AARWBA tabs six for annual All-America Team
Kelly Wade, Staff Writer
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Recently crowned Full Throttle NHRA Drag Racing Series champions Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight, and Mike Edwards lead drag racing nominees on the 2009 American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) 40th annual All-America Team ballot, along with championship runner-ups Larry Dixon and Ashley Force Hood. Rounding out the nominations was 2009 IHRA Nitro Jam Top Fuel titlist and part-time NHRA rookie competitor Del Cox Jr.
Members of the AARWBA annually elect First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mention drivers in seven different racing categories: Drag Racing, Open Wheel, Stock Car, Road Racing, Short Track, Touring Series, and At Large.
 Tony Schumacher |
 Robert Hight |
 Mike Edwards |
 Larry Dixon |
 Ashley Force Hood |
 Del Cox Jr. |
The individual driver receiving the most votes is acknowledged as AARWBA's Driver of the Year and presented with the Jerry Titus Memorial Trophy, a decoration bestowed in honor of the late racecar driver, journalist, and AARWBA member. Former recipients of the esteemed award include drag racing stars John Force (a record four-time winner), Don Prudhomme, Shirley Muldowney, and Tony Schumacher, who was the recipient in 2006 and 2008.
Schumacher took his Top Fuel championship quest right to the finish this season, pocketing his seventh overall and record sixth-consecutive championship title in thrilling fashion with a two-point defeat of season-rival Dixon at the season-ending NHRA Auto Club Finals. Following a record-breaking run with legendary tuner Alan Johnson, Schumacher began 2009 with a new crew chief and a whole new team under doubtful scrutiny by many, but the 61-time Top Fuel winner emerged victorious with an accumulated five wins in seven final rounds.
Though he concluded the regular season in third place, Schumacher quickly regained momentum in his Mike Green-tuned U.S. Army rail and took hold of the points lead with a win at Dallas in the second race of the Countdown. During the course of the season, he scored two low qualifier awards, claimed low E.T. of the meet three times, became the eighth driver in NHRA history to reach 500 round wins, and tied "Big Daddy" Don Garlits with eight Mac Tools U.S. Nationals titles.
After narrowly missing the championship title two years in a row and then finishing a disappointing fourth in 2008 despite leading the points for the first three races of the season, Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car driver Robert Hight battled back in 2009 to claim his first world championship. The John Force Racing crew member-turned-driver made a dramatic 11th-hour break into the top 10 and got right to work, winning the first two events of the six-race playoffs to catapult into the points lead.
Hight, competing in his fifth season behind the wheel of a Funny Car, won at the fall Las Vegas event to log three wins in four final rounds down the stretch, and he collected four No. 1 qualifying starts over the course of the season.
Pro Stock trailblazer Edwards drove his Young Life/ART Pontiac to the top of the pack during qualifying 16 of the 24 events of the season. The 1981 Modified champion dominated the class, outpacing the No. 2 qualifier by ridiculous margins on a regular basis. His breakthrough year consisted of five wins, including two during the critical final leg of the Countdown, and five runner-ups. Edwards recorded low E.T. of the event on 17 occasions and was ahead of every other NHRA driver in terms of points, low qualifier awards, and round wins, and his 6.509-second blast in Richmond became the new national record for E.T., blowing away rival competitor Greg Anderson's 6.528 recorded earlier in the season.
Sophomore Funny Car racer Force Hood was nominated for the All American team for the first time, and Dixon, who has yet to receive the Titus, joined the team for the third time in his career; he was previously nominated in 2002 and 2003 at the conclusions of each of his championship seasons.
Force Hood finished the year second behind her John Force Racing teammate Hight and scored two victories in seven final rounds, including a historic win at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
Dixon missed claiming a third Top Fuel championship by a mere two points after putting together an impressive season piloting the Al-Anabi dragster. His bid for the title consisted of five wins in nine final rounds and nine low qualifier awards, including five consecutive during the final stretch of the Countdown to 1.
IHRA ace Cox Jr., who cut his teeth in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League, proved his worth in Super-class and fast-bracket categories, and spent a successful stint in the alcohol ranks before licensing in a Top Fuel dragster prior to the 2009 season. In his rookie season, he drove Mitch King's Setco/Bexar Waste rail to four consecutive and five total wins at the 10 IHRA scheduled races. Cox Jr. locked up the championship when he qualified second at the World Finals in Rockingham, N.C.. Cox Jr. played double-duty, earning a start on raceday at four of the six NHRA events he competed in.
The All-American Team Dinner and Ceremony is scheduled to take place January 16, 2010 at the John Force Racing facility in Brownsburg, Ind. It is open to the public.
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