"We've had great battles in the past, and I did have a lot of respect for him. We've moved each other out of the way before---there's an art form to it," explained Deiny. "I was planning on him being aggressive, but I was planning on him using his ability to try and beat me. That's why I was upset; it took no ability to do what he did. He's a much better driver than that."

Morris still had the same feelings about the incident earlier this week himself as the veteran driver didn't show any remorse for the contact with Deiny.

"I was just hoping for an opportunity for somebody to open the door, and the way I look at it, [Deiny] opened the door for me," Morris explained. "I think it was good, fair racing. I admit that I've never approved of somebody diving straight down in the corner just to knock somebody out of a race. But we were rubbing up off the corner racing to the checkers. To me, it couldn't have gotten any better, and it couldn't have been any more fair."

Obviously no matter what, these two drivers aren't going to see eye to eye anytime soon and to be quite honest with you, this writer hopes they never do. It couldn't get any better than to have two guys going at it for a championship separated by four points with just four races(possibly five if they decide to make up the rain out from a couple weeks ago) and both drivers not wanting to give the other an inch and happy to take it even if it's not there.

ON THE VERGE

Brandon Dean has found himself on the verge of greatness nearly all season as the young driver has been racing around the top five all season long against some of the biggest names in the business like the above mentioned Morris and Deiny. Dean has shown with his consistency that he can be a strong competitor week in and week out and that's got this young talent close to winning a race.

A mid-season change for Dean where he moved into the Kiker Tree Service ride that was piloted by Shaun Mangum early on, hasn't slowed him down one bit and has obviously made his off-track presence stronger as he has more backing than he did with his family owned ride. Dean is hoping to get a win before the season is over, but he could end the season without a win and still he's only a little over 30 points out of the championship chase and with all the drama between the two leaders he could just find himself in a great position.

ROUGH FIRST OUTING

Jason Mitcham returned to Motor Mile Speedway for the first time in nearly a year and the veteran of the Late Model Stock Car game looked good early on climbing solidly inside the top ten from his 11th place qualifying effort. Mitcham's run took him as high as sixth before he was taken out in a late race incident that left his car looking like nothing more than pile of metal awaiting the crusher. Mitcham came home credited with a 22nd place finish, but that certainly isn't indicative of how the veteran was running before the crash late in the race.

LOSING GROUND AT A BAD TIME

Chad Harris was once the most formidable candidate in many people's mind that would challenge Morris for this years title, but while Frank Deiny has been emerging as the strongest challenger late in the season, Harris lost a little ground on Saturday night. Harris started from the pole after a strong qualifying effort, but quickly faded from the lead and was just looking to hold on for a top five finish late in the race.

Quickly though the veteran driver and three-time track champion found himself the victim of contact from behind when he and Jerame Donley made contact in turn one. Harris spun and was forced to go to the rear of the field and coming back up to the front would be a tall task considering the race featured 30 of the best drivers in the country.

Harris however was able to salvage an 11th place finish after his late spin, but the veteran wasn't happy about the contact with Donley.

"I guess it was my fault," a very frustrated Harris said of the incident. "I got black flagged a few weeks ago for a similar incident and somehow when he(Donley) gets into me and it's my fault. I don't know how this works."

This is another rivalry that could continue to brew in this weekends twin 75-lap races as these two drivers seem to have a habit of running into one another.

ROLLER COASTER RIDE

Tommy Lemons, Jr. has seen his share of peaks and valleys this season, but in last Saturday nights race he got a little more of the same as the young driver shot from the outside pole to the lead early, but was up and down the scoreboard from there. After taking the lead Lemons slipped back to third, but looked to be ready to rally back at least up to second when he made contact with Philip Morris getting into turns one and two causing him to get sideways and lifting out of the throttle, before he was tagged by then fourth place driver, Richard Boswell.

Boswell allowed Lemons to gather his car back up while passing him for position on the outside, Lemons fell back as far as eighth before getting back up to speed. Lemons rallied back to finish fourth and ended his roller coaster night on a high and hopefully that momentum will carry over to this weekends twin 75-lap races.

NOT A WIN, BUT WE'LL TAKE IT ...

Make no mistake about it, Richard Boswell didn't leave the UARA-STARS to come to Motor Mile Speedway and run around with his car looking pretty ... he came to race! Boswell has competed in only three races to date this season with the first start back on June 13th yielding a second place finish, since then he was crashed out of one race while climbing to the front and most recently secured a third place behind the drama between Morris and Deiny last weekend.

Boswell, certainly has earned his reputation as one of the best in the business and while some of his competitors may not like his aggressive nature it's helped him to climb the ladder in these cars over the last couple of seasons. Boswell's third place finish isn't exactly what he came to Motor Mile looking to accomplish, but the young driver, who races out of the JR Motorsports stables owned, by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series superstar, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., knows you have be there at the end to win these races.

THREE TOP TEN FINISHES IN THREE RACES

Thomas Hartensveld didn't get to start his 2009 season until June 13th due to cutbacks from his 2008 sponsors, but in two months time he's hit the track three times and each time he's yielded great results for his underfunded family owned team. Hartensveld's 2008 season as a rookie on the UARA-STARS Series tour didn't go as planned as the young driver struggled for top ten finishes, but this season with a new Marlowe Racing Chassis and guidance from legendary Late Model Stock Car racer, Greg Marlowe he's been top ten in every start.

He's not batting 100% obviously or he would have won in all three starts, but the young New Jersey native has accomplished something in three races that several competitors who have run all season haven't been able to and that's three top ten finishes. Hartensveld's lack of funding will keep him from racing every week and he won't be able to hit the track this weekend, but he plans to be back at Motor Mile again on Saturday, August 29th for his fourth race of the season.

PROGRESSING NICELY

Rookies, Jordan Pennington and Adam Long have spent this season paying their dues on the 4/10 mile speedplant, but in recent weeks the two have found themselves on the verge of breaking into the top five despite both drivers switching teams mid-season. Pennington seems to have made the most of his switch to FDJ Motorsports, which puts him under the watchful eye of points leader, Frank Deiny, who owns FDJ Motorsports.

Pennington had two top ten runs in his first two starts with FDJ after only hitting tenth place once back in May with his previous ride and his finish of sixth had him knocking on the door of the top five before running out of laps. Like Pennington, Long has found some success with his new team grabbing a top ten and a 12th place effort before the last race and despite some issues in last weekends race he still managed a 23rd place effort.

Both of these young drivers are hoping to find continued success in the seasons final four races with Pennington and Long both on the verge of breaking into the ultra-competitive top five before season's end.

SHAPING UP TO BE A GOOD ONE ...

With the story lines mentioned above this race no doubt has the potential to be one of the biggest of the year at Motor Mile and there's many more drivers who could throw themselves into the mix including an always stout, Davin Scites and Caraway winner this season, Ryan Wilson. Who knows who might show up and with twin 75-lap races it could get crazy and did I mention that Frank Deiny is still upset with Philip Morris over last weeks bump and run??? This is shaping up to be my kind of RACE!

FULL COVERAGE "At the TRACK" Saturday Night

Can't make it to Motor Mile Speedway this weekend ... Shame on You, but never fear as RACE22.com's own Kimberly Smith will be bring you live flag to flag coverage of both of the 75-lap events with our all new "At the TRACK" Live Coverage of the race.

We're going to debut a new fully interactive way of bringing you all the live updates from the track with Kimberly up in the booth and Langley Austin feeding her info from pit road to add to the broadcast. So IF you can't make it ... tune us in at RACE22.com with LIVE Coverage starting around 2:00pm with Practice Sessions, Qualifying and Flag to Flag Race Coverage!