USAC NATIONAL SPRINTS TREK TO SOUTHERN INDIANA FOR WEEKEND STOPS AT BLOOMINGTON AND HAUBSTADT
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Two of the most popular venues on the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship calendar reside in the heart of southern Indiana. Bloomington Speedway’s lush, green hillside provides a welcoming ambience to nearly a century of enthralling racing theater on the quarter-mile oval of radiant red clay. Deeper south is Haubstadt, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway where crowds come in droves, annually filling up both sides of the racing arena to cheer on their racing heroes.
Coming into this weekend’s USAC National Sprint Car events on Friday, April 14th at Bloomington Speedway and Saturday, April 15th‘s “Spring Showdown” at Tri-State Speedway, co-sanctioned by MSCS, only four active drivers have mastered both Bloomington and Haubstadt during their USAC National Sprint Car driving careers. You can count Cullman, Alabama’s Kevin Thomas, Jr. among them. KTJ recently returned to the USAC wars, picking up 8th in his season debut two weekends ago at Lawrenceburg for the Pace Brothers team. The winningest non-wing sprint car driver in the country in 2016 continues to find his stride as, just last weekend, he scored a pair of top-five finishes in a midget at the “Kokomo Grand Prix.”
Sikeston, Missouri’s Hunter Schuerenberg began the year in winning fashion by taking the Saturday night portion of Winter Dirt Games in Ocala, Florida. At Lawrenceburg, Schuerenberg was flat-out fast again until he rode out a harrowing ride while running second.
Though he resides just a stone’s throw away in Bedford, Indiana, Bloomington Speedway has been home-sweet-home to Brady Short over the past decade-plus. Short, a six-time Bloomington Sprint Car track champion earned his first career USAC win there in 2006. Tri-State Speedway has been kind as well to the “Bedford Blaster,” where he captured a pair of USAC National Sprint Car victories in 2015.
Jon Stanbrough needs just one more victory to surpass Rich Vogler for sole possession of 10th place all-time on the USAC National Sprint Car win list. What better place to do it than this coming weekend at Bloomington and Haubstadt? Stanbrough, who announced his intentions to step away from full-time racing at the end of the year, is riding a high after a solid 4th place run at The Burg on the first of April.
Ironically, each of the four drivers have exactly three wins apiece at this weekend’s two tracks, mirroring each other with a single win at Bloomington and a pair of victories at Tri-State. However, there will be a stacked field on hand to disrupt any notions those four have of adding another tally mark to their southern Indiana dirt track scorecard.
They will have to contend with the likes of series point leader Justin Grant of Ione, California, Hanford, California’s Chad Boespflug, who occupies second in the standings, plus additional top-10 points residents Jarett Andretti of Mooresville, North Carolina, Tijeras, New Mexico’s Josh Hodges, Kokomo, Indiana’s Shane Cottle, and Tipp City, Ohio’s Landon Simon, plus a bevy of others who can and will contend this weekend.
USAC National racing is in the midst of a streak of sweeps. Just last weekend, Brady Bacon dominated both nights of the “Kokomo Grand Prix” in a midget and, two weeks ago, Chris Windom began the flourish by winning the National Sprint Car Midwest season opener at Lawrenceburg, then followed that performance one night later with a victory in the Silver Crown series’ “Sumar Classic” at the Terre Haute Action Track.
This weekend provides another opportunity for a Windom sweep. He was a winner at Bloomington in the Spring of 2011, but Tri-State has proved troublesome throughout his career. In 13 starts at the quarter-mile paperclip, he possesses an average finish of 12th. The tide seems to be turning as three of his four most recent starts at Tri-State have resulted in top-10 finishes.
Last April at Bloomington, Bryan Clauson continued his dominance there by leading the final 12 laps to take his fourth-straight USAC National Sprint Car victory at the track. Prior to him, no driver had even won two-straight USAC Sprint races at Bloomington!
One night later, Chase Stockon from nearby Fort Branch, Indiana picked his way past Thomas Meseraull on lap 12, then owned the final 19 laps of the feature for his first USAC triumph at his home track in Haubstadt.
Pit gates for Friday night’s round at Bloomington open at 4:30pm with spectator gates set to open at 5:30pm. Cars are scheduled to hit the track at 6:30pm. All times eastern. Adult general admission is just $20 while children 12 and under are FREE with a paid adult. Pit passes are $30.
Tri-State Speedway’s opening event on Saturday gets underway with ProSource Qualifying at 6:30pm and racing scheduled to begin at 7:30. All times central. Adult general admission is $25. General admission tickets for students age 13-18 are $20. Tickets for kids age 12 and under are FREE.
All around the globe, fans who are unable to make the trek to Bloomington and Tri-State this Friday and Saturday can watch flag-to-flag coverage of each race a day after the event on-demand at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
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UPCOMING USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
DATE: Friday, April 14, 2017
SERIES: USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship
TRACK: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, Indiana) - ¼-Mile, High-Banked Clay Oval
EVENT: USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, IMCA RaceSaver Wing Sprints and Mini Sprints
STARTING TIMES: Pit Gates Open: 4:30pm. Spectator Gates Open: 5:30pm. Hot Laps: 6:30pm. Racing: 7:30pm.
TICKETS: Adult General Admission: $20. Children General Admission: FREE with Adult. Pit Pass: $30.
TRACK ADDRESS: 5185 S Fairfax Rd, Bloomington, IN 47401
TRACK PHONE: (812) 824-7400
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.bloomingtonspeedway.com/
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live updates on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation, plus available on the Race Monitor app on your phone. Watch the race one-day later at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
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UPCOMING USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
DATE: Saturday, April 15, 2017
SERIES: USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship co-sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series
TRACK: Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, Indiana) – ¼-mile, high-banked dirt oval
EVENT: “Spring Showdown” featuring USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship (co-sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series) and Modifieds
STARTING TIMES: Qualifying starts at 6:30 PM with racing to start at 7:30 PM (CST)
TICKETS: Adults $25, Students (Age 13-18) $20, Children 12 & Under Free
TRACK ADDRESS: 10149 U.S. 41, Haubstadt, IN 47639
TRACK PHONE: (812) 768-5995
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.tristatespeedway.com/
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live updates on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation, plus available on the Race Monitor app on your phone. Watch the race one-day later at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
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2017 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS:
Feb 23: Ocala, FL - Bubba Raceway Park
WINNER: Rained Out
Feb 24: Ocala, FL - Bubba Raceway Park
WINNER: Justin Grant
Feb 25: Ocala, FL - Bubba Raceway Park
WINNER: Hunter Schuerenberg
Apr 1: Lawrenceburg, IN - Lawrenceburg Speedway
WINNER: Chris Windom
Apr 14: Bloomington, IN - Bloomington Speedway
Apr 15: Haubstadt, IN - Tri-State Speedway
Apr 21: Plymouth, IN – Plymouth Speedway
Apr 22: Montpelier, IN - Montpelier Motor Speedway
May 12: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
May 13: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
May 19: Granite City, IL – Tri-City Speedway
May 20: Pevely, MO – Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
May 24: Terre Haute, IN - Terre Haute Action Track
Jun 2: Greenwood, NE – I-80 Speedway
Jun 3: Knoxville, IA – Knoxville Raceway
Jun 13: %%% Bechtelsville, PA - Grandview Speedway
Jun 14: %%% Abbottstown, PA - Lincoln Speedway
Jun 15: %%% Mechanicsburg, PA – Williams Grove Speedway
Jun 17: %%% Port Royal, PA – Port Royal Speedway
Jun 18: %%% York Haven, PA - Susquehanna Speedway
Jun 30: Putnamville, IN - Lincoln Park Speedway
Jul 7: *** Gas City, IN - Gas City I-69 Speedway
Jul 8: *** Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
Jul 9: *** Lawrenceburg, IN - Lawrenceburg Speedway
Jul 12: *** Terre Haute, IN - Terre Haute Action Track
Jul 13: *** Putnamville, IN - Lincoln Park Speedway
Jul 14: *** Bloomington, IN - Bloomington Speedway
Jul 15: *** Haubstadt, IN - Tri-State Speedway
Jul 28: TBA - TBA
Jul 29: Kansas City, KS – Lakeside Speedway
Jul 30: Moberly, MO – Randolph County Raceway
Aug 23: (SE) Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
Aug 24: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
Aug 25: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
Aug 26: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
Sep 15: Terre Haute, IN - Terre Haute Action Track
Sep 16: Haubstadt, IN - Tri-State Speedway
Sep 23: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
Sep 30: Lawrenceburg, IN - Lawrenceburg Speedway
Oct 6: TBA – TBA
Oct 7: TBA – TBA
Nov 3: ### Queen Creek, AZ - Arizona Speedway
Nov 4: ### Queen Creek, AZ - Arizona Speedway
Nov 9: ### Perris, CA - Perris Auto Speedway
Nov 10: ### Perris, CA - Perris Auto Speedway
Nov 11: ### Perris, CA - Perris Auto Speedway
Races noted with (SE) represent a non-points-paying "Special Event"
Races noted with %%% represent Eastern Storm
Races noted with @@@ represent California Sprint Week.
Races noted with *** represent Indiana Sprint Week
Races noted with ### represent a race with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series.
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2017 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (228) Justin Grant (Ione, CA)
2. (214) Chad Boespflug (Hanford, CA)
3. (175) Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, IN)
4. (173) Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO)
5. (172) Chris Windom (Canton, IL)
6. (152) Jarett Andretti (Mooresville, NC)
7. (145) Josh Hodges (Tijeras, NM)
8. (134) Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN)
9. (128) Landon Simon (Tipp City, OH)
10. (128) Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK)
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2017 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (228) Sam McGhee Motorsports #11
2. (214) Dynamics, Inc. #69
3. (175) 32 TBI Racing #32
4. (173) Seth Motsinger Motorsports #2
5. (172) Baldwin Brothers Racing #5
6. (152) Andretti Autosport Short Track #18
7. (145) Hodges Motorsports #74x
8. (135) Pace Racing #44
9. (128) Dooling/Hayward #63
10. (128) Landon Simon Racing #24
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2017 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROOKIE DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (42) Joe Liguori (Tampa, FL)
2. (34) Rob Caho, Jr. (Wyoming, MN)
3. (20) Robert Bell (Colfax, IA) & Cooper Clouse (Ohio City, OH)
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2017 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS:
FEATURE WINS:
1. (1) Justin Grant (Feb. 24 at Bubba Raceway Park)
(1) Hunter Schuerenberg (Feb. 25 at Bubba Raceway Park)
(1) Chris Windom (Apr. 1 at Lawrenceburg Speedway)
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FEATURE LAPS LED:
1. (51) Chris Windom
2. (21) Justin Grant
3. (9) Dave Darland
4. (7) Hunter Schuerenberg
5. (2) Thomas Meseraull
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TOP-FIVE FEATURE FINISHES:
1. (3) Chad Boespflug & Justin Grant
3. (2) Brady Bacon
4. (1) C.J. Leary, Thomas Meseraull, Landon Simon, Jon Stanbrough, Chase Stockon & Chris Windom
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TOP-TEN FEATURE FINISHES:
1. (3) Chad Boespflug & Justin Grant
3. (2) Jarett Andretti, Brady Bacon, Josh Hodges, Thomas Meseraull, Hunter Schuerenberg, Chase Stockon & Chris Windom
10. (1) Jerry Coons, Jr., Shane Cottle, Kyle Cummins, Dave Darland, C.J. Leary, Carson Short, Landon Simon, Jon Stanbrough, Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Shawn Westerfeld
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PROSOURCE FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:
1. (2) Justin Grant
2. (1) Carson Short
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HEAT RACE WINS (Presented by Simpson Race Products, Competition Suspension (CSI), Chalk Stix & Indy Race Parts):
1. (3) Chase Stockon
2. (1) Nick Bilbee, Jeff Bland, Jr., Shane Cottle, Max McGhee, Landon Simon, Carson Short & Chris Windom
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SEMI WINS:
1. (1) Tyler Courtney, Dave Darland & Max McGhee
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FEATURE STARTS:
1. (3) Jarett Andretti, Jeff Bland, Jr., Chad Boespflug, Isaac Chapple, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Dave Darland, Justin Grant, Josh Hodges, Max McGhee, Hunter Schuerenberg, Carson Short, Landon Simon, Chase Stockon & Chris Windom
16. (2) Brady Bacon, Jerry Coons, Jr., Kyle Cummins, Aaron Farney, Dallas Hewitt, C.J. Leary & Thomas Meseraull
23. (1) Nick Bilbee, Rob Caho, Jr., Joe Liguori, Corey Smith, Jon Stanbrough, Kody Swanson, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Tyler Thomas & Shawn Westerfeld
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KSE RACING PRODUCTS “HARD CHARGER” OF THE RACE:
2/24: Bubba Raceway Park – Brady Bacon (16th to 4th)
2/25: Bubba Raceway Park – Brady Bacon (13th to 5th)
4/1: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Shane Cottle (21st to 10th)
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WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHERS:
2/24: Bubba Raceway Park – Tyler Courtney
2/25: Bubba Raceway Park – Tyler Courtney
4/1: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Tyler Thomas
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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR DRIVER FEATURE WINS:
1. [59 wins] Dave Darland
2. [52 wins] Tom Bigelow
3. [47 wins] Tracy Hines
4. [46 wins] Jack Hewitt
5. [45 wins] Larry Dickson
6. [42 wins] Pancho Carter
7. [41 wins] Bryan Clauson
8. [40 wins] Gary Bettenhausen
9. [37 wins] Sheldon Kinser
10. [35 wins] Jon Stanbrough & Rich Vogler
12. [32 wins] Rollie Beale
13. [28 wins] Levi Jones & J.J. Yeley
15. [26 wins] Robert Ballou, Tony Elliott & Dave Steele
18. [25 wins] Steve Butler & Jay Drake
20. [23 wins] A.J. Foyt & Roger McCluskey
22. [22 wins] Rick Hood, Bubby Jones & Sam Sessions
25. [21 wins] Greg Weld
26. [17 wins] Brady Bacon, Jerry Coons, Jr., Parnelli Jones & Bud Kaeding
30. [16 wins] Damion Gardner
31. [15 wins] Bobby East, Cory Kruseman, Jud Larson, Brian Tyler & Chris Windom
36. [14 wins] Billy Cassella, Jim Hurtubise, Lee Kunzman & Bruce Walkup
40. [13 wins] Don Branson & Steve Chassey
42. [12 wins] Eric Gordon & Kevin Thomas Jr.
44. [11 wins] Daron Clayton & Greg Leffler
46. [10 wins] Tony Stewart
47. [9 wins] Mario Andretti, Hunter Schuerenberg & Robbie Stanley
50. [8 wins] Mike Bliss, Chet Fillip, Johnny Rutherford, Joe Saldana, & Chase Stockon
55. [7 wins] Kevin Doty, Darren Hagen, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Doug Kalitta, Jim Keeker, Bobby Santos, Brady Short, Kevin Thomas, Bobby Unser & Josh Wise
65. [6 wins] Kevin Briscoe, Jac Haudenschild, Jason McCord, Jan Opperman, Tom Sneva, George Snider & Dick Tobias
72. [5 wins] Chad Boespflug, Larry Cannon, Dana Carter, Derek Davidson, Gene Lee Gibson, Jeff Gordon, Justin Grant, Chuck Gurney, Shane Hmiel, Kevin Huntley, Frankie Kerr, Kelly Kinser, Eddie Leavitt, Jim Mahoney, Andy Michner, Johnny Parsons, Bill Puterbaugh & Cole Whitt
90. [4 wins] Rob Chaney, Cary Faas, Jesse Hockett, Steve Kinser, Michael Lewis, Thomas Meseraull, Don Nordhorn, Lee Osborne, Red Riegel, Ken Schrader, Al Smith & Danny Smith
102. [3 wins] Chuck Amati, Sonny Ates, Jeff Bloom, Mark Cassella, Shane Cottle, Jerry Daniels, Bob East, Bob Frey, Dickie Gaines, Wayne Hammond, Tray House, Kenny Jacobs, Tony Jones, Kyle Larson, Ralph Liguori, Charlie Masters, Mike Mosley, Larry Rice, Ron Shuman, Mitch Smith & Doug Wolfgang
123. [2 wins] Chad Boat, Marvin Carman, Ed Carpenter, Kyle Cummins, Brad Doty, Nic Faas, Cy Fairchild, Brad Fox, Arnie Knepper, Danny Lasoski, Mack McClellan, James McElreath, Lealand McSpadden, Danny Milburn, Mat Neely, Ryan Newman, Jerry Poland, Casey Riggs, Bill Rose, Mickey Shaw, Terry Shepherd, Dean Shirley, Brad Sweet, Kevin Swindell, Sammy Swindell, Mike Spencer, Bud Tingelstad, Billy Vukovich, Mike Ward & Carl Williams
153. [1 win] Donnie Adams, A.J. Anderson, Brad Armstrong, Tony Armstrong, Tommy Astone, Dick Atkins, Brent Beauchamp, Jeff Bland Jr., Stan Bowman, Alan Brown, Karl Busson, Johnny Capels, David Cardey, Bob Cicconi, Henry Clarke, Troy Cline, Duke Cook, Mel Cornett, Tyler Courtney, Allen Crowe, Bill Engelhart, Cotton Farmer, Aaron Farney, Gary Fedewa, Blake Fitzpatrick, Joe Gaerte, Russ Gamester, Rickie Gaunt, Elmer George, Brian Gerster, Todd Gibson, Ron Gregory, Richard Griffin, Garrett Hansen, Jerry Hansen, Jim Hemmings, Josh Hodges, Bob Hogle, Jackie Howerton, Chuck Hulse, Logan Jarrett, Marc Jessup, Gordon Johncock, Chet Johnson, Page Jones, Bob Kinser, Mike Kirby, C.J. Leary, Fred Linder, Steve Long, Hank Lower, Brett Mann, Bobby Marshman, Larry Martin, Mike Martin, Brad Marvel, Justin Marvel, Rusty McClure, Bob McCoy, Jim McElreath, Bobby Olivero, Gary Patterson, Billy Pauch, Dave Peperak, Jiggs Peters, Aaron Pierce, Paul Pitzer, Terry Pletch, Billy Puterbaugh Jr., Bud Randall, Byron Reed, Boston Reid, Rodney Ritter, Jr., David Roahrig, Carson Short, Billy Shuman, Jimmy Sills, Smokey Snellbaker, Wib Spalding, Greg Staab, Randy Standridge, Ron Standridge, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson, Mike Sweeney, Jeff Swindell, Clark Templeman, Bill Tyler, Rick Ungar, Lennie Waldo, Tyler Walker, Scotty Weir, Kenny Weld, Bob Wente, Matt Westfall, Johnny White, Rip Williams, Jacob Wilson & Eddie Wirth
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ALL-TIME USAC SPRINT CAR DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
1956: Pat O'Connor (Midwest) & Tommy Hinnershitz (Eastern); 1957: Elmer George (Midwest) & Bill Randall (Eastern); 1958: Eddie Sachs (Midwest) & Johnny Thomson (Eastern); 1959: Don Branson (Midwest) & Tommy Hinnershitz (Eastern); 1960: Parnelli Jones (Midwest) & A.J. Foyt (Eastern); 1961: Parnelli Jones; 1962: Parnelli Jones; 1963: Roger McCluskey; 1964: Don Branson; 1965: Johnny Rutherford; 1966: Roger McCluskey; 1967: Greg Weld; 1968: Larry Dickson; 1969: Gary Bettenhausen; 1970: Larry Dickson; 1971: Gary Bettenhausen; 1972: Sam Sessions; 1973: Rollie Beale; 1974: Pancho Carter; 1975: Larry Dickson; 1976: Pancho Carter; 1977: Sheldon Kinser; 1978: Tom Bigelow; 1979: Greg Leffler; 1980: Rich Vogler; 1981: Sheldon Kinser; 1982: Sheldon Kinser; 1983: Ken Schrader; 1984: Rick Hood; 1985: Rick Hood; 1986: Steve Butler; 1987: Steve Butler; 1988: Steve Butler; 1989: Rich Vogler; 1990: Steve Butler; 1991: Robbie Stanley; 1992: Robbie Stanley; 1993: Robbie Stanley; 1994: Doug Kalitta; 1995: Tony Stewart; 1996: Brian Tyler; 1997: Brian Tyler; 1998: Tony Elliott; 1999: Dave Darland; 2000: Tony Elliott; 2001: J.J. Yeley; 2002: Tracy Hines; 2003: J.J. Yeley; 2004: Jay Drake; 2005: Levi Jones; 2006: Josh Wise; 2007: Levi Jones; 2008: Jerry Coons, Jr.; 2009: Levi Jones; 2010: Levi Jones (Dirt) & Shane Hmiel (Pavement); 2011: Levi Jones (Dirt) & Bobby Santos (Pavement); 2012: Bryan Clauson; 2013: Bryan Clauson; 2014: Brady Bacon; 2015: Robert Ballou; 2016: Brady Bacon