From Rich Vleck
ROCHESTER, NY, (August 31, 2011)- With the 2011 Patriot Sprint Tour Regular Season coming to a close this Sunday at Eriez, a host of points battles will be settled, including hard charger honors.
For the seventh year now, Gater Racing News will present the Hard Charger of the Season Award. Drivers earn points for this title only in full-point PST when they finish higher than where they started. So far this year, 48 different drivers have earned points, but one is far ahead of the rest.
Brad Knab, of Delevan, NY, holds a commanding lead heading into the final even where points are possible. While four other drivers still have a mathematical chance at taking the title, it is likely to go to Knab even before the A-Main gets underway on Sunday.
Knab, who sits third in points in his first full season on the Patriot Tour, has amassed a 15 point lead over Tim Kelly due to his consistency in moving forward each race. In six consecutive races during the summer months, the No. 38 finished at least three spots higher than where it started in six consecutive races.
In a three-month span, the only time Knab did not finish higher than where he started was at Merrittville, when he was on the pole of the A-Main. At times this season, Knab has joked after the heat races that he was “sandbagging” in the qualifiers just to ensure that he kept accumulating points.
Tim Kelly will have to finish 16 spots higher than where he started Sunday at Eriez to take the title away. Kelly has a three-point advantage over Vern Wasson and Jared Zimbardi, who are tied for third. Zimbardi is the only driver to ever be named the Hard Charger of the Season Twice.
The top three in Hard Charger points will receive point fund money at the year-end banquet, which means that more than 30 drivers can still take a slice of the fund if things went right Sunday at Eriez.
Racing action kicks off Sunday at 6:00 P.M. For more information, visit www.PatriotSprintTour.com.
|
|
Gater Hard Charger |
Total |
|
|
|
of the Season |
|
|
|
1 |
38 |
Brad Knab |
43 |
|
2 |
12 |
Tim Kelly |
28 |
|
3 |
5 |
Vern Wasson |
25 |
|
4 |
35 |
Jared Zimbardi |
25 |
|
5 |
52 |
Scott Kreutter |
22 |
|
6 |
7x |
Jamie Collard |
21 |
|
7 |
45x |
Doug Banks |
20 |
|
8 |
99 |
Jeff Frasier |
18 |
|
9 |
V8 |
Shayne Ely |
17 |
|
10 |
51 |
Bryan Howland |
17 |
|
11 |
67D |
Chris Durand |
16 |
|
12 |
21 |
Don Adamczyk |
16 |
|
13 |
5D |
Dave Dykstra |
15 |
|
14 |
8 |
Blake Breen |
14 |
|
15 |
80 |
Dave Wickham |
13 |
|
16 |
71 |
Travis Cunningham |
11 |
|
17 |
24k |
Devin Caron |
10 |
|
18 |
49 |
Todd Hoddick |
9 |
|
19 |
O1 |
Mikey Kruchka |
9 |
|
20 |
75 |
Tommy Wickham |
9 |
|
21 |
32 |
Justin Barger |
8 |
|
22 |
11 |
Chris Jones |
8 |
|
23 |
87 |
George Suprick |
7 |
|
24 |
67 |
Steve Collins |
7 |
|
25 |
98 |
Paul Pekkonen |
7 |
|
26 |
87* |
Jason Barney |
7 |
|
27 |
28fm |
Steve Poirier |
7 |
|
28 |
5 |
Keith Dempster |
7 |
|
29 |
7 |
Kyle Moffit |
6 |
|
30 |
11 |
Chris Shuttleworth |
6 |
|
31 |
55 |
Patrick Vigneault |
6 |
|
32 |
O1 |
Kyle Fraser |
6 |
|
33 |
151kb |
Brian McDonald |
6 |
|
34 |
10 |
Mitch Brown |
5 |
|
35 |
0 |
Glenn Styres |
5 |
|
36 |
45 |
Chuck Hebing |
4 |
|
37 |
15 |
Kyle Lefelhoc |
4 |
|
38 |
8B |
Alain Bergeron |
4 |
|
39 |
22d |
Bruce DeWick |
3 |
|
40 |
5B |
Adam Anderson |
3 |
|
41 |
07x |
Dain Naida |
3 |
|
42 |
35k |
Kyle Drum |
3 |
|
43 |
25 |
Jay Groves |
2 |
|
44 |
5m |
Brad Malloy |
2 |
|
45 |
14 |
Tony Stewart |
2 |
|
46 |
77x |
Wayne Johnson |
2 |
|
47 |
F37 |
Jim Porter |
1 |
|
48 |
15aw |
April Wilson |
1 |