The 1st Annual Elephant Cage SS/AH Hemi Racing Awards.
Well, I’m sitting back after two great dinners at Thanksgiving reflecting about the 2007 SS/AH season. Man, these guys really put out some real stout numbers this season. We have seen the 8.40’s mark hit and the 155 mph plus done. There were new drivers jumping into the mix and showing they were real players.
The first award is Rookie of the Year. Hands down, the guy that wins this has shown he was a player in the Mopar Hemi Challenge events. Starting the year off at the JEG’S Cajun SportsNationals in Belle Rose, he qualified #3 at 8.67, and then proceeded to go two rounds.
At Indy, he went three rounds, then reached the final round at the JEGS Northern SportsNationals. He lost on a red-light start. He finished the year off going to the semi finals at the Dutch Classic.
The 1st annual Elephant Cage SS/AH Hemi Racing Rookie of the Year award goes to Larry Woo.
The second award is Most Improved Driver of the Year. This driver has been around for a long time. He has done more promoting the Hemi Challenges and getting things going in the right direction than driving. He won his first Mopar Hemi challenge this year at the JEGS Pacific SportsNationals in Fontana, CA.
The Elephant Cage SS/AH Hemi Racing Most improved Driver of the Year award goes to Michael Ogburn.
Third award is Run of the Year award. This is going to get two different awards. There will be one for the Mopar Hemi Challenge events and one for NHRA events. The first goes to Charlie Westcott Jr. for his 8.52 run at the Dutch Classic. He ran it during his round-three bye run and went on to win the event. The second award is a tie for two great runs. The first driver is Bucky Hess. He ran 8.46 at Atco’s Division 1 national open. The second driver is Fred Henson. His great 8.489 run was made at the Division 4 event at Belle Rose. All three drivers made great runs.
Here are the rest of the awards:
1st annual Elephant Cage SS/AH Hemi Racing MPH King award:
Charlie Westcott Sr., Jackson Engine Tech ’68 Barracuda
1st annual Elephant Cage SS/AH Hemi Racing Best Appearing Car award:
Larry Woo’s Barracuda
1st annual Elephant Cage SS/AH Hemi Racing Best Engineered Car award:
Tony DePillo, Wayne Hutton Racing Barracuda
2007 Mopar Hemi Challenge World Champion:
Rick Houser in DeFrank & Sons ’68 Barracuda
