ITA Divisional Championships rundown

Discussion in 'Alcohol Racing News' started by Will Hanna, Oct 2, 2009.

  1. Will Hanna

    Will Hanna We put the 'inside' in Top Alcohol
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    ITA Takes a look at the Divisional Championships that are still up for grabs, the ones that are clinched and a preview of the remaining events...

    A quick lesson on Divisional points. Racers can claim points at the best five out of the first eight divisionals they attend. For the Div. Championship, three of those races must be in division. You can claim your best two out of the first three out of division events you attend. The first tie breaker is claimed in division points, the second is total in division points, the third is head to head matchups.

    Div. 1

    TAD
    John Finke has a solid 75 pt lead over Darren Nicholson, but that it deceiving. Nicholson has a win, a ru and 3 first round losses to improve on. He has attended no out of division races, so he definitely has a shot at catching him. With four divisional events left (Atco, Reynolds, Noble and Vegas), he needs a win at one of them. He can catch with a win and a ru or a win and two semis. Finke has one more event left he can claim, in division or out of division. Both are already qualified for the resumption of the rained-out Atco race. He must reach the finals to improve on his points total.

    TAFC
    Manzo. Another World Championship and his 757th Division 1 title. There is a pretty tight race for second as Terry Munroe, Marty Nothstein, Paul Gill, John Anderika and Frank Schuster all have a viable shot for duece spot.

    Div. 2

    TAD
    This one is pretty wide open going into the final stretch. Left Coast invader Duane Shields holds a 'scant' 42 point lead over defending Champ Artie Allen and Bill Evans, who are tied for second place. All three have went to 6 events, two of them out of division. That leaves the final Div. 2 race, Reynolds, Ga., and one out of Division race for each. Artie has 3 ru's and two semis for his total, so he needs to reach the finals to earn points. If Duane does not add to his total, he can tie him with a win or two runner ups. Bill has a win, ru and three semifinals to his credit. He also can tie Duane with one win or two ru's. Duane has 2 wins, a ru and two semifinals. He can put some distance between him and his challengers with final round appearances at his final two races. This will be one of the more interesting races to watch down the stretch.

    TAFC
    This is another interesting race. Northeastern invader Mickey Ferro is currently in the lead with a 32 point lead over perennial Div. 2 champ Jay Payne. 65 points back is Mark Billington, who could be the wild card. Payne has one race remaining to claim points at, and with four out of division trips this year, it must be Reynolds. He must win the event and keep Ferro out of the final at any events. Ferro has two wins, a ru and two semi's to his credit in only five races attended. He has one out of division win at Reading, so he can only add one more win out of division. Billington has only attended five races as well, one of those being an out of division DNQ. So a win in Reynolds could catapult him into the points lead, given Ferro doesn't improve. His total includes a win, two ru's, a first round, and DNQ, so he has plenty of 'easy' ground to gain points. This will be another fun one to watch.

    Div. 3

    TAD
    Bill Reichert has already clinched the Div. 3 title this year, but the race for second could be interesting as only one point seperate Ken Perry and Marty Thacker. There are no Div. 3 events left this year, so it's all out of division from here. Thacker has two first rounds he can improve on, while Perry must go to the finals to improve.

    TAFC
    Privateer Andy Bohl currently leads this race by 43 points over Mick Snyder. Both Bohl and Snyder are done adding points to their total with the Division 3 season over. Bohl has scored two out of division wins already, so he's maxed on out of division points, while Snyder has already attended three out of division events. One point behind Snyder is Chris Foster, who has one more out of division he can attend. Foster must win his final race to overtake Bohl, as he is trying to improve on a first round loss. A potential spoiler is Bobby Martin. Martin has attended five events, none of them out of division. Two wins would tie him with Bohl. If the first tie breaker is in division points, Bohl would win. If the first tie breaker is in division wins, Martin would win. If Foster wins, he clinches the division.

    Division 4

    TAD
    Brandon Lewis comes into the final stretch with the points lead and the hot hand with two wins at his last two events. He leads second place, Malcolm Wahle by a mere 32 points. Back in third is rookie Chase Copeland 75 points back. Lewis has already attended seven events, three of them out of divisionals, so his home track of Noble is the only chance for him to gain points. He has a first round to improve on, so a win would go a long way towards helping his chances. However, both Wahle and Copeland have two first rounds they can improve on. Copeland needs to keep Lewis out of the finals to keep his hopes alive. Both challengers have one more out of division race they can attend. Way back in fourth is Shayne Lawson, who is 85 points out only attending four races. If he jumps back in Todd Odem's potent ride again, he could make it interesting as well. He already has one out of division win, so he could only pick up one more win besides Noble. All eyes on Noble...

    TAFC
    This one still isn't decided with points leader and defending Div. 4 Champ Steve Harker holding a 53 point lead on Kebin Kinsley. Harker can clinch with a win in Noble. Kinsley has two first round to improve on with one more in division race and two out of divsions left, so nothing is ruled out. A win in Noble would put him in a tie for first if Harker loses first round.

    Div. 5

    TAD
    This division will be a sprint to the finish between current leader and rookie Dan Kracht and defending Champ Ed Schmeekle. Kracht holds a slim 32 point lead. Like Division 3, the Division 5 season is over, so both must travel out of Division. Both have two more out of divsion races left to claim with two first rounds to improve on. Noble seems to be one of the likely races we'll see these two at.

    TAFC
    This race has already been clinched by defending Champ, Roger Bateman. Vern Moats is currently in second, but Lance Van Hauen and Kirk Williams have legitimate chances at moving into second. All of them have first rounds to improve on.

    Div. 6

    TAD
    With 5 in division wins, Shawn Cowie has this one locked up. Justin Davis and defending champ Joey Severance are tied for second. Dale Carlson trails by 11 points in fourth, with Doug Hegge having a shot at second as well. Davis has already attended 8 races, so he is maxed out on points. Severance has one more race he can claim, and must go to the finals to pick up any points. Carlson has two more out of division races he can go to and can tie Severance and Davis by winning the first round at one of those events. He also has a second round loss he can improve on as well.

    TAFC
    First and second place in this division are already decided. Defending Champ Brian Hough has already locked up the Championship, with rookie Ken Webster locked in second. Clint Thompson resides in third, but could see challenges from John Evanchuk and Sean Bellemeur.

    Div. 7

    TAD
    This is another race that has been decided, with defending Champ Jim Whiteley keeping the crown. Chris Demke and Cody Perkins have a legitimate battle going for second, as Perkins has only attended four races and will gain full points at his next event, and only trails Demke by 33 points. So he must win first round at his next event to overtake Demke. Demke has one race left he can claim, presumably Vegas, with a first round to improve on. If Perkins does decide to travel, he has two first rounds he can improve on.

    TAFC
    Sean O'Bannon seemingly has this one locked up with a 116 point lead over Doug Gordon, but it's not 'clinched' yet. Gordon has only attended five in division events. With one more in-division event remaining, Gordon could tie O'Bannon with any combination of two wins and a runner up and overtake him with three wins. Improbable, but we've seen it happen before. O'Bannon can clinch with a Vegas win.

    So what do we look for?

    The Atco Division 1 event is this weekend. This race originally started in June, but was rained out after one session. Aside from the normal Div. 1 competitors, Mickey Ferro in TAFC is the only out of division car that will be there.

    The next stop will be in Reynolds, Ga., for the Division 2 finale. As we mentioned above, this will be a fun one to watch in both classes, as we will see a showdown of the title hopefuls.

    If Nicholson is going to chase the Division 1 TAD title, it's probable we'll see him in the mix. Division 4 title hopefuls Wahle, Copeland and Lawson will more than likely make this their final out of division stand opposed to Vegas. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Dan Kracht there from D5 either. We would expect Schmeekle to make his two out of divisionals Noble and Vegas, trying to take advantage of altitude. TAD could be a bloodbath.

    As mentioned, along with the in-division fight for TAFC to go down in Reynolds, there could be some out of Division action. If Bobby Martin is to make a go at the Division 3 title, he either needs to pick up races, and Reynolds more than likely would be one of them. Chris Foster has one race remaining to claim, so it's anyone's guess where he'll show. If Doug Gordon is going to make a hail mary shot at the Div. 7 crown, he'll have to be in Reynolds. Steve Harker makes his home just up the road in Gainesville, Ga., so it would be no surprise to see him there and potentially Kebin Kinsley if he's going to make a go at the Div. 4 title.

    The following weekend will be Noble, Okla. The outcomes of Atco and Reynolds will have a big influence on who makes the trip and who's still alive. In TAD, it will be a huge showdown of in division title contenders, and you can just about bet the bank both Kracht and Schmeekle will be in the house. Again, if Nicholson and the Cantrells decide to chase Div. 1, Noble may be an option, as will Vegas. Despite not being title contenders, the Conway tuned juggernaughts of his own car and Mike Manners could very well play spoilers. Oh yeah, did we mention the Div. 2 title contenders Shields, Allen and Evans could be there as well?

    Again, depending the outcome of Reynolds, we could see the Div. 2, Div. 3, Div. 4 and Div. 7 TAFC title fights going down in Noble. If Payne wins Reynolds, expect to see him there along with Ferro and Billington duking it out. Geographically this race makes the most sense for Foster, and if Martin decides to make a run at it, he could be there as well. We wouldn't rule out Bohl coming down to block, either. Noble usually has a strong contingent of Div. 5 cars, so we could see Moats, Van Hauen and Williams trying to pick up the No. 2 spot in Div. 5. Will Noble be stop No. 2 for Gordon's hail mary trip? Again, with this being the next to last divisional for the year, this race is always interesting.

    Then, the mad dash to the finish line in Vegas. It's the week after the Vegas National, the week before Pomona, and for some strange reason, racers seem to go there for no 'particular' reason. Maybe it's the gambling, maybe it's the track, we don't know. There's always a host of out of division cars in both categories vying for 8 spots. Generally, it's not where you want to go as an out of division race needing to win; just qualifying is a feat.

    That said, we could potentially still see Nicholson and the Cantrells chasing the D1 title, and it wouldn't be unlikely to see an appearance from Schmeekle. We seriously doubt any of the A/F contenders will make Vegas their last stop.

    TAFC is another matter. Div. 2, Div. 3, Div. 4 and Div. 7 could potentially still be on the line. More than likely Div. 3 and Div. 4 will have been decided, leaving Division 2 and will the Gordon hail mary still be in the air. Regardless of championship implications, it's always a fun race to watch as the best of the best show up for this one. Winning this one ranks right up there with an All-Star win in my book.

    We'll keep this updated as the late season dramatics unfold. This weekend: Atco.
     
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  2. ry1957

    ry1957 New Member

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    division points

    hey will i see that terry munroe has only two home division points how is it that ???:confused: thanks
     
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