Alex Prunty’s incredible rookie season in Super Late Models sees him continue to lead in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program (KDDP) “Kulwicki Cup” point standings. The 23-year-old Lomira, Wisconsin driver has won SLM features on his home track at Slinger and at the Dells Raceway Park. Prunty has scored more than 15 top-five finishes, including seven second-place finishes. He was a legitimate challenger for the Slinger Speedway SLM championship, finishing a strong third in the points.
With the month of October remaining to decide the 2016 “Kulwicki Cup” champion, Prunty holds the lead over Jay, Maine’s Dave Farrington Jr., with rising racing star Michael Ostdiek and West Coast hot shoe Jeremy Doss in hot pursuit.
“Alex has had an impressive season for a rookie driver in Super Late Model racing against some of the toughest competition out there,” said KDDP executive director Tom Roberts. “Dave picked up his first career wins at Beech Ridge this season and challenged for the track championship all season long before finishing third in points. Michael has really come on strong and is turning heads on a weekly basis now. Jeremy won the prestigious Montana 200 and is positioned to make a strong run to the finish in his attempt to win our program’s championship.
“The current point standings certainly reflect the importance of all the factors that go into winning our prestigious award,” Roberts said. “Our voting advisory board members place tremendous value on community involvement, social media activities and other off-track functions and I applaud them for that. Alex continued to receive the most bonus points from our voting board members, with Dave and Michael running a close second and third. I expect the off-track activities by our drivers during October to be quite impressive.“While Quin Houff, Cody Haskins and Brandon Setzer may not be among the frontrunners in the Kulwicki Cup competition, they have been tremendous representatives for the KDDP,” said Roberts. “Quin and Brandon still have races on their schedules and can certainly make their presence known during the month of October.”
The 2016 “Kulwicki Cup” point standings, through Sept. 18, look like this:
1) – Alex Prunty – 895
2) – Dave Farrington Jr. – 814
3) – Michael Ostdiek — 802
4) – Jeremy Doss – 790
5) – Quin Houff – 533
6) – Cody Haskins – 431
7) – Brandon Setzer – 322
These seven drivers are competing this season for the 2016 “Kulwicki Cup” award that will pay one driver a $54,439 bonus at the organization’s banquet that will be held in Charlotte in December.
The KDDP points system is based on a combination of judging input from members of the advisory board and the drivers’ on-track performance. Board members are asked to rank the drivers from first to seventh in their job of representing the organization and points are awarded for those rankings. Each voter is given 10 discretionary “bonus” points to award the drivers for “exceptional contributions” to the program. Community engagement, program representation and social media activities account for as much as 60 percent of the points total. The remaining 40 percent of the points come from actual racing statistics. Race wins award 10 points, with 2nd-5th-place finishes getting 6 points, 6th-10th 4 points, 11th-15th 2 points and 15th-plus 1 point. A driver’s best 15 finishes are considered.
“Since our competition cut-off date was two weeks ago for this voting period, several drivers’ accomplishments (win by Farrington and top-five finishes for Ostdiek, Doss and Setzer) were not included in this vote, but will be considered in the final points,” said Roberts. “Some of our drivers have yet to compete in 15 races. Those facts certainly will make an impact in the overall point standings. What I expect to see from our drivers on and off the track heading down the stretch adds up to a competition for the 2016 Kulwicki Cup they’ll likely be talking about for years to come.”
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