Wytheville, VA ~ RACE22.com is proud to announce the 2008 “22 Awards”, an awards presentation for the Late Model Stock Car drivers, teams and tracks.
This year we’ve got a little help from some of our supporters as we give out awards and give them a little more meaning with something tangible for some of the award winners with more to be added for 2009 with some new advertisers commiting to contributing to our efforts for the 2009 season.
You’ve seen the nominees or if you hadn’t CLICK HERE before continuing to read on so you’ll know who the nominees were and read on to find out who this year’s winners are. The awards were voted on by many of the staff members of RACE22.com as well as some of our supporters.
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“ARPBodies.com Best Rookie Driver” … This category is about the best young talent in Late Model Stock Car racing today and while there was a lot of talent out there this season especially in the UARA-STARS Series and two guys battled it out there and the same two guys received the two highest vote
totals with one standing on top.
And the Winner is …. Brandon McReynolds, even though he didn’t win the UARA-STARS Rookie of the Year after falling a few points short of another top rookie, Darrell Wallace, Jr. In the RACE22.com voting by our staff and some of our supporters, McReynolds won out by one vote over Wallace. Both driver won only one race on the tour this year, but Wallace did get one other win in a non-UARA sanctioned event at Franklin County Speedway, the same track that McReynolds won the tour race on edging out Wallace for the victory. McReynolds, who is returning to the UARA tour in 2009 surprised a lot of people by running up front and being competitive week-in and week-out against the best racers in Late Model Stock Cars.
Congratulations to Brandon McReynolds on becoming the “ARPBodies.com Best Rookie Driver” for the 2008 season, for his efforts McReynolds will recieve a $500.00 Gift Certificate for a Body Purchase from ARPBodies! ARPBodies is the exclusive race body of RACE22.com and continues to support Late Model Stock Car racing scene with the sponsorship of this award for the “22 Awards”!
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“Most Dominant Performance” … This category was not only for season long dominators, but for drivers who dominated a single race from
start to finish as well. This award is brought to you by RACE22.com Website Designs where RACE22.com will be giving a $500.00 Gift Certificate good toward the purchase of a Driver Website Package.
And the Winner is …. 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion, Philip Morris. Morris dominated the 2008 season at Motor Mile Speedway and took home three championships in one season with the Motor Mile Speedway track championship, the NASCAR Whelen VA State and the National Championship. Morris, who has dominated the Radford track for many years also became a two-time NASCAR National Champion after winning the title in 2006 and narrowly missing out on the title in 2007.
Congratulations to Philip Morris on winning the “Most Dominant Performance” of 2008 in the Annual “22 Awards”!
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“Overcoming All Odds” … This category is all about the “Underdog”, the guy who overcame the odds stacked against him to accomplish something no one expected him or her to be
able to do. This award is brought to you by XtremeRaceCards.com and will be giving away a $200.00 Gift Certificate to be used on the Purchase of 1,000 Hero Cards, Custom Designed by XtremeRaceCards.com!
And the Winner is …. Jamie Byrd, who started near the back of the pack in his heat race at Martinsville Speedway for the Bailey’s 300 and made the race holding off a former winner of
the event, Frank Deiny, Jr. Byrd, who races for an underfunded team and normally competes at Motor Mile Speedway lived out a dream making the event. Byrd, who was an all-star Mini-Stock driver, is working hard to compete at this regions highest level and is a student of Greg Marlowe, working for Marlowe Racing Chassis in Statesville, NC and surely that has helped further his career in Late Model Stock Cars.
Congratulations to Jamie Byrd for “Overcoming All Odds” in the Bailey’s 300 and even though making the race was enough for this young driver he’ll get a killer deal on some Hero Cards this season!
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“RACE22.com Driver of the Year” … This category determines who the Late Model Stock Car “Driver of the Year” was for 2008. The award rewards the driver who made huge accomplishments and while there was a few drivers who were worthy of this award only one could win it. The winner of the “RACE22.com Driver of the Year” award will receive a $750.00 Gift Certificate good toward the Purchase of a Website as well a Gold “Class Ring Style” ring courtesy of RACE22.com!
And the Winner is …. Andy Loden … Loden was the NASCAR Whelen All-American North Carolina State Champion and the only Late Model Stock Car racer to win championships at two different tracks in 2008, winning at Hickory and Tri-County Motor Speedway. Loden may have fallen short of the NASCAR National Championship, but only due to a lack of car count with the 25-car rules in the NASCAR points system.
Congratulations to Andy Loden, our 2008 “RACE22.com Driver of the Year” and now he can add this title to his resume along with three Hickory Motor Speedway track championships, one Tri-County Motor Speedway track championship and the NASCAR Whelen All-American North Carolina State Championship. Maybe he can even carry this momentum from last season to another championship as he steps up to the UARA-STARS Series in 2009!
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“Best Rivalry” … This category is all about a Great Rivalry and in 2008 we had a few this season some ending with the drivers and teams coming to blows on pit road and some just got nasty verbally or maybe on-track.
And the Winner is …. Andy Loden and Andy Mercer, this rivalry became affectionately known as the “Andy and Andy” show at Hickory Motor Speedway. Mercer had a great season at HMS, but so did Loden and on a night when the two were battling for a win late in the season this friendly rivalry boiled over as Mercer forcefully took the win and Loden rammed him down the backstretch after the race was over. The two teams never actually came to blows, but came very close according to witnesses. This rivalry was a shot in the arm for Hickory Motor Speedway and every track or series could benefit from this type of controversy.
Congratulations to Andy Loden and Andy Mercer on winning this award, it may not be the kind of award they wanted to win this year, but either way it will forever belong to them!
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“ARPBodies.com Most Improved Driver” … This category was a very tough decision as there were many drivers who made major improvements in the last year, but one guy stood out above the rest and for that he’ll receive a $500.00 Gift Certificate from ARPBodies.com … ARPBodies is the exclusive race body of RACE22.com and continues to support the Late Model Stock Car racing scene with the sponsorship of this award.
And the Winner is …. Jesse LeFevers made a believer out of many this season when he was running up front week-in and week-out at Hickory and Tri-County Motor Speedway this past season, but really opened some eyes with a couple of wins at TCMS against very tough competition. LeFevers is also expected to be one of the tough customer this season for the championship at both tracks and if he steps out to some other tracks he may be a huge threat this season.
Congratulations to Jesse LeFevers, the “ARPBodies.com Most Improved Driver” for 2008, hopefully he’ll get himself a nice new body from ARP with the $500.00 gift certificate he’ll receive!
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“Best Original Drama” … The Most Dramatic Moment of the Year was won by nearly a landslide of votes by our staff and supporters as one moment apparently stood out above the rest.
And the Winner is …. Jason York, BJ Mackey, Richard Boswell and Darrell Wallace, Jr. all come down to the finish of the UARA-STARS 150 at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, NC in a near dead heat as the four drivers were all within a car length of one another in a battle for the win. Mackey led the race at the white flag, but a bump from York pushed him up and as those two raced hard Boswell nearly slipped by them both for the win and Wallace was coming hard as well. Mackey went from first to third as York
won the race and Boswell finished second in what may have been one of the greatest finishes in the history of Late Model Stock Car racing.
Congratulations to Jason York, BJ Mackey, Richard Boswell and Darrell Wallace, Jr., these four guys were a part of history in one of the greatest finish in recent history and the winners of the “Best Original Drama”!
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“Best Stunt Scene” … This category is all about the “big one” … several big wrecks happened around the region last year in Late Model Stock Car competition, but a few stood out above the rest as some drivers took some wild spills.
And the Winner is …. Corey LaJoie and Kenneth Headen getting together at Greenville Pickens Speedway during the UARA-STARS event. LaJoie came up off the corner and didn’t have Headen cleared when he moved up the track, unfortunately for Headen and LaJoie it was a wild ride as Headen jumped up on the wall and rode the wall on his drivers side with LaJoie holding him up on the wall. Headen nearly rode the entire length of the wall before coming to a rest on his side and bursting into flames. Neither driver was hurt, but the fans sure did enjoy the action.
Congratulations to Corey LaJoie and Kenneth Headen for an award no one certainly wants to win and probably cost both drivers a little pocket change to get their cars back together.
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Congratulations to all the award winners and special thanks to ARPBodies.com and XtremeRaceCards.com for helping to supply award for the categories for the 2008 season.
