By Steve Inch
HERSHEY, Pa. – Selinsgrove Speedway & Raceway Park concluded the 2010
season with the Tenth Annual Awards Banquet Saturday, Nov. 20, at the
Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel. More than $30,000 in point fund monies,
trophies, and jackets were awarded to the year’s top performing teams in
the track’s go kart, micro sprint car, roadrunner, pro stock, late model,
and 358 sprint car divisions.
Track champions Pat Cannon of Etters (358 sprint cars), Jeff Rine of
Danville (late models), AJ Hoffman of Richfield (pro stocks), Ricky Bender
of Joliett (roadrunners), and Todd Hoover of Mt. Pleasant Mills (micro
sprint cars) were also the recipients of custom championship rings from
Foss Jewelers of Selinsgrove.
Clinching his second career A&A Auto Stores 358 sprint car track title at
Selinsgrove Speedway, Cannon turned in an impressive performance in his
full-time return to the division this season with 10 victories at
Selinsgrove. In the 21 events at the track, he drove to 15 top ten
finishes. He became the third driver to repeat a championship since the 358
sprint cars became the track’s weekly open wheel division in 2001. Cannon
also clinched the Williams Grove Speedway and the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic
Central Pennsylvania 358 sprint car titles this season.
Rine recorded his sixth career title in 2010 in the Lyon’s Auto & Truck
Service Center late model division with 15 top five finishes, including
nine feature wins, in the division’s 20 events.
At the start of the season, he made track history by becoming the first
driver to win five consecutive late model features. This year he also
moved into the second position on the speedway’s all-time win list with 64
victories behind Nescopeck’s Bobby Croop with 69 wins.
Rine is one of only three drivers who has won six or more late model
championships at the track since 1963. Croop and Richie Jensen of Nescopeck
are the other two drivers with eight and seven titles, respectively. Rine
now joins Jensen as the only two drivers who have won four consecutive late
model titles.
Hoffman became a first-time champion at the track this season in the Salem
RV Center pro stocks. Hoffman started all 19 events and drove to 11 top
five finishes, including four feature wins. He became the division’s tenth
different champion in 13 years of pro stock racing at the speedway.
In the Byer’s Built Engines/Collier Paving & Construction roadrunners,
Bender was also a first-time champion at the speedway. Bender started all
17 races and recorded 17 top 10 finishes, including three feature wins. He
became the seventh different champion in nine seasons of roadrunner racing.
Special recognition awards were also presented in the following categories:
Most Improved Driver awards went to Josh Beard (sprints), Dave Zona (late
models), Doug Minium (pro stocks), and Jason Sherman (roadrunners).
Sportsman Of The Year plaques were awarded to Cody Keller (sprints, in
memory of Joe Whitcomb), Dylan Yoder (late models), Kyle Bachman (pro
stocks), and Butch Shaffer (roadrunners). Rookie Of The Year honors went to
Steve Nederostek (sprints), Matt Cochran (late models), Mike Kiehl (pro
stocks), and Rob Mentzer (roadrunners).
Raceway Park champions also shared the spotlight Saturday evening. A former
champion in 2007 and 2009, Hoover’s third Selinsgrove Ford micro sprint car
title season was highlighted by 20 top five finishes, including eight
feature wins, in the division’s 23 events. He joins Shane Penny of
Nescopeck as the only two three-time champions in 270 micro sprint car
competition at the track.
Nick Aucker clinched the jr. micro sprint car championship with four
feature wins; Jessica Miller won the 125 micro sprint car title with four
feature wins; and Cliff Loss clinched the title in the mini micro sprint
cars with 18 wins.
Go kart champions were recognized as follows: Gannon Steimling (kid karts),
Jamie Neiman (rookie cage 5-8), Cam Ayres (rookie cage 9-12 and rookies
II), Josh Snyder (jr. restricted lites), Hayes Mattern (jr. cage), Adam
Zimmerman (lites and mediums), Jared Fulkroad (heavies), Cameron Englehart
(extra heavies), Kevin Pyle (adult cage flathead and adult cage animal),
Nathan Herman (flat 330), and Tyler Campbell (flat 370).