RICK STIEF LEADS MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES POINT CHASE WITH TWO RACES REMAINING

RICK STIEF LEADS ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES POINT CHASE WITH TWO RACES REMAINING

Story By: ERIKA PALMAI WAGNER/MASS

Photos By: Jim Brown/RacersGuide.com

Garnett Valley, PA’s Rick Stief inches closer to his first career Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series Championship title with two races remaining on the 2017 points championship schedule. Stief, a two-time feature winner this season so far, is the current point leader as MASS heads to Grandview Speedway this Friday, September 15th. The Racesaver/IMCA sanctioned 305 sprint series will join the Sportsman Modifieds the night before the annual Freedom 76’er, which is the following night, Saturday September 16th.

“My goal for the next two races is to not think about the championship and just focus on the races,” Stief said. “I never liked points racing, and I just happened to be lucky enough to miss a week that rained out, so I am proud and excited to be in this position, but I’m not fond of the pressure that comes with it. I just want to race, and hopefully our luck at Grandview will change enough for us to get our first win at that track. We’ve been close, but not close enough”.

Ringoes, NJ resident Tommy Carberry continues to trail Stief by just two points, along with third place standing Eddie Wagner who is just three points out of first. Tim Tanner Jr. and Jeff Geiges, who each own their own a championship title with the former Tri-State Racesaver Sprint Series, also are in contention for the points championship, with just seven and fourteen points separating them from Stief.

Carberry, who is a strong force going into this weekend’s event at Grandview has never had the opportunity to race for a championship, but by putting himself in the position to make it possible this season, he said that it would mean a lot to him to come out on top at the end of the year.

“I’m always confident when we go to Grandview because that track just fits my driving style,” Carberry said. “Each time we visit, we have consistently been a top three finishing car, with the exception of our last race there when I parked it on the backstretch attempting to go for the lead on the last lap. Friday, I’m hoping that this time, we can park it on the front stretch”.

After this weekend, the series will head back to New Jersey’s Bridgeport Speedway next Friday Night, September 22nd, where at the nights end, a champion will be crowned. Four non-point open races will finish out the inaugural season for the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series, in three different states in the Mid-Atlantic region. These four events, which will take place at Port Royal (October 7th), Grandview (October 14th), Georgetown (October 28th) and Bridgeport (November 4th), will all offer extra contingencies, an open handicapping policy for non-members, and higher paying purses, which will be announce in the weeks to come.

Racing on Friday night at Grandview Speedway starts at 7:00pm, and admission for this event is $12 for adults, $5 for children 6 through 11 and kids under 6 are admitted free.

For more information on upcoming events, race day LIVE coverage, and exclusive interviews with drivers, visit our Facebook page and our website at www.masprintseries.com.