WSS: American drivers ranked one-two in Aussie poll

'Yanks' Pittman & Saldana ranked 1-2 in Aussie "Salute to Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic" poll.

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (January 16, 2003) - World Series Sprintcars (WSS) point leader Daryn Pittman of Oklahoma and Parramatta City Raceway Parts Plus $50,000 winner Joey Saldana of Indiana are ranked first and second, respectively, in the 2003 "Salute to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic" poll, as selected by the voting panel of the Australian National Sprintcar Poll. The two American World of Outlaws (WoO) stars garnered nine first-place votes each from the nineteen cast by the select panel of Australian manufacturers, media members, promoters and sanctioning officials. Pittman outpointed Saldana 1400 to 1150, though, in the overall balloting. Two-time defending Aussie "Driver of the Year" Max Dumesny of Victoria received the only other first-place ballot cast.

Pittman and Saldana are clearly the two favorites entering the January 25-26 The Standard-sponsored Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic (GASC) at the Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia. The GASC is Australia's oldest and most prestigious international sprintcar racing event of their September through April season, comparable in many ways to the mid-August Knoxville Nationals in the United States. In fact, the Classic is Australia's exclusive international qualifier for Knoxville's Kele World Challenge to be run on Friday, August 15.

Ranked third in the seasonal voting is Pittman's WSS challenger, Robbie Farr of New South Wales, while Dumesny is ranked fourth. Rounding out the top ten drivers at the mid-way point in the Down Under season are Australian Brooke Tatnell, American Brad Furr, and Aussies Kerry Madsen, Stephen Bell, Garry Brazier and Ryan Farrell, respectively.

The Australian National Sprintcar Poll is an official awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum Foundation of Knoxville, Iowa. The 2002/03 Australian National Sprintcar Poll post-season awards will be presented on Friday, August 15, during the Knoxville Nationals. <pre> "Salute to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic" 2002/2003 Australian National Sprintcar Poll

Rank    Driver (First Place Votes)      State/Country           Points
1.      Daryn Pittman (9)               Oklahoma, USA           1400
2.      Joey Saldana (9)                Indiana, USA            1150
3.      Robbie Farr                     New South Wales, AUS     720
4.      Max Dumesny (1)                 Victoria, AUS            567
5.      Brooke Tatnell                  New South Wales, AUS     307
6.      Brad Furr                       California, USA          272
7.      Kerry Madsen                    New South Wales, AUS     250
8.      Stephen Bell                    Victoria, AUS            169
9.      Garry Brazier                   New South Wales, AUS     164
10.     Ryan Farrell                    Western Australia, AUS   149
11.     Trevor Green                    South Australia, AUS     138
12.     Cameron Gessner                 Queensland, AUS          120
tie     Jeff Shepard                    Maryland, USA            120
14.     Andrew Scheuerle                Queensland, AUS           85
15.     David Murcott                   Tasmania, AUS             66
16.     Ian Lewis                       Victoria, AUS             63
17.     Darrell Hodges                  Queensland, AUS           41
tie     Darren Jensen                   Queensland, AUS           41
19.     Steven Graham                   New South Wales, AUS      36
20.     Matthew Reed                    Victoria, AUS             27
21.     Skip Jackson                    New South Wales, AUS      16
tie     Troy Little                     New South Wales, AUS      16
23.     Jason Johnson                   Louisiana, USA            15
24.     Kurt Winker                     Wisconsin, USA            10
25.     Mike Figliomeni                 Western Australia, AUS     8
tie     Phil March                      South Australia, AUS       8

Also receiving multiple votes: Luke Dillon, Rob Rankin, Ken Sartori, Donny Schatz.

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