Ringers Gloves Salutes Our Champions and Racers
Press Information: For Immediate Release Contact Information Mindy Stephens Ringers Gloves Public Relations 317-858-9581 _mindys@ringersgloves.com_ (mailto:mindys@ringersgloves.com) RINGERS GLOVES SALUTES OUR CHAMPIONS AND RACERS Brownsburg, Ind. - (December 30, 2007) With the new Countdown to the Championship points system put into play in 2007, it took the top four in points in each professional category after Richmond (Dallas for motorcycles) and created an exciting, down-to-the-wire chase, with a couple classes not knowing its champion until the final round of the final race at Pomona in November. Of the sixteen racers who vied for the championship in their respective classes, Ringers Gloves is pleased to boast our racers and/or teams held 12 of the 16 spots and three of our supporting teams/racers took home the championship in their classes. En route to his first Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, Ringers’ supporter Matt Smith steered his Torco Race Fuels/S&S Buell to four wins in 2007, including the win that gave him his championship at Pomona in November. Other wins on the season include St. Louis, Denver and Sonoma. Andrew Hines picked up five wins throughout the season (Chicago, Norwalk, Brainerd, Memphis, Vegas 2), the most of any other rider for the year. Hines missed out on his fourth consecutive championship by a mere six points, finishing second behind Smith. Chip Ellis, who is currently without a ride for the 2008 season, lost to champion Smith in the final round at Pomona. His loss resulted in finishing third in points, only one point behind Hines. Lady rider Peggy Llewellyn competed in her first full season of POWERade competition since the six races she ran in 2001. She finished fourth in the Championship points before being released by team owner Karl Klement in early December. She picked up her first career win in front of her home crowd in Dallas in September. She, like Ellis, is playing the waiting game on a ride for next season. In the Pro Stock class, the four drivers in the Countdown to One are all Ringers’ supporting drivers, with the champion being that of Jeg Coughlin Jr. and the team of Cagnazzi Racing. On the road to his championship, Jeggie racked up four wins (Chicago, Bristol, Brainerd, Pomona 2). This is the first time since 2002 a KB Racing driver hasn’t brought home a championship. All year long though it was a battle between the KB Racing and Cagnazzi Racing stables and Greg Anderson put up a fight until the very end at Pomona. Unfortunately, Anderson was handed an unlikely first-round loss resulting in a second place in points, but he did pick up eight wins in 12 final rounds, as well as scoring his 50th career win at Sonoma. Many people thought young gun Dave Connolly was going to take bring home his first NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship. But a twist of bad fate and a second round loss to teammate Jeggie in Vegas in October put the kibosh on his championship hopes. Connolly shouldn’t be too distraught though because, in my opinion, he had the season on his life, taking home eight wins, including a record five in a row (Reading, Indy, Memphis, Dallas, Richmond). Expect Connolly to be a top contender again in 2008. Like his quiet demeanor, Allen Johnson consistently ran well throughout the entire season and crept into the Countdown to One. AJ picked up one win, the first of the Western Swing in Denver in July and finished fourth in points. While he was the only Ringers’ supporting racer in the Countdown to One in the Funny Car class, he was all we needed. Tony Pedregon brought home the first championship to his own Brownsburg, Ind.-based Pedregon Racing shop. This is TP’s second career championship, but first as an owner/driver combination. His other championship came in 2003 when he drove his final year for John Force Racing, before venturing out on his own in 2004. In addition to his huge payday and champion accolades, Pedregon picked up four wins (Phoenix, Reading, Dallas, Vegas 2). If Tony Schumacher would have lost in the final round, Ringers racer Hot Rod Fuller would have brought home a first Top Fuel championship to him and team owner David Powers. Unfortunately, that’s not how it played out and Fuller, along with Brandon Bernstein and Larry Dixon had to fall in line behind Schumacher this year. After a surprising first-round elimination, Fuller, finishing second in points, brought home three wins (Phoenix, Denver, Vegas 2) to the David Powers Motorsports stable, including the $100,000 paycheck in the Technicoat Shootout specialty race held at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October. Brandon Bernstein, who was an early favorite for the championship, had his battle for the championship end in semifinals at Pomona when he lost to Schumacher. However, Bernstein racked up five wins (Vegas 1, Atlanta, Topeka, Bristol, Brainerd) on the ’07 season and finished third. Larry Dixon started the season off quietly, but picked up momentum with two back-to-back wins in Chicago and Englishtown (NJ) in June. Dixon scored his third win on the season in Dallas in September. He was the first one eliminated from championship contention with a second-round loss. Ringers Gloves would also like to salute our supporting sportsmen champions; Frank Manzo, Top Alcohol Funny Car; Frank Aragona, Comp Eliminator; Michael Iacono, Stock; Shawn Langdon, Super Comp and Sherman Adcock, Super Gas. Congratulations to all Ringers’ supporting teams and racers on a fantastic 2007 season and we look forward to working with everyone again in 2008! About Ringers Gloves Ringers Gloves, Official Gloves of NHRA and title sponsor for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, is a full-line manufacturer of high-end, task specific gloves, SFI 3.3/1, 3.3/10, 3.3/20 racing gloves, UnderX protective undergarments, UnderX Performance gear, crew shoes, as well as a full line of accessories for every need. Keep up with your favorite Ringers racers in ‘08 by logging onto the newly redesigned _www.ringersgloves.com_ (http://www.ringersgloves.com/) for photos and highlights! Mindy Stephens Public Relations/Marketing Ringers Gloves 475 Northpoint Court Suite 300 Brownsburg, Ind. 46112 p: 317.858.9581 f: 317.858.9560 e: ringersindy@aol.com _www.ringersgloves.com_ (http://www.ringersgloves.com/) **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)