The Announcer - By Brian Varmecky

(February 27th, 2007 - www.wmtrl.com)

- Vaters' Baltimore Streak Ends at Seven

    Michael Vaters has given his homestate crowd in Baltimore, Maryland plenty to cheer about in recent years. After winning the Sunday event in 2005, Vaters swept all 4 events in 2006, and won the first two races at 1st Mariner Arena this year. The Black Stallion was finally defeated by Randy Brown during the semi-finals on Saturday night. But, the two wins this weekend has moved Vaters into 4th place in the world.
     Since we didn’t have an update last week, here’s a brief rundown of what’s been going on this past fortnight:
* Pablo Huffaker’s big lead has been falling apart these past few weeks. He was knocked out in the first round in St. Louis by Michael Vaters, and only made 1 final round in Oklahoma City, where Neil Elliot dominated the weekend.
* Charlie Pauken made lots of progress, with 3 wins in Rosemont and 1 in Winnipeg, and is currently ranked 9th. In Winnipeg, Frank Krmel and Nathan Weenk were also winners, with Scott Anderson and Don Frankish also making the finals, as 5 of the 6 drivers advanced to the finals during the weekend.
* Marc McDonald won twice in Cleveland and once in Dayton. Meanwhile, Rod Schmidt won once in Cleveland and twice in Dayton!
* Neil Elliot has a 3-race winning streak, as he won the final night in Hampton, VA, and followed it up with two 99-point wins in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma at the Ford Center, he defeated the likes of Jimmy Creten, Linsey Weenk, David Smith, Aaron Basl, and Pablo Huffaker on a tight Chicago-style course.
* Rick Long swept two events in Abilene and is 10-2 in 12 finals.
* Alex Blackwell jumped up 19 spots into 27th after sweeping 4 events in Worcester, MA.
* Former WMTRL World Champion Carl Van Horn had his most successful weekend of the year, sweeping both events in Raleigh, NC.
* In Sioux City, we know that Mark Hall won all 3 events, but we don’t have the semi-finalists reported yet. In Tulsa, Dan Runte won 3 of the 4 events, but the brackets are currently in question. As of now, the events have not been included in the standings. Runte did win twice in Ardmore, OK, however, both of which have been counted. If we can get East Lansing results in, Runte will be eligible for the standings.
* And a late report, Sean Duhon wins twice in Monroe, LA on the CFP Winter Nationals tour. Not only does Duhon have a chance at the Top Ten, but he is putting together a strong push for the CFP Championship in Pocatello!

- Week In Review

- Upsets of the Week

Charlotte, NC – Rookie Whit Carlton earned his first career win by defeating mentor Gary Porter in the finals at Bobcats Arena.
Salt Lake City, UT – Rookie Ron Duncombe has been making a name for himself driving the Maverik Monster Trakker. During week 12 in Salt Lake City, he defeated Dan Rodoni, Mike Wine, and Phil Foster during the weekend, and advanced to the final round on Saturday night. He still needs 4 more events (currently) to become ranked.
Worcester, MA – Bobby Robbins knocked off Chad Tingler and Grave Digger in the opening round. Alex Blackwell swept the weekend.
Waco, TX – Devin Jones earns his 3rd win of the season by defeating Doug Noelke in the Chicago-Style finals.

- Spotlight

     After sweeping all 4 events in Worcester, Alex Blackwell receives the WMTRL Spotlight for this week. Blackwell finished 2006 with 4 and 13 finals in 49 races which ranked him 39th, an improvement of 22 places from 2005, when he finished 61st, also with 4 wins. Already this year, Blackwell has won 6 of his 18 races and is ranked 27th in the World.
     He won his first weekend this year, defeating teammate Chad Tingler in Des Moines, IA. He was runner-up at the Metrodome in January, this time losing to Tingler. His other win prior to Worcester was—again—against Chad Tingler, this time in Sacramento. He has failed to advance past the first round 6 times, with 3 of those times coming in the Rose Garden in Portland, OR during Week 11.
     Blackwell’s two biggest wins prior to this year have both come at the Florida Sports Park in Naples, FL, where he has won at least one year in both 2005 and 2006, but his Week 12 performance in Worcester has clearly been his most successful weekend to date. He earned 380 points during the 4-race event by defeating Pat Summa (once), Scott Poirier (once), Bobby Robbins (twice), Kyle Chandler (twice), and Chad Tingler (twice), and Rick Raab (4 times).
     With one month left until the World Finals, Blackwell will have more chances to show what he’s learned in two years, and should have a good shot at an invitation to Las Vegas.

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