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I've decided to do something new. I've been following all the 410 winged sprints throughout the country, from the big series to the weekly tracks, and I've decided to put that to use. I figured it would be fun to write my own little hoseheads weekly report, called the Top 10 Hottest Drivers of the Week, kind of like a Power Rankings.
Now this isn't necessarily the best drivers, just who I think have had the biggest weeks, and deserve some notice. I you feel that I have excluded someone that you believe should be on the list, feel free to say so. Just know that a low-budget racer who doesn't win that often might get on the countdown over an outlaw who has gotten just another win that weekend. Basically, since more is expected from a Schatz or Kinser, they might need to do more for me to put them on my countdown. Like I said, this is 1o Hottest Drivers, not best drivers. My opinion isn't the only opinion, and it would be cool to have some positive mention of drivers throughout the country, instead of the all too much negative posts that we see on here. So here it goes, covering last week;
Rogue-9's Top Ten Hottest Drivers of the Week:
10. Cale Conley: This kid is going places. While he didn't any big wins this weekend, I just had to put him on this countdown. For a 17-year old kid, Cale Conley had an impressive Ohio Speedweek, finishing ninth in Speedweek Points. He only failed to make the A-main once during speedweek, at Hilltop. Other drivers to fail to make the feature once include drivers such as Terry McCarl, Greg Wilson and Rob Chaney, so that isn't anything to be ashamed of.. Cale Conley was also able to finish in the top 10 twice, at Eldora and Limaland, also getting quicktime at Eldora. When the lowest car count of the week was 42, that is one heck of a week for a 17-year old. Central Pennsylvania might have Cody Darrah, but watch out, because Ohio (via West Virginia) has their own young talent. Where ever this kid decides to go, he's gonna do big things.
9. Danny Smith: Danny Smith gets onto this list because of his win at Limaland last week, in what seemed to have been one of the most exciting features of the year. To win a Ohio Speedweek Feature is tough to do. For a budget racer like Danny Smith it is even more impressive. When the win comes in such an exciting fashion, well it just deserves some mention. Thus Danny Smith gets himself to number 9 on my countdown.
8. Aaron Ott: What a way to get your first 410 win at Williams Grove; by pairing it up with a Rislone 360 Nationals victory. That was definitely the biggest night of this young driver's career. The next night at Lincoln, Ott would time 3rd quick, but unfortunately would not post the feature finish that I'm sure he was looking for. Nonetheless, Ott will be one to keep an eye on for the rest of PA Speedweek.
7. Jayme Barnes: The Dirt Cup at Skagit is one of the highest paying races of the year, so of course, the winner had to be on this countdown. However when a local driver like Jayme Barnes takes the prize, it is much bigger. Add to this the fact that this is Jayme's second Dirt Cup in a row in a local, low-budget ride, and it makes one wonder, what could this guy do with a top notch team?
6. Johnny Herrera: What a weekend Johnny Herrera had running against the Outlaws. Nearly getting a win at U.S. 36 Raceway before Saldana got him on the last lap, and following that up with a strong 8th place finish at Knoxville. Hollywood Herrera seems to be back in his game, and that means the local field at Knoxville is that much tougher this year.
5. Joey Saldana: Joey would have been higher on this countdown had he not had such a poor finish at Knoxville. But Joey made the feature in Osborne, MO one of the most exciting finishes of the year. While Donny Schatz is the World of Outlaws points leader, Joey was definitely the hottest driver of the month of June. But as for last week, I have Joey as only #5.
4. Donny Schatz: Slow and steady wins the race. While by no means can Schatz be said to be slow, "steady" is a good word to describe him. The reason he is leading the World of Outlaws points at the moment is his consistency. Schatz also is the second-winningest driver on the outlaw tour this year, getting number 8 at River Cities the Friday before last. But what really caught my attention was the two recoveries he made this past weekend. Friday at U.S. 36 Raceway Schatz failed to qualify for the dash. But that didn't stop Schatz from moving up the field to fourth. Then the next night at Knoxville Schatz would move from 10th to 5th in on lap during the dash. But what really deserves notice was his performance in the feature. In just the last few laps Schatz blew the doors off of Lucas Wolfe, Steve Kinser and Kraig Kinser to move to second. Which leaves us with this question: If Schatz is going to be that strong late in the race, who's going to have a chance of beating him at the Nationals?
3. Tim Shaffer: 14th to 1st, nuff said.
2. Terry McCarl: The toughest decision for me this week was who to put in second, TMAC or the Steel City Outlaw? Both posted two strong feature wins last week, and each of them would have to do so after starting outside the top ten in one of them. But in the end I decided that holding off Schatz at Knoxville was the tiebreaker. What a win for TMAC at his home track, and what a week he had.
Hottest Driver of the Week- Stevie Smith: Was there any doubt? What an amazing week Stevie had. Stevie was not only the Ohio Speedweek Champion, but never once during speedweek did he finish outside the top 9, and only once did he finish outside the top 5. Stevie would win two features on route to the Ohio Speedweek Title, then add another feature win (making his total for the week 3, mon-sun) on Sunday as Pennsylvania Speedweek visited Bedford. It's a shame these two speedweeks can't work together, because the way Stevie is running, being forced to miss the race at Lincoln Saturday may cost him the PA Speedweek Title. Then again, maybe not. Whatever happens, since joining the Zemco team, we have seen the Stevie of old. The one that could when week in and week out, no matter who the competition is.
Honorable Mention: Scott Winters, Brian Montieth, Rob Chaney, Jason Meyers, Danny Lasoski
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