Potomac Speedway 2002 Banquet report

Budds Creek, MD -- Potomac Speedway hosted their annual awards banquet Saturday at the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department. The banquet honors the drivers who finished in the top 10 in the points standings in six divisions of racing, the top three points finishers in the I.T.S.I. series, and also race/track sponsors.

Along with the top 10 points finishers, other special awards are given such as the "Best Effort" award going to the driver who finished the highest in the points standings but did not get a feature win; the "Most Improved Driver" going to a driver who has shown the most improvement in driving, attitude, or a combination of the two whether since the last season or throughout the 2002 racing season; the "Rookie of the Year" honors goes to the driver who is in his first year of racing in the division and who shows the best skill, attitude, and performance; the "Hard Luck Award" is given to a driver who basically had the worst luck throughout the season; and the "Sportsmanship Award" is given to the driver who shows the best attitude towards his fellow competitors, towards track officials, and towards the fans.

For the Budweiser Super Late Model division, Rick Jones of Westminister, MD was crowned the 2002 points champion. Jones finished the season with three wins to his credit. Finishing in the second spot was the 2001 points champion, Deane Guy with two wins to his credit. Tommy Wagner Jr., the Sportsmanship Award winner, finished third with one win. Darry Hills finished fourth with three wins followed by Frank Smith in fifth with no wins, giving him the Best Effort award.

Tim Murphy finished sixth and also took home the Most Improved Driver award, followed by Ernie Jones in seventh. Harold Dorsey Jr., who had one win finished eigth, followed by Robby Beall in ninth and David Hoffman in 10th. Kirk Confair received the Rookie of the Year honors with Sean Cosgrove taking the Hard Luck award.

For the Bell Motor Company Limited Late Model division, Paul Cursey of Baltimore, Md., took home his third career championship title. Cursey finished the season with three wins to his credit. Sommey Lacey, the 2001 points champion, finished second with four wins. Ronnie Hollidge finished third with two wins to his credit. Chet Gagnon took fourth place with no wins, giving him the Best Effort award. Jamie Lathroum rounded out the top five with 8 feature wins.

Most Improved Driver award winner, Paul Hoffman finished sixth, followed by Kevin Nelson in seventh, Sportsmanship award winner Bill Danel in eigth, Walt Homberg in ninth, and Hard Luck Award winner David Puckett in 10th. John Williams won the Rookie of the Year honors.

In the Coors Light Pure Street Stocks, Jimmy Jesmer of Pasadena, Md., was given the 2002 points champion trophy for the division. Jesmer finished the season with one win to his credit. Billy Tippett finished in second with one to his credit, followed by Rookie of the Year award winner Deuce Wright in third with one win to his credit.

One-time feature winner Craig Tankersley finished fourth with Best Effort award winner Billy Lackey rounding out the top five with no wins. Jeff Thomas, the Sportsmanship Award winner, finished sixth followed by Chester Sellers in seventh, Matt Valiquette in eighth, one-time feature winner Wayne Suite in ninth, and three-time feature winner Mike Latham in 10th. Quentin Mise received the Most Improved Driver honors with Stevie Long receiving the Hard Luck Award.

In the Potomac Speedway Four Cylinder division, Scotty Scott of White Plains, Md., took home the 2002 points championship honors. Scott finished the season with four wins. Linda Wright finished second with two wins to her credit. Calvin Wright, also with two wins, finished in second followed by Sportsmanship Award winner Jerry Dick, a one-time feature winner in fourth. Billy Crouse rounded out the top five with no wins, giving him the Best Effort award.

Scotty Nelson finished sixth with four wins, followed by one-time feature winner Wayne Graves in seventh. Graves also received the Hard Luck award. J.T. Mclanigan finished eighth, followed by Chris Mclanigan in ninth, and Joe Blocker in 10th.

For the Arby's Hobby Stocks, Ben Bowie of Brandwine, Md., was crowned the 2002 points champion and received the Sportsmanship Award. Bowie finished the season with six wins. John Sellner finished second, also with six wins. One-time feature winner and Most Improved Driver award winner, Jeff Helsel finished third, followed by Best Effort Award winner and Rookie of the Year Award winner Jerry Lee Stephens in fourth.

Two-time feature winner Chuck Williams finished fifth followed by one-time feature winner John Burch in sixth, two-time feature winner Ray Weaver in seventh, Barry Lear, Jr., also the Hard Luck award winner, in eighth. Mike Manginell and Travis Fowler rounded out the top 10.

Jimmy Suite of Charlotte Hall, Md., took home his first points championship trophy in the Chesapeake Web Design Bomber division. Since Suite did not have any feature wins this year, he also received the Best Effort award. Kyle Nelson, the Most Improved Driver Award winner, finished second with seven wins to his credit. Thomas Pickeral, the Sportsmanship Award winner, finished third with two wins to his credit.

William Crouse, the Rookie of the Year award winner, finished fourth, followed by David Cooper in fifth, Jeff Callahan in sixth, Eric Hanson in seventh, Kyle Lear in eighth, one-time feature winner Corey Hanson in ninth, and three-time feature winner Jerry Oliver in 10th.

The top three finishers for the I.T.S.I. series were also on hand. Allen Brannon received his third championship title. Brannon had one win in the series. James Adkins Jr., finished second with one win to his credit. Budweiser Super Late Model points champion, Rick Jones rounded out the top three.

A special Promoter's Award was also given to a driver showing outstanding sportsmanship, skill, performance, and respect to the sport, his fellow competitors and track officials. Seventy-one-year-old Jerry Dick, a regular driver in the Four-Cylinder division was the award recipient.

Some sponsors honored were Bozick Distributing, I.T.S.I., Bell Motor Company, J.D. Supply, Guy Distributing, Jerry's Roofing and Siding, and Prince Frederick Ford.

Peggy Scott, who coordinates the children's prize giveaway, and Terri Hoffman and Sharon Eglinton, who sell the 50/50 Raffle tickets with half of the proceeds going to the injured driver's relief fund, were also honored. Track promoter Pete Cameron and Mary Cameron were honored by all of the track employees.

Along with all of the hard earned awards, a special fun event was added to the festivities. The seven points champions and their wives/girlfriends participated in a special event in which all of the drivers sat in a chair with the partner standing behind the chair with a balloon. The drivers then raced on foot to a bag waiting for them with their name on it. The driver was to put on all of the items in the bag and race back to the chair. Their partner placed a balloon on the chair and the first driver to sit on the balloon and pop it was the award winner. Jimmy Suite and Ben Bowie were the first drivers back to their chairs but were disqualified for not putting on all of the items in the bag. All of the other drivers were disqualified for not putting their dresses on.

Bailey's Catering provided the food for the event with D.J. Brown Productions providing the music. Potomac Speedway would like to thank everyone for a successful 2002 racing season as we look forward to the 2003 season.

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