Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

With the news about Zeb Wise yesterday, it looks like a nice group of racers top to bottom for the All Stars. Good luck predicting a series champion. It's not a stretch to say that every driver on this list can content for A main wins.  12 followers so far.  Are there any more drivers planning on following this year? 

10         Zeb Wise

17b        Bill Balog

8M         T.J. Michaels

26          Cory Eliason

13          Justin Peck

11           Ian Madsen

07           Lucas Wolfe

3             Zack Hampton

91           Kyle Reinhardt

55           Hunter Schurenburg

7             Tyler Courtney

5              Brent Marks

Wasn't really thinking about this initially, but I don't see any Ohio drivers in this lineup. T.J. Michaels is from Texas but is operating out of Fremont. Predominately PA drivers and then some Indiana guys. In the past, the All Stars had quite a few Ohio drivers follow the tour.  

13) #99 Skylar Gee

Really?  If so that's very cool. I had heard that maybe he wasn't going to follow the All Stars this year and there has been no announcement that I have seen. If true that's a good thing. Skylar is due for a few wins. 

Is Greg Wilson running with the All Stars? He would be the only one that I know of from Ohio. A lot of the Ohio guys seem to stay local more often than not. A lot of the drivers that ran the All Stars like the Blaney's, Kemenah, the Jacobs, Jac, etc have basically aged out. The younger drivers basically run family type race teams and have full time jobs/careers so having the funding or time to go on the road is not there. Plus you have all of the little mini series like AFSC, FAST, and even OVSCA to where some drivers can run for a track title while running for a series title/money makes enough incentive to stay in Ohio. Off the top of my head though, as far as young drivers in Ohio that could contend for wins and have won outside of Ohio on the All Star circuit, I can really think of maybe 2 right now which are Cole Duncan & Cap Henry.

It kind of sounds like, from an article I read, that Greg is running more of a pick and choose schedule. I believe he will be running many All Star shows, but not following the tour 100%. So that means probably not traveling further west or far east when the All Stars head those directions. 

It's a travelling series now, and has pivoted nicely from being a regional deal. They have  alot of young up and coming drivers and a few that will be Outlaws sooner or later.

Ohio and Western Pa race tracks have slowly but surely started to rebuild their weekly racing programs to where many of the drivers who may have considered running the All Star Tour are comfortable running weekly knowing they can contend for championships and decent money and still be in their backyard for multiple sanctioned races throughout the year that they can maybe score a big payday or two. It's not at the level that central pa is right now with money, but the track promoters, series promoters and drivers deserve a big attaboy in what they have been abkle to accomplish the last few years

Duncan and Henry will hit the ohio shows. The series will be interesting when they roll into central pa this year. The Hefner car may also make some of those shows, I think that will be a wait and see deal. Also, don't forget about stewart, I'm sure when his schedule let's him he will be there also. All in all, looking to be a nice year for the all stars.

I think after a season with Allstars, "Sunshine" Courtney will be kickin' ass & takin' names!

He's great wingless & still has some learning to do, but....

I agree. Sunshine will win some races this year. He can certainly wheel a sprint car and the wing won't matter.                 

Can you pick a favorite to win the All Star title this year? Eliason was 2nd last year, the McGee car was 3rd with Wise in it and that car finished 2nd with Blaney in it the year before.....and this year Ian Madsen will go hammer down in that machine. Then you have Marks who will be right there at the front and also Balog who is a great driver. Courtney, like you pointed out, will be a handful. Oh and former WoO driver Lucas Wolfe will be in the Coldren car and he's a strong pilot as well. Then you have Hunter Schurenburg who can win races and Zeb Wise who is ready to break out I think. Peck is in a stable car with the Buch 13 and he already has 410 wins under his belt. If Gee runs, he will be in contention to win some races. 

I think it's a real tossup. And there may be another driver or two yet, that will commit to run the series, who knows? 

I would say to your previous point a majority of the followers will be in contention to win races this year as well as some outsiders. As far as the championship is concerned, I would say on the surface my top 3 in no particular order would be Eliason, Marks, and Courtney. Eliason is going into his 3rd full year, has won some races and has been in contention so we will see if he can make that step. Marks and his team have that Outlaw experience and have been fast so we will see if they can find the consistency this year. Courtney may still have some things to learn in a winged car but there is no denying that he and that team are talented and have the ability to win multiple races.

I would put Lucas Wolfe as an x factor as we will see how he and the new team gel. Could be something where they click right away or there could be struggles. Same with Madsen in the 11 car as it has been consistent the last few years. It will be interesting to see how Peck & Gee do and if they can win multiple races and continue their development, and Wise with that new team.  

I have a feeling that Balog will be a big factor too 

That's a solid group of cars and drivers for sure. 

A

I would love to see Spencer Bayston make another go at it. Cap Henry and Cole Duncan would be great to see on the tour as well, ...in a perfect world of course. 

On the lookout for the next up and coming Ohio racer. 

No clear favorite, which makes it all the more interesting...

If I had to pick, I'd take a stab at Zeb Wise...

I've never driven a sprint car either way, but it seems wing makes a BIG difference

But I think Sunshine is gonna figure it out....

He's terrible outside Wisconsin and around full-time talent. He may sneak out a win or two, but not aggresive enough to be a threat every time out.

It has nothing to do with not being agressive enough. It;s that Bill is self taught in everything including mechanicly, set ups and such. For the years he has been coming in to PA, He was essentially just guessing and hoping he knew what he was doing and he'd hit on something. This is partly why it's taken soo long for Bill to move forward with a tour oir something. He's been trying to put together a notebook of what he's learned so that he;s not so out to lunch when trying to travel and compete

Nobody can challenge him for goofiest nickname, tho!