KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The North American 360 Sprint Car Poll voting panel, consisting of media members, promoters and sanctioning officials, has selected Shane Stewart as its the Driver of the Year for the first time.
Stewart, the 2009 American Sprint Car Series national touring champion, earned 15 of the 21 first-place ballots cast in the year-end poll. Stewart’s car owner Paul Silva will receive the Team of the Year Award as well.
Those ranked second through fourth were 2006 and ’08 Driver of the Year Jason Johnson in second, 2003, ’04, ’05 and ’07 Driver of the Year Gary Wright and 2002 Driver of the Year Tim Crawley. ASCS Northwest Regional champion Roger Crockett and Travis Rilat share the fifth position.
ASCS Southwest racer Joshua Hodges of New Mexico earned the Rookie of the Year title in his first full season of winged 360-cubic-inch sprint-car competition.
Due to a tie in the voting, Bo Rawdon of Cowtown Speedway in Texas and three-time award winner Glenn Styres of Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada, will share the Promoter of the Year Award.
Jim and Tammy Haines of Diversified Machine, Inc. (DMI) in Pennsylvania will receive the 2009 Builder/Manufacturer of the Year plaque for the first time.
In another tie amongst the voters, Kirk Elliott and Scott Traylor of www.RacinBoys.com and two-time recipient Lonnie Wheatley of the American Sprint Car Series will share the Media Member of the Year award for 2009. Jesse Hockett of Missouri will receive the Wild Card Award for his exciting 360 sprint car performances in 2009.
The top 25:
1. Shane Stewart, 1570;
2. Jason Johnson, 720;
3. Gary Wright, 428;
4. Tim Crawley, 419;
5. Roger Crockett, 235;
5. Travis Rilat, 235;
7. Jesse Hockett, 211;
8. J.J. Grasso, 190;
9. Tony Bruce, Jr., 188;
10. Terry Gray, 175;
11. Sean Becker, 169;
12. Justin Barger, 90;
13. Paul McMahan, 85;
14. Trevor Lewis, 75;
15. Jack Dover, 69;
16. Wayne Johnson, 60;
17. Bryan Howland, 45;
18. Clint Garner, 37;
19. Dustin Daggett, 26;
20. J.R. Stewart, 25;
21. Danny Wood, 23;
22. Josh Fisher, 20;
22. Tom Huppunen, 20;
22. Danny Martin, Jr., 20;
25. Andy Forsberg, 18.