And the Corny goes to ...

Only two nights remain on the Shawano Speedway schedule for the 2014 race season. This marks a good time to honor this year’s Corny Awards. If you remember back a year ago, I rolled out the first edition of the Corny Awards, named after longtime racer, flagman and race promoter Warren “Corny” Schmidt. (By the way, Corny is still not telling anyone how he got the nickname.) Let’s get to the honors. The Corny for Comeback Racer of the Year goes to IMCA Stock Car point leader Travis VanStraten. It has been well documented that VanStraten made a return to racing this season after taking the past few seasons off. VanStraten has returned to the track with a vengeance, winning seven features thus far this season. The Corny for Breakthrough Season goes to Brock Saunders. The third generation racer from Hortonville has proven himself to me a real competitor in the IMCA Sport Mod class, winning his first-career feature a few weeks back. Honorable mention for breakout season goes to Tanner Westphal. A second generation racer, son of Mel Westphal, he currently sits third in the Mighty Four point standings, only nine points out of first place. The Corny Award for Best Pavement Racer Turned Dirt Racer goes to Late Model racer Tim Rothe. For many years Rothe was one of the top guns in the pavement Super Late Model ranks in Wisconsin. In 2010 Rothe began dabbling in dirt late models. Through hard work and determination Rothe made himself into a winner, riding into victory lane twice this season. The Corny Award for the Racer Having the Most Fun goes to 73-year-old Jerry Muenster. The 1998 IMCA Modified track champion and 2010 Shawano Speedway Hall Of Fame inductee has again been a very competitive racer all season and is currently sixth in points. Muenster is quick with a smile and willing to talk to anyone. It is refreshing to see a racer with a huge grin on his face when he gets out of his race car. The Corny for Mr. Consistency goes to IMCA Stock Car pilot Mike Schmidt. Schmidt has only finished outside the top four once this season and is currently second in points behind VanStraten. The Corny for best mustache goes to Late Model veteran Tom Naeyaert. We’ve got two weeks to go. See you at the speedway.