If there was one unique quality to the 2010 TDA season, it was a constant state of flux.
Prior to the beginning of the season, there was an enormous amount of driver turnover. The 2009 National Champions, The Junkyard Dogs, folded and Ryan Bleuer and Johnny Ryan took their talents to Orange Crush. Smash, Bash and Crash was a question mark even when they had cars at the track. Damage, Inc added Rob Stahulak and Ron Johnston, Seek-and-Destroy landed Jason Ritacco, Reckoning’s Speedy Steve Vollbrecht took a pseudo sabbatical and was replaced with Nick Ritter, Stranglehold brought in seemingly dozens of new drivers, including Mel Noble Jr. and the Van Allen’s went green. Mid-season, Smash, Bash and Crash was replaced by the Quick Silver Destruction Company and Teresa Gabriel sold the TDA to Sherri Heckenast.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario where there was more movement and on-the-fly changes occurring than 2010.
2011 seems to be the polar opposite of 2010, as there has been a very limited amount of driver movement. Also, the biggest name to change his status in the off-season (providing Johnny Ryan is still racing) was Stahulak and he didn’t switch teams, he retired.
Whereas 2010 featured only one of the TDA’s eight teams keeping four of the same drivers from the previous year, 2011 featured four such teams (Seek-and-Destroy, Stranglehold, Orange Crush and Reckoning).
From a performance stand point, this is an enormous positive.
Like offensive lines in football, individual drivers who are teamed together on the fly can certainly drive and drive well, but with repetition on the track with the same drivers comes a familiarity and comfort that genuinely helps the team do better. There’s a reason that Bleuer, Ryan and Tom “Brickman” Lewis can be found almost always be found together on the same team.
For teams that have been together for a while and whose drivers know each other’s on-track tendencies, roles have been settled and game plans developed. Everyone knows what they are expected to do and they go out and do that. If you doubt this, just ask yourself when you last saw Bleuer crushing or Reckoning’s Chris McGuire running laps. For newer teams, roles have to be created or massaged; knowing what you are and are not able to do is always a positive element.
So, not surprisingly, the two teams that appear to have the best shot at the 2011 National Championship, Orange Crush and Reckoning, are also the two teams that have been collectively driving together the longest.
Every team has questions that need to be answered. In this 2011 TDA preview, we examine each team and what the major question of the season is for them.
Team 1: Mean Green Machine
Can their young guys put it together quickly?
Last year, Mean Green Machine featured a Van Allen heavy lineup and raced tough all year long. Several members of the 2010 champion team, Orange Crush, cited their races against Mean Green Machine as the toughest they had all year.
This year, the Van Allens have split. Jay Van Allen is now headlining Full Throttle with Ron Johnston and Josh Van Allen is listed as driving backup for Mean Green Machine, though even that seems a stretch. Only Zac Van Allen remains in Team 1’s top four. He is joined by second year men John Clemmons and Ryan Decker and newcomer Kenny Prinner in what is decidedly the league’s youngest and most inexperienced team. Reckoning’s Chris McGuire has more years in the TDA than Mean Green Machine’s entire team does combined.
The one positive thing Mean Green Machine has going for it is that, at times last year, Clemmons, Decker and Zac Van Allen all raced together and were consistently challenging teams; Orange Crush in particular cited Mean Green Machine as their most feared opponent in 2010. Though the men in green didn’t win many of their races last year, they raced extremely well against the tops teams. Mean Green Machine seems poised to surprise a lot of teams that aren’t expecting their fast, smash-mouth style of driving.
Team 2: Seek-and-Destroy
Can they develop the kind of consistency necessary to be a top-tier team?
In 2010, Seek-and-Destroy had one truly interesting season. It was the most up and down season of any professional sports team that I’ve ever seen. Not even Dramamine would have helped deal with this kind of back and forth movement. Consider:
UP – Seek-and-Destroy finished 2009 tied for 2nd and going strong. They looked to be a challenger for the title in 2010.
DOWN – Then they lost Rob Stahulak and Ron Johnston to Damage, Inc and had to scramble to fill their roster.
UP – Surprising everyone but themselves, Seek-and-Destroy beat Orange Crush in the finals to win the First Night.
DOWN – In the next night of racing, they almost had a count down against Smash, Bash and Crash in the first round. They won and then raced Reckoning with several rehashed cars, one of which drove out onto the track backwards.
UP – Seek-and-Destroy took on Reckoning nearly outlasted them in their 15-minute, marathon rematch. Charlie “Sarge” Turnbaugh drove so well in this race, he won the night’s MVP award.
DOWN – Finishing off the season, Seek-and-Destroy used several Bad Company cars in their final race against Orange Crush and had Kyle Shearer, uh, guest driving for them.
With a lineup of four drivers that were all on the team in 2010—Greg Mesich, Matt “Opie” Pierce, Levi Turnbaugh and “Sarge” Turnbaugh—it seems like a good bet that they will be able to sustain some momentum throughout the 2011 season. Pierce and Levi Turnbaugh are as good a young tandem of drivers as there is in the TDA. If the two of them can keep improving, Sarge Turnbaugh can occasionally replicate his MVP performance and Mesich can keep his helmet on, Seek-and-Destroy will be able to compete with anyone.
Team 3: Bad Company
Why do I keep thinking of Bad Company being the New York Knicks of the TDA?
For some reason—possibly the blue color scheme of the team—I see Bad Company as the New York Knicks of the TDA. Kyle Shearer and Jason Ritacco are the Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire of the lineup, surrounded by promising second year driver, Brice Martin, and veteran mainstay, Rich Wilson, whose Knick counterparts would be, uh, Landry Fields and Anthony Carter? Quickly moving forward…
Ritacco’s presence in the Bad Company lineup is a very welcome addition for them. Ritacco brings a hard-nosed track presence to the team as well as very solid car building skills and veteran know how. If he and Shearer, like Anthony and Stoudemire, can figure out how to work their games together on the track, Bad Company looks primed for a major jump in the standings. The Madison Square Garden crowd will be delighted at this.
Team 4: Full Throttle
Who is their fourth driver?
Ron Johnston, Pete Millette Jr. and Jay Van Allen are an incredibly solid veteran threesome. It’s not quite the monster team lineup that Orange Crush assembled last year, but it’s a fantastic collection of drivers on a brand new team. Less than a week before the first night of racing though, it’s unclear who their fourth driver is.
Since the team name and owner, Johnston, were announced earlier this year, it was commonly assumed that Stahulak was going to be the fourth driver; he and Johnston have raced together on the same team as far back as memory serves. However with word out that Stahulak has hung up his helmet and retired, the fourth spot presently remains a mystery. Big Joe Snow, Phil Matlak and Kurtis Kraehmer are some of the more veteran names out there not currently in any team’s top four, but it’s not known whether any of them are looking to upgrade their present backup/audience member status.
There is one other name out there that seems like he’d be a great fit with Full Throttle and would also instantly transform them into championship contenders: Art Scarbro. Scarbro took off all but one night in 2010 (and probably wished he’d skipped that night too as he ended up breaking several ribs in his only race of the season), but he certainly a viable and intriguing candidate to mention as Full Throttle’s mystery driver.
Team 5: Stranglehold
Will their driver by committee approach have a markedly different impact in 2011?
In 2010, Stranglehold had nearly 475 drivers on their roster. Some were rookie drivers, some were veteran drivers, most were Nobles. It was an interesting strategy that didn’t seem as though it gave their team much of a chance to develop any on-track chemistry or to figure out which of their younger drivers was part of the team’s future.
In 2011, Stranglehold is listed as having six drivers on their team, still more than any other team in the TDA, though not as many as they had in 2010, so it appears as though this driver-by-committee will continue. By getting Mel Noble Jr. a year of experience and adding the rapidly improving Nick Hartung to their lineup, Stranglehold seems like they will improve upon their 2010 point total. By how much is another valid question to be asked.
Team 6: Orange Crush
Can they go undefeated?
Orange Crush won the 2010 National Championship in a fairly decisive fashion. They made it to the finals every night of the season and managed to beat their main competition—Reckoning—4 of the 5 times they faced each other. Orange Crush isn’t simply looking to repeat their title in 2011, they’re looking to go undefeated.
This isn’t unheard of, but is quite a lofty goal. Without Smash, Bash and Crash around as a guaranteed win, they won’t have any waltzes to the second round, nor will they have any second round match-ups against a team that actually lost in the first round, as was the case First Night in 2010 when Mean Green Machine and Orange Crush met in the semi-finals. That will certainly make an undefeated season more difficult, as will the improving talent levels and chemistry on the other teams. I’d label Orange Crush as the odds on favorite as season champ, but am extremely doubtful that they’ll be able to do so in an unbeaten fashion.
Team 7: Reckoning
Can they make the jump?
Whenever you have a young team that has had some success, but not managed to win a championship, or look at a young player with potential that hasn’t been completely realized, the question often becomes whether on not they/he can make the jump to the next level. Can the good become great?
Reckoning has been a very good team during its two years in the TDA, finishing in second place both years. In 2009, they came in behind the Junkyard Dogs and then in 2010 behind Orange Crush. This season, with their full team back together (Speedy Steve Vollbrecht has returned from his sabbatical, replacing the now-retired Nick Ritter on the roster), they are probably the best positioned team to challenge Orange Crush. They know they can beat Orange Crush, they did it last year. Can they do it repeatedly? That will be the question of the summer and one that will determine the season victor.
Team 8: Damage, Inc
How will their almost complete roster overhaul impact them?
In the off-season, Damage, Inc lost one of the best runners in TDA history in Rob Stahulak and two tough drivers with years of championship experience in Ron Johnston and Pete Millette Jr. They were replaced with a rookie driver, Matt Wilson (Rich Wilson’s son), and a former Mean Green Machine driver, Steve Schaefer, who hasn’t raced in either of the last two seasons. Their fourth driver is unknown at the present time. This doesn’t bode particularly well for their victory total.
While the Damage, Inc name and color scheme might be the same, they are basically a new team. It’s impossible to have a greater overhaul of a team roster than this without starting anew. I mean, Full Throttle is new to the league this year and even they have more drivers who raced together last year than does Damage, Inc. The irony, of course, is that Full Throttle’s drivers raced together last year on Damage, Inc.
Swan’s team looks like they will drive tough this year, but there are so many question marks and unknowns about them that it’s hard to imagine them challenging for a top three finish this year.
We will begin have these questions and many others answered this Saturday night at the Route 66 Raceway.