Tuesday, May 18, 2010

NASCAR’s 2009 Most Popular Drivers

How is their 2010 season progressing?

NASCAR’s Regional Touring Series Most Popular DriversAndy Seuss, Ted Christopher, Andrew Ranger, Moses Smith, Steve Park

In July of 2009, fans were able to visit www.nascar.com and cast online votes for the “2009 Most Popular Driver of the Year Award” for each of NASCAR’s regional touring series; the NASCAR K&N Pro World Series East and West, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, NASCAR Mexico Series and NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

New in the 2009 vote, was the ability of the fans to “write in” their favorite driver if he or she were not among the nominees for a specific series. Race fans were encouraged to vote once per day.

The results were announced at each of the respective series’ season-end banquets. The winners were: NASCAR K&N Pro World Series East - Steve Park; NASCAR K&N Pro World Series West - Moses Smith; NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - Ted Christopher; NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour - Andy Seuss; NASCAR Mexico Series - Jorge Arteaga; NASCAR Canadian Tire Series – Andrew Ranger

How is the 2010 season progressing for the 2009 NASCAR Most Popular Drivers:

NASCAR K&N Pro World Series East:

On January 2, 2010, Steve Park, and his wife Jessica announced the birth of their son Jayden Robert Park. After starting from the twenty-third position, Steve finished tenth in the NASCAR All-Star Showdown K&N Pro Series Race on January 30th at the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California.
Unfortunately, in March, Parks relayed that his team would not be running the series for the Championship due to finances. However, NDS Motorsports has expressed tentatively plans to have Steve Park, who drove the #35 race car for the team the two previous seasons, in select races in the #53 Chevrolet.

Sponsors: Unknown

Website: www.steve-park.com .


NASCAR K&N Pro World Series West:

Moses Smith’s 2010 season has had one common theme. When asked how his season was going, Moses explained, “2010 has been a tough start…we have had three races (two plus the showdown) and we have wrecked three cars. Now the good thing is that we should have all our bad luck out of the way for the year. The team is awesome. We have a bunch of new guys on the team who bring a ton of experience. We are really gelling. So ask me this same question after our next race in Iowa…"

Despite the bad luck, Moses managed an eight place finish at All American Speedway and finished sixteenth at the Phoenix International Raceway. He is currently eleventh in the Championship Chase.

What does winning the NASCAR “Most Popular Driver” Award mean to Moses? “First, it means a lot to me, and everyone at MSR. We take a lot of pride in racing. We don’t just race on the weekends; this is what we do every day. We build Race cars, we run a series, we take drivers to the track, and we race. A big part of our success is involving the community, the public, and most of all the fans. So the MPD award just shows all of us at MSR that everyone appreciates what we do. So even though you are voting for “Moses Smith” on the ballet, I wouldn’t be where I am if not for the whole crew at MSR, and the sponsors such as Hasa Pool Product, White Flyer, Blimpie…etc…So really you are voting for all of us.”

Sponsors: Hasa Pool Product, White Flyer, TCI Transportation, Blimpie

Website: www.mosessmith.com .


Whelen Modified Tour:

Christopher captured his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in 2008 and finished third last year. His next race is schedule for May 28, 2010 at the Stafford Motor Speedway.

With two races in the 2010 books, Ted Christopher can boast of one win {Stafford (5/1/10)} and a fourth place finish. Christopher is currently second in the point standings; a mere fifteen points out of first. These accomplishments helped Ted ranked sixth in the March Hunter Index.

Sponsors: Al-Lee Installations

Website: www.tedchristopher.com .


Whelen Southern Modified Tour:

Andy Seuss’ series has run three of their ten-race 2010 schedule. With his win at the Caraway Speedway, Seuss is second in the point’s fight and right in the middle of the championship battle. He finished second in points in 2009 with four wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 races.

Sponsors: Q Racing Oil/Rockingham Boats/MUA

Website: www.andyseuss.net .


Mexico Series:

In 2009, Jorge Arteaga was voted the most popular driver in the NASCAR Mexico Series after he received thirty-four percent of the votes; a majority by twenty-three percent.

For 2010, Arteaga finished ninth at Nuevo Autódromo de Aguascalientes; twenty-ninth at Nuevo Autódromo de Querétaro and tenth at Autódromo Potosino. Jorge is being filmed for a reality TV series entitled NASCAR Mexico 24/7 which follows the behind-the-scenes happenings of NASCAR from the perspective of the FCV Racing Team. It's currently being broadcast on Speed TV in Latin America during race weeks.

The NASCAR Mexico Series will return to the track Saturday, May 22 at Autodromo Chiapas in Tuxtla Gutierrez. The race will mark the series' first Saturday night event.

Sponsors: Red Baron; La Huerta; FCV Racing

Website: Unknown


Canadian Tire Series:

The Canadian Tire Series first 2010 race is scheduled for June 5th. However, an announcement made last month informed that Andrew Ranger, a two-time champion of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1, had signed on to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for NDS Motorsports.

The 23-year-old driver from Roxton Pond, Quebec, will take over the seat of the No. 35 Waste Management Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2010 season. Ranger’s first race in the car will be in the East/West Challenge at Iowa Speedway on May 23. Andrew has also expressed an interest in the possibility of running select NASCAR Canadian Tire Series events this season.

Sponsors: Unknown

Website: Unknown

photo by Tim Quievryn

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