HammerDownUSA.com

2019 Al HammerDown! Team

 

2019 All HammerDown! Team – December 30, 2019. Rocklin, CA. HammerDownUSA.com, today, named the 2019 All-HammerDown! Team. Brad Sweet, the Champion of the Racer’s Racing Series, heads the list of the 40 driver “team”. The All-HammerDown! Team includes drivers that finished in the top 40 in HammerDownUSA.com’s, Racers’ Racing Series point standings. Points are awarded for a 60-race schedule of big-race events. You have to finish in the top eleven positions in an A-Feature to score points. This year there were 165 drivers that earned points but only the top 40 receive All-HammerDown! status.

 “I think it’s really cool that HammerDown! sets up a true racer’s racing series,” said Sweet, the 2019 World of Outlaws champion. “I know it doesn’t pay money or a big trophy but it’s all about pride. I have always watched the Racer’s Racing Series points and have always wanted to win it, so I’m pumped the last two years in a row that I have been able to hold the title.”

Two drivers continued their streak of making the All-HammerDown! Team in each of the 17 years since the honor was created in 2003. The legendary duo is: Daryn Pittman, and Donny Schatz.  Four drivers made the All-HammerDown! team for the first time in their careers: Ryan Bernal, Logan Seavey, Logan Wagner, and Brock Zearfoss. The age range of the 40-driver team goes from Scelzi at age 18 to Jac Haudenschild at age 61.
The 2019 All-HammerDown! Team is dedicated to the memory of Dick Jordan and Kenny Takeuchi, two tireless supporters of Sprint Car and Midget racing that will be missed greatly.  

The 17th annual All-HammerDown! Team, in alphabetical order:

  • Rico Abreu – St. Helena, CA. – Age 27. Abreu dominated the 2019 Trophy Cup (Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare CA.) on his way to his seventh consecutive All-HammerDown! honor. Rico also won the Peter Murphy Classic at Tulare. In a midget, Abreu won his preliminary night at the Chili Bowl, and swept the action at I-55 (I-55 Raceway, Pevely, MO.) in August. Rico won in California, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and even into Canada!
  • Jacob Allen – Hanover, PA. – Age 25. Allen made the All-HammerDown! Team in consecutive years after breaking through for the first time in 2018. Allen finished 12th in World of Outlaws points with a pair of top-five finishes. Jacob finished tenth at the World Finals (Charlotte Dirt Track, Concord, NC) and fourth in the Goofy’s Sprint Showdown (BAPS Motor Speedway, York Haven, PA.), late in the season, to secure his spot on the team.
  • Brady Bacon – Broken Arrow, OK. – Age 29. Bacon made the All-HammerDown! Team for the tenth time in his career. He won the highly anticipated Corn Belt Nationals (USAC non-wing Sprint Cars) at Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA.). He captured ten A-Main wins in 2019 and he finished in the top-ten in 71% of his races. Bacon was fourth in the Chili Bowl (Tulsa Expo, Tulsa, OK.) Saturday Feature.
  • Ryan Bernal – Hollister, CA. – Age 26. Bernal earned his first All-HammerDown! selection by coming through in the clutch. Bernal was fourth in the Hangtown 100 (Placerville Speedway, Placerville, CA.) and tenth at the Turkey Night Grand Prix (Ventura Raceway, Ventura, CA.), the final two points earning events of the year. Ryan also scored with a fourth-place finish in the Peter Murphy Classic, and a ninth place run in the Corn Belt Nationals.
  • Brian Brown – Grain Valley, MO. – Age 41. Brown made his ninth straight All-HammerDown! Team, winning five A-Mains, and his third Knoxville Raceway track championship in 2019. Brown beat the World of Outlaws in their annual mid-June stop at Knoxville. He was runner-up at the 360 Nationals. Brown continued to show his desire to compete by venturing to Pennsylvania where he was on the podium at the Jim Nace Memorial at Selinsgrove (Selinsgrove Speedway, Penn Township, PA.)
  • Tyler Courtney – Indianapolis, IN. Age 25. “Sunshine” won the 2019 USAC National Midget Championship. In a Sprint Car, he was victorious in the Smackdown at Kokomo (Kokomo Speedway, Kokomo, IN.). Courtney was runner-up in the USAC National Sprint Car points. He was second in the BC39 at the Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, IN.), and he won both the Midget and Sprint Car portions of the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora (Eldora Speedway, New Weston, OH.)
  • Lance Dewease – Fayetteville, PA. – Age 54. Dewease won nine features in 2019 on his way to his tenth All-HammerDown! Team honor. The Hall of Fame member (2018) won two World of Outlaws A-Mains including the, $17,000 to-win, Morgan Cup at Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA.). Dewease finished second on the opening night of the National Open at “The Grove”. He was fourth in Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car Series points.
  • Danny Dietrich – Gettysburg, PA. – Age 31. Dietrich earned All-HammerDown! status for the seventh year in a row. He beat the World of Outlaws at Bridgeport Speedway (Swedesboro, NJ.) in May. He won the 2019 Williams Grove Speedway track championship. Dietrich captured the opening night of the Bob Weikert Memorial (Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA.), and the season-ending Goofy’s Sprint Showdown at BAPS Motor Speedway. Dietrich won 15 A-Mains in 2019.
  • Cory Eliason – Selma, CA. – Age 28. Eliason made the All-HammerDown! Team for the third time in his career. He finished third in the final All-Star Circuit of Champions points, winning two A-Mains in the series. Eliason scored wins in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He finished second with the All-Stars in their Jackson Motorplex (Jackson, MN.) visit in late July. Eliason was on the podium at the Front Row Challenge (Southern Iowa Speedway, Oskaloosa, IA.).
  • Shane Golobic – Fremont, CA. – Age 28. Golobic continued to define his role as one of the most versatile drivers in the nation. He won features in both 360 and 410 Sprint Cars, as well as in a midget. He beat the World of Outlaws in the 49’er Gold Rush (Placerville, CA.). He was runner-up in the 2019 Trophy Cup, and the NARC Champions Classic (Stockton Dirt Track, Stockton, CA.). “Sugar Shane” won two SCCT (Sprint Car Challenge Tour) features, and one NARC/King of the West A-Main in 2019.
  • Justin Grant – Ione, CA. – Age - 29. Grant made the All-HammerDown! Team for the third year in a row. He won his preliminary night and finished third in the Chili Bowl finale. He was also third in the final Indiana Sprint Week points. Grant won six feature events (four in a Sprint Car, two in a midget), across three states.
  • David Gravel – Watertown, CT. – Age 27. Gravel won the Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville, IA.), and he swept the World Finals. He also took home big Pennsylvania wins with the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup (Lernerville Speedway, Sarver, PA.), and the opening night of the National Open at Williams Grove. He finished third in the World of Outlaws final point standings, winning 12 features. Gravel finished in the top-ten in 84% of the WoO races contested in 2019.
  • Jac Haudenschild – Wooster, OH. – Age 61. After a five-year absence from the All-HammerDown! Team, the “Wild Child” returns to the list! Jac, at age 61, finished fifth in the final Trophy Cup points, eighth in the Kings Royal (Eldora Speedway), and tenth in the Brad Doty Classic (Attica Raceway Park, Attica, OH.). He won a feature at Attica in May. Jac ties Sammy Swindell (age 61 in 2016) for the oldest age to make the All-HammerDown! Team.
  • Sheldon Haudenschild – Wooster, OH. – Age 26. Sheldon finished seventh in World of Outlaws points, winning two A-Mains, with 21 top-five finishes. Haudenschild dazzled in a dominating drive to win the Iron Man 55 at I-55 Raceway. Sheldon was runner-up in the Summer Nationals at Williams Grove. He was a seventh-place finisher in the Knoxville Nationals.
  • Bud Kaeding – Campbell, CA. Age 40. Brandon “Bud” Kaeding made the All-HammerDown! Team for the tenth time in his career. Bud finished second in the NARC King of the West points in 2019. He had six feature event wins on the season, five of them coming at Ocean Speedway (Watsonville, CA.), and one at Stockton in the NARC Champion’s Classic opener. Bud’s tenth place run at the Perris Oval Nationals (Perris Auto Speedway, Perris, CA.) put him over the top to make the team.
  • Tim Kaeding – San Jose, CA. – Age 41. Tim finished fourth in the Knoxville Nationals and he won the NARC Champions Classic. He was runner-up in the Asparagus Cup, also at Stockton. Tim had seven World of Outlaws top-five finishes in a limited amount of starts. Kaeding is one of just six drivers that have made the All-HammerDown! Team 16 times. 
  • Kyle Larson – Elk Grove, CA. Age 27. Larson won the Hangtown 100 and the Turkey Night Grand Prix among his 13 wins in Midgets and Sprint Cars. Larson won nine times as a midget pilot, and four times in a winged sprint car. His victories spanned seven states in the USA. He did all that while running NASCAR Cup full time.
  • C.J. Leary – Greenfield, IN. – Age 23. Leary won the 2019 USAC National Sprint Car championship on his way to his third All-HammerDown! selection. Leary won the Indiana Sprint Week title and he also captured the Perris Oval Nationals. He finished in the top-ten in 32 of 34 USAC National Sprint Car starts. Leary started the season with an eighth-place finish in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
  • Carson Macedo – Lemoore, CA. – Age 23. Macedo earned his fourth All-HammerDown! Team selection. As a rookie on the World of Outlaws tour, Macedo finished sixth in the final points with four feature wins. He was named the series’ Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year. Macedo was runner-up at the 49’er Gold Rush at Placerville. He was on the podium on his Knoxville Nationals preliminary. He was fifth in a midget at the Turkey Night Grand Prix.
  • Ian Madsen – Saint Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia. – Age 35. Madsen finished eighth in World of Outlaws points with one series win and 37 top-ten finishes. Madsen was strong in his WoO victory at Thunderbowl Raceway in March. Madsen was fourth with the Outlaws in their annual Las Vegas stop (Las Vegas Dirt Track, Las Vegas, NV.) Ian started 78 A-Mains in the United States in 2019. This is his fifth All-HammerDown! Team selection.
  • Kerry Madsen – Saint Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia. – Age 48. Madsen is the all-time international leader in making the All-HammerDown! Team. 2019 marks Kerry’s 13th selection. His best runs included a pair of wins at Knoxville Raceway, and an eleventh-place finish in the Knoxville Nationals. Madsen posted a fourth-place effort in the Jim Nace Memorial and a fourth-place finish with the All-Stars at Jackson Motorplex.  
  • Brent Marks – Meyerstown, PA. - Age 29. Marks showed a knack for rising to BIG occasions. He scored the biggest win of his career by claiming the 2019 Williams Grove National Open. Marks was on the podium at the Kings Royal, and he was runner-up in the World of Outlaws visit to Nashville (Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, TN.). Marks finished tenth in WoO points.
  • James McFadden - Ormeau, Queensland, Australia. -  Age 30. McFadden earned his second All-HammerDown! nod after a tremendously strong second-half of the USA racing season. McFadden won seven features for Kasey Kahne Racing, including the 360 Nationals at Knoxville. McFadden beat the All-Stars at the Jackson Motorplex in late July, and he finished eighth in the 410 Knoxville Nationals.
  • Paul McMahan – Hendersonville, TN. – Age 49. McMahan earned his 16th career All-HammerDown! selection. He is one of only six drivers to earn that many career selections. He finished fifth in the All-Star Circuit of Champions point standings. McMahan stood on podiums in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in 2019. He finished seventh in the Dirt Classic at Lincoln Speedway (Abbottstown, PA.)
  • Daryn Pittman – Owasso, OK. – Age 41. Pittman is one of two drivers to make every All-HammerDown! Team (The other is Donny Schatz). Pittman finished fourth in World of Outlaws points in 2019, winning four WoO A-Mains. He was third in the Knoxville Nationals, just days after winning the Front Row Challenge at Southern Iowa Speedway. Pittman finished in the top ten in 73% of the WoO races contested in 2019.
  • Freddie Rahmer – Salfordville, PA. – Age 23. Freddie made the All-HammerDown! Team for the second year in-a-row. Rahmer captured nine A-Main victories in 2019. He finished second in the Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car point standings. Rahmer was runner-up in the Jim Nace Memorial at Selinsgrove.  
  • Aaron Reutzel – Clute, TX. – Age 29. Reutzel had a spectacular season! He won his second consecutive All-Star Circuit of Champions points title in 2019. He captured 18 feature wins, including 16 with the All-Stars, and one victory with the World of Outlaws. Among his BIG wins; the Tuscarora 50 (Port Royal, PA.), which paid $52,000, and the Dean Knittel Memorial (Atomic Speedway, Chillicothe, OH.). Reutzel was fifth in the Knoxville Nationals.
  • Gio Scelzi – Fresno, CA. – Age 18. Scelzi made the All-HammerDown! Team for the second consecutive season. He swept the SCCT Asparagus Cup (Stockton, CA.), and he posted a tenth-place finish in the Knoxville Nationals. Gio beat the World of Outlaws in May at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. He also scored an All-Star Circuit of Champions of victory at Knoxville in late July. Scelzi showed versatility with a November USAC National midget win at Placerville Speedway.
  • Donny Schatz – Fargo, ND. - Age 42. Schatz scored eleven World of Outlaws wins in 2019 on his way to finishing second in the series’ points. Schatz finished in the top-ten in 90% of all the WoO races contested. Schatz won the World of Outlaws annual Las Vegas event as well as the Summer Nationals (Williams Grove Speedway), and the Knight Before the Kings Royal (Eldora Speedway). Schatz is one of only two drivers (Daryn Pittman is the other) to make every All-HammerDown! Team since it was originated in 2003. 
  • Logan Schuchart – Hanover, PA. – Age 27. Clearly ascending in the winged Sprint Car ranks, Schuchart finished fifth in the World of Outlaws standings. He won, a career-high, eight WoO A-Mains, and he finished second in both the Knoxville Nationals and the Kings Royal. Schuchart was also on the podium at the Gold Cup (Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico, CA.). He was in the top-ten in 73% of all WoO A-mains.
  • Logan Seavey – Sutter, CA. – Age 22. Seavey earned his first All-HammerDown! selection. He finished as runner-up in the USAC National Midget points. He won the Indiana Midget Week championship, and he was ninth in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. The non-wing ace finished fifth in a Sprint Car at the Smack Down at Kokomo. He followed that up with a fifth in a midget at the BC39. He won a dozen POWRi midget A-mains in 2019. Seavey was in the top-ten on Turkey Night as well.
  • Tim Shaffer – Aliquippa, PA. – Age 52. Shaffer made the All-HammerDown! Team for the 15th time in his great career. Shaffer won two World of Outlaws features (Las Vegas, NV., and Mechanicsburg, PA.), with seven top-five runs in a limited amount of entries. Shaffer was fifth in the Iron Man 55. He was runner-up in the 2019 Brad Doty Classic.
  • Ryan Smith – Kunkletown, PA. – Age 31. The “Kunkletown Kid” made the All-HammerDown! Team for the fourth time in his career. Smith won three A-mains in his home state on the season (Lincoln, Port Royal, and Selinsgrove). Smith was on the podium of the opening night of the Bob Weikert Memorial. An eighth-place finish in the Goofy’s Sprint Showdown put Smith “over the top” to make the All-HammerDown! Team.
  • Shane Stewart – Bixby, OK. – Age 43. Stewart made the All-HammerDown! Team for the 16th time in his career. Stewart won the Music City Outlaw Nationals (Nashville, TN.). He was ninth in the final World of Outlaws point standings. Stewart was on the podium with the Outlaws in their June stop at Knoxville, and he finished fourth in the Iron Man 55 at Pevely.
  • Chase Stockon – Fort Branch, IN. Age 31. Stockon was seventh in the final USAC National Sprint Car point standings. He won the Tony Hulman Classic at Terre Haute (Terre Haute Action Track, Terre Haute, IN.) in May. His best Racer’s Racing Series points night was a fourth-place effort in the Perris Oval Nationals. He finished seventh in the Haubstadt Hustler (Tri State Speedway, Haubstadt, IN.), and eighth at the Corn Belt Nationals at Knoxville.
  • Brad Sweet – Grass Valley, CA. – Age 33. Sweet won the World of Outlaws championship and he was The Racer’s Racing Series high points earner for the second consecutive season. He was victorious in the $41,000 to-win Jackson Nationals (Jackson Motorplex), the $175,000 to-win Kings Royal (Eldora Speedway) and he also won one of the WoO Knoxville A-mains during the series’ June visit. Sweet showed his versatility with a seventh-place finish in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
  • Kevin Thomas Jr. – Cullman, AL. – Age 28. Thomas earned his fifth career All-HammerDown! selection. He finished tied for third (with Brady Bacon) in the USAC National Sprint Car points. “KTJ” won four A-mains in 2019, two in midgets, and two in non-winged Sprint Cars. One of his Sprint Car victories came during Indiana Sprint Week at Bloomington (Bloomington Speedway, Bloomington, IN.). He finished fourth in the Corn Belt Nationals at Knoxville.
  • Logan Wagner – Harrisonville, PA. Age 29. Wagner earned his first All-HammerDown! Team acknowledgement after scoring BIG wins in both the Bob Weikert Classic and the Jim Nace Memorial. The Selinsgrove win paid $20,000. Wagner won six A-Mains on the season and finished in the top-ten 73% of the time.
  • Chris Windom – Canton, IL. – Age 28. Windom earned his ninth career All-HammerDown! nod in an eight-win season. He finished third in USAC National Midget points, fifth in Silver Crown points, and sixth in USAC National Sprint Car points. “Big Daddy” was runner-up at the Perris Oval Nationals, and he finished third in the BC39 at Indy.  
  • Brock Zearfoss – Jonestown, PA. – Age 29. Zearfoss won the 2019 Brad Doty Classic and he finished fourth in the All-Star Circuit of Champions points. Overall, Zearfoss captured three All-Star victories in 2019. Coming through in crunch time, Zearfoss’ ninth place finish in the Dirt Classic at Lincoln, followed by an eleventh place run in the World Finals (Friday) pushed him into the top-40 in Racer’s Racing Series points to secure his first ever All-HammerDown! Team honor.

Sources: Jim Allen, AllStarSprint.com, Tyler Altmeyer, Ryan Bernal, BradyBaconRacing.com, Cumberlink.com, HeffnerRacing.com, Hoseheads.com, Bryan Householder, Lance Jennings, KnoxvilleRaceway.com, Bill McIntyre, Richie Murray, NARC410.com, P.J. Petersen, SCRAFan.com, SpeedSport.com, SprintCarChallengeTour.com, SprintSource.com, Brad Sweet, Gary Thomas, TJSlideways.com, TonyStewartRacing.com, Logan Wagner, Lonnie Wheatley, WorldofOutlaws.com.

 

Brad Sweet won the 2019 Racer's Racing Series points championship.

 

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