Before we hand out some of this virtual hardware, we want to thank all of the drivers that competed with us this past season. Many drivers will not be recognized in these awards, but they don’t go unnoticed as every driver plays a big role in what this league has become and what it will be in the future. We’re gearing up for a strong 2015 Summer Season, but before we get there, let’s hand out some awards!
First, we need to recognize all three of our champions for their accomplishments in each division. Your champions are:
RB Performance Super Late Model Series Champion – Cody Kelley – 2nd SARA Championship
MRolfeDesigns Pro Late Model Series Champion – Cody Kelley – 1st SARA Championship
SK Shootout Series Champion – Bill Martin – 4th SARA Championship
Sportsman Street Stock Series – Cody Kelley – 3rd SARA Championship
NEO Racing News Legends League – Ryan Borges – 1st SARA Championship
NEO RACING NEWS LEGENDS LEAGUE AWARDS:
Legends Rookie of the Season Award – Ryan Beagle
Legends Winner’s Circle Award – Ryan Borges – 7 Wins
Legends Pole Award – Ryan Borges – 4 Poles
SPORTSMAN STREET STOCK SERIES AWARDS:
Street Stocks Rookie of the Season Award – Justin Mullikin
Street Stocks Winner’s Circle Award – Cody Kelley – 4 Wins
Street Stocks Pole Award – Cody Kelley – 5 Poles
SK SHOOTOUT SERIES AWARDS:
SK Modified Rookie of the Season Award – David Carpenter
SK Modified Winner’s Circle Award – Bill Martin – 4 Wins
SK Modified Pole Award – Bill Martin – 6 Poles
MROLFEDESIGNS PRO LATE MODEL SERIES AWARDS:
Pro Late Model Rookie of the Season Award – Paul Fugate
Pro Late Model Winner’s Circle Award – Cody Kelley – 6 Wins
Pro Late Model Pole Award – Ty Majeski – 6 Poles
RB PERFORMANCE SUPER LATE MODEL SERIES AWARDS:
Super Late Model Rookie of the Season Award – None
Super Late Model Winner’s Circle Award – Cody Kelley – 5 Wins
Super Late Model Pole Award – Ty Majeski – 4 Poles
OVERALL WINNER’S CIRCLE AWARD – Cody Kelley – 15 Wins
OVERALL POLE AWARD – Ty Majeski – 17 Poles
VIRGIN WINNER AWARDS – Awarded to the drivers who picked up their first career SARA victories this past season
Ryan Beagle – Legends win at Thompson
Jacob Linkiewicz – Pro Late Model win at Thompson
SAFE DRIVER DISCOUNT AWARDS – Awarded to the drivers who received the most incident free races
Overall Safest Driver – Cody Kelley – 22 total incident free races in all divisions, with the most in the Super Late Models with 9, most in the Pro Late Models with 7, and tied for the most in the Street Stock division with 5.
Bill Martin – 18 incident free races in all divisions, and the most in the SK Modified division with 5.
Matt Rolfe – 16 incident free races in all divisions.
Ryan Borges – 12 incident free races in all divisions, and the most in the Legends division with 6.
Ty Majeski – 8 incident free races in all divisions.
Russell Berry – 8 incident free races in all divisions, and tied for the most in the Street Stock division with 5.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY AWARDS – Awarded to the drivers who finished inside the top ten of the points standings in at least three divisions
Cody Kelley – 1st in Super Late Models, 1st in Pro Late Models, 1st in Street Stocks
Ryan Borges – 2nd in Pro Late Models, 3rd in SK Modifieds, 2nd in Street Stocks, 1st in Legends
Matt Rolfe – 3rd in Super Late Models, 4th in Pro Late Models, 2nd in SK Modifieds, 3rd in Street Stocks, 2nd in Legends
Ken Belanger – 8th in Super Late Models, 9th in SK Modifieds, 7th in Street Stocks, 4th in Legends
Jeff Hoggard – 8th in Pro Late Models, 4th in Street Stocks, 9th in Legends
Ian Layne – 5th in Super Late Models, 10th in Pro Late Models, 8th in Street Stocks, 5th in Legends
Russell Berry – 4th in Super Late Models, 9th in Pro Late Models, 6th in Street Stocks
Matt Eddy – 9th in Super Late Models, 6th in Pro Late Models, 5th in SK Modifieds
IRONMAN AWARD – Awarded to the driver that attended the most races of the season in all five divisions
Matt Rolfe – Matt kinda sorta has an obligation to make it to most races, being the league admin and all… But he was the only driver this season who started every single event, which was 61 races in total. The next driver in line was last season’s Iron Man, Ken Belanger with 55 starts. Matt joined KB in another category by also making his 300th career league start, which only those two drivers have done in league history. Matt’s season was a very consistent one, picking up a majority of top five and top ten finishes, and he ended the season finishing 2nd in points in Legends and SK Modifieds, 3rd in points in Street Stocks and Super Late Models, as well as a 4th in the Pro Late Model standings.
HARD LUCK AWARD – Awarded to the driver who didn’t have very much luck on their side this season
James Linkiewicz – James is one of the latest drivers to reach the 100 career starts mark, but he’s still searching for that first elusive win. James was a common sight at the front of the field each time out, often battling inside the top five for some good finishes. In the 30 races he ran in the Spring Season, 17 of those were top tens, but there should have been more as he would get caught up in some incidents that would drop him out of contention. Some additional on track incidents did end up resulting in a suspension, but after having plenty of bad luck all season, it’s understandable that the frustration would start to kick in during the later weeks. But aside from that, we’re sure that we’ll be seeing more of James up front in the Summer Season, and hopefully that luck can start to turn around for him and maybe, just maybe, he can pick up that first victory in the process.
SPORTSMAN AWARD – Awarded to a driver who embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement. A driver who shows respect, races cleanly, was willing to help or share feedback, and represents what this league is all about.
Russell Berry – Russell is probably someone who has gotten this award before in one of earlier seasons, but without records for these virtual awards, we’re not 100%. But Russell is someone who has gained a lot of respect from the admins for a while now. He’s been racing in the league since the end of 2013, and he’s always been a driver that you never have to worry about, meaning he’s never going to cause any issues, he’ll race you cleanly, he’ll give you a lift if you need one, and those kinds of things don’t go unnoticed. And because of all of that, he began to receive some help later in the season from some of the top guys in the league, and the results showed as he knocked out 8 top ten finishes in his last 9 races. But when he can’t finish up front, he’s trying hard to finish with 0 incident points. He was the only driver to finish every single lap of the Street Stock season, and he also did so by being one of two drivers with the most incident free races in that division. Russell isn’t always in the spotlight like some of the top guys, but it’s drivers like Russell that make this league what it is.
DRIVER OF THE SEASON – Awarded to the driver that had the best overall performance of the season
Cody Kelley – Much like last season’s driver of the season Bill Martin, Cody came into the Spring Season with only a few wins, and a couple poles, and it was no surprise to us that he would do well this past season. But he exceeded our expectations and became the driver to beat almost every time out on the track. And it’s one thing to be successful in a specific division, but Cody was the guy to beat in the highest two divisions in the league with the Super Late Models and Pro Late Models, as well as in the Street Stocks. He added 7 poles to his resume, but the bigger stat is the 15 wins he put up as well. And on top of that he was also the cleanest driver in the league as far as having the most incident free races with 22. His impressive stat line reads: 38 starts, 37 top tens, 35 top fives, 7 poles, 15 wins, 872 laps led, and earned himself 3 SARA championships in the process. He also led the Power Rankings since Week 3 and finished in the top spot there as well. There’s no doubt in our minds that with those kinds of numbers, Cody is the 2015 Spring Season Driver of the Season, and he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the Summer Season.