RAMOS, SCHUTTE, WILLIAMS, SIMPSON, FRANKOSKI, DANIELS, ROMANO, DODENHOFF ALSO CITED


“Rookies of the Year” for USAC’s 2009 racing season were selected today and will be honored at seasonal awards banquets in January.


 


Kody Swanson, Henry Clarke and Zach Daum earned National recognition and will be honored at the January 8 USAC “Night of Champions” National Awards Dinner in downtown Indianapolis, Ind.


 


Swanson, of Kingsburg, Calif., was recognized for his exploits in the K & N Silver Crown Series, where he finished fifth in the standings. His best finishes were a second at Phoenix International Raceway and a third at Iowa Speedway. Kody won USAC’s w005 Western Sprint Car Championship and was also the “Rookie of the Year” in USAC’s Western Sprint Car Series in 2005. He posted four wins in USAC’s 2009 Western Sprint Car Series.


 


Clarke, of Villa Park, Calif., posted seven “top-10” finishes on his way to 12th place in the final National Sprint Car Series point standings. He also added three “top-10” finishes in 17 USAC National Midget starts and ended up 14th in that series final standings. Among his season highlights was his impressive drive at the Belleville Midget Nationals where he nearly won the championship.


 


Daum, of Pocahontas, Ill. ranked 10th in the Mopar National Midget points on the strength of four “top-10” finishes. He matched that effort in USAC’s K & N Silver Crown Series as well, also finishing 10th in that series standings. He exhibited his versatility near the end of the season with back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the Midgets at the “4-Crown Nationals” on dirt at Rossburg, Ohio and the “Copper World Classic” on the pavement at Phoenix, Ariz.


 


Other “Rookies of the Year” include Luis Ramos III, Austin Williams, Alex Schutte, Jimmy Simpson, Jeremy Frankoski, Austin Luttmer, Nik Romano and Sean-Mikael Dodenhoff.


 


Ramos, of Clovis, Calif., was 15th in the Western Sprint Car Series, while Williams, a son of former USAC/CRA Sprint Champion Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif., was 13th in the final Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint points. Schutte, of Redding, Calif., actually challenged for the Western Midget title at times and was third in the final standings. Simpson, of Indianapolis, Ind., finished second in both the Midwest and UMARA Focus standings, while Frankoski, of Huntersville, N.C., claimed the Carolina Ford Focus title as a neophyte. Luttmer, of West Jordan, Utah, finished third in the Utah Ford Focus Series and Romano, of Atherton, Calif., emerged as the California Pavement Ford Focus Champ. Dodenhoff, of Bakersfield, Calif., finished third in the California Dirt Ford Focus standings