Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Wytheville, VA(January 10, 2010) ~ Well, the time has come ... the time to announce our "Best 9 Drivers" of the 2009 season and while I know many of you have been waiting to see if you or your favorite driver was on the list and where they stacked up, it was long road to making the decision for each position.

There was no clear cut winner and by that I mean that there was too many winners, too many guys who had great seasons and too many drivers who did everything they could to put themselves at the top of the heap. When the 2009 season started there were six drivers that I thought would really stand out this season starting with Matt McCall, Jesse James LeFevers, Andy Mercer, Tommy Lemons, Jr., Brandon McReynolds and Darrell Wallace, Jr. Of those six drivers only three of them really stood out as expected and one had the worst season any driver could expect, so it's not like we hit it on the head.

McCall certainly turned in incredible performances this season including four UARA-STARS Series wins at four different tracks Bristol, Orange County, Lonesome Pine and Tri-County as well as a most incredible last to first run in the biggest summer race, the Dwight Huffman Memorial at Hickory. McCall's only flaws this season were disqualifications at Motor Mile in a one off start and a questionable disqualication at Myrtle Beach Speedway in the Myrtle Beach 250, the season ending race.

LeFevers didn't live up to the early season hype, but of course he had his hands full with a greatly dominant, Mercer, who was another driver on our pre-season radar. LeFevers season started off with a win at Hickory by just a few feet over Mercer, followed by a disqualification at Tri-County, which was certainly a picky call by what was a picky technical inspection staff, but that seemed to derail his season of sorts. He came back to win three more races before the season was over, but he was never able to be as solid as we had thought he would be.

Mercer, I deemed the "New King" of Hickory Motor Speedway during pre-race feature stories and WOW, was that a good analysis of him or what? Mercer lost race number one as mentioned above to LeFevers, but then he turned Hickory into his own personal playground turning in ten wins in a row and 14 on the season. Those stats don't even come close to being matched by any other driver this season, but the stain on Mercer's season was qualifying poorly and missing the Bailey's 300 at Martinsville Speedway and losing to McCall in the Dwight Huffman Memorial and Coleman Pressley in the Fall Brawl. Those loses made him seem as if he could dominate the locals and wasn't able to handle outside competition, but there was so much more to that than what meets the eyes.

Lemons turned a month's worth of racing at Motor Mile Speedway into a great three out of four wins, breaking through against the toughest competition in Late Model Stock Cars weekly racing. It was something that had eluded him until this season when he beat reigning NASCAR Whelen All-American Series king, Philip Morris in two of three of those wins. Lemons for a brief sprint was the man, he couldn't be beat, but unfortunately for him that dominance was short lived and he returned to mediocre performances to finish out the long season. However, no one can take away his mid-season performances and Lemons was one of the best drivers during the 2009 season without question, but top nine? ... I don't know.

McReynolds started the 2009 season in the worst way possible, blowing five engines by the sixth race of the season, but he did collect one win in the fifth race of the season at Dillon Motor Speedway. He followed his bad luck up with some great performances and that eventually led him to two more wins by seasons end and becoming a dominator, something that rarely happens on the ultra-competitive UARA-STARS Series. McReynolds set backs in the engine department were tough on him and his third place points finish did little to lift his spirits, but three wins on three different tracks put him in a category with only Matt McCall as drivers winning at more than two tracks this season.

Wallace ... I'm sure he's tired of reading about how poor his 2009 season was. I mean the 2008 UARA-STARS Series Rookie of the Year was expected to be one of the guys in contention for the series title, but poor run and poor run left him quickly sitting at home wondering what went wrong. He did pick up a win at Franklin County Speedway against less than stellar competition, but that wasn't enough to heal his wounds. Wallace made a mid-season crew chief change, but that really made no difference and he finished his season missing the Bailey's 300, certainly not the season the young driver wanted.

OK, so now you know how my pre-season picks panned out, but what you don't know are the guys who set the world on fire at their home track and made their presence known and put themselves in position to make the "Best 9 Drivers" list like CE Falk, Dexter Canipe, Jr., Kevin Leicht, Travis Swaim, Roger Powell, Dylan Presnell, Paddy Rodenbeck and Nick Smith. And, that doesn't include the ones you knew to expect like Philip Morris, Speedy Faucette, Marty Ward, Alex Yontz, Jamey Caudill, Rodney Cook and David Triplett, Jr.

Falk turned the Langley Speedway racing world up on its ear as he went from a winless 2008 season to an explosive 11 win season on the tough Virginia track. Add to that, the fact that he won his first race at South Boston Speedway, a track known for tough competition and Falk looks like one of the best drivers of the 2009 season for sure. Winning at two tracks is tough and Langley Speedway is known as a tough track to learn, but the competition there certainly isn't what you'll find at South Boston, Motor Mile or the UARA-STARS Series. Falk's stats though speak for themselves as he entered 29 races and had an average finish of just under 3.0, pretty stout no matter how you slice it.

Canipe following in the footsteps of his NASCAR National Championship winning father, Dexter Sr., put in an impressive rookie season at Tri-County and Hickory Motor Speedway. He won seven races at Tri-County and two late in the year at Hickory, plus he won the Tri-County championship and Rookie of the Year at Hickory. It was as impressive of a rookie season as any driver in the Late Model Stock Car ranks had ever had, but of course he'd been racing Limited Late Models, the same chassis as a Late Model Stock Car.

Leicht had a great season at Newport Speedway, a tight little tough bullring in Newport, TN scoring eight wins there and capturing the track championship. However, like Langley Speedway, Newport isn't exactly the hot bed of competition and maybe a little less so with just over ten cars in most of the seasons races, eight wins is eight wins and it was impressive. Leicht solidified his status as one of the top drivers of the 2009 season with a win in the Firecracker 150 at Tri-County, the seasons biggest race on the 4/10 mile track.

Swaim turned in one of his best seasons with five wins at Caraway Speedway including the Mid-Atlantic Championship race, the biggest event each year on the 4/10 mile track. Swaim collected his third career track championship at Caraway and also collected the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series North Carolina State Championship. The push to win the NASCAR North Carolina title was solidified with a victory in the seasons last race at Tri-County Motor Speedway over a stiff field that included his closest competitor in the state points, Mercer.

Powell had a good season at Greenville Pickens Speedway ... I mean anytime you can be the guy hoisting the trophy on four occasions at the western South Carolina track, beating ever dominant, Marty Ward, you've done something. Powell also scored a win at Newport Speedway in one of the tracks biggest races of the season, but in a season when he won the championship at Greenville Pickens against Ward, who had 13 wins, it was pretty impressive to say the least.

Presnell was a complete unknown when the season started, but being teamed up with former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Regional Champion, Wade Day, gave the teenage driver a leg up. Presnell won in just his second start at Lonesome Pine Raceway, which against veterans, Nate Monteith and Wayne Hale is no easy task. Past that win he had a tough season in select starts on the UARA tour, but also picked up a victory at Newport Speedway and another one at Lonesome Pine. It was an incredible run for a rookie with three wins, but his poor performances on the tour left people questioning his talent against great competition, but for a rookie, he should take it.

Rodenbeck had a stellar season on the UARA tour, which had to be a surprise to even him as he turned in solid performances from start to finish in the long 150-lap races. He went from banging down walls in 2008 to laying down black marks as he celebrated two wins on the ultra-competitive tour and turned in great performances in many other races. Winning at Concord and dominating the Hickory tour race put this driver at the forefront this season, but was his two wins and other great performances enough to make him among the best in the business?

Smith turned his 2009 season into a great one with five wins and fortunately for him, zero disqualifications, which was a difficult area for him in 2008. With a new team this season and with what most of his competitors believe is immense talent, Smith put himself on the map. Smith's only downfall, was that he could close the season and fell off toward the end of the season and lost the championship, which he should have been able to win.

Those other guys ... Philip Morris, won nine races with six at Motor Mile and three at South Boston and he was also the Motor Mile Speedway track champion, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Virginia State Champion and he won his third NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship. Speedy Faucette took home six wins at Ace Speedway, Marty Ward won 13 races at Greenville Pickens, Yontz won three races, but had several disqualifications that tainted his season, Caudill made a bid for the UARA Championship, but fell short with only two wins on the season, Cook won five races at Ace Speedway and Triplett won six races and again took home the Orange County track championship.

We considered 25 drivers, not all listed above ... it was tough, extremely tough. There were many conversations with many different people, but in the end it was just the RACE22.com guys, making the decisions and ultimately this writer made the final decision on the top nine, though most of the staff agreed on the guys in the top nine. We all wanted someone else to be added, but there wasn't room, it was nine slots and only the nine best would do ... who ened up number one, who ended up number six, who ended up number nine ... this is all for entertainment with the smartest, most knowledgeable people in Late Model Stock Car racing trying to decide who's the best.

The only true way to decide this is to have all the drivers competing on all the same tracks in all the same races against one another, like in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, where there's no question in any logical persons mind that Jimmie Johnson is and has been the best the last four years. In this deal we're weighing some guys who never face each other against one another ... it's weighing a driver who wins at one track or two tracks to a guy who tours and doesn't run one track.

There's no fair way to compare them, honestly it's apples against oranges as some guys either choose not to step up to touring or don't have the finances to make it work or like being a hometown hero. While others want to test themselves traveling to different size, shape, textured and just plain different tracks against the best drivers and others who want to test themselves. Could some of the weekly track warriors step up to the UARA and be as good as they were at their home track? No, but likewise there are few touring drivers who can go into a mans backyard in his race and beat him.

Falk won 11 races at one track and another at a totally different facility, Mercer won 14 races on one track, McCall won five races on five different tracks ... who would you rate number one, not in your heart, but in your mind???

CE Falk, Andy Mercer, Marty Ward and Philip Morris are the kings of their domains while Matt McCall, Jamey Caudill and Brandon McReynolds proved to be the best travelers. But, who was the Best Nine Drivers in Late Model Stock Cars this season ... here's our opinion with our expanation on why a driver is ranked where he's ranked!