[b Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings to be Settled this Weekend]
[i Rich Vleck, TULSA, Okla. (September 2, 2009)]
Plenty of championships, point funds and other awards will be decided this weekend for the Lucas Oil ASCS Patriots; included in the discussion will be the quest to be named the 2009 Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season.
The fifth consecutive year of hard charger tabulations has resulted in 71 of the 84 drivers to start a Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot feature finish at least one spot higher than where they finished in at least one of the first 20 races this season. While more than half of those drivers still have a chance to claim the Hard Charger Award, only three have good odds to hold this honor.
Bryan Howland and Jared Zimbardi, the top two in the overall Patriot standings the last two years, are tied atop the heap with 54 spots advanced so far this season. Howland is the defending Hard Charger of the Season while Zimbardi was the first back in 2005. No driver has ever one the award twice.
The last two seasons, the Hard Charger was also the overall series champion. Howland is the frontrunner for the 2009 Title but Zimbardi could also keep that streak alive as he is still within striking distance of Howland.
The third driver in the lead fold is Trevor Lewis, who has advanced 52 spots in just eight races this year. Only once this year has the Upper Black Eddy, PA driver not gone forward in a Patriot A-Main, and that was at Brewerton when he crashed with Bobby Breen while leading.
This exciting trio have a major gap over youngsters Bubba Broderick and Tommy Wickham, who are within one race of taking over the point lead.
Points will be tabulated once again this Saturday at Sharon, which starts at 6:00 p.m., not at 7:00 as was previously released. Eriez will be the final race of the point season and when that 25-lap event is over, the new Hard Charger will be determined.
The point formula has always been for drivers that finish higher than where they started in A-mains only. No negative points are given for drivers that fall back or are unable to finish.
The top-three at season’s end will get a slice of the point fund, which will be distributed at the 2009 Lucas Oil ASCS Patriot Banquet, held November 14 at Wildwood Country Club in Rush, NY.
For more information, visit http://www.ascspatriotsprints.com/ or http://www.ascsracing.com/.
Past Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Award Winners:
2005- Jared Zimbardi
2006- Don Adamczyk
2007- Chuck Hebing
2008- Bryan Howland
Gater Racing News Hard Charger of the Season Standings (Through 20 of 22 Events):
Jared Zimbardi 54
Bryan Howland 54
Trevor Lewis 52
Bubba Broderick 36
Tommy Wickham 33
Don Adamczyk 30
Blake Breen 30
Michael Parent 28
Jamie Collard 26
Chuck Hebing 23
Tim Kelly 22
Dan Kaszubinski 21
Scott Kreutter 20
Steve Poirier 19
Gary Troutman 18
T.J. Newton 18
Jason Barney 17
Jared Fink 17
Dave Wickham 16
Kevin Loveys 16
Doug Emery 13
Ray Preston 13
Brandan Warner 13
Devin Caron 12
Alain Bergeron 12
Travis Cunnigham 12
Derek Jonathan 11
Shawn Donath 11
Doug Bowman 11
Chris Shuttleworth 10
Jim Huppunen 10
Gordy Button 10
Dave Dykstra 10
Gary Kriess 9
Kyle Moffit 9
Justin Barger 9
Scott Bonnell 9
Bobby Breen 9
Brad Knab 9
Cory Sparks 8
Bubby Kerrick 8
Josh Weller 8
Joel Lehman 8
Joe August Jr 8
Kevin Job 8
Bobby Howard 7
Lee Ladouceur 7
Chris Weiss 5
Jeff Cook 5
Ryan Hunsinger 5
Jessica Zemken 5
Kyle Drum 5
Chris Muhleisen 4
Stan Zanchin 4
Mikey Kruchka 4
George Suprick 4
Lance Yonge 3
Bobby Podolak 3
Dain Naida 3
James Evans 3
Kyle Wilson 3
Keith Dempster 3
Guy Griffin 2
Mike Stelter 2
Jeff Frasier 2
John Burbridge Jr. 2
Warren Alexson 1
Jim Morris 1
Paul Pekkonen 1
John Schuyler 1
Glenn Styres 1
- Lonnie Wheatley on Sep 03, 2009
- Article Date: 9/3/2009