2010 Preseason Rankings

With Lincoln Speedway set to possibly open this weekend, I’ve decided to unveil my pre-season rankings of Central PA 410 sprint cars. The rankings will focus on the teams who primarily race at Williams Grove, Lincoln and Port Royal Speedways but will take into consideration all of the racing these guys do, whether it be right here at home, Knoxville or Chico for that matter. I’m going to start the poll off with a top 20 list, but after that, expect to see a top 10 and maybe a few honorable mentions. There could also be a few extra awards throughout the season depending on the circumstances. So without further adieu, here is the first installment of the Tail Tanks and Torsion Bars' 410 Sprint Car Rankings.

1. Greg Hodnett – The J&S Fabrication team won 10 times in 2009 including three WoO victories at Williams Grove, most notably the $50,000 to win Morgan Hughes National Open in October. They were also triumphant in the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal. So far in 2010, the results have not been great for the 2009 PA Speedweek champs, but the Jim & Sandy Kline owned #22 did qualify for all but one race against some very stout competition in Florida. I like Greg to contend for Championships at both Williams Grove and Port Royal. However, travel will probably hamper those efforts. 12 wins is the total.

2. Todd Shaffer – The Beam team started 2009 on fire having won 4 out of 5 and notched 6 wins by the second week in May including an All-Star win at Williams Grove. The Gary & Patty Beam owned #88 would go on to win 2 more times throughout the season and would once again claim the points championships at both Williams Grove and Port Royal. If they decide to run the full complement of races Todd should again be a favorite for both titles. Total wins for the 88 should be somewhere around 7 again.

3. Brian Montieth – If 2009 wasn’t a statement year from the Premier team, then I don’t know what it was. Brian started off the season with a surprise win at the Icebreaker after the first and second place cars were involved in a wreck with 2 to go and from there things just started to click. Brian would win a season high 7 races at Lincoln en route to a second consecutive championship. The Jerry Parish owned car was also in contention at Williams Grove until late in the season and notched 2 wins there as well. Brian will be a contender at both tracks again in 2010. 7 wins is my prediction.

4. Fred Rahmer – The Hall of Famer is probably looking to carry over some of his 2009 late season success into 2010. Though 2010 has not started out great, it hasn’t been bad considering Fred has started slow in past seasons and usually seems to be among the top of the class in PA when its all said and done. The #51 is going to be running as often as they can and will be doing some travelling this year. They are currently in the midst of a Western swing with stops in Vegas, Tulare and two more races in the Lone Star State with the WoO. If they travel often, Rahmer will obviously not be in the hunt for any titles, but he will be strong when he runs locally. I’m going with 9 wins on the season.

5. Doug Esh – The Hammer is my pick to really stir things up in PA this year. Doug only won 3 races last year but I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a break-out year for the Trone Special. Doug made all of the Florida races and I am confident that they are going to be strong right out of the box when the PA season gets underway. I like Doug to be in the thick of things in the Lincoln points battle, however I think that missing to go to Knoxville may be too much to overcome. Doug will park the #39 in victory lane 9 times this year.

6. Stevie Smith – Stevie ran a limited schedule in 2009 yet managed 12 wins between Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida along with the Ohio Speedweek title. It looks like the Zemco car will be running a similar schedule this season, therefore a similar number of wins is likely.

7. Daryn Pittman – Daryn won 6 races in 2009 including the Mitch Smith and Jack Gunn Memorial races at Williams Grove while driving for two different owners. The Keen Motorsports team has planned an aggressive schedule that will see them run close to 100 events. I am looking at about a dozen wins in 2010.

8. Lance Dewease – The Catoctin Motorsports #30 is sporting a special paint scheme in honor of Lance’s 25th year in sprint cars. While it’s unlikely that Lance will match the win totals of his heyday of the 1990s, a half dozen wins on the super competitive PA circuit is completely possible following last year’s total of five that included a Selinsgrove Open victory.

9. Mark Smith – The pilot of the Mach 1 Chassis flagship will be looking to have a breakout in his self built car. 2009 saw Mark notch two wins, but he was in the title hunt at Williams Grove up until the very end and the team switched from Port Royal to Lincoln late in the summer. Mark could easily see his win total triple over last year and another run for the title isn’t out of the question.

10. Chad Layton – 2009 saw Chad move from the family owned #55 to the Dave Middleswarth #7 at the end of May. “Bad” Chad won one race prior to the move and then two more after, including The Octoberfest 50 at Hagerstown. With a full season to work with, the Middleswarth team could contend for a title at Port Royal in 2010.

11. Tyler Walker - 2009 King of Cali comes back to PA
12. Alan Krimes - Lincoln points runner-up
13. Brian Leppo - Coming off of a disappointing season
14. Mike Erdley - Former Port Royal champ will contest the title again in '10
15. Jim Siegel - Could surprise and contend at Lincoln.
16. Dave Ely - 2009 return to 410s was impressive
17. Don Kreitz - King Donald can still get it done, but often struggles too
18. Aaron Ott - Looking for more good things from AO
19. Adam Wilt - Last year's National Rookie of the Year
20. Steve Buckwalter - Can this team break through and get a win already