Championship racing in Ephrata

EPHRATA - This Saturday will wrap up another great summer of racing at Ephrata Raceway Park with the season championship event. With rivalries coming to a climax and single digit points separating drivers in the race for a championship, everything will be left on the track come Saturday night.

In the street stock division, Bart Hector Jr. and Brad Morrison have been battling for the top spot for weeks. Morrison has been atop the division for the better part of the season, but that hasn't slowed down Hector in the number 82 car.

After a main event win last weekend at the Rebel Jackson Memorial, it is a two-car race to the finish between Bart and Morrison.

"I won the mini stock title in 2010 and the super stock trophy in 2011, so my goal this season is to catch Brad and win the street stock championship," Bart said.

Many local race fans know the Hector name because of their rich racing history in the basin, but few fans know that Bart isn't just racing for personal accolades. Since the tragic passing of Daniel Hector, Bart has taken over driving the number 82 car, previously driven by Daniel. He has barely changed anything on the vehicle and is hoping to win this year's title and pay homage to his late family member.

The soft spoken points leader in the street stock class, Brad Morrison, who drives the purple and red number four car is a good friend of the Hector family and these two drivers will undoubtedly push each other to elevate their on track performance this weekend.

"I just want to be consistent and finish strong. If I can do that, I will get the results I wan,." Morrison said.

The Jerry's Auto Supply 360 Sprints division has the closest point differential at ERP, with brothers Joe and Adam Smith being separated by just nine points entering last weeks event. While the Smith brothers are competitive and passionate about winning races, they are more passionate about the livelihood of the local race scene and the success of ERP.

"Our main goal is to help out everyone at the track and keep as many cars on the track and racing as we can," Adam Smith said.

The brothers have taken young drivers, like rookies John Ditto and Dylan Farmer, under their wing this season.

"I try to lead by example and really show people they can do this and do it in an affordable way, all while having a lot of fun," Joe Smith said.

While both brothers have their sights set on hoisting up a championship trophy Saturday night they know there will be a bit of a family feud to get there.

"We definitely drive more aggressive around each other than any other driver, mostly because we know how drives," Adam said.

While who will win these close championship races is hard to predict, one thing that is a guarantee is these guys will have a great time behind the wheel this weekend.

"Everyone gets along out here from drivers to fans; really everybody. Right now is the closest group of guys we've had out here at the track and its made for a really great summer," Joe said.

Local race fans have waited all summer for the season championships and Saturday the Kim Janke State Farm Youth Hornets, the Schaeffer Oil Mini Stocks, Pepsi Street Stocks, and Jerry's Auto Supply 360 Sprints will all crown their 2013 series winner's under the lights at Ephrata Raceway Park.