Tower Of Power - The 10 Most Powerful Drivers in the Final 2007 Summer Shootout Events at LMS
Legends & Bandolero Driver Rankings
1) Christian Pahud : #63 Legends Semi-Pro
Who the heck is Christian Pahud? This kid came out of nowhere this year at the Summer Shootout to win the 2007 Semi-Pro championship. Pahud stayed quiet all season long, not making much noise on or off the track. When it came to game time in the final three races of the Shootout, Pahud wasn't extremely impressive until the final race. In that event, he stayed up front and out of trouble while the Semi-Pro favorites took each other out. His only win of the Shootout season came at the right time. If he would have been second, he would have lost the championship. Now all this kid needs is a sponsor to notice him.
Rating: 3.33
2) Ronnie Bassett, Jr. : #04 Bandolero Young Guns
This season in the Young Guns division, all anyone has been talking about is the dominance of Ryan Glenski. Waiting in the wings and being patient was the "Rock", Ronnie Bassett, Jr. Wrecked race cars and forcing to finish out of the top spot every week didn't keep him down. Bassett kept his head screwed on straight and when Glenski wrecked in the final race, Bassett took off like a rocket to claim the race win and the championship, all in one night. Bassett might be one of the younger Young Guns, but he had the patience and perseverance of a veteran driver, and now he is the 2007 Bandolero Young Guns Summer Shootout champ.
Rating: 4.50
3) Jordan Anderson : #19 Legends Pro
The 2007 Summer Shootout didn't start the way Jordan Anderson wanted. It took until the halfway point of the season for him to snag his first top-five finish and even get noticed as a contender for the championship or even a win. Anderson did get things going on the right track in the three-race Sizzler, being the only Legends driver to take two of the three Sizzler wins across the board. This included the final race of the season, giving him the Shootout championship for the Pro division. His championship also gave Nick Pistone Racing their 11th championship since they were formed.
Rating: 4.66
4) Davey Matthews : #41 Bandolero Bandit
They call him "Super Davey" for a reason. Matthews has been on a hot streak this year, winning races in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, but had a goose egg in the win column when it came to the Summer Shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Three second-place finishes in a row entering the final race of the season had Matthews determined to win in the biggest Bandolero racing series in the country. He dug down deep and pulled off a win in the final race of the year, etching his name forever in the history books as a Shootout winner.
Rating: 4.83
5) Kyle Plott : #99 Bandolero Bandit
When a driver is on a winning streak, they just don't want to stop winning. So when Kyle Plott entered the final race of the Summer Shootout for the Bandolero Bandits with victories in the last six races, most figured he would be going for that seventh in a row. Instead, the young driver used common sense by only running as hard as he needed to secure the 2007 Shootout championship. While the win would have been nice, Plott drove a sensible race, settling for second on the track behind Davey Matthews. With the most wins by any driver in the Bandits division, Plott claimed the championship.
Rating: 5.83
6) John Sossoman : #14 Legends Masters
Everyone that has been around the Summer Shootout over the last few years know the name John Sossoman. He is someone most people are used to seeing at the track and in competition, but this season he has been absent. Sossoman decided to enter the final three races of the Shootout and quickly was at the top of the charts. Entering the final race, Sossoman had a fifth and a third to his credit, making it logical he would take the victory in the final event. While everyone was focused on Clay Hair and the rest of the Masters, Sossoman took the checkered flag first. If he would have run the whole season and been in the Sizzler chase, he possibly would have won the championship.
Rating: 7.33
7) Jordan Penninger : #7 Legends Young Lions
Three numbers come to mind with Jordan Penninger. "4.5" is the first, which was his average finishing position throughout the Summer Shootout, the best record of the Young Lions group. Next is the number "2", which is the number of wins he had in the Shootout, which both came in the final two races of the season. The last is "14", which was where he finished in the first race of the Sizzler, which took him out of the championship hunt. If it wasn't for that finish or the Sizzler points reset, Penninger would be the Young Lions champ.
Rating: 8.50
8-Tie) Ryan Glenski : #28 Bandolero Young Guns
Probably one of the happiest drivers during the Shootout was Young Guns driver Ryan Glenski. He won six races during the season, including two of the three races in the Sizzler points run. That happiness turned to shock and disappointment when Glenski's championship slipped from his grasp with a hard crunch into the wall. While he lost the championship, Glenski showed he was the driver to beat all season and has graduated from the Bandolero ranks. With his talent, he should be up in Legends cars and other bigger cars soon (currently races the Allison Legacy Series).
Rating: 8.66
8-Tie) Tyler Green : #20 Legends Pro
With three wins during the Shootout season and a hefty points lead after round seven, Tyler Green was the favorite to with the Pro division championship. However, the points reset for the Sizzler along with two finishes outside the top five in rounds eight and nine crushed any hopes for Green to take the championship. Instead, Green focused himself for the final event finishing second on the track. With a 3.9 average finishing position all season long, Green would have been the champ if it wasn't for the Sizzler reset, which is why Green is holding his head high after the Shootout has concluded.
Rating: 8.66
10-Tie) Nick Stroupe - #45 Bandolero Young Guns
Bad luck seemed to attack Nick Stroupe all season long. After a second-place finish in the first round of the Shootout, Stroupe's finishing positions were up and down like a yo-yo. In the last two races of the season, "Slick Nick" shook off the bad luck monkey, showing his strength on the track. A fourth-place finish in round nine and a third-place finish in round 10 put Stroupe back on the map in his first year in the Young Guns division.
Rating: 9.00
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Carlos "Mercury" Moore : #9 Legends Masters
Chase Elliott : #09 Bandolero Bandits
Christopher McKinney : #13 Bandolero Outlaws
Daniel Hemric : #48 Legends Semi-Pro
Devin Layser : #78 Legends Young Lions
Kyle Hall : #69 Legends Semi-Pro
Kyle Pierce : #28 Legends Young Lions
Steven Abbey : #79 Legends Pro
Will Cagle : #24 Legends Masters
Power. It’s a term used a lot in racing circles. Whether it means the horses beneath the hood or a strong move on the track, power asserts good days from bad and catapults drivers towards victory lane. When things are clicking and a driver seems unstoppable, leaving other drivers scratching their heads on how to catch them – that’s power in its rarest form.
LegendsNation.com has polled those closest to the goings-on in the Lowe’s Motor Speedway Summer Shootout and has compiled a list of the 10 most powerful drivers of the last two weeks of the Shootout.
This is not a popularity contest. It’s not about who’s got the famous last name. It’s all about who is most on top of their game at the end of the Shootout. Now, onto the top-10 in LegendsNation.com’s “Tower of Power.”
10-Tie) Chad Finchum : #19 Bandolero Young Guns
Quite simply, Chad Finchum has not had the kind of Summer Shootout he wanted. Through the first nine events in the Young Guns division, Finchum's best finish was sixth in the second round and only had three top-10 finishes. However, Finchum turned that around in the last race running up front and ended up finishing second. Although he wasn't in the Sizzler points chase, he showed power in the last round of the Shootout.
Rating: 9.00
