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Well, the first quarter Driver of the Year vote is history and probably a surprise to nobody. A familiar name is at the head of the list for success in opening quarter of competition. That's NASCAR Sprint Cup's Jeff Gordon, already a three-time winner of the annual award to the outstanding American racing competitor. And Gordon fit well into the parameters for a winner, triumphing three times and finishing second twice as well as leading the Sprint Cup points after the first quarter. It was close, however. Gordon wound up with eight first place votes and 111 points to beat out fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, who had seven first place nods and 107 points by the 18-member media voting panel. Points are awarded same as Formula One on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis. Busch had three wins during the quarter. And if you're wondering about where drag racers finished, never fear, Ron Capps and his Funny Car led that group with one first place vote and 63 points. Capps had three wins and leads the points in the Full Throttle FC Series. Without going any further, here's how two other drag racers finished: Top Fuel driver and defending Driver of the Year champion Tony Schumacher was seventh with 15 points and Pro Stocker Jeg Coughlin was 14th along with Ryan Brisco with two points. Only last weekend, Schumacher received his trophy for his 2008 Driver of the Year victory. Schumacher had two wins and Coughlin three. Others receiving mention in the ballot were: Dario Franchetti, 33, Shatz, 22, Joey Saldana 18, Mark Martin, 17, Tony Stewart, 12. Also Matt Kenseth 10, Carl Edwards, Todd Bodine and Jimmie Johnson 6; Helio Castrovnveis and Kevin Harvick 1. Three more quarterly votes will be taken and then a final secret ballot will be held to determine the 2009 Driver of the Year. Barry Schmoyer, Sarasota, FL businessman and sportsman, is the the patron of the Driver of the year. He many be reached at (941) 379-2318.
Okay, now for a somewhat unrelated postscript. The economy. We've seen the banks, Wall Street businesses and auto dealers given funds as a "bailout" to keep them afloat. Never mind where the money comes from, ours will come from in the future (although it will be from the taxpayers). How nice. You have probably read that many of the mainstream media are also in trouble, losing circulation, advertising down and the internet hurting them. They are laying off writers and editors and trying scrap together a few bucks wherever they can. But I will go them one step further. What about a bailout, or a stimulus package for free lance writers. Especially motor sports writers. Only recently, I have lost Stock Car Racing, which went bottoms up after decades of publication and Racing Milestones, which also at one time covered drag racing, ceased to publish except a Chase preview issue and a season preview, all NASCAR. I guess Drag Race Central is able to survive because it is so very popular among the racing folks. Thanks goodness for them and their parent nextwork, FastNews Network. You know, there might be a second benefit for a bailout or whatever you wish to call it, for free lance automotive writers. More writing about automobliles and more interest in them would also stir business for the car companies. Right? Well, think about it. In the meantime, thanks from this scribe for my long association with DragRaceCentral and I hope it continues.
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