Steve Gursky Sr., Mechanic of the Year
The Team Demolition Association awards banquet was held this last weekend and the event provided quite the pleasant evening. Pete Millette Jr. and Levi Turnbaugh gave a tag team acceptance speech for the ages rivaling even the Three6 Mafia’s Oscar acceptance speech, “Papa” John Millette earned a well-deserved ‘Legends’ award, Reckoning’s championship trophies were taller...
The Hit of the Year, First Runner Up
The Hit of the Year, First Runner Up: Orange Crush’s Elmer Fandery hits Reckoning’s Brian Anderson I will be the first to admit that I didn’t understand the true greatness of this hit when I initially saw it. It happened on the far side of the track from where I was sitting and while I...
The “No TV and No Beer Make Homer… Something… Something” Award
The “No TV and No Beer Make Homer… Something… Something…” Award: THIRD NIGHT It seems strange now to think that there was a time when it was 105 degrees outside with 80% humidity, but that was the case Third Night. Ah, Chicago in July… In preparation for the extreme heat, the Route 66 management decided...
The Best Beauty Car Experience
The Best Beauty Car Experience: ORANGE CRUSH As Teams 5 and 6 respectively, Stranglehold and Orange Crush line up next to one another in the beauty contest. This is always interesting to me because the two teams generally seem to have the biggest fan bases and they come out to the beauty contest with as...
The Surprise Win of the Year Award
The Surprise Win of the Year Award (Two Way Tie): STRANGLEHOLD’S BILL MCMAHEN and FULL THROTTLE 1) STRANGLEHOLD’S BILL MCMAHEN Bill Mcmahen was the driver who grabbed the checkered flag in the upset of the year, when Stranglehold beat Orange Crush. The fact that Stranglehold won was a surprise, yes, but the reason Mcmahen earns...
Most Outstanding Driver, Runner Up
Most Outstanding Driver, Runner Up: MEAN GREEN MACHINE’S RYAN DECKER Mean Green Machine’s Ryan Decker had a pretty impressive 2011 season. He was the best driver on the second best team, won numerous races after taking out several of the opposing teams’ cars and helped lead Mean Green Machine rise from the ashes of Second...
The Bookend Award
The Bookend Award: RECKONING and FULL THROTTLE First Night of the 2011 season kicked off with Reckoning and Full Throttle facing one another in the finals, one of the teams having upset the pre-season favorites, Orange Crush, in the first round. After a tough battle against Full Throttle third round, Reckoning went on to win...
The Strangest Season Split
The Strangest Season Split: DAMAGE, INC.’s MATT WILSON While pondering the Rookie-of-the-Year award, someone mentioned the name of Damage, Inc’s Matt Wilson. I was considering awarding it to him for a while until I looked at Wilson’s season splits. It was then that I realized that Wilson had completed one of the most unusual seasons...
The Upset of the Year
The Upset of the Year: STRANGLEHOLD defeats ORANGE CRUSH (Third Night) This is purely a numbers award. Stranglehold was in last place the night they faced Orange Crush and Orange Crush was in second place at the time. The two teams met, Stranglehold won and it was the upset of the year.
The Best Race of the Year
The Best Race of the Season: FULL THROTTLE vs. ORANGE CRUSH (First Night) There were a handful of races I could have chosen for my Race of the Season. I enjoyed Full Throttle’s race against Mean Green Machine Fourth Night that both sides could lay claim to winning and I think Bad Company’s race against...
The Worst Race of the Year
The Worst Race of the Year: STRANGLEHOLD vs. DAMAGE, INC (Fifth Night) While I could have gone in several different directions with the Best Race of the Season award, there is only one true contender for the Worst Race of the Season; Stranglehold vs. Damage, Inc Fifth Night. It was a race that was so...
Worst Race of the Year, Runner Up
Worst Race of the Year Runner Up: MEAN GREEN MACHINE vs. ORANGE CRUSH (Second Night) Sometimes things happen and teams are forced to race 3 on 4. Such was the case in Second Night’s race between Mean Green Machines (3) and Orange Crush (4). However, what separated this race from the majority of other 3...