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RACING SCENE – (Racing Series Summary - 2016 vs 2015) – By Tim Kennedy
LOS ANGELES – The now archived 2016 motor-racing season will be remembered in history books. Just prior to launching the 2017 racing season, we should compare the competitiveness of some of the same 54 series we covered at this time last year. Again we will cover two and four wheel racing touring series, oval and road racing. We will not include straight-line (drag) racing and drifting. Series totals will be presented in alphabetical order with 2015 totals for each series under the 2016 totals.
Race Total/ Track Type/ States/Nations/ # of Winners/ Champions/ Wins/ Point Margin to P2./
AMA PRO FLAT TRACK MOTORCYCLES -
2016 - 15 dirt 9 8 Bryan Smith 5 5 pts (240-235)
(FL,TX,AZ,CA, IL,OK, NC, SD,NY) (1st time champ)
2015 - 13 11 7 Jared Mees 1 23 pts. (204-181)
AMA LUCAS OIL PRO MOTOCROSS -
2016 - 12 dirt 10 3 Ken Roczen 9 86 (584-498)
(CA,CO,TN,PA,MD,MI,MN,WA,NY,UT,IN)
Suzuki won 9, Kawasaki 2, and KTM 1.
2015 – 12 11 4 Ryan Dungey 7 100 (547-447)
AMA MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS -
2016 - 17 dirt 11 + Canada 4 Ryan Dungey 9 61 (392-331)
(CA,AZ,TX,GA,IL,MI, IN,MO,MA,NJ,NV)
KTM won 9, Suzuki 5, Husqvarna, 2 and Kawasaki 1.
2015 – 17 10 6 Ryan Dungey 8 85 (390-305)
KTM won 8, Honda 6, Suzuki 2, and Kawasaki 1.
AMA SPEEDWAY BIKES @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY -
2016 - 14 dirt 1 (SoCal) 4 Max Ruml 7 179
(2nd X champ)
2015 – 14 10 Max Ruml 1 5.5 over brother Dillon
(1st X champ)
ARCA STOCK CARS -
2016 - 20 18 paved, 2 dirt 13 13 Chase Briscoe 6 535 (5290-4755)
(1st X champ)
(FL,AL,TN,IN,OH,NJ,PA,MI,WI,IL,IA,KY,KS)
2015 – 20 18 paved, 2 dirt 12 13 Grant Enfinger 6 425 (5085-4660)
ARCTIC CAT ALL-STAR CIRCUIT 410 cu. in. SPRINT CARS -
2016 - 43 dirt 8 19 Chad Kemenah 1 20 (5238-5218)
(FL,OH,PA,IL,IN,MI,WI,NY)
2015 - 46 7 18 Dale Blaney 12 220 (5123-4903)
ARDC MIDGETS -
2016 - 14 dirt 1 (PA) 6 Alex Bright 3 78 (1879-1801)
2015 - 18 2 (PA,NJ) 10 Stephen Drevivki 1 236 (2054-1818)
ASCS LUCAS OIL SPRINT CARS (WINGED) -
2016 - 40 dirt 12 17 Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 8 260 (5105-4845)
(AZ,KS,MI,IA,TX,OK,MN,MT,MO,WA,SD,NE)
2015 – 33 12 18 Aaron Reutzel 7 49 (4047-3998)
ASCS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CARS -
2016 - 20 dirt 3 (AZ,NM,TX) 12 Rick Ziehl 3 65 (2568-2503)
2015 - 18 3 11 Rick Ziehl 3 26 (2241-2215)
ATLANTIC FORMULA CARS -
2016 - 14 paved 6 2 Ryan Norman 8 75 (586-511)
(GA,NY,VA,OH,PA,NJ)
2015 – 14 6 5 Keith Grant 5 42 (561-519)
BADGER MIDGETS – (WISC) -
2016 - 14 dirt 3 (WI,IL,IA) 7 Brandon Waelti 5 165 (1133-968)
2015 - 7 1 (WI) 6 David Budres 1 125 ( 468-343)
BCRA MIDGETS (NOR. CAL) -
2016 - 18 6 dirt, 3 paved 2 (CA,NV) 9 Bobby Wilson 0 31 (1052-1021)
2015 - 20 5 dirt, 4 paved 2 11 Frankie Guerrini 5 185 (1405-1220)
CIVIL WAR WINGED SPRINT CARS (NOR CAL) -
2016 12 dirt 1 (CA) 8 Andy Forsberg) 1 37 (2047-2010)
(Tracks-Chico,Marysville,Placerville,Petaluma,Watsonville,Stockton)
2015 –13 1 8 Andy Forsberg 3 9 (2058-2049)
CALIFORNIA LIGHTNING SPRINTS (CLS) -
2016 – 17 dirt 1 (CA) 7 Bobby Michnowicz (4th) 6 136 (1785-1649)
2015 – 15 1 5 Bobby Michnowicz (3rd) 9 246 (2927-2681)
DAVEY HAMILTON'S KING OF THE WING SPRINT CARS -
2016 – 10 paved 7 Davey Hamilton, Jr. 1 31 (709-678)
(AL,OH,IN,MI,ID,WA,CA) (1st X champ)
2015 - 11 paved 7 8 Aaron Pierce 2 24 (686-662)
(1st X champ)
FIA – FORMULA I -
2016 – 21 paved 21 nations 4 Nico Rosberg (1st X) 9 5 (385-380)
Championship runner-up & Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, the 2015 champ won 10 times)
2015 - 19 19 nations 3 Lewis Hamilton 10 59 (381-322)
INDY LIGHTS – COOPER TIRES) -
2016 - 18 paved 9 + Canada 7 Ed Jones 2 2 (363-361)
(IL,CA,AZ,NY,AL,OH) 1st X champ
2015 - 14 6 + Canada 2 Kenton Koch 11 92 (272-180)
IRA SPRINT CARS -
2016 - 29 2 (IL,WI) 12 Jeremy Schultz 2 86 (3,717-3,631)
2015 – 27 2 20 Bill Rose 0 44
KING OF THE WEST SPRINT CARS -
2016 - 20 dirt 1 (CA) 9 Kyle Hirst 6 19 (3183-3164)
2015 - 22 1 10 Carson Macedo 0 74 (3085-3073)
LUCAS OIL DIRT LATE MODELS -
2016 - 47 dirt 18 15 Scott Bloomquist 15 880 (8405-7525)
(GA,FL,OH,IL,TN,KY,IA,SC,NE,AL,AR,MD,WI,MO,MS,IN,PA,WV)
2015 - 38 17 15 Jonathan Davenport 12 55 (6425-6370)
LUCAS OIL MODIFIEDS -
2016 - 10 paved 4 (AZ,CA,NV,UT) 8 Matthew Hicks 1 4 (651-647)
2015 - 12 4 6 Austin Barnes 4 38 (680-642)
LUCAS OIL OFF-ROAD RACING (PRO 2) -
2016 - 15 dirt 4 + Mexico 6 Rob MacCachren 7 83 (725-642)
2015 - 16 4 + Mexico 6 Rob MacCachren 3 44 (756-712)
LUCAS OIL OFF-ROAD (PRO 4) -
2016 - 15 dirt 4 + Mexico 4 Kyle LeDuc 8 0 P.1 tie @ 692
(won tiebreaker with Carl Renezeder – 8 wins to 2)
2015 - 16 4 + Mexico 3 Kyle LeDuc 12 56 (790-734)
MUST SEE RACING XTREME WINGED SPRINT CARS -
2016 - 10 paved 7 4 Jimmy McCune 5 132 (849-717)
(SC,NC,OH,IL,IN,WI,MI)
2015 - 8 4 4 Jimmy McCune 3 183 (657-474)
NASCAR MONSTER ENERGY SPRINT CUP -
2016 - 36 paved 20 13 Jimmie Johnson (7th X) 5 3 (5040-5037)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 12, Ford 8, Toyota 16.)
2015 - 36 20 12 Kyle Busch (1st X) 5 1 (5043-5042) (Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 15, Ford 7, Toyota 14.)
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES -
2016 - 33 paved 22 12 Daniel Suarez (1st X) 3 2 (4040-4038)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 11, Ford 3, Toyota 19.)
2015 - 33 22 12 Chris Buescher (1st X) 2 15 (1190-1175)
(Wins by Mfgr.- Chevy 11, Ford 11, Toyota 11.) = Complete Parity!
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS -
2016 - 23 (22 pvd,1dirt) 19 + Canada 13 Johnny Sauter (1st X) 3 4 (4030-4026)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 8, Ford 1, Toyota 14.)
2015 - 22 (21 pvd,1 dirt) 17 + Canada 13 Erik Jones (1st X) 3 15 (899-884)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 5, Ford 4, Toyota 13.).
NASCAR K & N EAST -
2016 - 14 paved 12 9 Justin Haley (1st X) 2 22 (580-558)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 8, Ford 2, Toyota 4.)
2015 - 14 13 10 William Byron (1st X) 4 15 (546-531)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 7, Ford 4, Toyota 3.)
NASCAR K & N WEST -
2016 - 14 paved 8 5 Todd Gilliland (1st X) 6 13 (594-581)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 1, Ford 5, Toyota 8.)
2015 - 13 6 9 Chris Eggleston (1st X) 2 7 (512-505)
(Wins by Mfgr – Chevy 2, Ford 6, Toyota 5.)
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR -
2016 - 17 paved 5 7 Doug Coby 5 12 (684-672)
(CT,NY,NH,MA,TN,MA)
2015 - 15 4 5 Doug Coby 7 11 (613-602)
(CT,NY,NH,TN)
NASCAR WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED TOUR -
2016 - 11 paved 3 (NC,VA,TN) 7 Burt Myers 3 20 (465-445)
2015 - 10 3 7 Andy Seuss 3 3 (393-390)
NATIONAL SPRINT CAR LEAGUE (NSL WINGED 410) -
2016 - 26 dirt 6 14 Danny Lasoski 3 556 (8444-7888)
(NE,MN,IA,WI,PA,MO)
2015 – 28 6 14 Danny Lasoski 9 893 (8462-7569)
NMRA TQ MIDGETS -
2016 - 10 dirt 1 (CA) 6 West Evans (3rd X) 1 8 (585-577)
2015 - 15 1 4 Chuck West (6th X) 8 5 (920-915)
NORTHEAST MIDGET ASSN. (NEMA) -
2016 - 13 paved 5 7 John Zych, Jr. 3 55 (1754-1699)
(NH,NY,CT,MA,ME)
2015 - 13 5 8 John Zych, Jr. 3 63 (1977-1914)
PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE GT -
2016 - 20 paved 8 + Canada 7 Alvaro Parente 6 28 (1657-1629)
(TX,CT,WI,OH,UT,FL,CA, AL)
2015 - 20 8 + Canada 10 Johnny O'Connell 4 61 (1679-1618)
POWRi LUCAS OIL NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES -
2016 - 27 dirt 4 (OK,IL,MO,WI) 12 Zach Daum 4 670 (641-5740)
2015 - 30 5 (above 4 + IN) 13 Darren Hagen 4 910 (7620-6710)
PRO MAZDA SERIES -
2016 - 16 paved 6 + Canada 4 Aaron Telitz 6 28 (421-393)
(FL,AL,IN,WI,OH,CA)
2015 - 16 7 + Canada 6 Santiago Urrutia 3 53 (355-302)
RACECAR FACTORY SPEC LATE MODELS – (new name)
2016 - 12 paved 2 (CA,NV) 3 Todd Conrad (1st X) 3 81 (647-581)
SPEARS MFG SRL S2 SPEC LATE MODELS -
2015 - 10 2 (CA,NV) 7 Dylan Garner (1st X) 3 5
RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS -
2016 - 11 paved 7 + Wash. D.C 5 Scott Speed 4 4 (571-567)
(AZ,TX,IL,NC,NJ,WA,CA)
2015 - 12 5+Wash.DC+ Barbados) 7 Scott Speed 2 56 (456-400)
ROBBY GORDON'S STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS -
2016 - 21 paved 4 6 Sheldon Creed 75 (645-570)
(FL,CA,MI,NC) + Canada & Australia)
2015 - 22 5 7 Sheldon Creed 9 33 (617-584)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN MIDGET RACING ASSN. (RMMRA) -
2016 - 11 dirt 2 (CO,KS) 5 Keith Rauch 7 167 (731-564)
2015 - 11 1 (CO) 3 Keith Rauch 6 46 (619-573)
SPEARS MFG SRL SOUTHWEST TOUR STOCK CARS -
2016 - 9 paved 3 (AZ,CA,NV) 4 Derek Thorn (3d X) 5 96 (1518-1422)
2015 - 9 3 (CA,UT,NV) 5 Jacob Gomes (1st X) 2 39 (1359-1320)
TRANS-AM CARS -
2016 - 14 paved 11 7 Amy Ruman 3 9 (299-290)
(FL,GA,NY,MI,NJ,MN,OH,WI,VA,LA,TX)
2015 - 12 paved 9 3 Amy Ruman 8 34 (345-311)
USAC COOPER TIRES FORMULA 2000 -
2016 - 16 paved 6 + Canada 5 Anthony Martin 7 21 (394-373)
2015 - 16 7 + Canada 4 Nico Jarmin 10 72 (457-385)
USAC SILVER CROWN CARS -
2016 - 9 dirt 4 (IL,IN,OH,PA) 4 Chris Windom (1st X) 3 5 (588-583)
2015 - 11 6
(OH,IN,IA,KN,ILNY) 7 Kody Swanson 4 142 (617-475)
USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CARS (410) -
2016 - 44 dirt 10 19 Brady Bacon (1st X) 2 314 (2676-2362)
(FL,IN,OH,PA,NJ,MN,KS,SD,AZ,CA)
2015 - 39 10 13 Robert Ballou (1st X) 13 87 (2274-2187)
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES -
2016 - 19 dirt 8 9 Tanner Thorson (1st X) 6 18 (1249-1231)
(AR,CA,KS,IL,IN,OH,PA,NE)
2015 - 17 7 6 Tracy Hines (1st X) 0 18 (823-805)
USAC-CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CARS (410) -
2016 - 24 dirt 2 (CA-20,AZ-4) 16 Damion Gardner) 5 172 (1645-1473)
at 10 speedways - (4 in a row & 5th total incl. 2005)
2015 - 26 2 (CA-19,AZ-7) 9 Damion Gardner (3rd in row) 8 66 (1358-1292)
at 10 speedways -
USAC WESTERN MIDGET SERIES -
2016 - 14 dirt 1 (CA) 7 Ronnie Gardner (4th X) 6 169 (1042-873)
2015 - 12 dirt 1 9 Ronnie Gardner (3rd X) 3 229 ( 720-491)
USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SERIES (360) -
2016 - 28 dirt 6 7 R. J. Johnson 12 131 (1470-1339)
(AZ,NV,TX,NM,OK,KS)
2015 - 24 dirt 5 9 R. J. Johnson 10 75 (1196-1121)
USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR SERIES (360) -
2016 - 20 dirt 3 (AZ,CA,NV) 11 Brody Roa (1st X) 69 (876-807)
2015 - 21 3 12 Danny Faria, Jr. 3 167 (961-794)
VERIZON INDY CAR SERIES -
2016 - 16 paved 12 + Canada 8 Simon Pagenaud (1st X) 5 127 (659-532) 2015 - 16 11 + Canada 9 Scott Dixon (4th X) 3 0
(P. 1 tiebreaker decided championship – 3 wins by Scott Dixon to 2 for runner-up JP Montoya).
WORLD OF OUTLAWS CRAFTSMAN DIRT LATE MODELS -
2016 - 39 dirt 16 12 Josh Richards 18 268 (5536-5268)
(GA,FL,IL,IN,NC,KY,OH,WV,NY,PA,IA,MN,WI,DE,MD,VA)
2015 - 41 18 14 Shane Clanton 10 42 (5736-5694)
WORLD OF OUTLAWS CRAFTSMAN WINGED SPRINT CARS (410) -
2016 – 82 dirt 26 + Canada 20 Donny Schatz (8th X) 25 314 (11,321-11,007) Schatz won 30% of all WoO features during 2016.
States-AZ,AR,CA,CO,FL,IA,IL,IN,KS,MI,MN,MO,NC,ND,NE,NJ,NV,NY,OH,OK,OR,PA,SD,TX,WA,WI.
2015 – 78 24 + Canada 23 Donny Schatz (7th X) 31 544 (10,563-10,019) Schatz won 40% of all WoO features during 2015.
There were several candidates for most versatile driver during the 2016 season. The criteria are:
> Racing on dirt and paved speedways,
> Racing on ovals and road courses,
> Racing diverse and competitive cars,
> Racing up-front with a chance to win.
With that in mind my top candidates (in random order) are:
> CHRISTOPHER BELL: (NASCAR CWT, and Xfinity Series, ARCA stock cars, USAC National Midgets, Chili Bowl midgets, POWRi Midgets, CARS tour super late models, & various sprint series.
> KYLE LARSON: NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NCWTrucks (on Eldora dirt), USAC National Midgets, Chili Bowl midgets, All-Star 410 Sprint Cars,
> RICO ABREU: NASCAR CWTrucks, All-Star Circuit and World of Outlaws 410 sprint cars, King of the West 360 sprint cars, USAC National Midgets, POWRi Midgets.
> CHASE BRISCOE: ARCA 2016 stock car champion, Chili Bowl midgets, All-Star Circuit 410 sprint cars, plus various sprint car & midget events.
.> BRYAN CLAUSON: The late and versatile champion driver lost his life while leading the feature in August 2016 in a midget race crash at Belleville, Kansas. Prior to that date, Bryan proved his versatility by racing in and leading three laps in the 2016 Indianapolis 500 . He also won races on the USAC National Sprint and USAC National Midget circuits, All-Star 410 Sprint circuit, USAC-CRA 410 sprints, USAC Southwest 360 sprints, and POWRi midgets.
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