Winter Heat Showdown - By The Numbers (Final)

By Tyler Beichner:

The inaugural five-race Winter Heat Showdown at Cocopah Speedway in Yuma, Ariz. has commenced. The experimental mini-series had its pros and cons, but I think across the board we can all agree that it was a success. So much so Greg Burgess, Director of Operations at Cocopah Speedway, announced the dates for next year's Showdown, with the opening night being held on New Year's Day.

Here's a little breakdown of the quirky stats that you don't always get to see. Here at TDN, we like to go beyond the wins, losses, points and so on.


1 trophy for inaugural Winter Heat Showdown champion Danny Lasoski, who won the tiebreaker over fellow veteran Stevie Smith.


2.2 average starting position of the five feature winners. Three winners came from the pole. Lasoski won from his 5th starting spot, the furthest back of the week-long miniseries.


2.5 average feature starting position for Texas native Aaron Reutzel, the best of the mini-series. Paul McMahan was the next closest with an average starting spot of 5.5


3 top 5's for Danny Lasoski, Joey Saldana and Paul McMahan


3.8 average finishing position for Paul McMahan, who led the points up until the final night when he failed to make the feature


5. The number of winners in as many races out in Arizona. The victory circle was compromised of the greatest of all time, a soon-to-be NASCAR star, a newcomer to the 410 ranks, a former World of Outlaws champion, and another competitor that has 23 career WoO series wins.


5 times that Canadian racer Skylar Gee failed to transfer into the A-Main


6.8 average finishing position for Stevie Smith, the best among drivers that raced their way into every feature. Behind him was point champion Danny Lasoski and Joey Saldana (both with 7.4)


12 drivers that qualified for all 5 feature events. The list is comprised of Stevie Smith, Lasoski, Saldana, Crockett, Christopher Bell, Kraig Kinser, Kahne, Gravel, Steve Kinser, Dollansky, Schuchart and Willie Croft


20 total cars passed by Brian Brown during feature action, the best +/- among the field of drivers. Following closely behind was Dusty Zomer (+18)


22.5 average starting spot for the youngster D.J. Netto, who was able to race his way into two main events


-49 the +/- ratio for Aaron Reutzel, who experienced hard luck very often. Craig Dollansky wound up with a -39 plus/minus, finishing 2nd in that category. Strangely enough, both Reutzel and Dollansky had an average feature finish of 14.8


880 total points for Danny Lasoski and Stevie Smith, tied for 1st place in Showdown points. Lasoski was awarded the championship as his feature victory won the tiebreaker.