SCORE 2008-09 SEASON REVIEW
(6/11/09) The success of the 2007-08 campaign was invigorating. Twenty drivers had track time during the schedule and about three-quarters of them indicated that they would be back for the following season. During the summer hiatus,as promoter,I had mixed feelings concerning the upcoming venture. Large driver turnouts had created problems in the past(in other organizations) and I wondered if SCORE was on the verge of becoming too big. After the first couple events of the 2008-09 season,however,such fears were dashed. Instead of becoming too big,SCORE now faced the problem of low driver counts.
As it turned out,there was a myriad of reasons why drivers were no-shows and, fortunately,none of the excuses had anything to do with SCORE. Nevertheless,SCORE struggled most of the season in attendance,although only one feature had to be postponed due to a lack of participants. Overall,11 drivers signed in as SCORE averaged a hair over 6 drivers per race,down from 7.7 the previous season. The USAC midgets drew 6.5 per event while the dirt champs garnered a clean 6.0 and the sprint division 5.8.However,I've said it before and I 'll say it again,I'll take quality over quantity any day and that's pretty much the story of the 2008-09 campaign.
Competition on a nightly basis was at a high level all season long,especially in the USAC sprints where two races were decided by tie-breaker,four races were won by a one point margin,and two more by just two markers. The championship in the sprint division went down the wire as Mike Lengel led Chuck Heller by a single point going into the final show. It doesn't get much better than that! The average margin of victory across the board was 2.9 as compared to 2.75 the previous season. One of the highlights had to be the competition at South Gate where the average margin of victory in 10 events was 1.5 points.In the five sprint division features at the Speedrome,the average was an incredible .8(yes,that's point-eight)points! Measuring the competition,on a personal level,I recorded five wins and eleven runner-up finishes in 2007-08.During the 2008-09 round,I won three features and was second fourteen times. Did the competition suffer this season? Not from my view. My perspective also saw a couple of things that statistics cannot record : the racing was the fastest and most demanding ever! Most nights,lap after lap,everyone had to be on the top of their game just to be in contention for the victory. Of the 32 features run,only three were by substantial margins. Credit everyone who ran with SCORE for providing such great racing!
Despite the close competition,the huge story of 2008-09 has to be Mike Lengel. A staunch open-wheel supporter for many years,"Iron Mike" finally had his banner season. He won both the USAC dirt champ and sprint division titles and rode into victory lane 12 times. In dirt champs,Lengel set the divisional record of seven wins in 10 races to take the Silver Crown championship by a wide margin. In the USAC sprints,he needed a late-season flurry of top finishes to give him the title on the last night while collecting his first "Flying Dutchman Classic" honors. Many congratulations to Mike on such a great performance!
Though not quite as dramatic as the sprint title,the USAC midget division had its own excitement. Chuck Heller and I battled throughout most of the schedule until the eighth race of the season when I finally got some breathing room. The difference was consistancy.I won twice with five second place finishes,Chuck won four,but only had one runner-up spot. It was my eighth SCORE USAC midget crown. Don't throw too much pity on Chuck,however. Despite falling short in two divisional title races,he collected four sprint and four midget checkered flags. Another fine season for Chuck!
It must be said that for the first half of the campaign,Brion Hassler was much in the hunt for both the sprint and midget championships,winning two in each division. Then,Brion dropped off the tour. Fortunately,Kerry Brion,Sr. returned from a job in Erie,PA about the same time and rejoined the schedule where he did well,especially in sprints with four second place finishes. The other "Senior",Tim Musser,was a sporadic participant throughout the schedule winning once and coming close in a few others. The surprise of the season was Homer "the One-man Hurricane" Hiester. I remember saying to myself at mid-season that Homer just didn't get it. He ran well at times,but crashed a lot.As if struck by a bolt of lightning,Homer,apparently,"got it" at the "Rich Vogler Memorial".That night,Homer picked up his first SCORE victory. Two weeks later,he won a dirt champ race at Grill and two weeks after that recorded a double in the USAC midget/dirt champ program at Pit Road taking the "Boston Louie 100" in the process. What a way to end the trail!
"Rookie of the Year" honors was a no-brainer since we had only one newcomer this time around."C.W." Heller(also named Chuck) started racing in early April and showed real improvement by the end of the season."Sportsman of the Year",for me,was also a no-brainer. As SCORE's race director,I've asked Chuck Heller to change numerous things on his cars that weren't 100% in compliance to the specs. Without a lot of hoopla,he made the alterations. That may not seem like much,but Chuck has quite a few cars. Plus,he's made Pit Road and Grill National a great place to race. So,many thanks and congrats to Chuck!
What will next season have in the cards for SCORE? I've given up guessing.I do know this : we have a solid core of racers and if they all return in 2009-10,SCORE will be fine. It will be SCORE'S 15th season,by the way. So,for everyone who took part in the past campaign,I say thanks for your cooperation,camaraderie,and competition and I'm already looking forward to the start of the new season in October.
Wishing everyone a great summer and hoping for continued success next season,
Dave "D.B." Balloch
