Since 1999, Torco's CompetitionPlus.com has offered the spirit of friendly competition amongst the racing community in a "Best of" competition. Our readers have assisted us in voting on everything from the best drag racers to their favorite message boards to the prestigious Person of the Year.

However, we like to select a few of our own each year and the following may not exactly be what you're saying, but chances are you're thinking. 

Since 1999, Torco's CompetitionPlus.com has offered the spirit of friendly competition amongst the racing community in a "Best of" competition. Our readers have assisted us in voting on everything from the best drag racers to their favorite message boards to the prestigious Person of the Year.

However, we like to select a few of our own each year and the following may not exactly be what you're saying, but chances are you're thinking.  

THE “KEY TO THE CITY” AWARD – Bruton Smith, and man does this guy know how to work a city to get what he wants, or what? The chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. threatened to pull his Lowe’s Motor Speedway out of Concord, North Carolina when the city council voted to ban a proposed drag strip due to neighbor concerns. Smith simply began the steps to take his speedway elsewhere and has since decided to remain, but not before forcing those same city leaders to cower down and beg him to stay and throw in a few economic perks.

THE “DO I LEAVE NOW?” AWARD - To the unfortunate Chip Ellis, who had an incredible 0.110 Reaction Time in the Pro Stock Motorcycle finale at Pomona in November. He was summarily sacked by team owners George Smith and George Bryce days later. To be shared by Greg Anderson, who had an uncharacteristically late light in the first round of the Finals, thereby ending his what appeared-to-be-excellent chances of winning.

THE “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING US” AWARD – To those news outlets who posted pictures showing the aftermath of the Eric Medlen Funny Car crash. Is it that hard to get the readership numbers that you have to resort to this?

THE “CHICKEN SALAD OUT OF YOU CHICKEN YOU KNOW WHAT” AWARD – IHRA President Aaron Polburn. There were two instances the IHRA should have packed up shop and left for a later date when the racing surface during two national events didn’t agree with the quarter-mile concept. During the IHRA Texas Nationals in San Antonio, Texas and the IHRA Canadian Nationals in Cayuga, Ontario, the racing surface either crumbled or seeped water, forcing the IHRA to shorten the races.

THE “I’LL GET THE TV TIME ONE WAY OR ANOTHER” AWARD” – Bob Vandergriff told Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com in an interview that he’d settle for the same amount of television time as Ashley Force’s boyfriend. That’s the gripe that Vandergriff aired to the national media when talking about the inequality of television time afforded those competitors in and out of the championship chase. The next race the television crews were clamoring over the UPS-sponsored driver.

THE "WAY TO GO, GREAT JOB -- NOT" AWARD - Torco's CompetitionPlus.com Publisher/Editor Bobby Bennett, after handed an advance copy of the NAPA Auto Parts press release announcing sponsorship of Ron Capps. The venerable (or, vulnerable) Bennett was firmly told the Las Vegas press conference was to begin at 10 AM and not to release a minute earlier. Bennett prepared the story and scheduled it to publish at 10 AM, and down to the second ... uh, on the east coast.

THE “PLEASE SIR, MAY I HAVE SOME MORE? AWARD - To multi-time champ and venerated drag racing hero Warren “The Professor” Johnson. Once the most feared Pro Stock competitor from the engine room to the starting line, Johnson is alas, showing his age in the latter, and can be “had” at almost any time. The problem with going up against him, however, continues to be that for every “bad” light he has there’s a great one coming, and like that Forest Gump box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. If it’s one of the good ones, your day is probably over.

THE “WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCED DIVERS” AWARD – Morgan Lucas and Melanie Troxel, for their actions at the NHRA event in Reading, PA. The former teammates were paired in the first round and essentially Troxel needed to reach the second round to preserve a spot in the Countdown to Four. Lucas won the first round match essentially eliminating Troxel from championship contention.

THE “START ME UP” AWARD – Jerry Toliver along with Dale Armstrong, and they were back in 2007 as rock stars. Could they be drag racing’s version of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards? What’s up with these energy
drink deals? Maybe it’s the target market of older guys and energy drinks since none of the energy drink sponsored drivers were under the age of 40.

THE “LIGHTNING IS GONNA STRIKE YOU HARD” AWARD – The IHRA Pit Parking Staff who parked the IHRA’s Chaplain and established the location of the Sunday church services beside a team sponsored by an adult entertainment company in Rockingham, NC. From what we hear this has happened on multiple occasions. Well if you can’t get them to come to church, then bring the church to them.


THE “IT WENT OUT A HARD TOP AND RETURNED A CONVERTIBLE” AWARD – Who could forget the sight of Jerry Toliver’s Solara Funny Car body minus the roof and front-end? Toliver’s crew left the body in Denver for a trucking company to pick up and deliver to the carbon fiber company for repair after a visit to the Bandimere sand-trap. Unfortunately, the body was assumed left for scrap by Warren Johnson’s crew, who rendered quite a chop shop job on it. Somewhere out there an insurance company owns a Don Garlits/Emery Cook Dodge Dart clone.

THE “SHE DESERVED BETTER” AWARD - To Peggy Llewellyn, who rode the Rush Racing Buell into the Countdown Final Four with a last second victory in Dallas that made headlines and great television. Alas, she was released by the team in early December. According to numerous sources the team owner, Karl Klement, had no other reason for dismissing Llewellyn other than, well, it’s my team!

THE "HE DESERVED BETTER" AWARD - Chris Rivas, in order to show equality in gender. The former rider for Matt Smith was dismissed in mid-race at the season-ended NHRA Finals in Pomona after allegations of insubordination. The debate falls into a "he-said, he said" story, but goodness, at least let the man finish the race. Rivas was qualified in the field at the time.

THE “I’VE GOT YOUR SIX” AWARD – Evan Knoll, for his support of the Vietnam Veterans, War Veterans and POW-MIA Families. Amongst the Vietnam Veterans, there was a phrase “I’ve got your six” that meant I’ve got your back. Knoll selflessly donated full signage of a Top Fuel dragster piloted by Melanie Troxel in honor of these maligned veterans and those still missing in action.

THE “KNEE SURGERY SPECIAL” AWARD - Shared by Top Fuel driver “Hot Rod” Fuller and Pro Stock shoe Dave Connolly, both of whom required off-season knee surgery. Alas, they missed out on a group rate discount when Fuller had his surgery in Las Vegas, while Connolly had his done in Ohio.

THE “ONE AND DONE” AWARD – TIE, Kenny Bernstein and Skytel, for their 2007 seasons. Bernstein made the large announcement at Indy in 2006 and after one comeback season consisting of several late rounds finishes, a crew chief change early and a serious crash, he decided returning to the sidelines wasn’t so bad after all. Skytel for their single season sponsorship of Don “the Snake” Prudhomme and driver Larry Dixon. After announcing what we understood to be a multi-year agreement, Skytel underwent management shuffling and eventually shuffled out of the sport.

THE “WHO SPRAYS PAYS” AWARD - Shared by NHRA and numerous track operators, who first couldn’t agree on a consistent system of traction compound spraying, and then ended up with inconsistent traction, making life difficult for every team in competition.

THE “WE’RE BEHIND YOU ALL THE WAY, LITERALLY” AWARD – The NHRA, for their lack of action regarding the Funny Car chassis issue. As of December 31, 2007, the NHRA was still relying on John Force Racing and  the Ford engineers to finalize an SFI/NHRA chassis spec. By December, the procedures for building a chassis were no clearer for chassis builders and teams than they were when the season ended. As a result, a few teams undertook the responsibility of procuring their own safety testing.

THE "STOP US IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE" AWARD - Team owner Don Schumacher,  for his insistence on Mike Neff remaining at DSR , and making a public statement afterwards confirming Neff would remain on the team until the end of the 2007 season.  Neff showed up at the next race with his  crew chief duties limited to the role of advisor.  Two weeks later, he was working alongside of  John Force. We've got two words - WHIT BAZEMORE.

THE “UNITED WE STAND -- BUT POWERLESSLY” AWARD - To the PRO for regularly failing to recognize that they truly have the power to bring about change, yet consistently fail to really flex their collective muscles when it comes to matters as diverse as purses, running conditions and far too many other issues to list here.

THE “DENNY GREEN – THE BEARS ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE” AWARD – Hot Rod Fuller, for leading the points into the final race only to lose it on the final round. If there had been a post-race press conference following the event with Fuller, he might have reacted the way NFL head coach Denny Green did when his team squandered a large lead opposite of the Chicago Bears. Fuller took it in stride though and congratulated Schumacher for second last-minute championship in as many years. In case you missed the Denny Green meltdown – here’s the video clip.

THE ‘WE SHOULDN’T BE DOING THIS” AWARD - To every team owner with an unstoppable ego and an even greater need for speed who has agreed to a sponsorship contract that won’t come close to covering his expenses in 2008. You name ‘em, we can’t bare to do so.

THE “CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN” AWARD – Tie, John Medlen and Roy Johnson, for their unstoppable dedication from rebounding from personal tragedy. Medlen’s dedication for advancing chassis safety came following the painful loss of his son Eric Medlen in a Gainesville testing accident. Johnson suffered a heart attack during the CSK Nationals but later returned to tune his son Allen Johnson to a final four berth in
the Countdown to the Championship. HONORABLE MENTION - John Force, he crashed in Dallas and sustained injuries serious enough to sideline a lesser dedicated driver for years. However, Force was racing in his mind to return as soon as the next race.

THE "CAN'T KEEP A GOOD GEEZER DOWN" AWARD - Our very own Roger Richards, and he wins this one hands down for rebounding from a stroke. Against the advice of his fellow Torco's CompetitionPlus.com staffers, Roger was ready to go racing in less than a week after the stroke. In fact, he was working on his laptop while in the hospital.

THE ‘THIS HAS NEVER WORKED BEFORE AND AIN’T GONNA WORK NOW” AWARD - To every team PR person who has allowed his employer to convince him that putting out a press release on web sites like this one seeking sponsorship will produce results. To our knowledge there isn’t a single sponsorship in motorsports that has resulted from half-hearted, ill-conceived efforts like that. It takes marketing exercises, not press releases, to sign seven figure sponsorships.

THE “HOW’D THAT WORK OUT FOR YOU” AWARD – Dave Connolly, for finding out the hard reality that winning five races in a row during the second (and worthless) phase of the NHRA’s playoff system had no significant benefit other than advancing him to the final four countdown. A few bad breaks in the final
two events left fans feeling as if they’d watched yet another championship worthy driver unfairly eliminated from championship contention.

THE “SOURED DEAL TURNED SWEET” AWARD – Jeg Coughlin and Cagnazzi Racing, for never missing a step when their SLAMMERS! sponsorship fell by the wayside following Atlanta. Instead, the resourceful team expanded the roles of associate sponsors and stepped up to the point of winning a championship.

THE “IT MAY HAVE HURT THEN, BUT LOOK AT ME NOW” AWARD - To Whit Bazemore, who may have gotten a bad deal from team owner David Powers by being released prior to the end of the ’07 season, but now, sitting far above the fray, has his dignity in tact and may still find gainful employment in motorsports without having to scramble around like a lost puppy with his tail between his legs as are so many other desperate drivers. Better to sit at home with a gorgeous wife and cute baby than to be taking rides beneath one’s considerable talents.

THE “WHAT A GUY” AWARD – Mike Ashley, who agreed to run a special paint scheme on his nitro Funny Car to honor the Eric Blake Faulk Foundation, a special charity group formed to honor the memory of Donnie and Holly Faulkner’s deceased baby boy and to assist families who experience the same misfortune. Not only did Ashley showcase the EBFF, he also won the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

THE “I FILL THE SEATS” AWARD – Kenny Nowling and the ADRL for their free ticket concept, thus filling the grandstands of their eighth-mile doorslammer-oriented events to capacity. Nowling says the tickets aren’t
free, they were purchased by ADRL owners Dave Wood and Tommy Lipar.

THE “I’M GONNA BE A JET-SETTER” AWARD – Gary Scelzi, who planned to step away from driving after the 2007 season but admitted that he’d consider returning if he could get away from commercial flying in order to lessen his time away from his family as well as the family business. Shortly after that, veteran team owner Ken Black stepped to the plate for Scelzi to catch a ride.