Bassmaster Elite Series pros will be running hard this week to make a point — or, rather, points

Elite anglers will be trying to build their points total high enough to be among the Toyota 12, the dozen anglers who will advance to the postseason in July. That’s when the winner of the $200,000 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year prize and coveted crown will be determined.

The seventh of eight regular-season events, the Tennessee Triumph on twin lakes Kentucky and Barkley will kick off Wednesday, June 9, out of Paris, Tenn. The tournament will continue through Saturday.

Elite anglers also are concentrating on earning enough points to secure a 2010 Bassmaster Classic berth. The top 36 will qualify.

Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., continues his monopoly of the points standings. His lead over the nearest challenger, Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., is a historically wide margin of 178 points.

Here’s how the Elite points race stands going into the Kentucky-Barkley event:

1 Skeet Reese, California, 1642

2 Edwin Evers, Oklahoma, 1464

3 Derek Remitz, Alabama,1393

4 Gary Klein,Texas,1382

5 Cliff Pace, Mississippi, 1381

6 Dave Wolak, North Carolina,1361

7 Brian Snowden, Missouri, 1353

8 Mark Davis, Arkansas, 1338

9 Jeff Kriet, Oklahoma, 1336

10 Dean Rojas, Arizona, 1334

11 John Crews, Virginia, 1333

12 Greg Hackney, Louisiana,1327