CONCORD, N.C. — Who would you select as the winged 410 sprint car driver of the year?
It’s been one of the more interesting seasons in recent history, with new faces and old hands alike turning in stellar performances.
There are certainly more than a few drivers to consider, but what’s most important? Is it winning races? Is it winning big races? How about championships? How much do they matter to you?
As of Sept. 15, Pennsylvania driver Anthony Macri led the nation with 20 victories. Among those were the Tuscarora 50 at Pennsylvania’s Port Royal Speedway and the Race Rudeen Foundation event at I-70 Motorsports Park in Missouri.
Those two triumphs were among Macri’s eight All Star Circuit of Champions triumphs. While Macri did travel outside the Keystone State to compete in the Kings Royal, the Knoxville Nationals and several other events, he had not won a World of Outlaws feature by press time.
Another Pennsylvania driver, Brent Marks, had won 16 features through mid-September, including both the Historical Big One and the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway. Of Marks’ victories, five were sanctioned by the World of Outlaws.
Marks had also won four All Star features and he triumphed five times during the unsanctioned Pennsylvania Speedweek. Neither Marks nor Macri are in contention for any championships because of the pick-and-choose nature of their racing schedules.
Then, there’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series driver Carson Macedo. Macedo had won a series-best 12 features aboard the Jason Johnson Racing entry and owned 14 overall winged sprint car triumphs. Yet, Macedo ranked third in the standings behind three-time series champion Brad Sweet and David Gravel, who owned four and six victories, respectively.
Macedo’s biggest victory came in the Jackson Nationals at Minnesota’s Jackson Motorplex.
Sweet led the Outlaws standings and Tyler Courtney, with eight victories this year, headed the All Star standings.
Western Pennsylvania hotshoe A.J. Flick enjoyed the best year of his career with 13 local triumphs, while Pennsylvania veteran Danny Dietrich picked up 13 triumphs. Macedo’s younger brother, Cole, won nine times racing in Ohio and Justin Peck and Sheldon Haudenschild had also earned nine victories.
Ryan Timms, who turned 16 in late August, owned eight feature wins.
Thus, from where we sit, it comes down to the three M’s — Macri, Marks and Macedo.
It will be interesting to watch the late-season races leading into the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
In contrast, it isn’t difficult to pick the most improved driver on the World of Outlaws circuit. It’s Jacob Allen.
Allen, who drives one of two Shark Racing sprint cars fielded by his legendary father Bobby Allen, had won four World of Outlaw features this season, including the Gold Cup Race of Champions at California’s Silver Dollar Speedway.
Allen held off his teammate and uncle, Logan Schuchart, by mere feet to collect the $25,000 triumph, the biggest of his career.
One of the most amazing statistics of this racing season is the fact that 19 drivers won a NASCAR Cup Series race through the first 29 events of the 36-race campaign.
Dirt late model racer Jonathan Davenport had won 21 features as of this writing and earned $1,606,044 for his victories alone. Of course, that includes $1 million for topping the Eldora Million at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.
Davenport had won nine races this season that paid $50,000 or more to win.
It’s rare when sanctioning bodies, manufacturers and racers work together for the best interest of the sport, which made it a grand day when Hoosier Tire officials announced the company will produce a National Late Model Tire that will be utilized by all of dirt late model racing’s series and tracks.
One thing we’ve grown accustomed to in motorsports is the opening and closing of race tracks.
Only days after we all enjoyed the grand return of North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, we learned of the sale and imminent closing of Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway.
We saw a lot of races at the unique third-mile track located on Pass More Rd. during our early days with SPEED SPORT in the 1990s.