NHRA Story » Nine rookies are eligible candidates for 2011 Auto Club Road to the Future Award

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Nine rookies are eligible candidates for 2011 Auto Club Road to the Future Award

Monday, October 10, 2011

Nine NHRA rookie drivers, representative of all four NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series categories, are the eligible candidates for the 2011 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, it was announced Monday by officials from NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The candidates for the prestigious award are, in alphabetical order, Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Justin Finley (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Steve Kent (Pro Stock), Dominick Lagana (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock), Buddy Perkinson (Pro Stock), Michael Ray (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle), and Brian Thiel (Funny Car).

The award, which recognizes the top rookie competitor in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and offers a $20,000 prize and traditional trophy to the winner, will be presented during NHRA’s annual championship awards ceremony on Monday, Nov. 14, at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Calif.

“The Automobile Club of Southern California is honored to present this prestigious award,” said Thomas V. McKernan, CEO of the Auto Club. “Not only does it call attention to the accomplishments of the NHRA first-year Professional drivers who are the future of the sport, but it emphasizes the building blocks of integrity, commitment, dedication, perseverance, and professionalism that have been representative of our company values for more than 100 years.”

Hector Arana Jr.	Justin Finley	Steve Kent
Dominick Lagana	Vincent Nobile	Buddy Perkinson
Michael Ray	Jerry Savoie	Brian Thiel

Arana, 22, of Milltown, Ind., raced his Lucas Oil Buell, tuned by father and 2009 Full Throttle world champion Hector Arana Sr., to his first win at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil. The win helped Arana lock up his position in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship and was his second consecutive final-round appearance for the season; his first was in Brainerd. Arana then posted a runner-up finish in the Countdown at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex near Dallas and won the Auto-Plus® NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. He also raced to No. 1 qualifying positions in Norwalk, Chicago, Sonoma, Reading, and Dallas and is second in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings.

Finley, 31, of Stamford, Conn., powered his Next Level Racing Suzuki to a career-best performance of 6.928 seconds at 193.79 mph and sits in the 17th spot in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings. He also raced to a second-round finish at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown.

Kent, 56, of Lottie, La., raced The Pistonator Pontiac GXP Pro Stocker into starting spots in Houston; Atlanta, where he qualified ninth in the field; Englishtown; Bristol; and Dallas. He raced to a semifinal finish at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas. Kent also clocked a career-best performance of 6.545 seconds at 211.20 mph this season.

Lagana, 26, of Scarsdale, N.Y., qualified his Service Central dragster for five of the six races he’s entered this season. Lagana is 17th in the Top Fuel points standings and has one final-round appearance in his career (Las Vegas 1, 2010).

Nobile, 20, of Melville, N.Y., drove his Mountain View Tire Dodge Avenger to the Pro Stock winner’s circle twice this season, at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston and the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk. In addition, Nobile posted runner-up finishes at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown. Nobile qualified for the Countdown to the Championship in his first year of competition and is fifth in the points standings. He has never been lower than ninth in the standings the entire season.

Perkinson, 20, of Prince George, Va., qualified in his first Pro Stock race, the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He has clocked career-best performances of 6.584 seconds and 210.54 mph this season and is 18th in the standings.

Ray, 27, of New Braunfels, Texas, put his Star Racing Buell in the field at the Pro Stock Motorcycle season-opening race, the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville. Ray posted a career-best performance of 6.919 seconds at 191.13 mph this season.

Savoie, 52, of Cut Off, La., rode his White Alligator Suzuki to a runner-up finish at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil in Indianapolis, as well as semifinal appearances at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown and the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals in Reading. He qualified for the Countdown to the Championship and is seventh in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings.

Thiel, 36, of Pleasant Grove, Calif., qualified his Lucas Cattle Co. Dodge Charger for four of the 10 Full Throttle Series events that he entered. He is 18th in the Funny Car standings.

In 2002, the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award and the NHRA Rookie of the Year Award were combined to create one award recognizing the future stars of the sport. Past winners of the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award have developed into some of NHRA’s biggest stars, including Tony Pedregon (1996, Funny Car), Ron Capps (1997, Funny Car), Doug Kalitta (1998, Top Fuel), Antron Brown (1999, Pro Stock Motorcycle), Melanie Troxel (2000, Top Fuel), GT Tonglet (2001, Pro Stock Motorcycle), Gene Wilson (2002, Pro Stock), Brandon Bernstein (2003, Top Fuel), Jason Line (2004, Pro Stock), Robert Hight (2005, Funny Car), J.R. Todd (2006, Top Fuel), Ashley Force Hood (2007, Funny Car), Mike Neff (2008, Funny Car), Spencer Massey (2009, Top Fuel), and LE Tonglet (2010, Pro Stock Motorcycle).

NHRA Rookie of the Year winners prior to the merger of the two awards included the late Darrell Russell (2001, Top Fuel), Don Lampus (2000, Top Fuel), Scotty Cannon (1999, Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (1998, Pro Stock), Gary Scelzi (1997, Top Fuel), and 1996 co-winners Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Matt Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Rookie drivers in all four of NHRA’s Professional categories are eligible to win the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. More than 150 of the nation’s leading auto racing journalists will select the winner through a voting system based on the following criteria: number of events participated, performance on and off the racetrack, participation in NHRA promotions, and relationships with fans, sponsors, and media.

In addition to the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, the company is the title sponsor for the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 10-13 at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The company also is a major sponsor for John Force Racing, providing primary sponsorship for the Ford Mustang driven by Hight as well as associate sponsorship for the Mustangs driven by John Force and Neff. In addition, the company is the presenting sponsor for the California Hot Rod Reunion and the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum.

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