It was a season in which the term “new normal” wore out its welcome, but the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series crowned 33 Division I track champions, along with 24 U.S. state and Canadian provincial champions.
There were plenty of repeat names, like Keith Rocco, Erica Thiering and Craig Von Dohren — whose title collection has ranged into double digits. There were former national champions such as Rocco, Peyton Sellers and Jacob Goede who continue to reign at their home tracks.
Rocco etched his name in the NASCAR record book as his fifth SK Modified Division championship at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway gave him 18 NASCAR Division I titles for his career. The Wallingford, Connecticut, driver, who also made his ARCA Menards Series racing debut in the fall, had been tied with another former national champion, Nebraska’s Joe Kosiski, for the most track titles in NASCAR’s modern weekly series era (1982-present).
That spot belongs to Rocco alone now.
But there were plenty of new names and faces, raising their first NASCAR championships — from teenagers Dean Thompson in California and Cameron Bolin in South Carolina to 63-year-old John Cote in New York.
Brian Robie was the only driver win multiple track titles – claiming the Sportsman Modified championships at New Hampshire’s Claremont Motorsports Park, Hudson Speedway and Monadnock Speedway.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I Champions
Here’s a recap of the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I champions, by state/province:
Stu Laidlaw had eight top fives in all eight starts to edge former champion Tim Workman by four points for the Alaska championship. Laidlaw, from Anchorage, took home the GCI Late Model title at Alaska Raceway Park.
Thiering won her 11th track championship at Edmonton International Raceway, with five wins and nine top fives in nine Super Stock Division races. The Sherwood Park driver also won her 11th provincial crown.
Kole Raz, the 2019 Arizona rookie of the year, took both the Super Late Model championship at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway as well as the state title. The Lake Oswego, Oregon, driver, had five wins, nine top fives and nine top 10s in 10 starts. He won the state title on a tiebreaker (more wins) over Paul Banghart.
Dean Thompson won five of his first eight starts to the season en route to the LKQ Pick Your Parts Late Model title at California’s Irwindale Speedway. The Anaheim Hills teen also won the state championship on the strength of five wins, 13 top fives and 13 top 10s in 14 starts. Another teenager, Cole Moore, earned the Late Model championship at All American Speedway in Roseville. The Granite Bay driver had seven wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s in 12 starts.
Eddie Vecchiarelli won his first state title in Colorado, holding off Jonathan Knee, defending track champion Brett Yackey and seven-time state champion Bruce Yackey. Vecchiarelli, from Brighton, had nine wins and 13 top fives in 13 starts to win the Mountain States Fire Protection Super Late Model title at Colorado National Speedway.
Keith Rocco finished ninth in the national standings — the 13th time in the last 14 years he has been in the top 10. He had six wins, 10 top fives and 14 top 10s in 14 races, clinching Stafford’s SK Modified championship with a race remaining in the season. The 2010 national champion has won 12 of the last 13 Connecticut championships. He has won a track title every year but one (2012) since 2007.
Brad May started off the season winning Super Late Model Division of the the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway for the first time in his storied career. He finished by taking home his fourth track title at New Smyrna — on a tiebreaker with Michael Atwell — and his fourth Florida crown. The latter mark tied him with the late David Rogers, whose name now adorns the division at New Smyrna.
Eric Rhead collected nine wins, 17 top fives and 20 top 10s in 20 starts to win the ICCU Modified Division championship at Idaho’s Magic Valley Speedway. The North Salt Lake, Utah, driver also won his first Idaho title by beating out defending state champion Zach Webster. Brendan Fries won six times and had 17 top fives in 17 starts to earn the PitstopUSA.com Modified championship at Meridian Speedway.
Mike Beyer and Jon Reynolds Jr. split the honors in Illinois. Beyer had six top fives and 10 top 10s in 10 races to edge Reynolds by four points for the Machesney Park driver’s first state title. Reynolds picked up his third Late Model championship at Rockford Speedway on the strength of two wins, seven top fives and 10 top 10s.
Jesse Dennis had five wins, 11 top fives and 11 top 10s in 12 starts to win the championships for Iowa and the Poet Bio-Refining Modified Division at Adams County Speedway in his home town of Corning for the second straight year.
Defending national champion Jacob Goede rolled off five wins, 13 top fives and 17 top 10s in 18 races at Elko Speedway to win his seventh straight Late Model title at Elko. The Carver driver also extended his record with a seventh straight Minnesota crown.
Ben Schaller had a win, five top fives and six top 10s in six races at I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Nebraska, to win the Super Late Model championship. The dirt track veteran from Norfolk, also added a state championship to go with the one he won in 2016.
Brian Robie rolled in New Hampshire, piling up 10 wins, 29 top fives and 10 top 10s in 31 starts en route to Sportsman Modified titles at Claremont Motorsports Park, Hudson Speedway and Monadnock Speedway. The Sunapee driver also won the state title. Frankie Eldredge claimed the Rodfather Late Model Sportsman title at Lee USA Speedway. The Portsmouth driver had 10 wins and 11 top fives in 11 races.
Tom Rogers Jr. won his fifth track title at Riverhead Raceway and finally earned his first New York championship. The Modified driver had three wins, 10 top fives and 11 top 10s in 12 starts and edged Dylan Slepian by just six points for the state honors. John Cote, who has more than 100 feature wins on the dirt at Bethel Motor Speedway, added three more wins and 13 top fives in 13 starts. The New Milford, Connecticut, driver, has multiple Bethel championships over the years and won his first NASCAR title.
Josh Berry won the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national title thanks to his success in North Carolina. He won 19 of his 22 races in the Tar Heel State, adding 27 top fives in 27 starts between Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly and Hickory Motor Speedway. A 2012 track champion at Virginia’s Motor Mile and 2017 champion at Hickory, the Statesville driver added his first NASCAR state title to his resume. Ryan Millington used six wins, 20 top fives and 21 top 10s in 23 starts to win the Late Model Stock Car title at Hickory. The Washington driver also won the Hickory championship in 2017, when he became the youngest champion in track history. Mason Diaz took his second track title at Southern National, with a win and 12 top fives in 12 races. The Manassas driver also won the title at his home track in 2017.
Like Illinois, Oklahoma had split champions. Greg Skaggs had four top five finishes and eight top 10s in 13 starts to win the Lakeland Real Estate NE OK Modified champion at Salina Highbanks Speedway. The Broken Arrow driver edged Jared Russell by 18 points. Russell, though, won his first state title with three wins, 10 top fives in 12 starts.
Brody Montgomery used two wins and 12 top fives in 12 starts to sweep the America’s Mattress Super Late Model Division at Coos Bay Speedway and the Oregon championships. The Brandon driver also won the state title in 2018.
Craig Von Dohren had two wins, 10 top fives and 13 top 10s in 14 starts in the TP Trailers Modified Division at Grandview Speedway in Bechtesville, Pennsylvania. It was enough to give Von Dohren his 11th track championship at Grandview and his fifth state title. The Oley driver won the latter by just four points over five-time track champion Duane Howard.
Sam Yarborough and Cameron Bolin won track honors, while Will Burns took the big prize in South Carolina. Yarborough had six wins in seven races in winning his sixth title at his home town track, Myrtle Beach Speedway, in the track’s final year. Bolin had three wins, 15 top fives and 17 top 10s in 17 races at Greenville Pickens Speedway as the Sharon, North Carolina, driver added his name to the wall of champions at the historic track. Burns, the 2017 Greenville champion, from Simpsonville, had three wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s in 13 starts between Greenville and Myrtle Beach.
Kres Van Dyke had a record-breaking year at Kingsport Speedway. The 40-year-old Abingdon driver closed the year with 15 straight wins. He easily won the Late Model Stock Car championship at Kingsport and his fourth Tennessee title.
Jake Wright celebrated Houston Motorsports Park’s return to NASCAR with the Advance Auto Parts Pro Truck Series championship. The Waxahachie driver had four wins and top fives in all seven races to also win the Texas title.
Former national champion Peyton Sellers has five track titles at South Boston Speedway. The Danville driver turned his attention to another Virginia track, winning 10 times and picking up 24 top fives and top 10s in 25 stars at Dominion Speedway for the track and state championships. Brendan Queen won the year’s biggest event at Langley Speedway, the Hampton Heat, and then closed out the Taylor Waste Services Late Model Stock Car championship with a win, 14 top fives and 15 top 10s in 15 races.
Daniel Moore and Tyson Lang split trophies in Washington. Both had a win and six top fives in six races at Evergreen Speedway. Moore won the state title by six points over Lang. Lang, the son of five-time track Naima Lang, won his first Speedway Chevrolet Pro Late Model championship by 16 points over Moore and Dario Retych.
Nick Murgic has won plenty over his career, including the Dick Trickle 99 Super Late Model race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway last year. The son of former NASCAR regional series champion Steve Murgic, Nick had three wins, 14 top fives and 17 top 10s in 18 starts at Lacrosse to take the Kwik Trip Late Model championship over multi-time champion Steve Carlson. Nick Murgic also won his first Wisconsin title.