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All HammerDown! Team 2010 highlighted by three new faces – By Bobby Gerould – December 23, 2010. Rocklin, CA. ….HammerDownUSA.com today named the 2010 All-HammerDown! Team. Led by Racer’s Racing Series Champion, Paul McMahan – the 40 driver “team” includes those who performed best at the highest paying and most prestigious American grass roots open-wheel events. 

 

Nine drivers continued their streak of making the All-HammerDown! Team in each of the eight years since the honor was created in 2003. The talented nine are: Dave Darland, Jac Haudenschild, Tim Kaeding, Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Jason Meyers, Daryn Pittman, Joey Saldana, and Donny Schatz.

 

Three drivers made the team in 2010 for the first time in their career. Two youngsters, Kyle Larson (18), and Chris Windom (19) are joined by veteran Tim Crawley as drivers who had breakout performances this season.

 

In alphabetical order:

 

1.     Brady Bacon  - Broken Arrow, OK. Age 20. Bacon won the winged ASCS sanctioned Steve King Memorial at Jetmore, KS. and finished second in the non-winged USAC National Sprint Car event at Knoxville Raceway in August.

2.     Dale Blaney – Hartford, OH. Age 46. Blaney took home the prestigious Brad Doty Classic at Lima, OH in July under the World of Outlaws sanction.

3.     Tony Bruce Jr. – Liberal KS. Age 26. Bruce continued to promote races and compete in 2010. He scored a preliminary win followed by a third place finish at the Rock N Roll 50 in October at West Memphis AR.

4.     Bryan Clauson – Noblesville, IN. Age 21. It was another stellar season for Clauson who notched huge midget victories at Belleville, KS, and in the 70th running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix (Irwindale, CA.). Clauson became the first winner of the USAC National Drivers Championship.

5.     Jerry Coons Jr. – Tucson, AZ. Age 38. Coons won the USAC National Sprint Car Hulman Classic at Terre Haute, IN. to highlight another fine campaign across midgets, sprint cars, and champ dirt machines.

6.     Tim Crawley – Benton, AR. Age 40. Crawley won ASCS National events at Little Rock, AR., Wheatland MO. and W. Memphis AR. in a span of five weeks to assure his first career spot on the All-HammerDown! Team.

7.     Dave Darland – Lincoln, IN. Age 44. “The People’s Champ” – Darland, earned his eighth consecutive All-HammerDown! nod on the strength of consistent runs across sprint cars, midgets, and champ dirt cars.

8.     Lance Dewease – Fayetteville, PA. Age 45. Dewease won leg #1 of the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville, PA against World of Outlaws competition. He finished second in the Williams Grove National Open and was also runner-up with WoO in their March visit to Bulls Gap, TN.

9.     Craig Dollansky – Elk River, MN. Age 44. “The Crowd Pleaser” used consistent runs and a fourth place finish in the Knoxville Nationals to earn his seventh straight All-HammerDown! Team honor.

10. Jack Dover – Springfield, NE. Age 20. Perhaps the best kept secret in sprint car racing is Dover who won the 37th annual Devils Bowl Winter Nationals and finished fourth in the ASCS National point standings.

11. Bobby East – Brownsburg, IN. Age 25. Three big performances in the Western United States propelled East to the All-HammerDown! Team. He won the USAC National Midget event at Perris one week after a second pace finish at Tucson. East finished third in the a sprint car at the Perris Oval Nationals

12. Damion Gardner – Concord, CA. Age 33. Gardner started 2010 strong and never let up with a second at the Perris Oval Nationals, and a third in a sprint car at the Four Crown at Eldora as his best points earning moments of the RRS slate. 

13. Sam Hafertepe Jr. – Sunnyvale, TX. Age 25. Hafertepe impressed at Williams Grove in May with a second place run in World of Outlaws action. He also posted a runner-up finish in the Short Track Nationals (Little Rock, AR.).

14. Darren Hagen – Riverside, CA. Age 24. Hagen won the Gold Crown Midget Nationals which was co-sanctioned by USAC and POWRi. This will mark Hagen’s fifth straight All-HD honor.

15. Jac Haudenschild – Wooster, OH. Age 52. Haudenschild was one of only five drivers to win at least five World of Outlaws races in 2010. The Hall of Fame driver – beloved by fans – has made the All-HammerDown! Team every year since the team was started in 2003.

16. Tracy Hines – New Castle, IN. Age 38. Hines had two standout wins in 2010. He captured the USAC Silver Crown event at Raceway Park in Indianapolis as well as the Firemen’s Midget Nationals at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, WI.

17. Jason Johnson – Eunice, LA. Age 34. Johnson won the Fred Brownfield Memorial race at Elma, WA under the ASCS sanction but he proved he can wheel a 410 as well with a top ten finish in the Knoxville Nationals.

18. Levi Jones – Olney, IL. Age 28. Levi won the 2010 USAC National Sprint Car championship en route to his seventh straight All-HammerDown! selection. Jones picked off two of the biggest races on the USAC schedule, winning the Copper on Dirt as well as the Sprint Car version of the Four Crown at Eldora.

19. Bud Kaeding – Campbell, CA. Age 31. Brandon “Bud” Kaeding continued to rack up major non-wing sprint car wins in 2010. He tripled with BIG wins in the Non-Wing Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville, IA.), Ultimate Challenge (Oskaloosa, IA.), and the Pacific Coast Open (Tulare, CA.).

20. Tim Kaeding – San Jose, CA. Age 32. Tim made the All-HammerDown! Team for the eighth straight year. Highlights for Kaeding included nine wins in California (at five different tracks) and one victory in Oregon.

21. Chad Kemenah – Findley, OH. Age 39. Strong runs in his two nights at the Knoxville Nationals combined with consistent top 15 runs in WoO action earned Kemenah enough points to make the All-HammerDown! Team for the seventh time in his career.

22. Kraig Kinser – Bloomington, IN. Age 26. Kraig earned his third consecutive and fifth overall All-HammerDown! berth with top-five finishes in three major events. Kinser was fourth in the WoO March visit to Tulare, fourth in the Brad Doty Classic, and fourth in the Iron man 55 (Pevely, MO.)

23. Steve Kinser - Bloomington, IN. Age 56. Among the many big wins for Steve in 2010 were WoO stops at Volusia, FL., Grand Forks, SD., and at Skagit Speedway in Alger, WA. Kinser’s biggest win came in the nationally televised Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH.)

24. Brad Kuhn – Avon, IN. Age 29. Kuhn is one of the most accomplished midget drivers in the USA. This season he finished second in the Gold Crown Midget Nationals (Pontoon Beach, IL.), and was among the top dozen at the Chili Bowl (Tulsa, OK.).

25. Kyle Larson – Elk Grove, CA. Age 18. The youngest member of the All-HammerDown! Team became the youngest champion in the history of the Golden State Challenge in 2010.  Larson won nine feature events, the Calistoga Speedway track title, and he finished tenth in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.

26. Danny Lasoski – Dover MO. Age 51. Lasoski had podium finishes in major races including, but not limited to, the World of Outlaws Volusia event in February, the WoO May event at Eldora, The Kings Royal at Eldora, and the Western World at Tucson, AZ in November.

27. Kerry Madsen – St Mary’s NSW, Australia. Age 39. Madsen came within a whisker of winning the Kings Royal and also was in the top-five at the Knoxville Nationals. To complete his 2010 resume – he performed well at Williams Grove with an eighth place finish in the National Open. 

28. Paul McMahan – Nashville, TN Age 40. McMahan scored more Racer’s Racing Series points than anyone in 2010 to earn the “RRS Championship”.  A May 8th World of Outlaws win at Eldora highlighted a season that included a runner-up finish in the Williams Grove National Open, as well as podium visits at “The Knight Before the Kings Royal”, the Front Row Challenge (Oskaloosa, IA.), and The Gold Cup (Chico, CA.). McMahan mastered the podium finish by also gaining September third-place results at the WoO Skagit Speedway stop plus once more at Eldora. McMahan also finished seventh in the Knoxville Nationals.  

29. Jason Meyers - Clovis, CA. Age 31. Meyers had a career year – winning the 2010 World of Outlaws championship.  He started strongly – posting WoO sanctioned wins at Las Vegas, and at Bulls Gap, TN., before April. He won the Gold Cup in Chico CA., the Iron Man 55 (Pevely, MO.), and he swept the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, NC.). Meyers also finished third in the Williams Grove National Open.

30. Daryn Pittman – Owasso, OK. Age 32. Pittman finished second in the World Finals and also was on the podium in the World of Outlaws May stop at Williams Grove. A top 15 finish in the Knoxville Nationals also helped land him on the All-HammerDown! Team for the eighth year in a row.

31. Joey Saldana – Brownsburg, IN. Age 38. Saldana scored three BIG wins on the season – capturing the World of Outlaws March stop at Tulare, CA, as well as the “Knight Before the Kings Royal” at Eldora, and the second leg of the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA.).

32. Donny Schatz – Fargo, ND. Age 33. Schatz scored a pair of noteworthy wins in 2010 by beating WoO competition in May on national TV at the Dirt Track at Charlotte, and by winning the ASCS sanctioned Western World in Tucson, AZ. Schatz also finished second in the Knoxville Nationals.

33. Tim Shaffer – Aliquippa, PA. Age 43. Shaffer had a career best year that included a popular Knoxville Nationals win, and a satisfying triumph in the All-Star Speedweek finale. He was the 2010 All-Star points champion.

34. Jason Sides – Bartlett, TN. Age 37. Mid to late July saw Sides score three podium finishes in RRS points races that helped solidify his seventh consecutive All-HammerDown! nod. Sides was third in the Brad Doty Classic, third in the first leg of the Silver Cup, and also third in the Williams Grove Summer Nationals.

35. Stevie Smith – Broken Arrow, OK. Age 44. Smith snared top-ten finishes in two important races; the Knoxville Nationals (tenth), and the Williams Grove National Open (fourth) on his way to a fifth career All-HammerDown! Team selection.

36. Shane Stewart – Bixby, OK. Age 34. Stewart had another fantastic season with wins in the Dirt Cup (Alger, WA.), and the ASCS 360 Nationals at Knoxville. Throw in a Knoxville Nationals (410) preliminary night win, and a ASCS score versus national competition at Hartford, SD, and you have a year worthy of a seventh career All-HammerDown! Team honor.

37. Brad Sweet – Grass Valley, CA. Age 24. Sweet won both the ASCS Short Track Nationals and the Copper on Dirt USAC National Midget event to prove his versatility. Other Sweet highlights included a ninth place finish at the Chili Bowl, and a runner-up in the Belleville Midget Nationals.

38. Sammy Swindell – Germantown, TN. Age 55. Sammy had a terrific 2010, winning the Williams Grove National Open as well as the Front Row Challenge (Southern Iowa Speedway, Oskaloosa, IA.), and his preliminary night at the Knoxville Nationals. Sammy also was third in a midget at the Chili Bowl.

39. Chris Windom – Canton, IL. Age 19. The second youngest member of the 2010 All-HammerDown! Team is Chris Windom. He won the Perris Oval Nationals with a flag-to-flag romp that backed up a January fifth place finish in the Chili Bowl.

40. Lucas Wolfe – Mechanicsburg, PA. Age 24. Wolfe showed his consistency in 2010 with several top finishes in big events. His runner-up run in August at the Iron Man 55 in Pevely, MO., was the best points earner for the #5w in Racers Racings Series races.

 

The All-HammerDown! Team covers a broad age range of drivers from 18 to 56 years old.

 

Selections for the 2010 All-HammerDown! Team were made this way: Automatic All-HammerDown! team berths were given to champions of several prominent racing series. The remaining spots went to the highest ranked drivers in the Racer’s Racing Series point standings. Champions of the following series’ in 2010 were automatically added to the All-HammerDown! Team:

 

All-Stars

American Sprint Cars on Tour

Golden State Challenge

USAC National Midgets

USAC National Sprint Cars

World of Outlaws

 

Sources: ASCSRacing.com, OpenWheelTimes.com, USACRacing.com, and WorldofOutlaws.com