From Eldon Butcher
HAUBSTADT, Ind. (November 4, 2016) — Drivers participating with the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series Season are receiving or have received awards to finalize this season. The week of October 24th thru 29th served as the annual MSCS Awards Week.
Post season awards included sending point fund checks to the top 10 drivers that met the 60% participation requirement. Beautiful rosewood plaques were provided to drivers placing second to fifth in points and to the MSCS Hard Charger of the Year. Award jackets from point fund sponsor Hoosier Tire Midwest were provided for the Champions and Rookie of the Year. And there were various other contingency prizes.
Brady Short of Mitchell,IN, won his third MSCS crown. Short was ever consistent in finishing in the top 5 or top 10 in every feature he competed in except one. He also remains the All Time Feature Wins leader in the series with 21victories! A second place feature finish at Montpelier Speedway in late July propelled him into the points lead and he protected that lead during the final four events.
Brady Short received the driver championship trophy following the Harvest Cup in October at Tri-State Speedway. Cam Pottorff was the Championship Car Owner. The Champion’s portion of the Hoosier Tire sponsored MSCS Points Fund was $2,500. The total of the point fund that was paid out totaled over $7,500.
Tyler Hewitt of Marion, IN, was awarded the MSCS Rookie of the Year trophy trackside prior to the last race. Hewitt also finished in second place in overall series points. In addition to the point fund check he received a check for $750 as the Rookie of the Year. As the top rookie Hewitt also received a valuable certificate towards the purchase of a racing uniform from Hinchman Indy Racing Uniforms.
Brandon Morin finished third in season points. The twenty-one year old Jasonville,IN, driver led the MSCS standings two times during the season in only his second full season to compete with MSCS. He was the series Rookie of the Year in 2015!
Carson Short and Donny Brackett rounded out the top five in points.
The remainder of the top ten drivers included Kyle Cummins, rookie Jared Chastain, C.J. Leary, Brandon Mattox, and Dakota Jackson. Jon Stanbrough and Chase Stockon finished just outside of the top ten as did rookie Jadon Rogers.
Kyle Cummins recorded the most feature wins for the season with three. Robert Ballou received the plaque from MSCS for being the 2016 Hard Charger of the Year. This is the second season in a row that the award went to Ballou.
Merchandise certificates from AFCO totaling over $500 were awarded to the top drivers from those who signed up with MSCS under their racing shocks program. Awards went to Tyler Hewitt, Brandon Morin and C.J. Leary.
The gate prize that is presented at the end of the season by RaceBumpers.Com was won by Donny Brackett. He won a complete set of bumpers and nerf bars. Brackett’s name was drawn from a pool of all of the eligible drivers that participated in 60% or more of the MSCS points paying events. The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, also contributed three membership packets for the upcoming year. They are provided for the Champion, Points Runner-up, and Rookie of the Year.
A hundred drivers participated in MSCS races in 2016. They arrived in an average of 27 cars per event. The two highest car counts for the season belonged to Tri-State Speedway with 41 entries and Lincoln Park Speedway followed closely with 38.
The Midwest Sprint Car Series wishes to thank all the series sponsors, drivers, car owners, track promoters, officials, journalists, photographers, and the enthusiastic race fans for their involvement and support in 2016.
Sponsors who provided awards associated with the racing events already held include Hooker Harness, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Pyrotect Racing Cells, RaceBumpers.Com, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, and Wilwood Brakes.
This was the 16th season of racing for MSCS. Management will be working with track promoters in the weeks ahead to create a full and challenging schedule of non-wing sprint car races for 2017.
Final 2016 Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series Point Standings
1) 11p Brady Short 589
2) 97x Tyler Hewitt 560 R
3) 98 Brandon Morin 542
4) 21 Carson Short 532
5) 4b Donny Brackett 481
6) 3r Kyle Cummins 470
7) 52c Jared Chastain 424 R
8) 30 C.J. Leary 372
9) 28 Brandon Mattox 361
10) 3 Dakota Jackson 341
______________________________
11) 81 Jon Stanbrough 319
12) 32 Chase Stockon 313
13) 66j Jadon Rogers 305 R
14) 1 Kevin Thomas Jr. 304
15) 38 Jeff Bland Jr. 257
16) 5k Kent Schmidt 254
17) 17 Max McGhee 234
18) 41 Jim Shelton 224
19 38w Chet Williams 223
20) 7 Critter Malone 218
R – Rookie Driver