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Top Ten Hottest Drivers of the Week
10. Mike Kertscher: Kertscher had a great run Saturday with the IRA at the Charter Raceway Park. Kertscher claimed his first IRA victory of the 2009 season. Kertscher started the night off by posting the second quickest time in qualifying, putting him on the outside of row three for the start of the second heat. The six-car inversion didn't hinder Kertscher one bit, as he put on an exciting performance going straight to the front, not only grabbing one of four transfer spots but winning the heat as well. The eight-car inversion for the A-Main would have Kertscher starting on the inside of the fourth row. Kertscher would run smoothly on the bottom fighting his way into fifth before disaster was narrowly avoided, with Kertscher somehow missing a slowing car coasting right in front of him on the bottom. After swerving around the broken car Kertscher would restart in fourth again using the bottom to get to second. With leader Mike Reinke committed to the top Kertscher was able to take advantage when Reinke found himself caught behind a lap car, cutting to the middle and taking the lead. Kertscher never looked back, getting himself to victory lane for the first time in 2009. Kertscher was definitely the class of the field not having any problem passing in either the heat or the feature putting on one heck of a show in Beaver Dam.
9. Aaron Higgins: Last week, Higgins earned an honorable mention for his ninth-place run with the World of Outlaws at the K-C Raceway. This week, Aaron cracks the Top Ten by virtue of getting his second win of the 2009 season at the Skyline Speedway. Higgins stretches out his point lead at the speedway, after beating championship rival Jimmy Stinson by five positions Friday night, with Stinson coming home sixth. Higgins has had a very impressive year at the Skyline Speedway only finishing outside the Top Five once all year, and that was way back in the season opener on April 17. However, Friday night was also the first time since April that Higgins has been able to make it to victory lane. So it seems that Higgins was bolstered by a big confidence boost with his strong run against the Outlaws a week ago, with Higgins finding himself in victory lane, as he tries to solidify his first ever Skyline Speedway Track Championship.
8. Doug Esh: "The Hammer" finally got to victory lane for the first time in 2009 Friday night at the William's Grove Speedway. It has been a less than stellar year for the former National Open Champion, with nothing in the wins column up at the Grove, and only one at the Lincoln Speedway up until this weekend. But Esh finally made it to victory lane in Mechanicsbug this week, and he did it in exciting and controversial fashion. Esh started on the inside of row five and steadily moved his way up through the field, taking second on lap 22. On a restart with just four laps to go, "The Hammer" went to the inside of Adam Wilt, who was looking for his first ever 410 sprint car victory. However, Esh's slidejob would send Wilt over the wall, allowing Esh to cruise to his first victory of the season. Regardless of how he won the race, Esh put on an impressive charge from the tenth starting position, winning a race that the fans in posse country will be talking about for some time.
7. Chris Andrews: The 2007 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 410 Rookie of the Year is really hittinghis stride this year. At the start of the 2009 season, Andrews had never gotten a win in a 410 sprint car. As of Friday night he has three! Andrews earned his third win of the season at the Attica Raceway Park, and his second FAST win after getting by Brock Mayes on lap 12 and leading the rest of the way. Andrews now sits second in the Attica Raceway Park points standings, 37 markers behind five-time track champion Byron Reed. He also sits ahead in points as such names as Mark Keegan, Craig Mintz, and Mike Linder. Andrews also sits towards the top of the charts in the overall FAST standings, sitting in fourth, only 13 points behind third-place Mark Keegan. It's been a great year for Andrews, but it is not over. The 21 year-old still has a decent shot at beating Byron Reed to take the Attica Raceway Park Points Championship.
6. Bud Kaeding: Bud Kaeding earned his second Golden State Challenge Series win of 2009 Saturday night at the Ocean Speedway. Bud is one of those few drivers around today who can win with or without a wing. The two-time USAC Silver Crown Series Champion, and current 2009 Silver Crown Points Leader put a win on this week, and made the most of it. To demonstrate how versatile Bud is, two days before the GSC winged-sprint win, Bud was in Upstate New York, running on asphalt at the Oswego Speedway, where he would finish tenth in the Silver Crown race Two days later, he was in California, with a wing on and on the dirt, picking up the GSC win. Bud should be recognized as one of the most versatile sprint car drives out there today, and he proved it this week.
5. Brian Montieth: "The Edge" picked up another win at the Lincoln Speedway Saturday night at the Weldon Sterner Memorial, collecting the $4,000 prize. It was win number six on the year for Montieth at the Lincoln Speedway. Montieth charged from the seventh starting position, getting by Krimes for the lead in a back and forth battle between the two championship rivals. Things have changed quite a bit over the last year. Montieth claimed the 2008 Track Title without getting any wins all season at the track. This year, Montieth is trying to win the 2009 Championship the right way, by winning races. Saturday night's win gave Montieth back the point lead by 10 points over Alan Krimes. Ironically, Krimes, who is Montieth's only real challenge for the championship, has yet to win this season. Montieth kept Krimes out of victory lane yet again this season. But one has to wonder, does being winless mean championship year at Lincoln, or will Montieth make it a much more winning championship year.
4 Jason Sides: Sides was involved in one of the most exciting finishes of the year with the World of Outlaws, or in fact anywhere, this year at the I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO. Sides, Schatz, and Dollansky went three wide for the lead off of turn four on the final lap. Sides was able to sneak by World of Outlaw point leader Donny Schatz on the bottom to finish second. Another second place finish for the driver of the 7s. Sides would have another strong night on the second night in Pevely, grabbing sixteenth top five and 33rd top ten in 2009 during the inaugural Ironman 55. It is a very different, and much better, year for Sides than 2008, in which Sides only finished in the top five three times, and only had seventeen top tens. This year Sides has more than multiplied those top fives by five times, and has already nearly double the amount of top tens as he had in the 2008 season. Oh, and he's been to victory lane. Its been a career for Sides. Let's see if he can keep it up.
3. Craig Dollansky: The "Crowd Pleaser" is back! After an awful first half of the season, Dollansky has finally returned to being the driver of the past few years. Dollansky took his second World of Outlaw win of the season on the opening night in Pevely, becoming the eighth driver to record more than one win in 2009. He also took the win in the most exciting finish if the year, holding off both Schatz and Sides for the win. Dollansky now has two wins in as many weeks, but Dollansky almost made it three during the Ironman 55. Leading the first portion of the race, Dollansky lost the lead when Saldana snuck by on the inside, but would follow him closely for the rest of the race. The two Kasey Kahne racing teammates then would pull out to about a half a lap lead over third-place, while running nose-to-tail to take Kasey Kahne Racing to a one-two finish at the inaugural Ironman 55. In fact, Saldana wouldn't have been up there at all had Dollansky not shared information with his teammate. So maybe the "Crowd Pleaser" could also be called the "Team Player". Regardless of whether dollansky cost himself a $20,000 payday by being so generous, it was a great second-place run by Dollansky, and a great night for Kasey Kahne Racing.
2. Joey Saldana: The $20,000 paycheck did go to the "Brownsburg Bullet" Joey Saldana. After having a stellar month of June, getting into victory lane four times, and drawing himself to within five points of World of Outlaws point leader Donny Schatz in the first week of July, the rest of July was just terrible. Coming into the Ironman 55, Saldana had lost 130 points to Schatz since coming so close to the points lead, and hadn't been to victory lane since July 8 at the 34 Raceway in Burlington, IA. But Saturday night saldana would put himself back on track, winning the inaugural Ironman 55 (the longest race in World of Outlaws history) and collecting $20,000 for doing so. It was Saldana's thirteenth Outlaw A-Main victory of 2009, the most on the World of Outlaw tour. Coming in to this week I figured that the person who would win the first ever Ironman 55, and the $20,000 to go with it would definitely be number one on this list. But there's another driver who has had a week so incredible, that he had to be number one.
Hottest Driver of the Week-Terry McCarl: Wow! McCarl has now recorded five feature victories in a row, three with a 410 under the hood, and two with a 360. A week ago, McCarl was number two on this list for his wins on Saturday night at Knoxville, and Sunday night for his All-Star win at Huset's. "TMAC" has continued this hot streak into this week. On Friday night, McCarl took a preliminary night A Feature win during the Knoxville 360 Nationals, taking the lead with an impressive last corner slidejob to pass Brian Brown for the win. Then the next night on Saturday, McCarl would sweep the night, an impressive feat. TMAC would get his second Knoxville weekly win in a row, coming up from the fourth starting position to get the win, again over Brian Brown. Then McCarl would make it two wins in one night as he would become the first ever driver to win a third Knoxville 360 Nationals. What an awesome night. Can McCarl continue this stretch of winning into the Knoxville Nationals and become the first ever driver from the State of Iowa to win Sprint Car racing's biggest event. He already has a first this week, let's see if he can make it another one. We'll find out in just three days.
Honorable Mention: Donny Schatz, Keith Kauffman, Rod George, Jake Peters, Kyle Hirst
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