard Regional Championship with an
impressive 18 wins at Summerville Speedway. With 1997 only his fourth
season in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series and the second season with
his team, the young Chinners may have many opportunities to again
shoot for the national championship.
Kirby, 34, used the momentum from winning the 1996 Nashville (Tenn.)
Speedway USA championship to post seven wins in 20 starts in
1997. Kirby is no stranger to victory lane, winning the track
championship in 1994, 1996, and 1997, which ties him with NASCAR
Winston Cup Series driver Sterling Marlin as the only three-time
champions at the track.
Hogge, 20, of Watsonville (CA) Speedway, was the youngest regional
champion in 1996 when he won the Pacific Coast Regional
Championship. This year he is the only Regional Champion from the
previous season, posting 14 wins in 21 starts with 17 top five and 18
top ten finishes.
Proksch, 33, saved money plowing snow during the long, cold Wisconsin
winters to buy his race car. What started as a used home-built chassis
now has a reputation of seven wins in 19 starts at LaCrosse
Fairgrounds Speedway, and a very respectable fifth place NASCAR
Winston Racing Series national ranking.
Dunmyer and his team, of Jennerstown Speedway, have risen from a
struggling Street Stock team a decade ago to the 1997 Northeast Region
Champions and a sixth place national ranking. Eleven wins in 20
starts, and the consistency of 17 top five and 19 top ten finishes
have contributed to the team's success.
Yackey, 31, could almost taste the sweetness of a NASCAR Winston
Racing Series Great West Region championship when he was runner-up in
1995. Instead, his father-in-law Ben "Butch" Bailey was voted by his
peers at the 1996 NASCAR Winston Racing Series True Value Mechanic of
the Year Award. This year, Yackey and his family will be celebrating
in Nashville following seven wins in 18 starts at Colorado National
Speedway.
Green has gained a massive amount of experience and a following of
fans since he started racing in 1974 at Heart 0' Texas Speedway, a
0.25-mile dirt track. His 16 wins in 23 starts is a result of years of
competition and dedication, first becoming a competitor when he was
17.
Broderick has been racing for nearly 20 years, but 1997 is his finest
to date. The Modified class, in which Broderick competes, has been a
staple at Stafford Motor Speedway since the NASCAR Winston Racing
Series was introduced. Broderick's six wins in 20 starts is testament
to the highly competitive environment encountered at the 0.5-mile
asphalt track.
Martin, 37, is the first competitor from Elko (MN) Speedway to win the
Midwest Regional Championship. A long-time front runner at the
0.375-mile asphalt track he had eight wins in 19 starts and finished
in the top five in every other outing.
To determine the national champion, NASCAR officials calculated the
competition performance index (CPI) for each of the Regional Track
Leaders.
The competitor with the highest CPI is the national champion. The
NASCAR Winston Racing Series CPI includes three variables, which are
winning percentage, percentage of races competed in, and the weighted
average of entries at each track.
The champions' awards will he presented at the NASCAR Winston Racing
Series banquet on Friday, Nov. 7, at The Opryland Hotel in Nashville,
Tenn.
Canipe, the national champion, wins $132,500. Each of the nine
regional Winners wins $39,600.
The NASCAR Winston Racing Series is the National Association for Stock
Car Auto Racing's weekly grassroots racing program that features
nearly 100 of the country's best short tracks in 10 regions throughout
the country.
Composed of both paved and dirt surfaces of various lengths, the
NASCAR Winston Racing Series provides competitors with regional and
national recognition, and a $1.3 million championship point fund based
on their performance at a local NASCAR track.
Earl's Products, Exide Batteries, Five Star stock car bodies, Mechanix
Wear, Tilton Engineering, and Victor Reinz Gaskets, new for the 1997,
have joined existing sponsors Winston, Champion Spark Plugs, Cintas
Uniforms, Featherlite Trailers, Gatorade, J.E. Pistons, Moroso,
Opryland USA, Prestone Antifreeze, Pro Shocks, Raybestos Brakes, STP,
and Unocal to create the largest payoff in NASCAR Winston Racing
Series history.
The series' richest point fund in history includes a record $1 million
from Winston as well as contributions from the 18 additional
contingency program sponsors.
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