|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Press Release |
|
|
|
JAY DRAKE EARNS #1 RANKING IN NORTH AMERICAN NON-WINGED SPRINT CAR POLL |
|
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (July 31, 2004) 2000 “Driver of the Year” Jay Drake of Val Verde, California, is back on top of the sport’s rankings, according to the Summer 2004 edition of the North American Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll. The voting panel of media members, manufacturers, sanctioning officials and promoters awarded Drake twelve (12) of the eighteen (18) first place votes cast. Jay Drake, driver of the Tony Stewart-owned Mopar sprinter, currently leads the United States Auto Club (USAC) Sprint Car Series point standings. Ranked second in the poll is Cory Kruseman of Ventura, California, who was the 2001 “Driver of the Year”. Kruseman, the second place point-getter in the USAC national series who collected three first place votes, also pilots a Tony Stewart Racing sprinter. Those drivers ranked third through fifth, respectively, are USAC/California Racing Association (CRA) point leader Rip Williams of southern California, USAC/CRA runner-up Damion Gardner of northern California, and Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) point leader Rickie Gaunt of southern California. Williams and Gardner each topped one first place ballot.
Rounding out the ‘top ten’ non-winged sprint car drivers in North America are third place USAC national tourist Brandon “Bud” Kaeding of northern California, Mike Kirby of southern California, Bobby East of Indiana, Dave Darland of Indiana, and Jon Stanbrough of Indiana, respectively. The Summer edition of the poll is released just one week prior to the $50,000-to-win Mopar Thunder at Eldora USAC national non-winged sprint car race at Earl Baltes’ legendary Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The North American Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll is an annual awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation, Inc., of Knoxville, Iowa. Summer 2004 North American Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll 1., Jay Drake (12), Val Verde, CA, 1345 points 2., Cory Kruseman (3), Ventura, CA, 728 3., Rip Williams (1), Yorba Linda, CA, 465 4., Damion Gardner (1), Concord, CA, 438 5., Rickie Gaunt, Torrance, CA, 321 6., Brandon “Bud” Kaeding, Campbell, CA, 320 7., Mike Kirby, Lomita, CA, 210 8., Bobby East, Speedway, IN, 178 9., Dave Darland, Lincoln, IN, 143 10., Jon Stanbrough, Jamestown, IN, 114 11., Levi Jones, Olney, IL, 106 12., Josh Wise, Riverside, CA, 103 13., Michael Lewis, Noblesville, IN, 91 14., Troy Rutherford (1), Ojai, CA, 76 15., Kevin Briscoe, Mitchell, IN, 59 16., Tony Elliott, Kokomo, IN, 45 17., Tony Jones, Garden Grove, CA, 40 18., Dickie Gaines, Mitchell, IN, 38 19., Charles Davis, Jr., Buckeye, AZ, 30 tie, Eric Gordon, Indianapolis, IN, 30 21., Bob Ream, Jr., Glendale, AZ, 25 22., David Steele, Tampa, FL, 24 23., Brad Bumgarner, Chico, CA, 20 tie, Mike Knopf, Santa Maria, CA, 20 25., Steve Ostling, Corona, CA, 19. Also receiving multiple votes: A.J. Anderson, Alan Ballard, Michael Burthay, Ronnie Clark, Bryan Clauson, Shane Cottle, Shane Hollingsworth, Tony Hunt, Jason McCord, Brian McLish, Adam Mitchell, Aaron Pierce, Boston Reid, Jeremy Sherman, Mike Spencer, Danny Sheridan, Brian Tyler, Eric Wilkins. |
