Widger races to early lead in Miami Valley’s North American Drivers Challenge
January 8, 2017,by Miami Valley Raceway
Lebanon, OH — Sam Widger has raced out to a commanding early lead in the $25,000 North American Drivers Challenge which kicked off Sunday (Jan. 8) at Miami Valley Raceway in Southwest Ohio.
Conrad Photo
Sam Widger enjoying his lead in the inaugural North American Drivers Challenge at Miami Valley on Sunday.
On the strength of three winners in his first four preliminary round drives, the Illinois native and Hoosier Park regular has accumulated 99 points at the halfway point of the two preliminary legs.
Each of the 30 drivers participating had four drives on the Sunday matinee and will get another four on the Monday (Jan. 9) matinee.
The top ten point-getters after the two preliminary rounds will return Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 10) and compete head-to-head in eight races to determine the inaugural champion.
Widger impressed scoring the hat trick with Krusty The Clown, Dani Girl and Stucklikeglue. He was the only multiple wins reinsman on the first day.
Others with winners were Tony Hall and Doug McNair, who are tied for second at the midway point of the two preliminary rounds with 69 points each; Bob McClure (68), Marcus Miller (66), Ronnie Wrenn Jr. (59), John DeLong (58), Brett Miller (55), Jason Brewer (54) and Tyler Smith (49).
Although they failed to win a heat, Simon Allard is tied for tenth with 54 points on the strength of two second place finishes, and Randy Tharps is eleventh with 50 points by notching a second, a third and a fourth place finish in his four attempts.
The competition was spirited the first day, with just two favorites winning in the twelve contest races. Early speed held up well during the first half of the day, but as the 19 degree temperature started to drop the closers prevailed during the final six races.
An even more exciting second day is expected with the same 30 top drivers all vying for one of ten spots in Tuesday afternoon’s championship round, where the finalists will start with a clean scoreboard slate and be competing for the $10,000 first place award and bragging rights as the North American Drivers Challenge champion for the next year.
Post time is 2:05 p.m. for both the Monday and Tuesday matinee programs.
- Doug McNair wins North America Drivers Challenge (Tuesday, January 10, 2017)
The 2017 North America Drivers Challenge champion is Doug McNair, who traveled to Miami Valley Raceway from the Toronto area to compete with 29 other top reinsmen from throughout the United States and Canada over three matinee cards, ending Tuesday (Jan. 10).