Schatz named 410 driver of the year

For the fourth consecutive year,

Donny Schatz of Fargo, North Dakota, was voted the “Driver of the Year” by

the North American 410 Sprint Car Poll voting panel of media members,

promoters, sanctioning officials and manufacturers. However, unlike the

previous two years, it was not a unanimous decision this time. The 2009

World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series point champion and the ’09

Knoxville Nationals winner earned twenty-two (22) of the thirty (30)

first-place ballots cast in the year-end poll.



Those drivers ranked second through fifth, respectively, are WoO regulars

Joey Saldana of Indiana, Jason Meyers of California, 14-time “Driver of the

Year” and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kinser of Indiana,

and All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) titlist Tim Shaffer of

Pennsylvania. Rounding out the ‘top ten’ for the season are Speed Dawg

Central Pennsylvania Point Series champion Greg Hodnett, Danny Lasoski,

Jason Sides, Stevie Smith and Terry McCarl, respectively. Joey Saldana and

Jason Meyers captured seven (7) and one (1) first-place votes, respectively.



Interestingly, it was NASCAR’s Kasey Kahne of Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) that

earned the winged 410-cubic-inch sprint car “Team of the Year” award for his

first-time ever. A three-time “Wild Card Award” recipient from the North

American Sprint Car Poll himself, car owner Kahne utilized drivers Joey

Saldana, Craig Dollansky, Brad Sweet and Cody Darrah in his winged machines

in 2009.



Adam Wilt, the top rookie at both of the Lincoln and Williams Grove dirt

tracks on the tough Central Pennsylvania circuit in 2009, has also earned

the “Rookie of the Year” award in the ‘410’ division of the North American

Sprint Car Poll. Following a tie in the voting, Steve Beitler of Skagit

Speedway in the state of Washington and Steve Sinclair of the Interstate

Racing Association (IRA) will share the “Promoter of the Year” honors.

Sinclair is a three-time winner of this award, while Beitler will be a

first-time recipient. Jack Elam of J&J; Chassis, a 2009 inductee into the

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, earned the “Builder/Manufacturer of the

Year” plaque for the ‘410’ poll.



Joey Saldana, the leading feature winner on the ultra-tough WoO tour, was

named the recipient of the “Wild Card Award” for his exciting ‘410’ sprint

car performances. The “Media Member of the Year” honors will again be

shared, due to a tie in the voting, this year between two past recipients,

Tony Veneziano of the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series and Justin

Zoch of FlatOut magazine.



The North American 410 Sprint Car Poll is an annual awards program of the

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum. All awards will be distributed

in the spring of 2010 at tracks throughout North America. The awards were

announced on the third day of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in

Tulsa, Oklahoma.



Final 2009 North American 410 Sprint Car Poll



rank, driver (first place votes), hometown, state/province, points



1., Donny Schatz (22), Fargo, ND, 2560

2., Joey Saldana (7), Brownsburg, IN, 1785

3., Jason Meyers (1), Clovis, CA, 1163

4., Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN, 603

5., Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA, 504



6., Greg Hodnett, Memphis, TN, 437

7., Danny Lasoski, Higginsville, MO, 286

tie, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN, 286

9., Stevie Smith, New Oxford, PA, 241

10., Terry McCarl, Pleasant Hill, PA, 239



11., Dale Blaney, Fowler, OH, 227

12., Tyler Walker, Los Angeles, CA, 181

13., Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN, 174

14., Tim Kaeding, Campbell, CA, 143

15., Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA, 130



16., Fred Rahmer, Salfordville, PA, 120

17., Todd Shaffer, Millerstown, PA, 100

18., Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 94

19., Sammy Swindell, Bartlett, TN, 60

20., Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH, 58



21., Brian Montieth, Phoenixville, PA, 31

22., Jonathan Allard, Chico, CA, 20

23., Brent Kaeding, Campbell, CA, 17

24., Ed Lynch, Jr., Apollo, PA, 15

25., Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK, 14

tie, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK, 14



Also receiving multiple votes: Billy Balog, Brian Brown, Lance Dewease, Rod

George, Brock Mayes, Craig Mintz, Greg Wilson.

Text Only