From Bryan Gapinski
Phoenix, AZ — Brad Kuhn increased his point lead Thursday Night in the battle for the 2009 National Midget Driver of the Year Championship. Kuhn finished fourth in the 34th annual Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway. Kuhn now holds a 59-point lead over Bryan Clauson, with four events remaining.
Clauson appeared headed for a possible PIR victory and the NMDOTY points lead, when he took the white flag as the race leader. Contact with race winner Bobby Santos III entering the final two turns at the one-mile track, saw Clauson regulated to an 18th place finish. Rookie Alex Bowman placed third and took the lead in the Design 500 Racewear Rookie fo the Year standings.
Action will now switch to Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway on Nov. 21 for the ARP/J.W. Mitchell Fall Classic, which will pay $5,000 to win. Kuhn has several runner-up feature finishes at the Oceanside 1/4-mile dirt oval. The Toyota Speedway at Irwindale California will then host the 69th annual Turkey Night Grand Prix on Thanksgiving Night Nov. 26.
The final two events which will determine the Championship will be on Friday & Saturday Night’s Nov. 27-28 events at Canyon Speedway Park (Peoria, Ariz.). The Southwest Championships will feature midget racing sanctioned by the AMRA, along with non-winged 360 sprint Cars, and mini sprints. Saturday Night’s feature will pay $2,000-to-win. Sands Chevrolet in Glendale, Ariz. has joined the growing list of sponsors for the event which has seen several purse increases since the event was announced.
Trailing Kuhn and Clauson, and still in contention for the NMDOTY title are also ’07 Champion Jerry Coons Jr.and Brad Loyet. Kuhn’s primary car owner RW Motorsports increased their lead the Car Owners Championship to 101 points over Loyet Motorsports.
POINTS
Driver: 1. Brad Kuhn 1473; 2. Bryan Clauson 1414; 3. Jerry Coons Jr. 1252; 4.Brad Loyet 1243; 5. Bobby East 956; 6. Darren Hagen 955; 7. Brad Sweet 925; 8. Tracy Hines 907; 9. Cole Whitt 758; 10.Scott Hatton 663.
Car Owner: 1. RW Motorsports#17, 1374; 2. Loyet Motorsports#05, 1273, 3. Wilke-PAk#11, 1069, 4. Corey Tucker#39, 963; 5. RFMS#3, 861.
Rookie of the Year: 1. Alex Bowman 465; 2. Caleb Armstrong 389; 3. Andrew Felker 381; 4. Alex Schuette 301; 5. Tanner Swanson 259.
Manufactures: Engine: 1. Ford-Esslinger 545; 2. Mopar 170; 3. Fontan 128; 4. Toyota 117; 5. Chevrolet 83.
Chassis: 1. Spike 517; 2. Beast 287; 3. Stealth 155; 4. Drinan 49; 5. Buzzard 31.