Last Saturday night's Slingshot by Tobias Awards Banquet, held at the Holiday Inn in Grantville, Pa - about one mile from the site of the former Penn National Speedway - attracted a nice crowd of 170. And a few of those attendees were pretty far from home...
Eleven-year old Lucas Schott, from Chatfield, Minnesota, traveled to the banquet with his family. It was his second visit to the Keystone State, the first occurring in August of 2007 when Lucas and his little brother accompanied their father on a trip to compete in Slingshot Speedweek events. The youngster impressed many with his smooth driving style, along with his ability to stay out of trouble.Lucas was the co-track champion at his weekly track, the Tri Oval Speedway in Wisconsin, as well as the leading winner in last season's Junior Slingshot competition. During last Saturday's festivities in Grantville, Schott was named the Junior Slingshot Rookie of the Year.
Shawn "the Speedster" Cater, from Roopville, Georgia, was the other long distance traveler at the banquet. Cater earned recognition for being last year's Champion of the Gulf Coast Region, while his father, Jim, was nominated for Mechanic of the Year. That honor, by the way, went to Tommy Perrego.
After the awards ceremony, Shawn Cater reported that he will return to Pennsylvania in about six months. Cater plans to compete in this season's Slingshot Speedweek, and he's trying to recruit some of his fellow "Southern Slingers" to join him."I'm pretty sure Keith Achenbach is coming up for Speedweek, too. And we'd like to bring a car along for Keith's son, Chris, to drive. He's only 12, but man, is he good! I'm trying to get a few more of our guys to come up, too."
Cater explained why he's willing to tow his Slingshot all the way from Georgia. "These guys and girls up here are the best," he said, offering props to the northeastern group of Slingshot racers. "I really like it when they come down and race against us. They've been kickin' our butts when they show up, but we're gettin' better. We're gaining on them.""You gotta remember, "continued Cater, "they been runnin' 'em up here since '99. We've only been runnin' 'em for the past two years or so. That's why I like it when they come down south...I always learn a bunch of stuff from these boys."
As we spoke, Cater's eyes were focused on the Show-Car that was sitting on the banquet floor, with its sharp looking, new-for-'08 body style. He spent quite a bit of time studying the car, which was provided by Rich Tobias and Speedway Entertainment.
Keith Achenbach, who did not attend the banquet, is a Slingshot dealer from Winston, Georgia. He was nominated for Dealer of the Year (that award was presented to Oak Ridge Fabrications, a Wisconsin dealership, for their efforts in building the division from nothing and organizing a Great Lakes Regional Tour for 2008). Achenbach has aggressively promoted the Slingers in the Gulf Coast Region, most notably in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.
Ray Evernham's most recent signee, Billy VanInwegen, Jr., was firmly in the spotlight on Saturday. The 15-year old (that's right; he won't be able to get his driver's license until September), dressed as a champion should be, collected $1,200 as the National Slingshot Tour Champion. "Billy the Blast" also captured the Mid-Atlantic Region point title.The Sparrow Bush, NY teenager handles himself very well. He is very personable and easy-going...it's no wonder Evernham thinks highly of this kid. VanInwegen also sports a maturity that goes way beyond his 15 years...
Lindsey Billman, a friend of Billy's, was tragically killed when she fell through a skylight. In her honor, VanInwegen and his family started raising money, with a goal of funding a scholarship in Billman's name. A special raffle was held at the Slingshot banquet - the prize was a retired Longaberger basket - and the Lindsey Billman Scholarship Fund was enriched by almost $600.
VanInwegen is clearly a case of "the apple not falling far from the tree." His father, Bill Sr., is truly a class act. The Port Jervis, NY policeman has supported the Slingers for several years now, and he was nominated for the Sportsmanship Award. Even though that award went to Nate Christman and Dave McCullough (the vote ended in a tie), "Broadway Bill" received a loud ovation when he was introduced to the crowd as a nominee.
The Junior National Slingshot Champion is Nick Snyder. The young lion used consistency to win the title over Joseph Kata III. Snyder's No. 7 was in the thick of the battle at each Junior National Tour event, piling up enough points to overcome Kata, who had the most wins on the Junior Tour.
Kata is an enthusiastic 11-year old. He notched 12 feature wins in '07, three of them coming in Junior National Tour events at Oakland Valley, Middletown, and Greenwood Valley. He and his parents were very proud of the fact that Joseph triumphed in the very first Junior Slingshot race at the Orange County Fair Speedway. Kata was also the Junior point champion at the Oakland Valley Dirt Oval.He loves the Slingers, but Kata has plans to eventually jump up to racecars that produce more horsepower. When asked about his racing goals, he looked at his dad and said, "Oh, maybe the Young Guns 390 Micro-Sprints?" To which Joseph II replied, "I was thinking more along the lines of Rich's new SpeedSTR midgets." The younger Kata smiled approvingly over that proposition.
I thought this was interesting...as I introduced the Junior National Top Ten, I noticed that half of the youthful chauffeurs were female. I think that's pretty cool.
Marc Daniels, the Iceman, ended the racing season as the Linda's Speedway Slingshot Champion, the Speedweek Champion, and he was also involved in a torrid three-way battle for the Hamlin Speedway championship. A couple of National Tour victories placed him fourth in the final standings for that series.
At the banquet, though, Daniels pointed out that he won't return to defend his titles this year. Instead, he is concentrating on helping Shannon Smith win races and championships. "I want to help Shannon win the Linda's title now," he noted. With Shannon's dad, Randy Smith, tied up in track preparations at Hamlin on Friday nights, Daniels offered to haul her Slinger to Linda's and act as crew chief at the Jonestown oval. "I might run a few races in one of Randy's cars," stated the Iceman. "But I'm done as a weekly racer."
Daniels, a carpenter by trade, now operates a vinyl graphics business on the side called Vinyl Visions. And, with assistance from Darin Bartholomew, he started a web site titled StrictlySlingshots.com. He's definitely not walking away from racing; he's just climbing out of the driver's seat.
Shannon's brother, Ryan Smith, is getting ready to head to Florida to do some 600cc Micro-Sprint racing. Ryan, the 2007 ARDC Rookie of the Year, is also anxious for another season of wingless midget competition.
The Z-Man, Zach O'Connell, is really pumped up for the '08 campaign. Zach and his team were given the Best Appearing Car Award during Saturday's banquet, and he will return with his beautiful No. 327 when the new season gets underway.O'Connell is stoked about a new opportunity, too. Sometime this summer, he will strap into a 305 Sprint Car. We'll have more on this young charger in an upcoming column.
On a personal note, I want to thank Rich Tobias and Mike Feltenberger of Speedway Entertainment for asking me to emcee the Slingshot Banquet. I knew it would be a lot of fun, and the affair was even better than I expected. Even the "heckling" from Randy Smith (I guess I should have expected that) added to the evening's fun-filled atmosphere.
I am also extremely appreciative of being named, at the banquet, as the 2007 Writer of the Year. It was an awesome feeling just to be picked as a nominee for the award, joining such esteemed colleagues as Kyle Hardner and Randy Kane of AARN, along with John Levan of OpenWheelRacers.com. My heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who voted.
More news from the Slingshot Banquet will appear in next week's column.
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