Maritime Racing
2015 TCM Most Popular Driver Award Results – New Champion Crowned
You nominated your favorites, you voted for them – and we listened!
Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing results for the Tim’s Corner Motorsports Best of Maritime Awards. Fans voted through three rounds on nine different categories, with the nominees for the TCM Power Performer of the Year to be announced in November.
A panel of three had an influence in the TCM Breakout Performer of the Year and the Kings County Performance Rookie of the Year Awards, while twenty judges narrowed the 2015 Finish Line Vinyl Design Best Looking Car Award to five cars. Fan voted categories included Favorite Tracks (Weekly, Monthly, Special Event) and Touring Series, Favorite Staple Race Track Food and the prestigious TCM Most Popular Driver Award.
SCORING EXPLANATION – TCM MOST POPULAR DRIVER AWARD
Round One – All 88 nominated drivers have been split, at random, into one of three groups of drivers. Call them heats, if you will. The top three from each group from Round One will automatically move on to the final round of voting, beginning on Thursday, October 8th at Noon Atlantic. The balance of the top ten from each group in Round One voting (positions fourth through tenth in each group) will be placed into a 21 driver pool, call it a Last Chance if you will, for Round Two voting.
Round Two – Round Two voting runs from Wednesday, September 30th at 6pm to Wednesday, October 7th at Noon Atlantic and will feature the 21 drivers that placed in the top ten in their Round One groups but were unsuccessful to transfer to the final round. The top three from this group will transfer into the final round of voting.
Round Three – The final round of voting for the 2015 TCM Most Popular Driver Award will feature the top three from each of the groups from Round One, plus the top three from the Round Two group, comprising a ballot of 12 drivers. The winner of this final vote will receive the TCM Most Popular Driver Award. Voting runs from Thursday, October 8th at Noon Atlantic to Thursday, October 22nd at Noon Atlantic.
Qualifying Results
Heat One Results | Heat Two Results | Heat Three Results | Last Chance Results | |
1st | #00 Jamie Stewart | #48 Waylon Farrell | #77 Randy Millar | #32 Ashton Tucker |
2nd | #38 Justin Cole | #32 Sarah McKay | #10 Megan Parrott | #26 Brent Roy |
3rd | #75 Emily Meehan | #97 John Flemming | #31 Will Farrell | #56 Josh Collins |
4th | #56 Josh Collins | #63 Brandon Snow | #26 Brent Roy | #2 John Rankin |
5th | #18 Darren MacKinnon | #2 John Rankin | #32 Ashton Tucker | #27 Austin MacDonald |
6th | #67 Dylan Blenkhorn | #57 Paul Goulden | #53 Cole Butcher | #57 Paul Goulden |
7th | #77 Riley Goodwin | #2 Cole Tanner | #34 Randy Moore | #77 Riley Goodwin |
8th | #23 Ashley Vassallo | #48 Courtney O’Blenis | #08 Cory Hall | #63 Brandon Snow |
9th | #76 Randy MacTavish | #38 Travis Roma | #27 Austin MacDonald | #67 Dylan Blenkhorn |
10th | #74 Alexandra O’Blenis | #80 Amanda Wheatley | #6 Adam Meehan | #23 Ashley Vassallo |
11th | #23 Drew Greenlaw | #35 Colton Ford | #10 Patricia Taylor | #08 Cory Hall |
12th | #48 Mark LeClair | #81 Kyle Boudreau | #40 Robbie MacEwen | #48 Courtney O’Blenis |
13th | #10 Brady Creamer | #00 Cole Boudreau | #52 Dustin Tucker | #53 Cole Butcher |
14th | #99 Craig Slaunwhite | #94 DJ Casey | #91 Dylan Gosbee | #34 Randy Moore |
15th | #4 Austin Tanner | #3 Alicia Mowat | #96 George Jamieson | #6 Adam Meehan |
Qualifying Notes:
– The bubble spots in Heat One and Two were hotly contested, with Emily Meehan edging Josh Collins by a single vote and John Flemming edging Brandon Snow by three votes.
– Randy Millar was the biggest winner of any of the three heat winners, taking over 15% of the vote in his qualifier. He also had the biggest margin of victory, winning Heat Three by 67 votes over Megan Parrott.
– The tenth place transfer spot in each heat also came down to the final moments, with the biggest gap from tenth to 11th in heat voting being three votes.
– Ashton Tucker won the Last Chance Qualifier by 23 votes over Brent Roy, taking 13% of the vote. Collins edged John Rankin for the final transfer spot by 19 votes.
TCM Most Popular Driver Award Final Results
Photos by McCarthy Photographic, Unless Otherwise Noted
12th Place – #00 Jamie Stewart – Brackley, PE – Oyster Bed Speedway – Street Stock
Heat Result: Heat One – WINNER (8% of Vote)
Final Round: 12th (1% of Vote)
Notes: After winning the first heat, Stewart could not turn those votes into Round Three success, receiving less votes in the final round than he did in the first.
T10 Place – #97 John Flemming – Halifax, NS – Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour
Heat Results: Heat Two – Third (6% of Vote)
Final Round: Tied for 10th (3% of Vote)
Notes: This is the first time John Flemming made the final ballot for the TCM Most Popular Driver Award. Flemming, who recently announced he is scaling back his efforts in 2016, squeaked into the final round by edging Brandon Snow in the second heat.
T10 Place – #75 Emily Meehan – Rawdon Gold Mines, NS – Scotia Speedworld/Atlantic Tiltload Maritime League of Legends Tour
Heat Results: Heat One – Third (6% of Vote)
Final Round: Tied for 10th (3% of Vote)
Notes: Potentially one of the biggest surprises of the TCM Most Popular Driver ballot was Emily Meehan. Meehan, who finished second in TCM Most Popular Driver voting in 2012 and was 3rd in 2014 was able to skinny her way into the final ballot by one vote over Josh Collins. The Legend driver was only able to muster 3% of the vote in the final round to finish tied for tenth. Of note, Meehan is one of only three drivers to make the final round of the TCM Most Popular Driver Award in three of the last four years.
9th Place – #31 Will Farrell – Conception Bay South, NL – Sportsman
Heat Results: Heat Three – Third (9% of Vote)
Final Round: 9th Place (5% of Vote)
Notes: Farrell competed at race tracks from Florida to Newfoundland, racing in Sportsman and Legend features along with his brother Waylon. Farrell is one of three Newfoundlanders that made the top ten in this year’s final round.
8th Place – #10 Megan Parrott – Beaver Bank, NS – Scotia Speedworld – Trucks
Heat Results: Heat Three – Second (11% of Vote)
Final Round: 8th Place (5% of Vote)
Notes: Parrott, who moved from Bandoleros to Trucks in 2015, is the only driver from the Truck division at Scotia Speedworld to make the final ballot of the TCM Most Popular Driver Award. She is one of three female drivers to appear in the final round in 2015.
7th Place – #32 Sarah McKay – Quispamsis, NB – Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour
Heat Results: Heat Two – Second (6% of Vote)
Final Round: 7th Place (5% of Vote)
2014 TCM Most Popular Driver Award Winner
Notes: Like Meehan, McKay is one of the surprises on the results sheet in the 2015 TCM Most Popular Driver Award. After winning the award in 2014 and coming close to doing so in 2013, McKay tumbled this season to seventh in the final tally. McKay is the highest ranking female driver in the final round along with the highest finishing touring series driver.
6th Place – #77 Randy Millar – Freeland, PE – Oyster Bed Speedway – Late Models
Heat Results: Heat Three – WINNER (15% of Vote)
Final Round: 6th Place (6% of Vote)
Notes: It appeared that Randy Millar, one of the most popular drivers on Prince Edward Island, was going to become the second TCM Most Popular Driver Award winner from the Island after the first round. Millar, who won the third heat by a wide margin, needed a little more steam to continue the momentum he built in the first round.
THE TOP FIVE
5th Place – #38 Justin Cole – Harvey, NB – Speedway 660 – Sportsman
Photo by Michelle Roy/Speedway 660
Heat Results: Heat One – Second Place (8% of Vote)
Final Round: 5th Place (8% of Vote)
Notes: Cole, who competed in his first full-time campaign in the Martins Home Heating Sportsman division at Speedway 660 in 2015, came within a handful of votes from winning his heat and came out of the box in the final round hot, evening leading the pack in the opening days of the two week vote. A slow finish eventually dropped the #38 car to fifth with 8% of the vote in the final round.
4th Place – #48 Waylon Farrell – Conception Bay South, NL – Legends/Sportsman – Eastbound Park
Heat Results: Heat Two – WINNER (9% of Vote)
Final Round: Fourth Place (11% of Vote)
Notes: The Hanlon Realty Legends champion from Eastbound Park turned heads on the mainland with his Sportsman appearances at Riverside Speedway and Speedway 660 in 2015 and, in turn, gained some fans. Farrell finished fourth overall after winning his heat to advance to the final ballot, and bested his brother Will in the balance.
THE PODIUM
3rd Place – #32 Ashton Tucker – Lyttleton, NB – Petty Raceway/Speedway 660 – Bandolero
Photo by Michelle Roy/Speedway 660
Heat Results: Heat Three – T5 Place (4% of Vote)
Last Chance Results: WINNER (13% of Vote)
Final Round: Third Place (12% of Vote)
Notes: Ashton Tucker fans had a lot to vote for at the end of the season. The Lyttleton, NB driver made the final ballot for the TCM Most Popular Driver after winning the Last Chance along with making the final ballot for the TCM Breakout Performer of the Year Award. While he came up short here, the #32 took home the top honors in the Breakout Performer of the Year Award with help from his fans.
RUNNER UP – #56 Josh Collins – Placentia, NL – Eastbound Park – Sportsman
Heat Results: Heat One – Fourth (6% of Vote)
Last Chance Results: Third (10% of Vote)
Final Round: Second (17% of Vote)
Notes: Josh Collins had a busy season between his home track of Eastbound Park, racing a pair of races on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, a Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour appearance and a couple trips down south to New Smyrna Speedway in Florida. It’s evident that he’s picked up some loyal fans on the way, picking up 17% of the final round vote to secure second place in the TCM Most Popular Driver Award in his first appearance.
Aaaaand the winner is….
WINNER – #26 Brent Roy – Hanwell, NB – Speedway 660 – Sportsman
Victory lane shot by Michelle Roy/Speedway 660
Heat Results: Heat Three – Fourth (8% of Vote)
Last Chance Results: Second (10% of Vote)
Final Round Results: WINNER (24% of Vote)
Notes: For the third consecutive year, the TCM Most Popular Driver Award will reside in the province of New Brunswick.
After a top five finish in last year’s TCM Most Popular Driver vote, Brent Roy was able to climb the mountain to the top in 2015.
Roy, who was fourth in the final round last season, had steady support throughout the final round after narrowly missing a transfer through his heat and squeaking into the final through the last chance. Roy took the lead near the end of the first week from fellow Speedway 660 Sportsman driver Justin Cole and never lost the top spot en route to his first TCM Best of Maritime Award Banner.
On track, Brent Roy and his “The Camry Kid” team ran a partial schedule at their home track of Speedway 660 after coming off a championship in the Martins Home Heating Sportsman class in 2014. Their only win came in their first race in May at Speedway 660, but excelled throughout the year with a top three finish at the Firecracker 150 in August and followed it up with a fourth place run at the Irving I24 Sportsman 150 on Speedweekend.
In addition, Roy tested the waters of Canada’s Ocean Playground for the first time, running the Dartmouth Dodge 100 at Scotia Speedworld. Roy got caught a lap down early but gained speed with every lap on track, coming home with an 11th place finish.
The plan is for Roy to move to Pro Stock next year, which means he would not only be in the running for a second consecutive TCM Most Popular Driver Award but could also have a shot at the Kings County Performance Rookie of the Year Award!
Congratulations to Brent Roy on his first TCM Best of Maritime Award victory! He will receive his award banner as the winner of the TCM Most Popular Driver Award Saturday night, January 30th, 2016 at the Speedway 660 Awards Banquet at the Fredericton Inn in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The TCM Most Popular Driver Award banner is presented in part by JDR Graphics and McCarthy Photographic.
Previous champions of the TCM Most Popular Driver Award:
2015: Brent Roy of Hanwell, NB
2014: Sarah McKay of Quispamsis, NB
2013: Mike Stevens of Salisbury, NB
2012: James Doucette of Miscouche, PE
About Tim’s Corner Motorsports:
Tim’s Corner began as a weekly stock car racing column appearing on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca and MaritimeProStockTour.com, penned by track and series announcer Tim Terry. It has now grown to include basic media services for motorsport teams big and small. TimsCorner.ca, the official website of Tim’s Corner, also features Tim’s Corner Unplugged, a podcast hosted by Terry which focuses on the motorsports scene. For more information on Tim’s Corner and services offered, visit TimsCorner.ca!