Blue Collar Racer Of The Year

One of the things we wanted to do to underscore the greatness of racing in our area, was to highlight the best racing performances by drivers and teams at every live racing event we covered. And those that know us also know now that we take this very seriously. It's important to us. The work that teams and their drivers put in to compete will never be fully understood or credited. The work it takes to put together and prepare a competitive race team is immense, to say the least. It becomes life for the racer. It is done for many reasons including treasure and legacy, but it starts and ends with the love of the sport. A love that leads to many sacrifices. And where those sacrifices pay off is where the rubber meets the road, literally. It pays off with great finishes on the track.

We've come to realize over the years studying our great sport, that the best performances don't always end up in victory lane. Sometimes it's a driver's ability to overcome adversity and come away with a great finish against the odds. So we wanted to acknowledge the best performances, and the Short Track Report Blue Collar Racer Of The Week was born, and it is ingrained in what we do.

So now, here at the close of the 2021 season, we have the arduous task of looking over all the great performances we witnessed throughout the year. And in doing so, we are struck by what an epic season 2021 has truly been. If you are a fan of stock car racing that hasn't been out to a local track this year, you have missed out on some of the best racing I've seen my whole life. It's not an exaggeration. We've been pointing it out all year. The veterans that have shaped their craft through the pinnacle years of the sport are being met by the enthusiastic new generation of young driver that has every tool in the world to learn to be competitive. And these two generations of drivers are putting on amazing shows. Ask anyone that's been out supporting their local short tracks and they'll confirm to you what I'm saying. I can't say enough about this year's competition at every event we covered.

And so, in our evaluation of all the greatest performances we've seen this year, it's been difficult to single it down to one driver for our Blue Collar Racer Of The Year award. We've seen drivers perform at a level that's hard to imagine. Doing things with a car that shouldn't be able to be done. We've seen drivers overcome odds that left others parking their machines and giving it up for the day. But we knew this year would be this way. We didn't know exactly how great a year it would be, but we knew it would be amazing. We formed Short Track Report for such a time as this, as we know that short track stock car auto racing is going through a time of regrowth and greatness. But we also know it rides on the back of the great talent that fills the sport. And honestly, we underestimated how hard it would be to single our yearly award down to one team and driver. We never thought that when we revealed our Blue Collar Racer Of The Week that anyone would be able to win the award twice as we set the standard as high as it was possible. We could have just given them to the winners, but again, our standard was higher than that. And so we thought that the odds were pretty high that someone would win it twice. But one driver did one even better, and earned it not once, not twice, but three times. We were blown away by that. If you could ever be privy to the discussions we have had to decide it, you could start to get an understanding of how improbable a feat this truly was. We have seen the best short-track racers in the country go at it all year, and after an honest assessment, even we are amazed at that fact.

Our award winner has had a remarkable year, to say the least. We could harp on the stats he achieved throughout the 2021 season acquired in races in the Texas Late Model Series, Sooner Late Model Series, Southern Touring Late Model Series, and the CARS Tour, which consists overall of 23 starts with two wins, 11 top 5's, and a remarkable 19 top 10's with only one DNF. We could harp on the fact that his average start was 10.40 leading to an average finish of 7.26 overall competing in the various series, and point to the diversity that competing in the various tours entails. Or we could taunt the fact that as a rookie competing in the most competitive short track racing tour in the country, he took a seasoned veteran and champion to the very edge of competition with the championship for the CARS Tour coming down to the very last event at South Boston Speedway. But what we can point to the most is that Kaden Honeycutt Racing won our Blue Collar Racer Of The Week award three times, overcoming great odds against overwhelming adversity to achieve the greatest performances against the greatest competition we saw all year. And for that, we are excited and honored to name Kaden Honeycutt our first ever Blue Collar Racer Of The Year! We know that just by the standards we set for this award, that through the years great drivers will be added to the list. And of course, we plan to grow the very presentation itself through the years as we grow ourselves, but for us, this one will always be extra special as it's our inaugural presentation. And so with that, our hats are off to you Kaden Honeycutt, and your great team for becoming the first Short Track Report Blue Collar Racer Of The Year. And we thank all the drivers and teams for making this the best year of racing for us. A year that we will never forget. A year that leaves us super excited for 2022, and so as always, See You At The Track!