|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| NMRA-TQ MIDGETS 2007 CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS BANQUET by Tim Kennedy |
|
|
|
Moorpark, CA., Jan. 5 - The NMRA-TQ Midget Series, which began sanctioning three-quarter (TQ) midget racing 50 years ago in 1957, held its sixth annual championship awards banquet of the 21st Century Saturday at The Grinder Restaurant here with 63 persons in attendance. Driver Kenny Wiley and his car owner Paul Lopiccolo were honored as first-time champions. They have been a team in the series since 2002 when Wiley won NMRA's rookie of the year title. The duo won two main events during 2007 for the first feature victories together. They had nine top three finishes in the 13 main events that awarded points. They had such a large point lead that even some misfortunes late in the season couldn't derail their championship run with their Rick Stewart chassis powered by a 750-cc Honda. Wiley won by 49 points (746-697) over two-time champion Chuck West. Lopiccolo won by 49 points (785-736) over Evans Motorsports. Accepting his trophy, Wiley, 46, thanked West Evans "for giving me a test ride in his car during 2001 that got me hooked." The champion praised five-time main event winner Randy Moody for his competitiveness. (Moody raced in nine of the 13 races and won five.) Wiley added that it is a great honor to be listed among past NMRA champions. Bob McCaw, the 82-year old two-time champion (1979-80), was present in the audience and was introduced earlier. Car owner Lopiccolo even got back in the cockpit this year for a race. He thanked his family and said more of them are getting involved in NMRA. His son Anthony, son-in-law Jonathan St. Clair, and niece Amanda Thomas all raced TQs during 2007. Lopiccolo presented an appreciation plaque to Ed Thomas for all his assistance over the years. SEASON: NMRA began the 2007 campaign with two-exhibition, non-point races in support of the headlining monster truck events at Angel Stadium, home of the MLB Angels, in Anaheim. Jenna Bliffen and Scott Dobson won their first feature triumphs in those events with more than 40,000 spectators present. NMRA conducted its 13 point events at four dirt tracks-Bakersfield Speedway, Santa Maria Speedway, Ventura Raceway and at King's Speedway in Hanford. Car counts ranged from a low of 11 to a high of 15 and averaged 13 cars per race. Four drivers won main events. West and Moody each won five features. Wiley won his first two mains and Richard Ortega, Jr scored his first victory. Eighteen car owners and 25 drivers earned NMRA points during 2007. Owner-driver Ron Ahrendt again served as banquet emcee and presented participant certificates to 2007 drivers and owners outside the top ten in NMRA points. He then called five NMRA officials forward for their appreciation plaques. Steve Parke presented plaques to Tony Otto, Noel Dawson, Melissa DeMello, Gay Otto and Beth Bliffen. This writer received a plaque for media relations. Special thanks from NMRA went to Todd Chikasawa for his season-long support and to Dave Castenada for marketing. Josh Baltimore, of Ringers Gloves, received recognition from the club as well. NMRA Series sponsors are Ringers, American Race Tires, McCoy Enterprises, Schroeder Torsion Bars, and Racing Optics. Car owners and drivers from tenth through second place in final points received their plaques in ascending order. For the first time, 11 drivers occupied the top ten positions. Scott Niven and Jenna Bliffen tied at 360 points and shared tenth place. AWARDS: The hard charger award in memory of Randy Faust, a late NMRA official, went to veteran driver Randy Moody. The Board of Directors Tenacity "Never Give Up" Award (a new award) went to rookie Scott Niven. The Moorpark resident bought the former No. 4 Stealth/Honda that Jody Bandfield raced to the 2005 NMRA driving championship and renumbered it No. 66. Scott Dobson, the 2006 series rookie of the year and fourth place finisher in 2007 driver points, received the Most Improved Driver Award from Schroeder Racing Products. Owner/driver Steve Parke received a special appreciation award from West Evans for all his work on behalf of NMRA. Tony Otto presented the Otto family sportsmanship of the year trophy in memory of his late father Ron on behalf of his mother Gay. The fourth recipient of the Otto award was a surprised Todd Chikasawa, who works tirelessly for the betterment of NMRA. He fills in as an official as necessary and works as a mechanic on several cars. Jonathan St. Clair received the Rookie of the Year award sponsored by Racing Optics in memory of Curly and Cookie Merrill. Dobson, the 2006 rookie of the year award-winner, assisted in the presentation. St. Clair, the son-in-law of championship car owner Lopiccolo, bought the 2005 NMRA championship car-the No. 15 Robert Welcomer Johnson/Honda. He retained No. 15 and raced to a solid ninth place in points, 126 points in front of tenth place. Specially embroidered black jackets were presented to four drivers-the rookie of the year, most improved driver, hard charger and Tenacity Award recipients. Door prizes went to most of the 63 persons present for the three-hour dinner and award ceremonies. NMRA's West Evans closed the banquet by saying it was another good year for the traveling circuit. "We need to get more cars out, but the nucleus here tonight is strong and we appreciate your support." He said the new NMRA web site is www.NMRA.us. Evans added that he has booked a good-size schedule of 17 or 18 races for 2008 and there is an additional possibility of four-paved track races before he releases the schedule. The NMRA season again will begin with three Saturday night non-point, exhibition races in conjunction with monster trucks. The dates are January 12 and 26 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on a 1/10-mile dirt oval on the baseball infield. The January 19 site will be a 1/8-mile dirt track inside Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego in support of the head-lining monster truck competitors and the usual 40,000+ audience. There will be a free pit-party from 2:30-4:30 p.m for fans in the stadium parking lot. The five-member 2008 NMRA Board of Directors consists of holdover members Evans , Wiley, Parke, Richard Ortega, Jr and new member Dave Lambert, the car owner for whom Moody drives. Driver Michael Bliffen, a 2007 board member, will be racing his 360 cu. in. sprint car with the Ventura Racing Association Senior Division as a 50-year old sprint car rookie. He said he completed the Jimmy Sills Driving School sprint car school at Placerville and bought one of Fred Thomson's four sprint cars (No. 92) that he will renumber his usual No. 3. The veteran TQ driver said he will continue to assist his daughter Jenna, 25, compete in NMRA full-time with their No. 03 former Tony Porto car that Rick Hendrix drove when USAC sanctioned TQ Midget racing from 1987-2001. FINAL NMRA 2008 POINT STANDINGS: Drivers Car Owners 1 Kenny Wiley 746 1 Paul Lopiccolo No. 21 785 2 Chuck West 697 2 West Evans No. 38 736 3 West Evans 679 3 West Evans No. 36 718 4 Scott Dobson 676 4 Guy Barber No. 18 715 5 Bruce Hiroshima 674 5 Bruce Hiroshima No. 5 713 6 Richard Ortega, Jr 610 6 Richard Ortega, Jr. No. 8 646 7 Ron Ahrendt 561 7 Dave Lambert No. 55 610 8 Randy Moody 543 8 Jonathan St. Clair No. 15 600 9 Jonathan St. Clair ® 486 9 Ron Ahrendt No. 87 561 10 Scott Niven ® 360 10 Bruce Hiroshima No. 20 435 10 Jenna Bliffen 360 |
