2017 All-HammerDown! Team

2017 All HammerDown! Team – December 27, 2017 Rocklin, CA. ...HammerDownUSA.com, today, named the 2017 All-HammerDown! Team. Led by Racer’s Racing Series Champion, Donny Schatz, the 40 driver “team” is comprised of the drivers that finished in the top 40 in HammerDownUSA.com’s Racers’ Racing Series point standings. Points are awarded for a 60-race schedule of big-race events. You have to finish in the top 15 in an A-Feature to score points. This year there were 223 drivers that earned points but only the top 40 receive All-HammerDown! status.

Three drivers continued their streak of making the All-HammerDown! Team in each of the 15 years since the honor was created in 2003. The legendary trio is: Daryn Pittman, Joey Saldana, and Donny Schatz. Nine drivers made the All-HammerDown! team for the first time in their careers: Bill Balog, Tyler Courtney, Cole Duncan, Cory Eliason, Shane Golobic, Justin Grant, C.J. Leary, James McFadden, and Tanner Thorson. The age range of the 40 driver team goes from Leary, Carson Macedo and Thorson at age 21 to Lance Dewease at age 52.

“I like to use the All-HammerDown! Team as a snapshot of a year in American grass-roots racing.” said Bobby Gerould, editor of HammerDownUSA.com. “We sought the help and expertise of Mike Larson and Kirk Spridgeon to fine tune the 2017 schedule of events that would count as points races. The results yielded a diverse group of 40 drivers that, I think, any race fan would love to see in action.” Gerould continued, “From the beginning, in 2003, when we started this deal, it was meant to shine light on the highest paying races and at the same time encourage drivers to challenge themselves by traveling to different tracks across the country.”

The 15th annual All-HammerDown! Team, in alphabetical order:

Rico Abreu – St. Helena, CA. – Age 25. Abreu won ten feature events in a variety of divisions in 2017. He swept the final night of the Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway (Calistoga, CA.), winning both the midget and non-wing sprint car feature events. In a winged sprint car, Rico finished eighth in the Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA.), and he beat the World of Outlaws at Arizona Speedway (Queen Creek, AZ.). He won a Pennsylvania Speedweek event at Selinsgrove, and he snared his third Dave Bradway Memorial checkered flag at Silver Dollar Speedway (Chico, CA.).
Robert Ballou – Rocklin, CA. – Age 29. Ballou won three feature events across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Flexing his muscles as a non-wing sprint car expert, Ballou was runner-up in Indiana Sprint Week points, as well as a second place finisher at the USAC event at Knoxville. Ballou was on the podium at the Sprint Car Smackdown at Kokomo (Kokomo Speedway, Kokomo, IN.), and he finished fifth in the Oval Nationals (Perris, CA.).
Bill Balog – Hartland, WI. – Age 38. Originally from Alaska, “The North Pole Nightmare”, earned his first career All-HammerDown! nod. Balog finished fourth in the Short Track Nationals (I-30 Speedway, Little Rock, AR.), and he posted back-to-back top six finishes at the World Finals versus the World of Outlaws (Charlotte Dirt Track, Concord, NC.). Balog was tenth on his preliminary night at the Knoxville Nationals. Balog won 13 A-Mains in 2017.
Christopher Bell – Norman, OK. - Age 23. Bell’s incredible 2017 “part-time schedule” included BIG wins at the Chili Bowl (Tulsa Expo Raceway, Tulsa, OK.), the Lou Blaney Memorial (Sharon Speedway, Hartford, OH.), the Knight Before the Kings Royal (Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, OH.), and Turkey Night (Ventura Raceway, Ventura, CA.). Bell finished second in the Kings Royal after starting 20th. And oh ya, Bell won the NASCAR Truck championship too.
Brian Brown – Grain Valley, MO. – Age 39. Brown captured ten wins in 2017, including the Capitani Classic at Knoxville. He was runner-up in the 360 Nationals as well as second to the flag on his Knoxville Nationals preliminary night. Brown capped his seventh consecutive season as an All-HammerDown! Team member by standing on the podium at the World Finals.
Tyler Courtney – Indianapolis, IN. Age 23. Courtney burst onto the National scene in 2017, winning 13 features in seven states. His terrific season started with a Chili Bowl preliminary night victory and a sixth place finish on the final night of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Courtney backed up his stellar Tulsa run with a non-wing sprint car win at the Smack Down at Kokomo. “Sunshine” was runner-up in Indiana Midget Week points, and he finished third in Indiana Sprint Week points.
Lance Dewease – Fayetteville, PA. – Age 52. Dewease won 12 feature events in 2017, driving for Donnie Kreitz Jr. The biggest wins came in the Tuscarora 50 (Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA.), and the Dirt Classic (Lincoln Speedway, Abbottstown, PA.). The sweep in the Tuscarora 50 weekend earned Dewease over $56,000. Dewease now has 327 career sprint car A-Main wins.
Danny Dietrich – Gettysburg, PA. – Age 28. Dietrich earned All-HammerDown! status for the fifth year in a row. Among his 13 A-main triumphs in 2017 were two sanctioned by the All-Star Circuit of Champions. All of Dietrich’s wins came in Pennsylvania and New York. He was runner-up at the Dirt Classic at Lincoln Speedway in September.
Cole Duncan – Lockbourne, OH. – Age 25. Duncan made the All-HammerDown! Team for the first time in his career after a 2017 season that saw him win the Ohio Speedweek finale (Atomic Speedway, Chillicothe, OH.), be runner-up in the Dirt Classic at Attica (Attica Raceway Park, Attica, OH.), and finish third in the Pete Jacobs Memorial (Wayne County Speedway, Orrville, OH.). His most impressive run may have been a fourth place result in the Kings Royal.
Cory Eliason – Selma, CA. – Age 26. Eliason had his best season to date in 2017, earning All-HammerDown! status for the first time in his career. He won ten A-Mains, and had a fourth place finish on the opening night of the Gold Cup Race of Champions (Chico, CA.). Eliason helped secure his All-HammerDown! selection by traveling to Iowa in August. He finished in the top-15 at both the Capitani Classic, and the Front Row Challenge (Southern Iowa Speedway, Oskaloosa, IA.).
Shane Golobic – Fremont, CA. - Age 26. “Sugar Shane” had a sweet season! Golobic won the Indiana Midget Week championship, and the overall Trophy Cup points title (Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA.). He completed 2017 with ten feature wins (eight in a winged sprint car, and two in a midget). He finished third at the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Amazingly, in 82 starts, Golobic had 71 top-ten finishes!
Justin Grant – Ione, CA. – Age - 27. Grant started the season strongly with a third place finish in a midget at the Chili Bowl. His versatility was showcased as he won the USAC National Sprint Car event at Knoxville. In August he captured the winner’s check at the Bettenhausen 100 Silver Crown race (Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL.). Grant joined Tyler Courtney as one of only two drivers to win a National USAC race in all three of their premier divisions. Grant was runner-up in the USAC National Sprint Car standings.
David Gravel – Watertown, CT. – Age 25. Gravel made the All-HammerDown! Team for the sixth consecutive year. In a season to envy, Gravel found the winner’s circle 18 times in World of Outlaws competition. Gravel scored BIG wins in the Williams Grove National Open (Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA.), The Brad Doty Classic (Attica, OH.), and the World Finals at Charlotte. Gravel also scored a perfect 500 points with a clean sweep of his preliminary night of the Knoxville Nationals.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. – Sunnyvale, TX. – Age 32. “Sunnyvale Sam” won his second consecutive ASCS National points championship after tying Gary Wright’s record for most ASCS National wins in one season with 15. Among his biggest wins were the Dirt Cup (Skagit Speedway, Alger, WA.), and the Hockett/McMillin Memorial (Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, MO.).
Sheldon Haudenschild – Wooster, OH. – Age 24. Haudenschild earned the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year award as a full-time World of Outlaws driver in 2017. His best run in Racer’s Racing Series events was a fourth place finish at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA. in March. He wrapped the season with a dozen top-five WoO finishes.
Greg Hodnett – Spring Grove, PA. – Age 48. Hodnett’s biggest 2017 win came against the World of Outlaws in Williams Grove’s Summer Nationals (a race completed in late September). He was on the podium on his Knoxville Nationals preliminary night, and at Port Royal’s Dream Race (Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA.). Hodnett earned his eleventh career All-HammerDown! Team nod.
Jason Johnson – Eunice, LA. – Age 41. Johnson won four World of Outlaws A-Mains in 2017 en route to finishing sixth in WoO points. Among Johnson’s best Racer’s Racing Series finishes were a fifth at the Nittany Showdown at Port Royal, and an eleventh place run on Saturday night at the Knoxville Nationals. Johnson also won the World Challenge at Knoxville. 2017 marks the 12th career All-HammerDown! Team selection for Johnson.
Tim Kaeding – San Jose, CA. – Age 39. Bouncing between the Midwest and his home state of California, Tim won four features in 2017 (two in Iowa, two in Minnesota). He finished fifth in the 2017 Trophy Cup points, and had a seventh place result in WoO action at Cedar Lake, WI. This is Kaeding’s 14th All-HammerDown! selection.
Chad Kemenah – Findlay, OH. – Age 46. Kemenah won his sixth All-Star Circuit of Champions title in the Rob and Rita Hunter 10H. He won three A-Mains in three different states (Iowa, Ohio, and Pennsylvania). Kemenah was runner-up in the late August $10,000 to-win event at Atomic Speedway. He finished fifth in the Front Row Challenge. This is Kemenah’s eleventh All-HammerDown! selection.
Kraig Kinser – Bloomington, IN. – Age 33. Kinser secured his 12th All-HammerDown! Team honor. He scored a World of Outlaws feature event win (Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, MN.), during a hot-stretch in late June through mid-July where he ripped off ten straight top-ten WoO finishes. Kinser finished eighth in 2017 WoO points, posting seven top-five finishes.
Kyle Larson – Elk Grove, CA. Age 25. When he wasn’t competing for a NASCAR Cup championship, Larson dazzled fans with his midget and winged sprint car driving skills. Larson won nine A-Mains including his Knoxville Nationals preliminary night. He finished second in the Saturday A-Main. He was also runner-up in the Turkey Night Grand Prix, and he was on the podium at the Front Row Challenge. Larson won in California, Canada, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and he won three in-a-row during Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek.
C.J. Leary – Greenfield, IN. – Age 21. Leary won eight A-Mains in 2017 on his way to his first All-HammerDown! selection. He is one of three 21 year-olds to make the All-HammerDown! Team. Leary won the USAC National Sprint Car portion of the Four Crown Nationals (Eldora Speedway.) He finished 14th in the A-Main at the Chili Bowl, and had a fourth place finish in the Ted Horn 100 Silver Crown event at DuQuoin, IL.
Carson Macedo – Lemoore, CA. – Age 21. Macedo won a dozen feature events, nine on USA soil, in 2017. Macedo’s wins came in Australia, California, Canada, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. His best run in RRS points earning events was a runner-up finish in the Peter Murphy Classic (Tulare, CA.). This is his second All-HammerDown! Team selection.
Ian Madsen – Saint Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia. – Age 33. Ian won the 2017 Knoxville Raceway track championship (his second), earning All-HammerDown! status for the third straight year. Madsen won eleven A-Mains on the season that saw him start 90 events. He finished tenth in the Knoxville Nationals A-Main, and he was runner-up on night one of the World Finals at Charlotte.
Kerry Madsen – Saint Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia. – Age 46. Madsen finished as the highest ranked international driver in the Racer’s Racing Series in 2017. His best runs included a third place finish in the Knoxville Nationals, and a World of Outlaws win at Cedar Lake, WI. He won eight features in the United States. “The Madman” has made the All-HammerDown! Team eleven times, more than any other international driver.
Brent Marks – Myerstown, PA. – Age 27. Marks earned All-HammerDown! status for the fourth year in a row. Marks raced full-time in 2017 as a rookie World of Outlaws member. He completed the season tenth in the series point standings, with 23 top-ten finishes. Marks won an unsanctioned feature event at Port Royal Speedway in April. His best RRS points earning night was a sixth place finish in the Brad Doty Classic.
James McFadden – Ormeau, Queensland, Australia. - Age 28. McFadden made the All-HammerDown! for the first time, joining the Madsen brothers as Australia’s best. McFadden was especially good at one of the biggest USA events, the Williams Grove National Open. “J-Mac” won the second preliminary night of the National Open, and he was on the podium on the final night. McFadden finished fifth in the Dirt Classic at Lincoln Speedway.
Paul McMahan – Hendersonville, TN. – Age 47. McMahan finished 13th in the Knoxville Nationals A-Main, after finishing eighth on his preliminary night. He had three top-five runs and 18 top-ten finishes in World of Outlaws competition. McMahan, through his consistent finishes, accumulated enough points to secure his 14th career All-HammerDown! selection.
Daryn Pittman – Owasso, OK. – Age 39. Pittman is one of just three drivers to make every All-HammerDown! Team. He started the season by finishing second in the Chili Bowl, and he finished 2017 fourth in the World of Outlaws point standings. He was in the top-ten at the three biggest Sprint Car races; eighth in the Kings Royal, ninth in the Knoxville Nationals, and fifth in the National Open.
Joey Saldana – Brownsburg, IN. – Age 45. …Saldana won the Dirt Classic at Attica as the best of his four A-Main triumphs in 2017. His rim-riding performance in an October, All-Star, Eldora win was dominant. Saldana closed his season with two podium finishes (including a win) at Cocopah, AZ in ASCS National action. Joey is one of three to make each All-HammerDown! team (15).
Donny Schatz – Fargo, ND. - Age 40. Schatz won 23 A-mains in a Sprint Car, and earned his ninth World of Outlaws championship in 2017. Among his biggest wins were the Knoxville Nationals (his tenth), the Kings Royal, The Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup (Lernerville Speedway, Sarver, PA.), and the opening night of the World Finals. The Kings Royal victory made him the first driver in the 34 years of the event to win it back-to-back. Schatz even tried the Chili Bowl in a midget, earning Rookie of the Year honors.
Logan Schuchart – Hanover, PA. – Age 25. Schuchart’s third consecutive All-HammerDown! nod comes after a ninth place finish in the 2017 World of Outlaws point standings. Schuchart won four WoO A-Mains, and posted eleven top-five finishes. His best Racer’s Racing Series points night was a third place finish in the WoO visit to the Las Vegas Dirt Track (Las Vegas, NV.). He finished fourth in the Williams Grove National Open.
Tim Shaffer – Aliquippa, PA. – Age 50. Shaffer had an outstanding 2017 season, winning eleven feature events in four states (Iowa, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania). Shaffer’s “true outlaw” schedule included four wins on the All-Star Circuit which tied him for the series best with Lance Dewease. Shaffer was runner-up in the Brad Doty Classic.
Jason Sides – Bartlett, TN. – Age 44. Sides earned his 14th straight All-HammerDown! Team selection in 2017. Sides had eight top-five finishes and 23 top-ten results on the grueling World of Outlaws tour. Sides finished tenth in the Williams Grove National Open, and he was fifth in the WoO visit to Cedar Lake, WI. His best stretch of the year was from late March through April when he had eight consecutive top-tens.
Ryan Smith – Kunkletown, PA. – Age 29. The “Kunkletown Kid” made the All-HammerDown! Team for the second time in his career. He won A-Mains in New York and Ohio in 2017. Smith was runner-up in the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal, and he charged from the back of the field to fifth at the Kings Royal.
Shane Stewart – Bixby, OK. – Age 41. Stewart won BIG races including the Morgan Cup (Williams Grove Speedway), the Front Row Challenge, and the Gold Cup Race of Champions. He finished fourth in the 2017 Knoxville Nationals, and he was fifth in the season-long World of Outlaws standings. Stewart won eight WoO A-Mains, and had 30 top-five finishes in the series.
Brad Sweet – Grass Valley, CA. – Age 31. Sweet finished second in World of Outlaws points, winning five A-Mains. He scored home state victories at Calistoga Speedway (Calistoga, CA.), and at the Stockton Dirt Track (Stockton, CA.). Sweet also captured the Jackson Nationals at the Jackson Motorplex (Jackson, MN), and the Texas Outlaw Nationals at Devils Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX.). He was fifth in the Knoxville Nationals, and third in the Kings Royal.
Kevin Thomas Jr. – Cullman, AL. – Age 26. Thomas earned his third career All-HammerDown! selection following a great 2017 season. “KTJ” won the Indiana Sprint Week championship, the Haubstadt Hustler (Tri-State Speedway, Haubstadt, IN.), and the Perris Oval Nationals (Perris Auto Speedway, Perris, CA.). He had 20 victories on the year including the USAC National Sprint Car return to Williams Grove. Thomas even won a winged 360 Sprint Car event in Arizona.
Tanner Thorson – Minden, NV. – Age 21. Thorson won seven midget A-Mains across California, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania. He earned his first All-HammerDown! selection on the strength of his versatility. He finished fourth in the Chili Bowl in a midget, and fourth in the Ohio Speedweek finale in a winged 410 Sprint Car. He was eighth in the final Trophy Cup points in a winged 360 Sprint Car, and he closed the year with a fourth place midget finish at Turkey Night.
Lucas Wolfe – Mechanicsburg, PA. - Age 31. Wolfe won eleven A-Mains in 2017. He captured feature wins in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He started the season with a fourth place finish in the World of Outlaws February visit to Volusia (Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, FL.). He finished second in the Williams Grove Summer Nationals, also sanctioned by WoO. This is Wolfe’s tenth All-HammerDown! selection.

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Sources: Doug Elkins, Bryan Householder, Lance Jennings, Bill Klingbeil, Shawn Miller, Richie Murray, National Speed Sport News, Petersen Media, SprintSource.com, Gary Thomas, USACRacing.com, Bill W., Lonnie Wheatley, WoOSprint.com, York Dispatch.com.

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