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Hatton & Huston Headline Badger Midget Banquet
By Bryan Gapinski
Sun Prairie, Wis., Nov. 12 - Driver and car owner champions Scott Hatton and
Dwight Huston headlined the list of honorees at the annual Badger Midget Auto
Racing Association awards banquet Saturday Night at the Angell Park Pavilion.
The championships were the second straight for team and third overall since
2000. Hatton's season was highlighted by eight feature victories and 16 top
five feature finishes in the 22-race season.
Hatton's strong final month of the season gave him a 268-point cushion over
California's Danny Stratton. Hatton also claimed the Hoosier Tire Passing
Point Championship and won the Terry Vaughn Award. Four drivers and five car
owners finished in the top ten in series points for the first time in their
career.
Other award winners included: Brian Ramstack (Rookie of the Year), Rick
Mueller (Most Improved Driver), Kurt Gunderson (Mechanic of the Year), Bob
Cruse (Pat Stender Award), Brad Kuhn (Frank Conner), Midwest Racing News
(Media Award), Renee Huston (Appreciation Award), Bernie Screffler (Best
Appearing Car), and Waelti-Schulenberg Racing (Best Dressed Crew).
Engine builder Joe Fontana of Fontana Automotive announced plans to develop
and debut the Rhino-Badger Spec Engine for the 2006 season.The economic engine
is expected in the $18,000-20,000 range and will put out approx. 345 H.P.,
making it competitive with today's current engines competing in the series.
The season opener for Badger's 70th anniversary season will be on Apr. 8 with
the running of the DQ Classic at Spoon River Speedway (Canton, Ill.).
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