By Dick Jordan
National Champions of USAC’s 2011 “Generation Next Tour” for Mopar .25 Midgets have been crowned and will be honored twice in December banquets in Indianapolis, Ind.
The champs will be honored on December 9 at the USAC “Night of Champions” at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis, along with all of USAC’s other National Champions. The following night, their championships will again be celebrated, along with the rest of the Mopar .25 achievers, at a brand-new function to be held at the Indiana Convention Center in conjunction with the IMIS trade show.
Earning “Generation Next” championships in 2011 are: Bryant Dawson of Phoenix, Ariz. (Mod and Heavy AA), Carson Hocevar of Portage, Mich. (Junior Stock and Junior Animal), Garrett Jones of West Palm Beach, Fla. (Light World Formula and Senior Animal), Harrison Burton of Huntersville, N.C. (Light 160), Tyler Clem of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Junior Honda), Michael Fanelli of Rio Rancho, N.M. (Unrestricted Animal), Jared Irvan of Midland, N.C. (Senior Honda), Ryan Krachun of Neshanic, N.J. (B), Mark Miller of Mooresville, N.C. (Heavy 160), Wil Raber of Allegan, Mich. (Heavy Honda), Katlyn Stanley of Concord, N.C. (Heavy World Formula) and Gage Walker of Fairland, Ind. (Light AA).
“It’s been a great season. Despite a tough economy we saw car counts rise for the 2011 Generation Next Series,” stated USAC’s James Spink. :We look forward to announcing our 2012 National Championship dates in the next couple of months.”
Drivers were credited with their best five scores during the 12-race campaign and while several drivers posted near-perfect scores, only Ryan Krachun in the B Class was able to notch the five feature victories to achieve the 300 possible points.
In terms of feature victories across the various classes, Dawson and Jones led the way with nine total wins. Krachun had eight, while Wise, Hocevar and Frankie Nervo had seven apiece. A total of 64 drivers posted A-Main wins during the 2011 tour.