A fun exciting banquet night brought to a close the 2018 I-35 Speedway racing season. What fun we had all year leading up to awarding the 6-foot-tall Champions trophies! What a great banquet it was with fabulous food, fun, great racing stores, dancing, smiles, and happiness all around.
A very happy social hour took place where racing stories from 2018 and plans for 2019 were discussed. Pit Stop Catering provided a scrumptious meal of Smoked Pork and/or Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Pasta Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, a Roll, with dessert of cookies and cupcakes readily available. High Maintenance Photography provided a video recap of the season. Pearl Photography was taking pictures of the party happenings.
Master of Ceremonies Mark Merrell took to the stage and hosted the evening’s awards. Track owners Mike and Kyle Johnson came to the stage to present the awards. The Top Drivers in Sport Compacts were the first to be honored, followed by the E Mods, Pure Stocks, Grand Nationals, USRA B Mods, USRA Stock Cars, and USRA A Mods. Congratulations to the 2018 Champions: Sport Compacts David Miller III, E Mods Bobby Lopez, Pure Stocks Ron Hill, Grand Nationals Houston Johnson, USRA B Mod Daniel Harris, Season Long B Mod Chase Galvan, USRA Stock Cars Jeff Dixon, and USRA A Mod Dennis Elliott.
Chad Fuller and Houston Johnson were the Sportsmen of the Year for their respectful season long battle for the championship and their recruiting others to compete in their class. The lone Rookie of the Year was Pure Stock Hot Shoe Rylee Fuller. A Special Recognition Award was presented to the Community Ambulance Service of Daviess County. Bridgeman’s Wrecker Service received the Hook of the Year award. The Gene Tuttle Award winner was Ed “Bubba” Kline for his work in the tech area and on the raceiver radio.
The Awards ceremony culminated with the induction of Larry Kaster, Randy Ainsworth, and Eddie and Betty Schwope into the 2018 class of the I-35 Speedway Hall of Fame. There were two surprise inductees into the I-35 Speedway Hall of Fame. Eddie Schwope Jr. was also inducted along with his parents. Then, eleven-year track owner Mike Johnson was inducted by the I-35 Speedway Staff for all his contributions to the local racing community and his improvements to I-35 Speedway. Champion Ron Hill closed the exciting fun banquet by making a special presentation to Paula Wilson-Murphy and family!
Now onto the 2019 racing season, keep watching for I-35 Speedway press releases and social media for exciting news concerning next year’s schedule, classes, and other exciting information.