Posted by Grundy County Speedway on 11/21/2005, 1:25 pm
Message modified by board administrator 11/21/2005, 1:26 pm

The annual Grundy County Speedway Awards Banquet was held last Saturday night at the VFW Hall in Morris, Illinois in front of a big crowd to honor the accomplishments of the drivers and teams that competed during the 2005 racing season. The lightening fast late model division saw 43 drivers earn points during the season with the title up for grabs until the final checkered flag. Knippenberg was in a three way battle for the title with Orland Park veteran Tom Smith and Lockport’s Duane Pierson, with the final night’s running of the Lee Schuler Memorial needed to decide the champion as only thirteen points separated the three drivers going into the final show of the year. Knippenberg, the 1997 Late Model Rookie Of the Year and the 2000 Mid-American champion won the title with two feature wins for the season and two heat race wins in seventeen nights of action at the Morris, Illinois race track, located at the Fairgrounds. Pierson, who was the 1980 Sportsman champion, finished just nineteen points behind Knippenberg for the title, his third second place finish in the last four years of action. Eight top five feature finished and one heat race win kept Pierson in the points battle, sitting atop the points list from July 15th until Labor Day Week-end. Smith, who finished fourth last season, had trouble on the final night of action and fell back seven points behind Pierson in the final tally, twenty-six marks off the title. His two feature wins and three heat race victories put Smith in the point lead for four weeks in the middle of the season and kept him in the battle for the championship to the end. Eddie Hoffman Jr., from Wheaton, missed four nights of racing during the Friday night programs, but still was able to claim the fourth spot in points, leading the list for the first five weeks of the season. Hoffman, the 1996 Late Model Rookie of the Year and the 1997 and 2004 title holder scored five feature wins and two heat race wins in his tenth year of late model racing. Taking home the fifth place trophy was Brett Sontag, from Joliet. Seven fast times, three heat race wins and four feature flags including the Lee Schuler Memorial earned the two-time champion the fourth place spot, just one point behind Hoffman in the final tally. Tom Knippenberg, from Channahon, brother of the Billy Knippenberg Jr., finished in the sixth position in points in his rookie year after finishing second two years in a row in the Mid-American ranks. His consistent runs and one heat race win earned the sixth year driver the 2005 Late Model Rookie if the Year award. Pat Kelly, who won the title in 2000 and was also the 1996 Mid-American title holder and the 1997 co-champion, scored one feature flag on his way to a seventh place showing in the points race. A heat race win and consistent finishes kept Kelly near the top of the list all year. Eighth place went to third year late model driver Rob Werkmeister, from Plainfield, who claimed two heat race wins and three top five showing in feature action. Hometown’s Gary Raven, in his fifth year of late model action at the Grundy oval, captured three heat race wins and twelve top ten feature finished to earn the ninth place trophy. Rounding out the top ten in the late model ranks was Joliet’s Scott Koerner. The co-champion in the Mid-American division in 1997, Koerner finished third last season in a title battle that also went down to the final show of the season. His four heat wins and three second place feature finishes kept Koerner in the top ten in points all season long. The Mid-American had 46 drivers take to the speedway during the year, with one driver shinning far ahead of the competition. Jerry Einhaus Jr held the points lead all season long and claimed ten feature wins in seventeen weeks of racing. He was second fastest in time trials four times and was the fastest qualifier the other thirteen nights. The 1998 and 2003 Mid-Am champion finished twice out of the top five in feature action, with a record of 1 eighth place finish, one seventh place finish, 1 fifth place showing and four runner up finishes to go along with his ten wins. Second place went to Jeremy Bloomberg, from Hampshire, who claimed four feature wins including the mid-season championship. The fourth year driver earned one heat race win and eleven top five feature finishes on his way to the runner-up position. Bartlett’s Josh Nelms, in his first full year of Grundy racing, scored one feature win and seven heat race victories on his way to a third place showing. Thirteen top five feature finishes made Nelms a contender from the beginning of the season. Second year driver, Nock Odell, from New Lenox, showed he new how to get around the 1/3 mile oval by winning two heat races and finishing second in feature racing four times in this highly competitive division, earning Odell the fourth place trophy. John Higgins, from Morris, in his third year of racing, earned three heat race wins and six top five feature finishes giving the 2003 Mid-Am Rookie of the Year fifth in points. John Senerchia, from Orland Park, missed a few nights of action during the season, but this veteran driver, who finished in the top five spots in the past two season, was still able to pull out a sixth place showing with three fast times and one feature flag. The 2004 Mid-Am Rookie if the Year, Dave DeFreece, repeated his rookie year finish with a seventh place result. DeFreece made the top ten in qualifying fourteen times and captured on feature win during the seventeen week season. Stacy Kelley, the only full time female driver at the speedway showed she can get the job done. She made the top ten in qualifying a dozen times and had one heat race win on opening night. Seven top ten feature finishes showed that she has what it takes to be a race car driver. Jay Mikel, from Oswego, improved his eleventh place finish last season, claiming ninth this season. This third year driver captured one heat race flag and had eight top ten feature finishes, ending the season just nine points behind Kelley. Jake Finney, son of veteran driver Dave Finney, finished in the tenth spot in points in his rookie season. Three heat race wins and a semi-feature win along with six top ten feature finishes earned Finney the 2005 Mid-Am Rookie if the Year title. The Street Stock Division title also went down to the final night of action, with Chad Proctor, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, taking the title on the final night of racing by winning the double-points Night of Features event on Labor Day week-end. Proctor’s five feature wins, one semi-feature win and seven fast times allowed Proctor to claim his first driving title in his fourth year of action at the Grundy Fairgrounds by just forty-eight marks. Rick Dawson, from Lemont, led the points list from the start of the season, but a bad showing during the mid-season championship and an accident during the Night of Features knocked Dawson off the top of the list when the final checkered flag flew. Dawson earned five feature wins, four heat race victories and six fast times during the season that repeated his second place showing of last season. Morris driver, Justin Claypool, kept in the points battle all season long, holding on to the second spot for most of the year. Two feature wins, one heat race win and one fast time to go along with four second place feature finishes showed Claypool is destined for a championship. Bandon Clubb, from Coal City, claimed one feature win, one heat race win and a fast time on his way to earning the forth place trophy. Clubb made the top ten in qualifying all sixteen nights, keeping him in the top five in points from the beginning of the season. Driving in from LaGrange Park, Chris Sanda finished in the fifth spot, after an eighth place showing in 2004 and a fifth place showing in 2003. Sanda claimed one feature win, set fast time twice and had three heat race wins during his fifth season of racing in Morris, Illinois. The 2004 Street Stock Rookie of the Year, Joe Graziano, won a feature event and a heat race during his second full season on the paved oval. He also made the top ten in qualifying all sixteen nights. Rookie driver Ricky Baker, from Plainfield, had one heat race win and thirteen top ten feature finishes in his first year of competition. Along with making the top ten in qualifying thirteen times, Baker earned the seventh place in the point standings and the 2005 Street Stock Rookie of the Year. Eighth place went to two-time track champion Randy Weese, from Morris, who has finished in the top five in points the last seven years. Weese tallied one heat race win and twelve top ten feature showings. Karl Kwaz, from Joliet, cracked the top ten in qualifying six times, had three heat race wins, won a semi-feature, and took home one feature flag, earning him ninth place on the final points list. Taking tenth was veteran driver Craig Matteson, from Morris, who sat out last season. He was able to get nine top tens in qualifying, one heat race win and a semi-feature win fro the season.