Abe Huls
When Abe Huls won the stock car track championship on the final night of points racing at the Bullring, it was arguably just icing on the cake en route to his winning the Stevie Dirt Driver of the Year award in this series.
Huls’ resume was pretty complete prior to that accomplishment, having dominated the Stevie Dirt Regional Rankings much of the season on the way to winning the track title at West Burlington and finishing third at Lee County.
While Huls managed just two feature victories at the Bullring, he was tops in top-five and top-10 finishes. He was one of the most improved drivers at the track in any class after having finished 10th in points in 2008.
A driver’s success at the Bullring, combined with success at Lee County and West Burlington were all weighed in selecting the second annual Driver of the year and all-Dirt team.
Huls follows Jeff Mueller as Stevie Dirt Stock Car Driver of the Year. Mueller did not earn a spot on this year’s all-Dirt team, opting not to race at Quincy full-time this season.
STOCK CAR DRIVER OF THE YEAR
ABE HULS
WHY: He not only won the championship at the Bullring, but was a force throughout the region … Completely dominated the Stevie Dirt Regional Rankings … Fittingly capped his points season in Quincy with a victory in the season championship race … Led the Dependable Drivers Leaderboard (DDL) for stock cars, completing 329 of 340 feature laps for a .938 percentage … Was second to Kevin Tomlinson in improvement points.
NOTEWORTHY: Huls has won more money ($5,965) at the Bullring than any other stock car driver the past two years.
FIRST ROW
KEVIN TOMLINSON
WHY: Finished runner-up to Huls in the title race when he was disqualified on season championship night over not having a muffler on his car … No. 5 in the SDRR … finished second in Herald-Whig Performance Points … won seven overall races, tying for second behind Terry Houston (10).
NOTEWORTHY: Tomlinson led the series in improvement points (80), eight more than Huls.
TERRY HOUSTON
WHY: No driver won more stock car races (10) than Houston … No. 97 also won the most features (5) … finished No. 8 in the SDRR … Houston was the hottest driver in the series down the stretch, leading in second-half points … Led class in money earned ($3,115) and was first Herald-Whig Performance Points.
NOTEWORTHY: Houston led the most feature laps (108) of any stock car driver, almost double his closest challenger Aaron Brocksieck (56).
SECOND ROW
AARON BROCKSIECK
WHY: Brocksieck’s rookie season in stock cars was memorable, finishing sixth in points despite missing one feature … Brocksieck’s improvement was obvious in the second half, totaling 222 points after the midseason break, which was just two behind leader Terry Houston (224).
NOTEWORTHY: Brocksieck did not win a heat race all season, but won three features, including the $1,000-to-win Tri-State Shootout on July 3.
CHRIS WIBBELL
WHY: The Dallas City driver had a rough final month of the season or he would have likely been a first-row pick … Still finished seventh in points despite missing one feature … No. 9 in SDRR.
NOTEWORTHY: Wibbell is the career stock car points leader at the Bullring, racking up 1,189 in the first two years of the series. Steve Steinkuhler (1,117) and Abe Huls (1,117) are tied for second.
STEVIE DIRT STOCK CAR DRIVER OF THE YEAR
2009: Abe Huls
2008: Jeff Mueller
