Three Title Contenders?

At what point can contenders be separated from pretenders? In a season that lasts twenty-one weeks we will reach the one-third distance mark in just six days at Christmas Mayhem. Those who are committed for racing gold need to start showing their hand if they want to catch the front runners. Drivers who are running out front will need to keep applying the pressure and sealing weak spots as we close in on Monster Mania 2010. The time to mount a charge is now!

Timmy Smith picked up his first win of the season at Pine Run Speedway further distancing himself from the pack in the championship chase. The Atlanta native has made no small matter of his quest for a PPRL title and was visibly emotional all evening long as he pours on the coals. When he missed qualifying for the Feature Race and had to go to the Consolation Round he took to task Alex Vester for being a hindrance after having technical difficulties. Those emotions ran over as Tim dominated the field and qualified for the Feature Race but lost ten points he could have earned due to getting a second chance. "These points are important, both times we've ran a circuit event I've had to come from the consolation round and have lost twenty points from my championship lead" spoke Timmy in victory lane. "It's just been bad luck and it's costing me from making maximum points on nights when other contenders have issues!"

Mark Iron who has really turned heads on the circuit courses finished second again. Mark is the master of practice and while he did not have anything for the lightning quick Tim Smith he made sure to make the most points possible vaulting him to the top three in Overall Standings and with Tim Smith's repeated points deductions First Place in Circuit Competition. "I need to just keep focused on doing well and not psyching myself out" spoke Iron. The North Carolina native might just be the sleeper in the Overall Title Run due to his consistency. Mark currently sits in the top ten with every division and continuing his consistency trend coupled with bad luck from other drivers may see him stand tall when its all said and done! "I need to get better at the Modern Racing. The Iron Man truck is constantly being tuned on for every Modern event and I haven't had a ton of time to adapt. If I'm going to be a threat I need to start getting a hold of my Modern Day Truck."

Dave Collard who sits third in the standings is losing ground on the front runners. Bad luck at Pine Run coupled with sub-par finishes since Mankato Speedway has left the Rhode Islander dropping back from Tim Smith in the Overall Title Hunt. "We had awful luck at Pine Run. The fastest truck was ours no doubt about that, but you can not win a ten lap race in the first three turns and by getting aggressive we crashed and had to recover to get fifth. Nobody is going to cut us slack and I know we're a capable bunch but I need to stop making mistakes."

But what happened to other sure bets for the Overall Championship? Josh Rhodes was committed to other obligations and missed a chance to gain ground after winning last week in Glendale. Austin Grams who started with a win in Mouton has not shown the consistency to win a championship yet and seems to be falling farther behind. Travis Sewlio has missed racing again and Ryan McCauley who everyone thought was finally going to make it and become a champion is sitting out on a three week ban. These drivers still have shots at Divisional Title's but the Overall seems to be officially out of grasp as the front three continue to race weekly and collect points.

With goers there are comers though and going further into Pine Run's evening we saw new faces make the Feature Race with the likes of Bert Wojcik and Damien Bowers. Both of these drivers had impressive displays in heat and consolation round appearances and earned respect from peers. "It's good to see new faces finally make a splash in the game" says Dave Collard. "These guys have been racing for awhile and with so many of the older drivers running more a partial schedule it gives guys like them a chance to race for wins and elevate to a higher status in the grand scheme of things." Bowers who finished sixth had a incredible display in his consolation race holding off charges from Alex Vester and Kevin Milloy both of whom knocked on his tail-gate but were unable to waver the Indiana Native. Bert Wojcik of Pennsylvania was strong all evening placing second in his heat and transferring to the feature race where he finished third. These guys might not be title contenders yet but they're finally learning how to get the job done on the race track!

With Pine Run over we shift our attention to next weeks final Holiday Special event Christmas Mayhem. The third running in four years will prove to be another challenge for the Modern Monster Trucks as they've been off for nearly a month. I-95 Speedway in Bangor is snow packed and with a snowstorm predicted for Saturday look out for slippery sliding action at the third mile Oval! More information will be forthcoming later in the week stay tuned!