| JASON JOHNSON NAMED NORTH AMERICAN 360 SPRINT CAR POLL “DRIVER OF THE YEAR |
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 By Thomas J. Schmeh: KNOXVILLE, IOWA (December 12, 2008) - For the second time in his career, Jason Johnson of Eunice, Louisiana, was voted the “Driver of the Year” by the North American 360 Sprint Car Poll voting panel of media members, promoters, sanctioning officials and manufacturers.
Johnson, who clinched the 2008 American Sprint Cars on Tour (ASCoT) national title, earned thirteen (13) of the seventeen (17) first place ballots cast in the year-end poll. Jason Johnson’s car owners, Al and Lanny Row of Greenville, Texas, will receive the 2008 “Team of the Year” award for their second time. Jason Johnson and The Shop Diesel Service team were honored for the first time by the national voting panel in 2006.
Those drivers ranked second through fifth, respectively, are 2003, ’04, ’05 and ’07 “Driver of the Year” Gary Wright of Texas, Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma, United Sprint Car Series (USCS) Mid-South champion Tim Crawley of Arkansas, and United Racing Company (URC) champion Curt Michael of Delaware. Rounding out the ‘top ten’ for the season are USCS national champion Terry Gray, Empire Super Sprints (ESS) champion Steve Poirier, American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Midwest champion Jack Dover, 2000 “Driver of the Year” and 2008 ASCS Rebel champion Kenny Adams, and Brian Brown, respectively. In addition to Jason Johnson, others receiving first place votes were Tim Crawley (two), Curt Michael, and California Civil War Series champion Sean Becker.
URC feature winner David Gravel of Connecticut earned the “Rookie of the Year” title in his first full season of winged 360-cubic-inch sprint car competition. Glenn Styres of the Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada, will receive the “Promoter of the Year” honors for his third time. Jack Elam of J&J Chassis will receive the 2008 “Builder/Manufacturer of the Year” plaque, which is his fifth poll award overall but his first since 1995. Lonnie Wheatley of the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) earned the “Media Member of the Year” award for the second time in a row due to his hard work covering all of their regional and national tours. Due to a tie in the voting process, Jack Dover of Nebraska and Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma will share the “Wild Card Award” for their exciting '360' sprint car performances in 2008.
The North American 360 Sprint Car Poll is an annual awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation, Inc., of Knoxville, Iowa. All awards will be distributed in the spring of 2009 at tracks throughout North America. The awards were announced late on the second day of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Orlando, Florida.
Final 2008 North American 360 Sprint Car Poll rank, driver (first place votes), hometown, state, points
1., Jason Johnson (13), Eunice, LA, 1380
2., Gary Wright, Hooks, TX, 527
3., Wayne Johnson, Mustang, OK, 436
4., Tim Crawley (2), Little Rock, AR, 376
5., Curt Michael (1), Ocean View, DE, 256
6., Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN, 204
7., Steve Poirier, St. Mathieu de Beloeil, PQ, CAN, 165
8., Jack Dover, Springfield, NE, 148
9., Kenny Adams, Malabar, FL, 126
10., Brian Brown, Higginsville, MO, 103
11., Zach Chappell, Talala, OK, 78
12., Sean Becker (1), Antelope, CA, 62
13., Roger Crockett, Rio Linda, CA, 58
14., Pat Cannon, Mechanicsburg, PA, 51
15., Dave Ely, West Lawn, PA, 47
16., Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO, 46
17., Brett Mann, Goshen, IN, 44
18., Bryan Howland, Auburn, NY, 37
19., Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron, KS, 34
20., Dustin Daggett, Portland, MI, 23
21., Brian McClelland, Tulsa, OK, 20
22., J.R. Stewart, Bellefontaine, OH, 15
23., Kolt Walker, Graham, TX, 12
24., J.J. Grasso, Pedricktown, NJ, 10 tie, Gary Taylor, Snohomish, WA, 10
Also receiving multiple votes: Jayme Barnes, Brandon Berryman, Andy Forsberg, Jesse Giannetto, Chuck Hebing, Gord Kynoch, Kyle Larson, Randy Martin, Matt Moro, Mike Peters, Jeff Rohrbaugh, Ben Rutan, Marshall Skinner, Colby Weisz, Joe Wood (Jr.), Rick Ziehl. |
