FinishLine Racing School's Students in the NEWS !!

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Michael Waltrip Racing Welcomes Josh Wise To The Organization
11-13-2006
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Michael Waltrip Racing, Inc. announced today that Josh Wise, who was crowned the 2006 USAC National Sprint Car Series champion on Saturday night, will drive in a variety of series for the organization in 2007.

Wise ended his USAC season with a win in the Western World Championships feature Saturday night at Manzanita Speedway.

“Michael Waltrip Racing is proud to be associated with Josh Wise not only for his ability to win championships, but also because of his humble personality,” Waltrip said. “We have already tested Josh in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck a couple of times and have been impressed with his ability to get around the track and provide input to the team.”

“We have plans to keep Josh busy in the off-season to help prepare him for the 2007 season,” Waltrip continued. “Josh will run in a variety of venues for Michael Waltrip Racing, Inc. including the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA as well as the short track racing that he has brought him so much success.”

Frank Ruocco and Woody Pitkat Clinch Track Championship
By Scott Running
Posted Monday, October 30, 2006
Stafford Springs, CT---Stafford Motor Speedway closed out its 2006 NASCAR Racing season with its 34th annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend on Sunday, October 29, 2006. Four champions were decided on the track, as Mike Stefanik took the 2006 Whelen Modified Tour championship, Frank Ruocco won the SK Modified® championship, Woody Pitkat won the Late Model championship, and Brit Andersen won a 4-way battle to take the SK Light championship. Feature winners on the day included Willie Hardie winning the 50-lap SK Modified® feature, Ryan Posocco winning the Late Model feature, and Matt Gallo won the 20-lap SK Light feature. In the 50-lap SK Modified® feature event, Willie Hardie won the battle, but Frank Ruocco ended up winning the war. Hardie did all that he could do to overtake Ruocco for the championship by winning the race, but Ruocco ran just aggressively enough to stay in a championship clinching position throughout the 50-lapper. (read more...)

Andy Lally - Grand American Rolex GT Series
GRAND AM GT: Lally and Bunting win GT title with Utah Victory
Written by: Grand American Communications
Toole, Utah – 9/3/2006
Andy Lally and Marc Bunting clinched the 2006 Rolex Series GT class championship Saturday night at Miller Motorsports Park after scoring their class-best fifth victory of the season alongside Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 65 TRG Pontiac GTO.R.
Lally inherited the lead on Lap 130 when class leader Robin Liddell was forced down pit road with a brake problem on his No. 72 NEC Porsche GT3, and led the rest of the way in the 174-lap event. The TRG crew completed flawless stops throughout the nine-hour season finale, and the win marks the first GT class championships for Bunting and Lally—the 2004 SGS class champions. Bunting and Lally came up one point short in their bid to win the GT driver title in 2005. (read more...)

J.R. Fitzpatrick Cascar Super Series
18-year-old JR Fitzpatrick earned his first CASCAR Super Series points championship. “The goal today was to win the title, and stay out of trouble,” said the young champion. “We’re going to take this, enjoy it, and start thinking about winning another one. At the start of the season, I set a goal for a top-five points finish. We exceeded everything we wanted to achieve, by far.”  Fitzpatrick, driver of the Milwaukee Tools Chevy, avoided trouble for most of the 250-lap race but was involved in a mild scrape in the late-going, triggered by two other drivers. The Ayr, ON youngster soldiered home for a ninth-place result, which was more than sufficient to secure the prestigious points championship. (read more...)
 

Charlie Daniels - Sandia Motorsports Park Super Truck Series
Five Champions Crowned at Sandia Motor Speedway
Sandia Motorsports Park
Saturday, October 7, 2006
by Bob Ingram
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Charlie Daniels started the night in 2nd spot to Lloyd Duffey but took the title in the Super Truck class after winning both his heat race and his main event. The 30 laps were run with only 2 cautions periods for minor spins and saw Daniels take the win from his 6th starting spot to clinch the season championship.  (read more...)

Brad Kuhn Badger Midget Series
Kuhn, Hatton, Stratton & DeSelle lead Badger Race Stats
By Bryan Gapinski
Sun Prairie, Wis., Sept. 26---2006 Badger Midget Series Champion Brad Kuhn, runner-up Scott Hatton, third place Danny Stratton and Chad DeSelle head up the final Badger Midget Auto Racing Association season race statistics. Badger recently completed their 70th year of sanctioning midget auto racing, the oldest in the country.
Kuhn, scored eight feature victories, and led all drivers with thirteen top five feature finishes in the 19 race series. Kuhn also led nine features for a series leading 131 feature laps led. Three-time series champion Hatton and Kuhn each won eleven preliminary races, with 38 different drivers scoring at least one victory.
Kuhn and Stratton tied for the series lead with four fast time honors as a total of nine different drivers turned a top performance in qualifying. DeSelle who finished in the top ten in points for the eighth straight season topped all drivers in the Hoosier Tire Passing Points Challenge passing 99 cars in feature competition. (read more...)

Tyler Brown Delaware Speedway - APC Late Model Rookie of the Year
Tyler, at 15 years of age has become the youngest "Late Model - Rookie of
the Year" driver in the history of Delaware Speedway, as well as finishing
10th in the overall standings. This year (2006) marked Tyler's 9th year of
racing as he stepped up to high powered Late Model cars. At the drop of the
green flag for the 2006 season Tyler was still only 14, becoming Delaware
Speedway's youngest competitor to ever compete in this division. (read more...)

Woody Pitkat Thompson Intl. Sunoco Modifed
Pitkat Earns NASCAR WRS Region IV Championship
Thompson, CT (September 28, 2006)
With so much on the line at Thompson International Speedway on Thursday night, the biggest story was Woody Pitkat of Stafford, CT. Pitkat turned his rookie Sunoco Modified season into a track championship and ultimately the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Region Four Championship. (read more...)
(Woody also WON the 2006 Stafford Motor Speedway Late Model Championship)

Greg Kleila Riverhead Raceway (Late Model)
RIVERHEAD RACEWAY VICTORY CELEBRATION
Riverhead, N.Y. Oct. 5th
By Bob Finan
Greg Kleila of Lindenhurst scored his first career Late Model championship in his always-immaculate self-owned J&R’S Steakhouse Pontiac in 2006 and he looks forward stepping to the podium Saturday November 4th. (read more...)

Donny Schatz - WOO Sprint Series Champion
Oct 30 2006 Author:Tony Veneziano, WoO Sprint Series PR Director
Location:Las Vegas. NV
Donny Schatz Honored as 2006 World of Outlaws Champion
Donny Schatz had one goal at the beginning of the season, and that was to win the World of Outlaws Sprint Series championship. Over eight months and 69 race events later, he was crowned the series champion and received the $200,000 top-prize.
While the check was great and will help pay the bills, it was the 38-pound bronze trophy and inaugural champions ring that he received, that really made him smile.
Schatz, who won 17 A-Feature races along with 2 preliminary features, driving the Parker Store J&J, was honored on Sunday night at The Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for his first career World of Outlaws title. (read more....)

Landon Cassill - ASA North Series 
Posted October 7th, 2006
Cassill's picks up the biggest win of his yound career.
17-year-old Landon Cassill climbs up the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway catch fence after a dramatic last lap pass on Fast Qualifier and multi-time Oktoberfest Winner, Eddie Hoffman, to win the 37th annual Oktoberfest 100 Presented by Peterbuilt of LaCrosse. Youth was served in the 37th edition of the prestigious Oktoberfest Weekend as 17-year-old Fairfax, Iowa future star, Landon Cassill, made a thrilling last lap pass on Fast Qualifier and multi-time Oktoberfest Feature winner, Eddie Hoffman to pick up the biggest win of his young career!  (read more....)

Travis Towell wins Homer Gordon Memorial Sportsman 50 at SpeedWorld 
Posted October 7th, 2006
Towell set quick time of 14.607 at New Smyrna Speedway
Purple was the color of choice Friday night as competitors, track officials and race fans honored the memory of the late Homer Gordon, who always had his race cars painted purple. The highlight of the evening was the 50 lap Homer Gordon Memorial for the Sportsman Cars.
The evening would totally belong to young Travis Towell. Towell set quick time of 14.607 and drew a "0" for the inversion setting the field "straight up" from time trials.
Towell thus had the pole for the 50 lap run and came close to making the race a total run-away. The race was slowed on lap 12 when Timmy Todd, Jr. and Henry Shepherd got together in turn three with Jeff Wright tagging Shepherd's car and then hitting the wall. Only Wright was unable to return. (read more....)

Andrew Weldon Cleans Off the Dirt Heads Back to the Pavement.
Posted October 5th, 2006 By S.S. Racing
Andrew Weldon will make his return to ASALMS competition this Saturday October 7, 2006 at the Watermelon Capital (GA) Speedway in Cordele, Georgia for the Watermelon 100.
 Indianapolis, Indiana (10/05/2006): After focusing on his campaign in sprint cars, Andrew Weldon will return to pavement racing in the ASA Late Model Series Southern Division. Weldon and the SS Racing crew led by Butch Miller will head to Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia for the Watermelon 100.
It will be Weldon’s sixth start in the ASALMS and only his 12th ever start in a pavement race. Weldon started this year with SS Racing as developmental driver. He’s shown consistent improvement all year long. In his seventh start he conquered a win at Illiana Speedway. His last two pavement races have been top fives with a best of fourth in an ASALMS Race.
“I’m really excited about getting back into the stock car again with SS Racing,” said Weldon. “I’ve learned a lot this year and we’ve made improvements. I hope to continue on that momentum with a good solid run.”  (read more....)

Devan Hall to make his ASA Late Model Series Southern Division debut this weekend at the Watermelon Capital (GA) Speedway.
Posted October 4th, 2006 By Rising Star Driver Development/M.P.H. Promotions
Leesburg, Georgia driver, Devan Hall will make his ASALMS Southern Division debut this Saturday October 7, 2006 at the Watermelon Capital (GA) Speedway during the Watermelon 100.
 Leesburg, Georgia (10/04/2006): Peach State teenager, Devan Hall will make his ASA Late Model Series Southern Division Presented by GM Performance Parts Debut this Saturday October 7, 2006, just under an hour away from his home in Leesburg, Georgia.
(read more....)

Andy Lally - Grand American Rolex GT Series
Speed TV 9/5/06
2006 Rolex Series Champions Bergmeister, Bunting and Lally Among Honorees at Rolex Champions Banquet in Las Vegas
Written by: Grand American Communications
In an elaborate celebration with nearly 500 guests on Monday evening, 2006 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype champion Jörg Bergmeister and GT class co-champions Marc Bunting and Andy Lally headlined the list of honorees in the Rolex Champions Banquet at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. (read more....)
Also see Grand American Road Racing http://www.grandamerican.com
http://www.grandamerican.com/Standings/ (Grand American Rolex Series GT Class)

Bryan Clauson - USAC
8/16/06
BRYAN APPEARS IN NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS!
California Transplant Catches Ganassi’s Eye, But First Things First — A USAC Sprint-Car Championship
BY MIKE O’LEARY - NSSN CORRESPONDENT
Seventeen-year-old Bryan Clauson has been on the fast track most of his life. Although only able to legally operate a motor vehicle in most states for about 14 months, he already has won a fistful of racing titles, established solid credentials in USAC and taken a major step toward a career with one of NASCAR’s top teams. And the polite, friendly and unassuming teenager is taking it all in stride. Clauson ranks third in the USAC National Sprint Car
Series standings and earned victories on the asphalt at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway and Concord (N.C.) Motorsport Park. (read more....)

Cameron Dodson - Craftsman Truck Series
Cameron Dodson Tapped for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race at O'Reilly Raceway Park!
CLERMONT, IN - Cameron Dodson will compete in the upcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at O'Reilly Raceway Park, Clermont, IN for MB Motorsports based in Foristell, MO on August 4, 2006. (read more....)

Donny Schatz - World of Outlaws
Dirt Motorsports
August 2006
Highlights from the Knoxville Nationals: After coming so close so many times, Donny Schatz captured his first Knoxville Nationals title over the weekend, and took home $140,000 for his efforts. He had finished second four of the last six years. This week the World of Outlaws championship point leader heads to Minot, North Dakota where he was born and raised, as the series visits Nodak Speedway for the first time ever. (read more...)
Also from Donny's website www.donnyschatz.com
SECOND TO NONE: Donny Schatz Captures His First Knoxville Nationals Championship
August 12, 2006 -  Chris Dolack, VP Public Relations
He had been so close but just couldn’t make the jump one step up the podium.

Four times in the most prestigious sprint car race in the world, Donny Schatz saw the checkered flag wave from the runner-up position. Four times he had to check his emotions as he looked up the podium and saw somebody else celebrating. On Saturday night at the 46th Annual Super Clean Knoxville Nationals, Schatz made sure this time around the A-main would be a four-gone conclusion.

He finally let those bottled up emotions loose with a double fist pump in Knoxille Raceway's Victory Lane after winning the 30-lap main event aired live on television. Schatz, the World of Outlaws Sprint Series championship points leader from Fargo, N.D., started on the pole and raced back and forth with fellow Outlaws competitor Joey Saldana. The two swapped grooves high and low before Schatz slid in front on Lap 13 and drove away, leaving no doubt on a final 10-lap sprint to the finish whose name should be written on the $140,000 winner’s check.  (read more...)

Matt Hawkins
ASALMS Competitor, Matt Hawkins wins at Peach State.
July 26th, 2006
Matt Hawkins Does It Again at Peach State Picasso made masterpieces with paint on canvas. Mozart did it with music. On Saturday night, 18-year-old Matt Hawkins created a masterpiece of his own at using a tool that hadn’t even been invented in Picasso’s and Mozart’s days. Hawkins did it behind the wheel of his #22 Late Model racecar.

Like most works of art, Hawkins’ second-straight Georgia Asphalt Series victory took penty of patience and sweat. The young Georgia native took his second-straight Georgia Asphalt Series victory at Peach State by cutting his way through the field from the 18th starting position. It took him 80 laps to get to the leaders, but after a long battle with fellow Georgia superstar Bubba Pollard Hawkins took the lead on lap 87 and went on to victory.
(read more...)
 
Sondi Eden
July 25, 2006
Racecar driver Sondi Eden has been invited by the Indianapolis Indians to throw out the first pitch at the Indians vs. Toledo Mudhen game.
Eden is the first woman to win a championship in the fifty-year history of the United States Auto Club. (The USAC regional/Indianapolis Speedrome midget car series in 2004). She is also the first woman to race a sprint car on the dangerous high-banked speedway at Salem, Indiana – she finished 4th. (read more...)

Landon Cassill
16 Year Old Cassill Dominates Field of Veterans in the ASA Erie 100
Lake Erie Speedway – June 9, 2006
As the race concluded, history was made when 16 year old Landon Cassill, now in his third season of ASALMS competition, took the lead in lap three and proceeded to win his first career ASALMS feature win. Cassill, from Fairfax, IA, became the youngest driver in ASALM history to win a feature event! (read more...)

Firecracker 125  - Landon Cassill and the entire Cassill Motorsports Team celebrate the 16-year-olds’ first career Southern Division and Second Overall ASALMS Feature win in the Firecracker 125 on Monday July 3, 2006 at the South Georgia (GA) Motorsports Park.

By ASA Late Model Series Southern Division - July 5th, 2006
The ASALMS Southern Division’s first ever appearance at the immaculate ½ mile progressively banked paved oval of the South Georgia (GA) Motorsports Park, located North of the Georgia/Florida state line in Cecil, Georgia saw 16-year-old, Landon Cassill pick up his first career South and second overall feature win of the season in ASALMS competition.

Cassill, who won his first career ASALMS Feature back on June 9, 2006 during the ASALMS Northern Division’s Erie 100 at the Lake Erie (PA) Speedway, became the first driver in ASALMS history to win in both the Northern and Southern Division’s when he took the win in the Firecracker 125 on Monday July 3, 2006.
(read more...)
 
Will Thomas
Thomas Captures Bank of Holland 50 for 3rd Straight LM Win 
Holland Speedway – June 18, 2006
Will Thomas continued his undefeated streak at Holland Speedway on June 17th, earning his third win in three 2006 starts at the Western New York oval in capturing the Bank of Holland 50 for the NASCAR Sunoco Late Model Pro Stocks.
(read more...)

Thomas Edges Bliss for 2nd Straight Holland LM Win on 5/27
Holland Speedway – May 28, 2006
After a dominating performance in his opening day Holland Speedway win, Will Thomas found things significantly more challenging the second time out, but the result was the same: a victory. The Pennsylvania driver edged by defending Holland champion Mark Bliss on the 39th circuit to go 2-for-2 in 2006 in Saturday evening's 40 lap main for the NASCAR Sunoco Late Model Pro Stocks at the Western New York oval.  (read more...)

Will Thomas Claims Holland Opening Night LM Victory
Holland Speedway – May 6, 2006
Pennsylvania driver Will Thomas dominated the field en route to his first ever Holland Speedway victory in the 40 lap main for the NASCAR Sunoco Late Model Pro Stocks at the Western New York oval's season opener on Saturday evening. By virtue of his win in a qualifying heat earlier, Will Thomas started the Late Model main on the outside of the front row in his PI&I Motor Express/Colonial Metal Products Monte Carlo and out dragged front row mate Eldon King III for the lead at the opening green. Thomas then proceeded to run away and hide from the field, opening up a 1/2 lap lead before the first yellow flag of the event flew on lap 31. However, on that re-start, and on another after the only other caution of the race one lap later, Thomas was able to easily re-assume command, and drove on to a 10 car length margin of victory. Thomas' mount was powered with a sealed crate engine, making his only the second entry to win a Holland Late Model race with such an engine.
(read more...)

Devan Hall
Devan Hall prepared for the Georgia Asphalt Series following Rising Star Driver Development Training
Chicago, IL – June 7, 2006
Rising Star Driver Development™ (RSDD) announced that Devan Hall will compete in the Georgia Asphalt Series this Saturday at the Watermelon Capital Speedway, Cordele, Georgia.   RSDD offers a one-stop, comprehensive training and marketing resource that is unmatched in the industry.   As part of his preparation, Hall spent two days this week at Finish Line Racing School with Mike Loescher, one of the best-known driving coaches in motorsports who began his own impressive racing career when he was sixteen – the same age as Hall.   Kurt Smith, RSDD founder, said “Devan was provided with individualized driving advice, plus a chassis class which gave Devan a clear understanding of the changes a car experiences during a race. We are confident this knowledge will provide him a competitive edge.”  (read more...)

Michael Annett
ASALMS Northern Division Rookie Leader, Annett Heads To LGR  
Rising Star Driver Michael Annett, the ASALMS North rookie points leader, heads to Lake Geneva Raceway with momentum from his fourth place finish at Odessa, MO.
(read more....)

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