2008 URSS Awards Banquet Caps Off An Amazing Season

The United Rebel Sprint Series capped off the 2008 Season with its Awards Banquet Saturday night as $30,000.00 in Cash and Contingencies were handed out in Hays Kansas to a packed house of Racers, Sponsors, their Families and Fans alike. The URSS has experienced phenomenal growth during the 2008 Season as it branched out into four Divisions featuring racing in the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah. From it’s humble beginnings in 2006 when 15 Drivers where on the Series roster, Ninety different Drivers took to the track to compete in Fifty-Four events during the 2008 Season.

Parker, Colorado’s Tim Perkins, captured the Western Region Championship. Tim has been racing with the URSS Since its inception and along with his Father has been instrumental in the development of the Western Region this Season.  Perkins acknowledged that the upcoming 2009 Season it will be an uphill climb for a repeat win in 2009, as the competition will be stronger as the Series continues to grow with more cars coming into the Region.

St. Joseph Missouri’s Cody Salem had to fight tooth and nail with Kansas City, Kansas’s Corey Lutters for the Eastern Region Championship. The pair had traded the points lead back and forth as the Season wound down with Lutters leading by a scant thirteen points going into the Season Finale at Dodge City.  The Battle continued as both racers had to run in the two Non-Qualifiers races to make their way into the A-Main. Salem battled his way onto the A as Lutters fell a couple of spots shy. Salem raced his way to a twelfth place finish to claim the Eastern Title.  Salem thanked car owners John and Shawna Tyrrell and the entire Flying Angels Racing Team and all of their Sponsors for their support in 2008.

Dodge City, Kansas’s Brian Herbert fought his way to the Southern Regional Championship with challenges from several different Drivers. Herbert had his hands full as he and Satanta, Kansas’s Mike Woodruff were locked in a heated battle for the top spot. Woodruff unfortunately had to take time off from racing in July due to work, but the points battle heated up as two of the Southern Regions Young Guns, Fargo, Oklahoma’s Taylor Milton and Turpin, Oklahoma’s Taylor Velasquez made their run to the top of the points standings to challenge Herbert. Despite their best efforts, Milton and Velasquez were able to close the gap but the veteran Herbert held them off to claim the Championship.

The Northern Region came down to a battle between past URSS Champions as 2006 Champion Jon Johnson and 2007 Champion Smokey Fairbank to it to the wire. Fairbank had lead the Northern Division points for most of the year but a late Season charge by the “Kansas Tornado” tightened the standings and made every spot gained at each race that much more important. Johnson made the most of the final handful of races and took the Championship over Fairbank.

The URSS Regional “Rookie’s of the Year” were recognized for their accomplishments in the past Season. Northglenn, Colorado’s Garrett Park won the Western Region Rookie of the Year. Park thanked his parents for all of their support in making it all possible.  Wakeeney, Kansas’s Willie Wynn picked up both the Eastern and Northern Region’s Rookie of the Year honors in 2008. Wynn Made thirty-two of the fifty-four races in his first URSS Season. Wynn credited the help of his Sponsors and his father and teammate Smokey Fairbank for their support in his first season in a Sprint Car in helping with the learning curve after coming up from the Stock Car Division. Fargo, Oklahoma’s Taylor Milton picked up the Southern Division Rookie of the Year Award for 2008. Taylor thanked his Mom and Dad and family for all of their support this Season and to the many race teams that offered their support and help throughout the year.

The 2008 National Championship race also came down to the final race of the Season as three URSS Veterans were locked in a heated battle for the top spot. Going into the final race weekend, Dodge City, Kansas’s Brian Herbert held a slim 20-point lead over Utica, Kansas’s Jon Johnson and Jetmore, Kansas’s Ray Seemann who were in a dead heat for the runner-up position.  Every point was to be crucial to decide the first ever URSS National Championship, the way each racer got to those points was up for grabs. Herbert and Johnson were both in same Heat Race, Herbert said, “Johnson came up and joked that he should let me win the heat race and I should finish second we’d both be guaranteed a spot in the A-Main.”  Johnson went on to win the Heat race with Herbert finishing second.  “I went to check the line-up board to see where I would start in the A-Main, and there was Johnson in the A and I was in one of the Non-Qualifiers races” added Herbert, “dang if that danged old man hadn’t snookered me again.”  Herbert and Seemann both had to race their way into the final Feature race of the Season, and both did make it into the Finale.

In what would become the final race of the Season, Herbert hit the set-up and came from his thirteenth starting spot to race his way past Johnson to finish the night in the fourth position to claim the Inaugural URSS National Championship. Herbert thanked all of his Sponsors for all of their help this season, as well as everyone associated with the Herbert Race Team. “Without them I wouldn’t be standing here accepting this Award” Herbert stated, “they are the without a doubt the hardest working bunch of guys out there.”   Herbert thanked his father Alan Sr. for building the engines that the team uses and his brother Alan Jr. and crew for always going the extra mile to have the car ready for him. Herbert credited Alan and the crew for their hard work after a crash at Hays that ended their night earlier in the year, “Alan and the crew went to work the minute they got back to Dodge City and by the next afternoon they had the back-up car ready to fire to race at DCRP that night. You can’t ask for a better bunch of guys to keep you in the seat and to give you a car that is capable of winning on any night.”

The National Rookie of the Year Award went to Fargo, Oklahoma’s Taylor Milton who put together a remarkable Rookie Season with the URSS.  Milton competed in thirty URSS Races during the 2008 Season with Two Wins, 9 Top Five Finishes, 17 Top Tens and Two DNF’s in those appearances. Taylor, who is only Fourteen Years Old thanked his Mom and Dad for providing him the opportunity to step up to the Sprint Car Division. Taylor’s first season wasn’t without its misfortunes, at the end of the year Taylor was driving his third car of the year. “Without my family and my girlfriends help and support I wouldn’t be able to have done any of this Season” Taylor added, “thanked his fellow competitors, without the help of several of the URSS teams on the night he flipped at DCRP in his Heat race.” Milton came back to finish fifth that night, jumping into a car that had been rebuilt with the help of members and parts from various teams in the URSS Pits that started dead last at the drop of the green.

The 2008 Hard Core, Full Bore Award was given to Smokey Fairbank who had finishes of 2nd Place in the Northern and Western Region, a 3rd Place in the Eastern Region, a 9th Place in the Southern Region as well as finishing 4th in the National Points. Smokey ran 37 of the 54 Races in 2008 URSS Season, often running multiple Regions in the same weekend.

The Hard Luck Award went to Kinsley Kansas's Darren Bowman who had high hopes for the 2008 Season, but due to several twists of fate didn't quite go as first planned. URSS Founder Rick Salem summed it all up. "Darren came out this Season with a brand new car with a new look hoping it would change his luck in 2008. Darren destroyed that very car the first night out, later on in the year he tried to do the same with his old but very reliable car. Then I tried to destroy that same car during a Promotional Race between two local Doctors at Jetmore,  one of them put the car through the turn four catch-fence."  Bowman picked up a new Wing from Rooster Wings and a brand new front axle from XXX Race Company for his misfortunes.

The last Award handed out was the Sportsmanship Award which is given out to the Driver who goes out of their way to help be an Ambassador to the Sport and the Series as well as one who helps those fellow racers within the Series. The Award went to the "Kansas Tornado" Jon Johnson, who has been one of the biggest proponents of the URSS Series, who consistently through his actions continues to pay it forward as the Series grows each year.  Johnson was almost speechless as he accepted the award, "Three years ago I came into this Series after Rick Salem chose me to help build this Class. I was tired, my equipment was old and the first year I whooped up on the rest of the Drivers in the Series. Last year I didn't do quite as well and this year my kid is beating me consistantly." Johnson did admit he has had a lot of fun racing in the URSS Series, which what it was intended to do at an affordable price so younger Drivers could get into a  competitive Sprint Car Series. Thank you Jon for your leadership, your knowledge and your willingness to give back as a mentor to the future of the sport.

The United Rebel Sprint Series would like to thank of its 2008 Sponsors for their support, Myers Engine Service, XXX Race Products, Weld Wheels, Hoosier Racing Tires, World Products, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Dodge City Harley-Davidson, Dodge City Powersports, Rocket Headers, Saldana Racing Products, Bonzai Products, Rooster Wings, Radcliffe Truck Sales, TAZ Fireworks, Stellar Sales, The Fuel Guys – Kevin Brown/K&D Racing Fuel - Kent & Debbie Brown and Action Racing Photography.

 

 For more information on the United Rebel Sprint Series contact Rick Salem at 785-475-7010 or at rksalem@eaglecom.net or visit the series Website at www.unitedrebelsprintseries.com.