Sprints: ALLSTAR Banquet Held at Indy
7 December 1998
INDIANAPOLIS - The team of Kenny Jacobs and Tim Hughes received top honors at the All Star sprint car awards banquet at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Indianapolis Friday evening. The top ten teams in the final points received over $150,000 in cash and product awards, distributed according to each teams display of sponsor decals throughout the season.Al Rasegan from the General Motors Powertrain Division presented Hughes with the keys to the 1998 Silverado Turbo Diesel 4x4 pick-up pace truck and announced a new GM truck is being readied for the All Stars 1999 20th anniversary season champion.
Jim Spaulding of GM Performance Parts presented Hughes with a Chevrolet engine block and heads, with a cylinder block going to second place car owner Steve Mox and a set of heads to hard luck award winner, car owner Denny Ashworth.
Finishing behind Jacobs in driver points were Joey Saldana, Frankie Kerr, Dean Jacobs, Keith Kauffman, Brian Smith, Scott Jones, Judi Bates, Sarah Fisher and Kevin Huntley.
Tom Long of Georgia Marketing and Promotions presented Pennsylvanias Scott Jones with the 1998 Rookie-of-the-Year check. The Bo-LINK Radio Controlled Cars Crew Chief-of-the-Year award went to Todd Palmer, who helped the Hughes Motorsports team to victory lane 11 times during the 63 race season.
When receiving his awards, champion Jacobs recalled his biggest night of the season was the final race at Eldora Speedway where he set fast time, won his heat, the feature and the $15,000 Commercial Truck & Trailer Shootout.
Three chassis manufacturers presented their products to three top drivers. Dean Jacobs received an Eagle Chassis, Jack Mourar received a Doemelt Chassis and a J&J Chassis was presented to champion car owner Tim Hughes by Jack Elam.
Car owner Mike Smith received a set of heads from Brodix, recognizing his teams perseverance in competing at every event all season long. Dean Jacobs was also awarded a racing seat from ButlerBuilt seats for having the most pole positions during the season.
Bert Emick, All Star president, thanked each team for their participation throughout the season. He also announced a purse increase for 1999 and introduced sponsors, race promoters and special guests. Emick mentioned the importance of the four groups that make the All Stars successful: sponsors, car owners and drivers, track promoters, and race fans, all of whom need each other to survive.
All Star Competition director Rick Nichols served as the emcee for the evening which featured a delicious dinner with the Crown Plaza providing a festive background for the photos and the award ceremonies. The evening concluded with a reminder from Nichols to get ready for the All Stars 20th anniversary season which starts in Florida in February. It was an evening of fun and good fellowship among the 200 attendees.
