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Contact: World Racing Group
Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
704-467-7803 ? [email protected]
Schatz & Meyers Named to 2008 AARWBA All-America Auto Racing Team
Concord, NC— December 2, 2008—Donny Schatz and Jason Meyers, who battled all season for the 2008 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship, have been named to the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-America Auto Racing Team in the "Short Track" category.
For Schatz, who won his third consecutive World of Outlaws title this season, it was the third straight year that he has earned First Team honors. For Meyers, who matched his career-best finish of second in the championship standings, it was his first time being named to the team, as he garnered Second Team honors.
Schatz won a series-best 18 A-Feature events this season and completed the season with a total of 25 wins, including a number of pre-season victories in Australia. He began the 2008 campaign with 48 consecutive Top-10 finishes and wrapped the year up with a series-leading 58 finishes of 10th or better in the 63 A-Feature events that were contested. He took the point lead for the first time after a win at Eldora Speedway on May 31, and did not relinquish the top spot for the rest of the season.
The North Dakota native was victorious at 16 different tracks this season with the World of Outlaws and moved into the Top-Five on the all-time series win. In addition, he won the Knoxville Nationals for the third consecutive season, joining 20-time series champion Steve Kinser as the only driver to accomplish that feat.
Schatz is eligible for the Jerry Titus Award, which is given to the "Driver of the Year" by the AARWBA at their annual banquet on January 10 at the Hilton Hotel in Ontario, California. The Titus, given in remembrance of the late racer/journalist, signifies the top vote-getter on the All-America team regardless of category.
"It's an honor to be recognized by the AARWBA again this year and to simply be mentioned with winners like Tony Schumacher and Jimmie Johnson," said Schatz. "This recognition wouldn't be possible without the support of my Armor All crew (Rick Warner, Shane Bowers and Kyle Sundby) and all the partners of Tony Stewart Racing. We worked hard throughout the year to win as many races as possible. That mentality has led us to a lot of awards during the past three years. Now, we're working on staying on top and hopefully we can be in a similar position next year."
Meyers, who won nine World of Outlaws events this season, which was a career-best total, led the series in Top-Five finishes with 48. He also led the series in fast time honors, being quickest in time trials on 16 occasions, as well as being tied for the series lead with six wins in the Crane Cams Dash to earn pole positions in feature events. In addition to this, he led the series championship standings during the early part of the season, for the first time in his career.
Meyers started the year off with eight consecutive finishes of eighth or better to assert himself as a championship contender. That momentum and consistency followed him throughout the season, especially during a summer hot streak that saw him rattle off 20 consecutive Top-Five finishes, beginning with a win in the famed Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park in July, where he passed Steve Kinser coming off the fourth turn in heavy lapped traffic to pick up the thrilling victory, by just 0.247 seconds.
Meyers wrapped up the 2008 season by winning the inaugural "Breaking the VAULT" challenge in impressions fashion, at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway during the second annual VAULT World Finals, defeating nine other drivers, including Schatz in the opening round of the match-race event, which pit drivers one-on-one for a lap and a half.
"It's a great way to cap off a very successful 2008 season," said Meyers after being named to the All-America Team. "I am very proud of our entire Elite Racing team and this is an accomplishment for everyone that is involved with this team. To see my name up there with other drivers from all around the world of motorsports is truly an honor."
The AARWBA has been naming an All-America Auto Racing Team since 1970, and since the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series was founded in 1978, the series has been represented in 28 of those years. The voting for the All-America Auto Racing team is comprised of the 400-plus AARWBA members. After earning his first berth on the All-America team, Meyers became the ninth World of Outlaws driver in the series 30-year history to be named to the team.
Earning an Honorable Mention in the "Short Track" category in his first time on ballot was World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Darrell Lanigan.
Steve Kinser holds the record of being named to the All-America Auto Racing Team a record 23 times, including an unprecedented 18 berths on the First Team.
The 2009 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series seasons kicks off February 6-8 at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida with the 38th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH.
2008 AARWBA All-America Auto Racing Team
FIRST TEAM
OPEN WHEEL: Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon
STOCK CAR: Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson
ROAD RACING: David Brabham/Scott Sharp, Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas
DRAG RACING: Cruz Pedregon, Tony Schumacher
SHORT TRACK: Jerry Coons Jr., Donny Schatz
TOURING SERIES: Justin Allgaier, Johnny Benson
AT LARGE: Jorg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler, Raphael Matos
SECOND TEAM
OPEN WHEEL: Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan
STOCK CAR: Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch
ROAD RACING: Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas, Jon Fogarty/Alex Gurney, Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner (3-way tie)
DRAG RACING: Jeg Coughlin, Tim Wilkerson
SHORT TRACK: Tracy Hines, Jason Meyers & Cole Whitt (tie)
TOURING SERIES: Ted Christopher, Benny Gordon
AT LARGE: Frank Manzo, Travis Pastrana
HONORABLE MENTION (At least 5% of the vote)
OPEN WHEEL: Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon
STOCK CAR: none
ROAD RACING: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell
DRAG RACING: Greg Anderson, Spencer Massey
SHORT TRACK: Darrell Lanigan
TOURING SERIES: Eric Holmes, Matt Kobyluck
AT LARGE: Laurie Cannister, Rob MacCachren
Long Live 20 Time World Of Outlaws Champion Steve
Kinser #11
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