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2015 All HammerDown! Team – December 31, 2015. Rocklin, CA. HammerDownUSA.com, today, named the 2015
All-HammerDown! Team. Led by Racer’s Racing Series Champion, Donny Schatz, the
40 driver “team” includes those who performed best at the highest paying and
most prestigious American, grass roots, open-wheel events.
“The
All-HammerDown! Team is our way to acknowledge the drivers that are performing
well on a national stage,” said Bobby Gerould – editor of HammerDownUSA.com. “We
keep points for 60 of the biggest USA events. You have to finish in the
top 15 in an A-Feature to secure points. This year there were 204 drivers that
earned points but only the top 40 receive the All-HammerDown! status.”
Five
drivers continued their streak of making the All-HammerDown! Team in each of
the 13 years since the honor was created in 2003. The legendary five are: Dave
Darland, Danny Lasoski, Daryn Pittman, Joey Saldana, and Donny Schatz. Six drivers made the team in 2015 for the
first time in their career, headed by young World of Outlaws star, Logan
Schuchart. Joining Schuchart as first-time All-HammerDown! Team honorees are Sheldon
Haudenschild, Carson Macedo, Ian Madsen., Aaron Reutzel, and Dusty Zomer.
The 13th annual All-HammerDown! Team,
in alphabetical order:
·
Rico Abreu
–
St.
Helena, CA. – Age 23. Abreu
had a stellar 2015, winning the Chili Bowl (Tulsa Expo Raceway, Tulsa, OK.),
World of Outlaws A-Mains at Tulare (Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA.) and
Stockton (Stockton Dirt Track, Stockton, CA.), the Vermeil Classic (Calistoga
Speedway, Calistoga, CA.) and his first NASCAR race to boot. Abreu won in a
winged sprint car (both 360 and 410), a non-wing sprint car, a midget, and in a
stock car.
·
Brady
Bacon – Broken Arrow, OK. – Age 25. For the
seventh time in his young career, Brady Bacon is on the All-HammerDown! Team.
Bacon won a dozen feature events in 96 starts in 2015. He finished third in the
USAC Indiana Sprint Week points and was also third in the Western World
Championships (USA Raceway, Tucson, AZ.)
·
Robert
Ballou – Rocklin, CA. - Age 27. Ballou won the 2015 USAC National
Championship as well as the Indiana Sprint Week crown. His 13 USAC National
sprint car victories tied J.J. Yeley’s 2003 season as the second most single
season wins in USAC history.
·
Christopher
Bell – Norman, OK. - Age 21. Bell won feature races in
open-wheel cars as well as stock cars and trucks in 2015. He captured the Silver
Crown and midget portions of the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH.). Bell also beat the World of
Outlaws in a winged sprint car at I-55 Raceway (Pevely, MO.) in May. His biggest
win was also at Eldora in the Mud Summer Classic for NASCAR Trucks.
·
Dale
Blaney – Hartford, OH. – Age 51. Blaney won 16
A-Mains and his sixth All-Star Circuit of Champions title in 2015. He cashed in
at BIG races, defeating World of Outlaws competition at Attica, OH., and in the Don
Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway (Sarver, PA.).
·
Brian
Brown – Grain Valley, MO. – Age 37. Brown won seven features in 2015 to
run his career total to 145 W’s. His best in Racer’s Racing Series points
earning events was a fourth place finish in the Mediacom Shootout at Knoxville
Raceway (Knoxville, IA.). Brown finished sixth
in the 2015 Knoxville Nationals A-Main.
·
Bryan
Clauson – Noblesville, IN. – Age 26. Clauson saved the best for last in
2015, winning the non-wing sprint car Perris Oval Nationals (Perris, CA.), and
the Western World Championship (Tucson, AZ.) in mid-November.
Clauson’s impressive year showcased his versatility, as he finished tenth in a
midget at the Chili Bowl, and 12th at the Knoxville Nationals in a
winged sprint car. On USA soil, Clauson won 13
A-mains in 2015.
·
Dave
Darland – Atlanta, IN. – Age 49. Darland did
not score any Racer’s Series points until July but he rallied to make the squad
again. He won the popular Smackdown race at Kokomo, IN., and finished as
runner-up at the Perris Oval Nationals. Darland scored his 100th
career USAC feature win in 2015 on his way to a half-dozen W’s for the
season.
·
Cody
Darrah – Red Lion, PA. – Age 26. Darrah finished second in the All-Star
Circuit of Champions points in 2015, winning three series races. His biggest
score came in April when he won the Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway
(Port Royal, PA.).
·
Danny
Dietrich – Gettysburg, PA. – Age 27. Dietrich won 16
feature events in 2015 including the World of Outlaws sanctioned Williams Grove
Summer Nationals (Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA.). He also won the Jim
Nace Memorial at Selinsgrove Speedway (Selinsgrove, PA.). It was Dietrich’s
first win at the historic track. Dietrich earned RRS points in the Knoxville
Nationals with a 15th place finish.
·
Craig
Dollansky – Elk River, MN. – Age 49. Dollansky made
the All-HammerDown! Team for the 12th time in his career. He and car
owner Troy Renfro won a National Sprint League sanctioned event at Iowa State
Fair Speedway (Des Moines, IA.) in July. Dollansky’s best Racer’s Racing Series
finish was a second place run at the Jackson Nationals (Jackson, MN.).
·
David
Gravel – Watertown, CT. – Age 23. Gravel
made the All-HammerDown! Team for the fourth consecutive year on the strength
of podium finishes in BIG races. He was second at the January 10th
Winter Heat event, third at the World of Outlaws race at Attica, OH, and third
on his preliminary night at the Knoxville Nationals. Gravel finished eighth on Saturday
night at the Nationals.
·
Sheldon
Haudenschild – Wooster, OH. – Age 22. Sheldon
earned his first All-HammerDown! Team nod following a terrific, five-win
season. Among Sheldon’s biggest accomplishments, he won the Lou Blaney Memorial
event at Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH.) in July, and
finished 14th in the Knoxville Nationals A-Main.
·
Greg
Hodnett – Thomasville, PA. – Age 46. Hodnett won 18
A-mains in 2015, including The Dream Race at Port Royal in August (Port Royal, PA.). He captured his
fourth career Williams Grove Speedway championship, and finished tenth in the
Knoxville Nationals.
·
Jason
Johnson – Eunice, LA. – Age 39. Johnson personified
toughness by returning to the cockpit after suffering fractures to two
vertebrae in a crash at Placerville Speedway (CA.) in April. Tackling the 2015
World of Outlaws tour, Johnson scored six top-five finishes in the rugged
series including a runner-up at the Kings Royal.
·
Bud
Kaeding – Campbell, CA. – Age 36. Known for his prowess in a non-wing
sprint car, Bud flipped the script in 2015 and scored all his RRS points with a
wing on top. He won the Trophy Cup (Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, CA.), and features at
Petaluma Speedway (Petaluma, CA.), and Silver
Dollar Speedway (Chico, CA.). Bud finished in the
top 15 with the World of Outlaws in home-state races at Tulare, Calistoga, Placerville, and Chico (eighth in the Gold
Cup).
·
Tim
Kaeding – San Jose, CA. – Age 37. Tim won
five feature events in four states in 2015, including a victory with the World
of Outlaws at Thunderbowl Raceway in March. Tim finished second in the Badlands
Motor Speedway (formerly Husets) points, and third in the National Sprint
League points.
·
Kraig
Kinser – Bloomington, IN. – Age 31. Despite
enduring a season that saw him miss time due to back surgery, Kraig Kinser earned
enough points to secure his tenth All-HammerDown! Team honor. He had four,
top-five finishes in World of Outlaws competition. His best in Racer’s Racing
Series points earning events was a third place run at Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX.) in April.
·
Danny
Lasoski – Dover, MO. – Age 55. “The Dude” showed no signs of slowing down in
2015. He won 17 A-Mains and was crowned champion of both the National Sprint
League and Knoxville Raceway (his tenth). He won a Winter Heat A-Main (Cocopah
Speedway, Somerton, AZ.), and a WoO feature (Greenwood, NE.). Lasoski finished
eighth in the Knoxville Nationals A-Main.
·
Carson Macedo – Lemoore, CA. – Age 20. Macedo won the King of the West
championship, scoring two wins in the series in 2015 to help him earn his first
All-HammerDown! Team selection. He finished second in the overall Trophy Cup
points.
·
Ian Madsen
–
Saint Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia. – Age 31. Joining his
brother Kerry on the All-HammerDown! Team, Ian finished second in the National
Sprint League point standings in 2015. His best Racer’s Racing Series points
earning finish was a third at the Front Row Challenge (S. Iowa Speedway, Oskaloosa, IA.).
·
Kerry
Madsen – Saint Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia. – Age 44. Madsen
finished as the highest ranked international driver in the Racer’s Racing
Series in 2015. He was on the podium at the Front Row Challenge (2nd),
the Knoxvillle Nationals (2nd), and the Gold Cup (3rd). “The
Madman” has made the All-HammerDown! Team nine times, more than any other
international driver.
·
Brent
Marks – Myerstown, PA. – Age 25. Marks won
three features in 2015 on his way to his second All-HammerDown! Team honor.
Among his trio of wins was a triumph in the prestigious Tuscarora 50 (Port
Royal Speedway). Marks finished fourth in the Front Row Challenge.
·
Terry
McCarl – Altoona, IA. – Age 51. McCarl won
ten feature events in 2015 including the Knoxville 360 Nationals. He also
scored Racer’s Racing Series BIG race wins versus the World of Outlaws at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway, and on his preliminary night at the Knoxville Nationals.
McCarl was the best as well at the NSL’s Jackson, MN. stop in May.
·
Paul
McMahan – Hendersonville, TN. – Age 45. McMahan
won the first Racer’s Racing Series points race of the year, the Winter Heat
event (Somerton, AZ) on January 2, 2015. He added three World of Outlaws A-Main
victories to make the All-HammerDown! Team for the 12th time in his
career.
·
Daryn
Pittman – Owasso, OK. – Age 37. Pittman won
the World of Outlaws season opening race in February, on the heels of a sixth
place run in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. The Oklahoma pilot captured five WoO
main events on the season. He finished seventh at the Knoxville Nationals.
·
Aaron
Reutzel – Clute, TX. – Age 25. Reutzel won
the ASCS National Championship, taking the $60,000 that accompanies the feat.
In RRS points earning events, he won a Winter Heat race at Cocopah Speedway, and
he was first to the checkered flag at the Peter Murphy Classic (Thunderbowl
Raceway).
·
Joey
Saldana – Brownsburg, IN. – Age 43. …Saldana scored three wins and 37
top-fives on the World of Outlaws tour in 2015. He won two WoO races that were
part of the Racer’s Racing Series points earning schedule: Cedar Lake in July, and the
ultra-tough World Finals at the Charlotte Dirt Track in November. Joey finished
fifth in the 2015 Knoxville Nationals.
·
Donny
Schatz – Fargo, ND. - Age 38. Schatz had a
season to remember. He won 31 World of Outlaws A-Mains on the way to his
seventh series championship. He won the Knoxville Nationals for the ninth time,
and the Gold Cup Race of Champions for the second time. Schatz became only the
second driver in WoO history to win 30 or more races in a single season.
·
Logan Schuchart – Hanover, PA. – Age 23. Schuchart
finished tenth in the World of Outlaws point standings, posting six top-five,
and 30 top-ten finishes. He was third in the Williams Grove National Open,
helping him to his first All-HammerDown! Team selection.
·
Jason
Sides – Bartlett, TN. – Age 42. Sides earned his twelfth
All-HammerDown! Team selection in 2015. He finished eighth in the World of
Outlaws series points, scoring a win in Dodge City, KS. His best result in
Racer’s Racing Series points earning action was a runner-up finish at Calistoga
Speedway in April.
·
Stevie
Smith – Broken Arrow, OK. / New Oxford, PA. – Age 49. Running a
light schedule, Smith proved again that he is a force. He won both the Williams
Grove Summer Nationals and the Williams Grove National Open on his way to a
ten-win season.
·
Shane
Stewart – Bixby, OK. – Age 39. Stewart had
a fantastic season, sweeping the Kings Royal weekend at Eldora, winning the
Iron Man 55 at Pevely, MO., and the opening night
of the Gold Cup (Chico, CA.). He won nine WoO
A-Mains. Stewart drove a throwback Larson/Marks #16 to a win on his preliminary
night at the Knoxville Nationals. He finished fourth in the Saturday Nationals
A-Main.
·
Chase
Stockon – Elizabethtown, IN. – Age 27. Stockon
finished third in the USAC National Sprint Car standings in 2015. He was
runner-up at the Smackdown at Kokomo in August which was his
best run in RRS points earning events. Stockon won five features on the season,
all coming in his home state.
·
Brad Sweet – Grass Valley, CA. – Age 30. Sweet won
five World of Outlaws events, as well as the Front Row Challenge in 2015. Among
the sweetest (pun intended) was his victory on Pennsylvania Posse turf at Port Royal on October 24th.
Sweet finished third in the 2015 Knoxville Nationals.
·
Sammy
Swindell – Germantown, TN. – Age 60. Sammy is
still winning. He won the NSL sanctioned Jackson Nationals (Jackson, MN.), and
finished fifth in the Chili Bowl. Sammy also had a podium run at the Williams
Grove Summer Nationals (third place). Overall, Swindell raced 41 times and won
four features.
·
Greg
Wilson - Benton Ridge, OH. – Age 39. Wilson captured four A-Main
checkered flags in 2015, including a BIG win with the World of Outlaws at
Eldora during the Four Crown weekend. He has announced plans to run full time
with The Outlaws in 2016.
·
Chris
Windom – Canton, IL. – Age 24. Windom made
the All-HammerDown! Team for the sixth consecutive season. His biggest win came
on the Anderson Speedway pavement in the Little 500. He also won a Silver Crown
event on the high banks at Belleville, KS. Windom finished fourth
at the Sprint Car Smackdown at Kokomo.
·
Lucas
Wolfe – Mechanicsburg, PA. - Age 29. Wolfe won four feature events and the
Port Royal Speedway track championship in 2015. He finished ninth in the
Knoxville Nationals A-Main. Among his four wins, all came in the Keystone State, with two at Port Royal and two at Williams
Grove.
·
Dusty
Zomer – Brandon, SD. – Age 30. Zomer earned his first All-HammerDown!
Team nod on the strength of a brilliant, eleven-win season capped by a triumph
with the World of Outlaws at the prestigious World Finals (Charlotte Dirt
Track, Concord, NC.).
##################################################################
Sources: Chris
Dolack, Andy Hamilton, Troy
Hennig, Dick Jordan, Bill Klingbeil, KnoxvilleRaceway.com, Shawn Miller, NationalSprintLeague.com,
Petersen Media, SilverDollarSpeedway.com, SprintCarStats.com, SprintSource.com,
Gary Thomas, USACRacing.com, Brad Vores, WoOSprint.com.