Drivers Honored at the Skyview Drags Annual Awards Banquet and Dinner
by Brock Moore

Date: December 5, 2008
For Immediate Release

(Tioga Center, NY) Skyview Drags held its annual awards banquet and dinner on Saturday evening at the Treadway Inn in Owego, NY.

The Dragway which is owned by George Swansbrough and managed by Amy Culver began its season in April and ended it in October running weekly on Saturday evenings. "The 2008 racing season was a great year for Skyview Drags, it keeps getting better and better every year." said Culver. "In 2009 we hope to add more shows and bring in more people with my main goal being to continue building our Junior Dragster divison."

The event was emceed by Kraig R. Moss. A slideshow was shown to remember the 2008 racing season. Following that, Moss thanked some of the track sponsors which included Insinger Race Fuels, Clear Channel, LVC Auto Body and Percision Crankwork.
Ths Special Awards was the first awards handed out. Leroy & Dustin Jenney received an award for their support with the dragway's bike/sled class and the Bike/Sled Shootout. Donnie Kiekel recieved the most outstanding racer award for taking Skyview Drags to another level by winning the Summit Super Series points at the dragway which took him to Pittsburgh Raceway Park winning there and taking him to the World Finals for the first time in history. "It was a very successful season, I'll be back full time in 2009 in hopes of repeating what I did this season." said Kiekel after receiving his award. Kiekel came up short at the World Finals but is still a winner to all of us here at Skyview and we thank him for everything. Chastity Swansbrough and Jason Hall received awards for their support and help with everything at the dragway. Track Owner and Operator, George Swansbrough was then awarded for all his hard work in keeping Skyview Drags going and Joel Thompson presented him with the Pro Am Track of the Year Award. "George and his family did a very nice job with the Summit Pro Am Tour last season, even though the car counts were down." said Thompson. "Expect to see the tour back at the track in August of 2009 and the car counts to increase based on the number of good comments from the '08 event."

The top five finishers in the points standings for the Super Pro, Pro, Street, Bike/Sled and Junior Dragsters received a lovely Gold and Blue Trophy while 6th on back received a wall plaque. All the Junior Dragster drivers will receive a new helmet in the mail courtesy of the Swansborough Family and Skyview Drags.

Voting was held to determine the Best Appearing Car Awards and the Rookie of the Year Awards. The Best Appearing Car Awards went to C.J. Drake (Super Pro), Jeff Gallick (Pro), Gino Mangino (Street), Richard Reome (Bike/Sled) and Ashley Denmark (Junior Dragsters). The Rookie of the Year Awards went to Crystal Ingalls (Super Pro), Blake Furman (Pro), Kathy Kiekel (Street) and Brad Spencer (Bike/Sled). Moss then thanked everyone for attending the awards banquet as the event came to a close.

From all of us at Skyview Drags we would like to thank all the drivers, staff members and fans for their support last season. Have a safe off season and a happy holidays and we will see you in the spring. The 2009 season schedule will be released at the start of January. For more information visit www.skyviewdrags.com. Rumble Ridge!

Award Recipients Rundown:

Super Pro Class (Top Ten): Donnie Kiekel, CJ Drake, Bob Hacker, Tommy Ingalls, Kris Larsen, Rich Forbes, Jr., Crystal Ingalls, Jack Reome, Russ Denmark, Jim Potenziano, Sr.

Pro Class (Top Ten): Shane Garinger, Ray Thurston, Jr., Dave Fetterman, Zane Furman, Larry Carasea, Blake Furman, Jeff Gallick, Al Pearson, Jim Erecitano, Bill Clark.

Street Class (Top Nine): Ken Roberts, Kathy Lapcevich, Gino Mangino, Richard Lapcevich, Kathy Kiekel, Gary Smith, Michael Lamb, Don Hoffman, David Thompson and Glenna Erecitano (Tie for 9th).

Bike/Sled Class (Top Ten): Brent Garcia, Brad Spencer, Leroy Jenney, Richard Reome, Dustin Jenney, Rocky Gonzalez, Tom Clark, Monty Macgeorge, Lynn Major, Don Mallery.

Junior Dragsters (Top Nine): Matt Forbes, James Forbes, Cody Reome, Ashley Denmark, Roddy Clark, Jared Backer, Danny Morris, Tommy Morris, David Morris.

Best Appearing Car Awards: C.J. Drake (Super Pro), Jeff Gallick (Pro), Gino Mangino (Street), Richard Reome (Bike/Sled) and Ashley Denmark (Junior Dragsters).

Rookie of the Year Awards: Crystal Ingalls (Super Pro), Blake Furman (Pro), Kathy Kiekel (Street) and Brad Spencer (Bike/Sled).

Special Awards: George Swansbrough, Chastity Swansbrough, Jason Hall, Donnie Kiekel, Leroy Jenney, Dustin Jenney.