![\"MARS](\"http:\/\/100.24.212.105\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/mars.png\" "\\"MARS")
By Casey Mooneyham<\/p>\nBy Casey Mooneyham<\/p>\n
Springfield, MO (December 13, 2010) \u2013 The MARS DIRTcar Series\u00a0 held their 11th Annual Championship Banquet on Saturday December 11th at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.\u00a0 Driver\u2019s, crew members, officials, sponsors, family and friends gathered together to honor this year\u2019s top ten.\u00a0 Terry Phillips of Springfield, MO recorded his sixth championship title as he dominated this year with a series best nine wins.\u00a0 The Hatfield Racing Engines Rookie of the Year honors went to Gary Christian of Broken Bow, OK.<\/p>\n
The evening began with an hour long open bar, hosted by the series.\u00a0 Shortly after, guests took their seats as dinner service began.\u00a0 As everyone enjoyed their dessert, the official MARS\u00a0 banquet video recapped the 2010 season.\u00a0\u00a0 Brian Garrison, MARS PR Director and Announcer, started things off with the official unveiling of the new MARS DIRTcar Series logo.\u00a0 Garrison stated that the new logo was important as the MARS series moved forward into the social media mainstream and the new logo now includes that new attitude of the series, BIGGER… FASTER\u2026 STRONGER!<\/p>\n
Garrison then introduced the MARS series Owner and Race Director, Randy Mooneyham.\u00a0 Mooneyham discussed this past season and what\u2019s in store for the 2011 season.\u00a0 \u201cI think we have the best deal going\u201d, stated Mooneyham.\u00a0 Mooneyham continued, \u201cWe\u2019ve got a good core of driver\u2019s here\u00a0 and next year we are hoping to add McCormick (Brandon McCormick of Lebanon, MO) and Jackson Jr. (Tony Jackson Jr. of Lebanon, MO) and we will be even tougher\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore recognizing the top ten, I would like to recognize the women that so graciously shared their family with us this year\u201d, said Garrison.\u00a0 Bag\u2019s filled with a stuffed animal, wine, champagne, wine glasses and a $100 gift certificate to the Hilton Branson Landing in Branson, MO were given as a thank you from the MARS series to the women that\u00a0support those drivers.\u00a0 Each one was thanked for their behind the scenes support of the series.<\/p>\n
The top 10 drivers were recognized for their achievements.\u00a0\u00a0 Driver\u2019s had to compete in a minimum 75% of the races to qualify for awards and point fund money with the top 8 qualifying.<\/p>\n
10th place went to Jack Sullivan from Greenbrier, AR.\u00a0 Driver of the #1 Triple A Diesel, Bryant Motorsports, GRT house car, Sullivan was in the championship hunt before taking off and running the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals.<\/p>\n
9th place went to Kelly Boen of Henderson, CO.\u00a0 Driving for Terry Pannell Chipping’s Rocket Chassis, Boen made his first ever appearance in the MARS series\u00a0 top ten.\u00a0 Boen saw limited action with the series, but was able to get two wins.\u00a0 The first of which came on May 7th at Creek County Speedway in Kellyville, OK.\u00a0 Boen picked up his second win at the Belleville High Banks in Belleville, KS on June 6th.<\/p>\n
8th place was awarded to the #2 of Dustin \u2018Supermoon\u2019 Mooneyham of Verona, Mo.\u00a0 After taking last year off due to motor problems, Dustin committed himself to running MARS and rebounded very strongly.\u00a0 Dustin races with sponsorship from\u00a0 Supermoon Graphics, Auto Express, Marty’s Motor & Machine and GRT race cars.<\/p>\n
7th place went to 39 year racing veteran Darrell Mooneyham of Aurora, MO.\u00a0 Darrell drives the #20 Supermoon Graphics, Mooneyham Auto Sales, Pennzoil and GRT race cars.\u00a0 Darrell was also the recipient of the 2010 MARS Sportsmanship award.<\/p>\n
6th place was claimed by Leroy Johnson from Battlefield, MO.\u00a0 Leroy improved upon his 10th place finish from last year and drives the #28 WCA \u2013 Waste Corporation of America, Hatfield Racing Engines, GRT by Phillips.<\/p>\n
5th place was awarded to Al \u2018The Shark\u2019 Purkey of Coffeyville, KS.\u00a0 Al drives the #33 Purkey Auto Salvage, VP Race Fuels, Hatfield Racing Engines, Shaw by Purkey.\u00a0 Al was very consistent all year long with the series.<\/p>\n
4th place went to the driver of the #58x Terry Pannell Chipping, LCM Cedar Fiber, GRT, Gary Christian from Broken Bow, OK.\u00a0 Gary served notice to series regulars that even at the age of 16 years old he would be a force to be reckoned with.\u00a0 Gary began the year with a second place finish at Clarksville Speedway in Clarksville, TN and remained consistent through the rest of the year to finish in the top 5 and take home the 2010 Hatfield Racing Engines Rookie of the Year honors.<\/p>\n
3rd place was awarded Jeremy Payne of Springfield, MO.\u00a0 Jeremy had an up and down year with strings of bad luck, yet was able to find victory lane.\u00a0 The first of which was June 4th at the Great American Dirt Track in Jetmore, KS.\u00a0 The second win came a month later on July 1st at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, IA.\u00a0 Jeremy\u2019s third and final win of the year was on September 18th at the Springfield Raceway in Springfield, MO for the Larry Phillips Memorial.\u00a0 Payne drives the Andy\u2019s Frozen Custard, New Vision Graphics, GRT by Phillips, Hatfield Racing Engines #74.<\/p>\n
2nd place was claimed by defending Rookie of the Year, Eric Turner of Springfield, MO.\u00a0 For the second straight year, Turner fell just short of knocking off Terry Phillips and adding his name to the short list of point champions for the MARS series.\u00a0 Turner picked up two wins this year with the first coming on March 12th at Clarksville Speedway and May 8th at Brill Motor Speedway in Meeker, OK.\u00a0 Eric drives the Steve Rushin owned Shaw by Purkey, Rushin Towing, Swafford\u2019s Amoco, Hatfield Racing Engines #99t.<\/p>\n
1st place goes to defending point champion Terry Phillips of Springfield, MO.\u00a0 Phillips becomes a 6-time champion and takes home the $12,000 check and trophy for his efforts.\u00a0 Phillips also collected nine wins on the tour.\u00a0 May 6th at 81 Speedway in Wichita, KS; May 30th & September 5th at Monett Speedway in Monett, MO; June 25th at State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, MO; June 26th at Springfield Raceway in Springfield, MO; July 2nd at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE; August 6th at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, IL; August 7th at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO and August 13th at Outlaw Motor Speedway in Oktaha, OK.\u00a0 Phillips drives the #75 Andy\u2019s Frozen Custard, Don Babb Motorsports, Hatfield, Racing Engines, New Vision Graphics, Integra Racing Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Vitatub, GRT by Phillips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Casey Mooneyham Springfield, MO (December 13, 2010) \u2013 The MARS DIRTcar Series\u00a0 held their 11th Annual Championship Banquet on Saturday December 11th at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO.\u00a0 Driver\u2019s, crew members, officials, sponsors, family and friends gathered together to honor this year\u2019s top ten.\u00a0 Terry Phillips of Springfield, MO recorded his sixth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[199,228,194,104,196,204,209,189,262,143,219,235,60,144,63,78],"division":[],"series":[],"regions":[],"class_list":["post-6047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-late-models","tag-81-speedway","tag-belleville-high-banks","tag-brill-motor-speedway","tag-clarksville-speedway","tag-creek-county-speedway","tag-great-american-dirt-track","tag-i-80-speedway","tag-iowa","tag-mars-dirtcar-series-2","tag-monett-speedway","tag-outlaw-motor-speedway","tag-southern-iowa-speedway","tag-sportsman-2","tag-springfield-raceway","tag-summer-nationals-2","tag-tri-city-speedway"],"yoast_head":"\n