2009
All-HammerDown! Team announced – December 10, 2009. …Rocklin, CA…The seventh annual
All-HammerDown! Team was announced today by HammerDownUSA.com. Each year, this
team honors 40 drivers as the best in sprint car, midget, and champ-dirt car
racing based on their performances at the highest paying, most prestigious
events contested in the United States.
“The All-HammerDown! Team is a way for us to
give a nod to the drivers that are some of the best in our business”, said
Bobby Gerould – editor of HammerDownUSA.com. “It’s our small way to say ‘hey –
we appreciate your efforts and driving skill’. If you made the team you hustled
and traveled and performed well at the big money, bright spotlight races.”
The 2009 All-HammerDown! Team
(In
alphabetical order)
Jonathan Allard – Chico, CA. Age 33 …Allard drove his way on
to the All-HammerDown! Team, for the third straight year, by winning six feature
events in 2009 including a thrilling last lap, last corner, pass to reach the
checkered flag first in the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial (Chico, CA.). Allard’s solid runs
at national events such as the Gold Cup (4th), the Dirt Cup (6th),
and at the Short Track Nationals (6th) are worthy of notice. He also
made the A-Main at the Knoxville Nationals – where he finished 15th.
Dale Blaney – Hartford, OH. Age 45 … Dale Blaney won
eleven features in 2009 with a heavy concentration on Ohio and Indiana. Among those W’s, none was bigger than his triumph versus World
of Outlaws competition at Attica Raceway Park (Attica, OH.) in late May. That
$10,000 score along with a ten grand win at Lawrenceburg’s Hoosier Fall Classic
(Lawrenceburg, IN.) tied as the most lucrative nights of the season for the
“Low Rider”.
Tony Bruce Jr. – Liberal, KS. Age 25 …Bruce – now a racer AND
promoter, repeated as winner of the prestigious Short Track Nationals. That win
was worth $15,000 which was the best of his six victories on the season. Other
strong runs included a second place finish with the World of Outlaws at “The
Ditch” (Riverside Speedway – W. Memphis, AR.), and a fifth place run vs. WoO
competition at Dodge City, KS.
Bryan Clauson – Noblesville, IN. Age 20 …Two huge midget wins
were the impetus for Clauson’s first appearance on the All-HammerDown!
Team. Clauson won both the Belleville
Midget Nationals and the Turkey Night Grand Prix – which is quite a feat
considering one is contested on dirt – while the other is on the blacktop. Clauson
also excelled in a sprint car where he finished second in the Indiana Sprint
Weeks point standings.
Jerry Coons Jr. – Tucson, AZ. Age 37 …Perhaps the busiest man
in our HammerDown! world is Coons. He raced in 100 A-mains in 2009, scoring 14
wins across the midget and sprint car ranks. Coons won $10,000 in August at
Lawrenceburg Speedway’s (IN.) Dick Gaines Memorial. Coons also captured the
sprint car portion of the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH.).
Dave Darland – Lincoln, IN. Age 43 …Always among the
busiest drivers in the USA – Darland hit the
ignition for 92 A-Mains in 2009. His biggest win came in the USAC Silver Crown
version of the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway. Proving his famous
versatility Darland won in a champ dirt car, a midget and a sprint car. And he
won both on dirt and on pavement.
Cody Darrah – Red Lion, PA. Age 20 …Darrah scored two HUGE
wins in 2009 to help secure a second straight All-HD berth. He won $20,000 in
the Williams Grove Summer Nationals (actually contested in October due to rain
in July), and he scored $15,000 at Port Royal in August’s Dream Race
Extreme. The 20 year-old impressed Kasey
Kahne enough to earn a ride in his second winged sprint car for 2010.
Craig Dollansky – Elk River, MN. Age 43 …Returning after being
sidelined at the close of the 2008 season with a broken arm – Dollansky enjoyed
success in World of Outlaws competition at Grand Forks, ND, West Lebanon, NY
and Pevely, MO. The North Dakota and New York wins were worth $10,000
each with the Pevely victory being an $8,000 preliminary score.
Jack Dover – Springfield, NE. Age 19 …Dover earned his first berth
on the All-HammerDown! Team and joins Cole Whitt as the lone teenagers among
the 40 drivers that made the cut. Dover won nine A-Mains in
2009; the biggest of which was the Steve King Memorial (Jetmore, KS.) worth
$10,000. Dover was recently awarded the ASCS “Horizon
Award”, which goes to the series’ most promising young pilot.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. – Sunnyvale, TX. Age 24 …Hafertepe performed
well at several big events in 2009 to secure his second consecutive All-HD
honor. Three third place finishes in RRS points earning events; The Kings Royal
(Rossburg, OH.), Knoxville Nationals prelim (Knoxville, IA.), and on the second
night of the Speed televised World of Outlaws race at Dodge City, KS helped
Hafertepe stay in the spotlight. He also
defeated IRA competition at Eagle Valley Speedway (Eau Claire WI.) in late
July.
Jac Haudenschild – Wooster, OH. Age 51 …”The Wild Child” was
inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2009 – highlighting a
season that saw him finish tenth in the Racer’s Racing Series point standings.
His best effort was a runner-up finish in the opening leg of the Silver Cup at
Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA.). Still putting the
HammerDown!, Haud won the World of Outlaws Hard Charger award, for passing the
most cars from your original starting spot, on five occasions in 2009.
Tracy Hines – New Castle, IN. Age 37 …Hines won his first
A-Main in his first night of racing in 2009 – scoring in his preliminary at the
Chili Bowl. He added three more feature wins including the King Doodlebug
Classic at Knoxville, IA, and two pavement
sprint car scores at scary joints – Salem, and Winchester. Hines hustled his way
to 84 A-Main starts in the season.
Jesse Hockett – Warsaw, MO. Age 26 …Hockett took home the
biggest single night prize in non-wing dirt racing when he scored $15,000 at
the Ultimate Challenge (Southern Iowa Speedway, Oskaloosa, IA.). He added a
$13,000 triumph in the Ronald Laney Memorial (East Bay Raceway Park, Tampa, FL.). Hockett started 84
A-Mains in 2009 – winning an even twenty. Two races he didn’t win resulted in strong
runner-up runs at both the Copper on Dirt (Silver Crown), and in the Ron Shuman
Classic (New Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, KS.).
Greg Hodnett – Thomasville, PA. Age 40 …Hodnett had a dream
season – beating the World of Outlaws in three events at Williams Grove
Speedway. His $50,000 win in the National Open highlighted a year that saw him
find victory lane on ten occasions. He also was crowned Pennsylvania Speedweek
champion driving for Jim and Sandy Kline.
Jason Johnson – Eunice, LA. Age 33 …Johnson won three races
that paid $6,000 in 2009 and he secured his fourth career All-HD nod. Johnson’s
three big wins came in a winged 360 sprint car at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
(Mesquite TX.), Lake Ozark Speedway (Eldon, MO.), and at Cottage Grove
Speedway in Cottage Grove, OR. Proving he can run a
410 winged car as well – Johnson was runner-up on his preliminary night at the
Knoxville Nationals.
Levi Jones – Olney, IL. Age 27 …Jones repeated as the
Indiana Sprint Week champion and the USAC National Sprint Car driving title
holder. His biggest single night score
was a $5,400 win at Bloomington, IN in April. He scored
seven wins overall in 2009 driving for Tony Stewart Racing. Jones best Racer’s
Racing Series runs were a pair of thirds at Springfield, IL (USAC Silver Crown),
and at the Perris Oval Nationals (USAC National Sprint Cars).
Bud Kaeding – San Jose, CA. Age 29 …2009 saw Brandon “Bud”
Kaeding become just the second driver in the history of the USAC Silver Crown
series to win the championship for a third time. Kaeding joined fellow Northern
California Jimmy Sills in that rarified air.
Kaeding won the “big-car” version of the Copper on Dirt (Manzanita
Speedway), and finished third at both the Dirt Cup (Skagit Speedway, Alger,
WA.) in a winged sprint car, and at the Pacific Coast Open at Thunderbowl
Raceway (Tulare, CA.) in a non-winged sprint car. Bud also posted home state
wins at Chico, and Watsonville.
Tim Kaeding – San Jose, CA. Age 31…Epitomizing the word
“HammerDown!”, Kaeding posted one of the most impressive feats in recent sprint
car racing history with a 24th to first drive to win the $15,000
Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway (Tulare, CA.). “TK” also won $12,500 for Roth
Motorsports on his preliminary night at the Knoxville Nationals. Kaeding added
wins sanctioned by ASCS (Tucson, AZ.), Golden State
Challenge (Calistoga, CA, Tulare), IRA (Rice Lake, WI.), and the World of
Outlaws (W. Memphis, AR.). Finally, Kaeding posted back-to-back wins
near his home in local winged 360 action at Ocean Speedway (Watsonville, CA.).
Kraig Kinser – Bloomington, IN. Age 25 …In his second year back
as a full-time sprint car driver Kraig Kinser again proved he can contend at
the always important Knoxville Raceway, and on the bullrings of the USA. A sixth place finish in the Knoxville
Nationals, along with a runner-up drive on his preliminary night at the
Nationals, were among the highlights of his season. Kinser finished eighth in
the World of Outlaws driving points and was one of only eleven iron-men that
raced in every WoO sanctioned event.
Steve Kinser – Bloomington, IN. Age 55 …Never, ever, question
the toughness of The King. Racing with a
bulging disc that required surgery immediately following the season – Kinser
gutted out a campaign that saw him win twice on American soil. The Brad Doty
Classic victory at Limaland Motorsports Park was perhaps Kinser’s finest moment of 2009, paired with a home state
WoO win at Haubstadt, IN. …Kinser finished fourth in the final World of Outlaws
point standings.
Brad Kuhn – Avon, IN. Age 28 … Kuhn started the
season strong with a win on his preliminary night at the Chili Bowl and he
never let up. Kuhn won both the USAC National Midget Series championship and
the POWERi Midget Series championship in 2009. He also managed to win races
sanctioned by the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) and the Badger Midget
Auto Racing Association (BMARA).
Danny Lasoski – Dover, MO. Age 50 …”The Dude” returned to
the wars as a full-time World of Outlaws driver in 2009 after a year spent
close to home in 2008. Highlighting this season for Lasoski was a $15,000 pay
check for winning one leg of the Don Martin Memorial at Lernerville Speedway in
Sarver, PA. Lasoski also won USA events at Beaver Dam,
WI, Eagle, NE, Minot, ND, Delmar, DE, and Knoxville, IA.
Kerry Madsen – St. Mary’s, NSW, Australia.
Age 38 …The lone Australian driver to make the All-HammerDown! Team is
Kerry Madsen. Madsen won three A-mains
on U.S. soil including a rare
winged sprint car event sanctioned by the All-Stars at the Belleville High
Banks (KS.). Madsen’s best performance
in a Racer’s Racing Series event was a fourth place finish in World of Outlaws
action at Haubstadt, IN.
Terry McCarl – Altoona, IA. Age 45 …One of the hardest
working drivers in the country, Terry McCarl suited up for 85 A-Mains in 2009.
He also had one of the hottest streaks of the season. From August 1st
through August 8th – McCarl won five races in a row including two
$10,000 scores in the Knoxville 360 Nationals, and at Husets Speedway’s
All-Star show. World of Outlaws wins at Knoxville, and Eldora (Rossburg,
OH.) were also worth ten grand each. McCarl finished with 19 A-Main victories.
Jason Meyers – Clovis, CA. – Age 30 …For the second
consecutive year, Jason Meyers scored a second place finish in the World of
Outlaws point standings. The Elite Racing, GLR Investments #14 pushed WoO champ
Donny Schatz to the final race of the season on the strength of leading the
series in top-ten finishes. Meyers’ biggest win came in September at Skagit
Speedway where he pocked $20,000 for his WoO sanctioned win.
Daryn Pittman – Owasso, OK. Age 31 …The busiest winged
sprint car driver in the country in 2009 was Pittman who put on tear-offs for
96 A-Mains! His biggest win came at Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA) during PA Speedweek.
The Mitch Smith Memorial victory was worth $10,000 for Pittman and car owner
Jesse Keen. Overall Pittman won six features including the East Bay Winter
Nationals (Tampa, FL.).
Travis Rilat – Forney, TX. Age 32 …The biggest of Rilat’s
five 2009 wins was the Fred Brownfield Memorial at Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, WA.). Rilat crossed the
finish line second but Roger Crockett’s car “didn’t make weight”. The ASCS
sanctioned victory was worth $10,092. Rilat had strong runs at big races
including a third place finish at the Steve King Memorial (Jetmore, KS.), and a
fourth place result at the Short Track Nationals (I-30 Speedway, Little Rock,
AR.).
Joey Saldana – Pittsboro, IN. Age 37 …To call Saldana’s year
a “career best” would be a HUGE understatement. In 2009 – Saldana became just
the fifth driver in the history of the World of Outlaws to win 20 A-Mains in a
single season. The biggest score for Kasey Kahne’s Budweiser pilot was a
runner-up finish in the Knoxville Nationals worth $75,000, while a Gold Cup win
at Chico added fifty grand. Saldana also triumphed in
the inaugural Ironman 55 at Pevely, MO which paid $20,000 to
win.
Donny Schatz – Fargo, ND. Age 32 …The Racer’s Racing
Series champion won the Knoxville Nationals and the World of Outlaws
championship again to remain as the top ranked driver in American open-wheel
dirt racing. Out of the gate on USA soil – Schatz won his
first three races of the year driving the Tony Stewart Racing J&J #15. He
never looked back. Schatz won the $50,000 top prize at the Kings Royal at
Eldora Speedway along with eleven A-Mains that paid $10,000 to win.
Tim Shaffer – Aliquippa, PA. Age 42 …Shaffer made the
All-HammerDown! Team for the sixth time in his career on the strength of his
championship in the All-Star Circuit of Champions. A win on his preliminary
night at the Knoxville Nationals highlighted Shaffer’s `09 campaign. He also
scored two $10,000 wins driving for Aaron Call at Fremont, OH, and a $10,000 triumph
at Rolling Wheels under the World of Outlaws sanction.
Jason Sides – Bartlett, TN. Age 36 …Sides qualified better,
and finished in the top-five, and top-ten, more in 2009 than he has at any
previous time in his career. His outstanding season included World of Outlaws
wins at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH.), and in Canada at Oshweken Speedway.
Sides almost won the Gold Cup at Chico, CA. only to be passed
by Joey Saldana on the last half of the final lap.
Stevie Smith – New Oxford, PA. Age 43 …Running a limited
schedule, Smith proved he still can get the job done. In “only” 52 A-Main
starts, Smith won a dozen feature events including a $15,000 score in the first
leg of the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway (Sarver,
PA.). Smith won seven races that paid $5,000 to win
Jon Stanbrough – Jamestown, IN. Age 42 …A big November win in
the revival of the Pacific Coast Open at Tulare, CA helped secure
Stanbrough’s fourth career All-HammerDown! selection. The USAC National Sprint
Car triumph paid $12,500. …Stanbrough suited up for 75 A-Mains in 2009 –
winning an even dozen, including a $10,000 check in October in an MSCS
sanctioned race at Lawrenceburg, IN.
Shane Stewart – Bixby, OK. Age 33 …Stewart took home the
ASCS National Championship in 2009 driving for Paul Silva. The dynamic duo
scored wins in ASCS action at Devil’s Bowl (Mesquite, TX.), McCool Junction, NE, Cottage Grove, OR, and Wheatland, MO. Stewart’s biggest
single night score came at Oshweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada. That win was worth
$9,000 driving for Joe Gaerte. Stewart also won races underwritten by the
California Civil War and USCS.
Brad Sweet – Grass Valley, CA. Age 23 …Three midget wins, and
a non-wing sprint car triumph highlighted the year for Sweet. Racing for Kasey
Kahne – Sweet also mixed in starts in World of Outlaws competition. A second
place run in the Belleville Midget Nationals coupled with a runner-up finish in
the Fireman’s Nationals were his high-water marks in the Racer’s Racing Series
points.
Sammy Swindell – Germantown, TN. Age 54 … Swindell returns to
the All-HD Team after a three year absence. The Hall of Fame driver dominated
the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in January and continued his
success through the season in Tom Rolfe’s winged sprint car. Most impressive
was his $15,000 score in the Western World (which moved from shuttered
Manzanita in Phoenix to USA Race Park in Tucson, AZ.) …Swindell won
races sanctioned by the All-Stars, ASCS, IRA, and USCS.
Tyler Walker – Los Angeles, CA. Age 30 … Walker won the “King of
California” crown for the first time in his career. The exciting “methanol
masher” set a record for feature wins in a Golden State Challenge season with
nine A-Main triumphs for SC Motorsports. Even more impressive was that his nine
wins were spread across seven California dirt tracks (Antioch, Chico, Petaluma, Placerville, Santa Maria, Tulare, and Watsonville).
Cole Whitt – Alpine, CA. Age 18 …The youngest member of
the All-HammerDown! Team for the second straight year is 18 year-old Cole
Whitt. He added Silver Crown cars to his schedule in 2009 which resulted in
$28,000 worth of wins at DuQuoin, IL, and Phoenix, AZ. Overall, Whitt won 17
A-Mains on a combination of dirt, and pavement, in Silver Crown cars, and in sprint
cars. …Whitt bagged the 2009 Kokomo Speedway track championship as well.
Josh Wise – Riverside, CA. Age 26 …After a two year
absence from the All HD Team (due to pursuing NASCAR dreams) Josh Wise returns
to the squad for 2009. Wise’s biggest score was a $10,000 Fireman’s Nationals
triumph in the Wilke midget at Angell Park (WI.) September 5th.
Wise also cashed in with a preliminary win at the Belleville Midget Nationals
(KS.), and in a sprint car at Lawrenceburg, IN.
Lucas Wolfe – Mechanicsburg, PA. Age 23 …Running the Allebach
Racing #5w, with his father Randy as crew chief, Lucas Wolfe raced across the
country scoring enough points to make the cut for the third straight year.
Highlighting Wolfe’s season was a fifth place finish on his preliminary night
at the Knoxville Nationals coupled with a fourth place run in his Gold Cup
prelim.
**************************
Three drivers made the All-HammerDown! Team for
the first time in their career. The
talented trio includes Bryan Clauson, Jack Dover, and Brad Kuhn. Meanwhile, ten
racers own the distinction of being on the All-HammerDown! Team since its
inception in 2003. That elite group of drivers includes Donny Schatz (winner of
the Racer’s Racing Series points championship again in 2009), Jason Meyers,
Steve Kinser, Jac Haudenschild, Terry McCarl, Joey Saldana, Daryn Pittman,
Danny Lasoski, Dave Darland, and Tim Kaeding.
The All-HammerDown! Team covers a broad age
range of drivers from 18 to 55 years old. The average age of an All-HammerDown!
Team member is 33 years old.
Selections for the 2009 All-HammerDown! Team
were made this way: Automatic All-HammerDown! team berths were given to
champions of several prominent racing series. The remaining spots went to the
highest ranked drivers in the Racer’s Racing Series point standings. Champions
of the following series’ in 2009 were automatically added to the
All-HammerDown! Team:
All-Stars
American
Sprint Cars on Tour
Golden State Challenge
USAC
National Midgets
USAC
National Sprint Cars
World of
Outlaws
Sources: ASCSRacing.com,
OpenWheelTimes.com, USACRacing.com, and WorldofOutlaws.com
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