by Dustin Ross, regional racing operations manager, Tioga/Vernon Downs

Nichols, NY — With less than $700,000 covering second through seventh in the driver standings for earnings in North America, the third annual Drivers’ Championship at Tioga Downs is far from set.

Tim Tetrick has an astonishing lead on the field and will once again be competing for the $25,000 first place prize on Sunday, August 2. However, the next six in order are Jason Bartlett, Brian Sears, Dave Palone, Ron Pierce, Jody Jamieson, and Andy Miller. These six are jockeying for position in the standings, and three of the six (Palone, Sears, and Pierce) have mounts in Saturday night’s $1 million Meadowlands Pace. Pierce is piloting 6-5 morning line favorite Well Said, and with a victory could catapult past Bartlett into second place, almost securing his place in this year’s Championship.

However, more interesting in this weekend’s Meadowlands Pace are the three drivers that are on the outside looking in, and they will all line-up for the $1 million purse. George Brennan, Yannick Gingras and David Miller are eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively, and all have a chance to make one final push to get in. Brennan is less than $22,000 away from qualifying for the Championship, while Gingras needs less than $80,000. Miller is in tenth position and is less than $161,000 behind current seventh place position sitter Andy Miller.

The current leading moneywinning driver at Tioga Downs is Jimmy Marohn, Jr., who sits atop the list with $276,827 in earnings this season, while Andy Santeramo ($188,531) is second and Corey Braden ($152,681) rounds out the top three.

Drivers will be on hand before the races at 12 p.m. to sign autographs for the fans, along with the Yannick Gingras bobblehead giveaway that will also start at 12 p.m. on the trackside apron.

Tioga will take the top seven moneywinning drivers in North America as of the morning of Sunday, July 26, and extend invitations along with the leading moneywinning driver at Tioga Downs and one sponsor’s exemption. If a driver is unable or unwilling to participate from the top seven, Tioga would then extend the invitation to number eight, etc.