This message was edited on
September 16, 2009 at
09:36:25 PM by Rogue-9
This is a week late. I hope to have this weeks done by friday. I've been really busy the last couple of weeks.
Top Ten Hottest Drivers of the Week
10. Randy Hannagan: "The Hurricane" took an All-Star win on Friday September 4 at the Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA. He was set back a bit by qualifying 15th, which allowed him to start third in the third he, which he won, but forced him to start back in the tenth position in the A-Main Feature. However, Randy had the car hooked up, moving quickly through the field and up to sixth, when Dale Blaney and Stevie Smith made contact battling for the lead. This put Hannagan up to fourth, and in two laps Hannagan was in second. Then a battle ensued for the lead, with Hannagan and All-Star Circuit of Champions Point Leader Tim Shaffer trading slidejobs in the last few laps. At the white flag, Shaffer was out in front with Hannagan right on his tail. Hannagan stayed with Shaffer into turn three, and then made his move. Randy went to the bottom, sliding to the top off of four and making contact with Shaffer coming to the line. Both cars bounced off the wall and kept going, with Hannagan crossing the line in first, one of the most exciting finishes of the year.
9. Tim Shaffer: After falling short on Friday night at his home track, Shaffer had two more chances to pick up an All-star Feature win during Labor Day weekend. His first shot would come at the Attica Raceway Park, against probably the toughest field of locals that the All-Stars run against outside of Central Pennsylvania. But after a qualifying run of 25th fastest, this would be a tough task. After starting seventh in his heat, Shaffer would only gain one position, forcing him to the B-main. A third-place finish would get him into the A-Main, but he would have to start all the way back in 24th, dead last. Tim was fast in the A-Feature, but the 24th starting spot would be to much to overcome, and he would finish sixth. One more chance. On Sunday night, the All-Star Circuit of Champions visited the Hilltop Speedway. This time, Shaffer would not set himself back in qualifying, timing second quick. And did Shaffer ever flex his muscles in the heat, going from sixth to first, showing he was the one to beat. And no one could beat him. After drawing a third-place starting position, Shaffer would go straight to the front, getting his win, and his seventh All-Star victory of 2009.
8. Stevie Smith: After tangling with Blaney at Lernerville, Smith had to go to the rear, after which he was only able to come back up to the twelfth position. After contact possibly cost him the win at Lernerville, Stevie headed to Attica. After qualifying second and finishing fourth in his heat he would find himself on the outside poll for the Feature, where he would take off for his sixth All-Star win of the season, very impressive stat as Stevie has only run about half the races this season. Stevie sits ninth in All-Star points, and if he had decided to run the full All-Star schedule, we could have had a points battle instead of seeing Tim Shaffer sitting over 500 points out ahead. What could have been.
7. Mark Dobmeier: "Dynamite" won again at the River Cities Speedway, making it eight for ten in a non-points show (River Cities points have concluded, only NOSA points are still being recorded). But that is not the important thing this week. This week, Dobmeier won his second track championship of the season, at the Huset's Speedway in Brandon, SD. Dobmeier earned a total of 790 points on the season, winning by 36 over second-place Gregg Bakker. Dobmeier fell short of getting the feature win at Huset's this week, as Terry McCarl took the checkereds. He also failed in his last attempt in 2009 at the Knoxville Raceway. But Dobmeier still has had a successful season, winning eight at the River Cities Speedway and five at Huset's. Not too bad.
6. Brian Montieth: Even with a leading five wins this season at the Lincoln Speedway, a tough night on March 7 finding Montieth not finishing the B-Main, a not so stellar sixteenth on May 30, and a couple other finishes outside the top ten, "The Edge" found himself only ten points ahead of second-place Alan Krimes for the championship going into the final points race of the season. This meant that Krimes would have to finish only three positions ahead of Montieth on championship night (only two spots ahead if Krimes won the feature). A very exciting spread for the fans, probably not so exciting for Montieth. Last year, Montieth won the Track Championship at Lincoln with no feature wins on the season. Montieth wanted to win the championship the right way this year, by winning the most races, but he had to be afraid of history repeating itself, as Krimes had yet to win a race in 2009. While "Big-Block" Shawn Weaver got the first 410 Feature win of his career on Championship Night, it was Montieth who finished three positions ahead of Krimes, sealing his second consecutive Lincoln Speedway Track Championship, and this time doing it on the strength of five Feature wins, and not just on consistency. The way every driver wants to win a championship.
5. Fred Rahmer: Rahmer finally got his first feature win of 2009 at the William's Grove Speedway on September 6. But this night wasn't just about winning. This night was about paying tribute to a true weekend warrior, who put all his money into his car just because he wanted to race, and who tragically lost his life two years ago doing what he loved. This was the second annual Billy Kimmel Memorial, a man who most fans have described as a very friendly, very likeable driver. So to win this race is not just for a trophy and money, but a sentimental victory, and a way to honor one of sprint car racing's fallen heroes.
4. Daryn Pittman: Regular weekly Friday night action on September 4 consisted of Triple 20-lap features, and Pittman had an awesome night. After a poor qualifying effort, Pittman had really set himself back, having to come from the front row of the B-Main just to make it into the Triple 20's. After taking the B-Main, Pittman found himself starting 16th in the first feature. He would work his way up to tenth, exactly where he needed to get to with the inversion pill for the second feature placing him on the pole. He would lead every lap, holding off a late-race challenge from Brian Montieth to take the win. The inversion for the third and final feature of the night put Pittman on the inside of the third row. Pittman went to third on the first lap. He then chased down second-place running Don Kreitz Jr., moving into the runner-up position on lap, and would grab the lead from Mark Smith just one lap later. He would never look back, taking his second feature win of the night, and taking home a total of $7,800 in winnings. Two out of three at William's Grove, giving the Keen Motorsport's #17 its third and fourth Feature win of the season.
3. Johnny Herrera: With a sixth-place finish in the season finale at the Knoxville Raceway, "Hollywood" Johnny Herrera earned his second Knoxville Raceway Track Championship. After winning three of the first four weekly night A-Mains, Herrera started out with a nice point lead. But that lead would evaporate as Brian Brown took the next three weekly events and the point lead. But the next week Herrera would reclaim that point lead on twin features night, winning the first feature of the night and then coming from the ninth starting position to finish in the runner-up position. Herrera would also pick up a win July 18, a leading total of five wins on the season. Along with those five wins, Herrera finished the season with eight top fives and thirteen top 10's. Only once all season did Herrera finish outside the Top 10, a 23rd on August 1. A stellar season which ended with Herrera on top of the points with a total of 1,672, 63 ahead of runner-up Brian Brown.
2. Joey Saldana: The "Brownsburg Bullet" won the opening night at the Skagit Speedway, making him the first driver to win three in a row with the World of Outlaws in 2009. Joey is definitely back to his winning ways as this is Joey's series-leading sixteenth Outlaw A-Main win of the season. At Skagit, his sixteenth win came in dominating fashion, a clean sweep. Joey set quick time, moved from 4th to 1st in the heat, won the Crane Cams Dash and then finished by winning the A-Main Feature. Clean sweeps are hard to come by with the World of Outlaws these days, especially with the four-car heat inversion. So, a clean sweep, three in a row, Joey's on a roll.
Hottest Driver of the Week- Jason Meyers: If you consider the $20,000-to-win Skagit Speedway finale one of the big money races on the World of Outlaws tour (I think it is as the William's Grove Summer Nationals is, and that is also $20,000 tow win) Meyers has finally won his first. The only time Meyers has won more money in one night was last year when he finished second at the Knoxville Nationals ($75,000). This was "Hotfoot's" sixth win with the World of Outlaws in 2009. With Schatz having a horrible weekend at Skagit, Meyers has now closed to within 38 points of leader Donny Schatz in the battle for the World of Outlaws Championship. Could Meyers dethrone Schatz and take his first World of Outlaws Championship? It is shaping up to be one of the best points battles in World of Outlaws history, with Schatz, Meyers, and Saldana all right there. Let's hope we get an exciting finish to the points at the World of Outlaws World Finals.
Honorable Mention: Greg Hodnett, Terry McCarl, Dusty Zomer, Shawn Weaver, Rod George
|
this guy is on a roll. taken at cottage grove..
this guy...well, had a horrible western swing..
