“Rookie of the Year” Nomination for Lesenko
Canada’s Todd Lesenko who has had a truly colorful first season racing within NHRA’s Fuel FC category is one of the 8 final nominees for NHRA’s highly prestigious “Road to the Future Award”….
Eight NHRA rookie drivers, representative of all four NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series categories, are the eligible candidates for the 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, have been announced by officials from NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California.
Todd Lesenko
The award, which recognizes the top rookie competitor in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and offers a $20,000 prize and traditional trophy to the winner, will be presented during NHRA’s annual championship awards ceremony on Monday, Nov. 12 at the Hollywood and Highland Center inLos Angeles.
More than 150 of the nation’s leading auto racing journalists will select the winner through a voting system based on the following criteria: number of events participated, performance on and off the race track, participation in NHRA promotions and relationships with fans, sponsors and media.
The candidates for the prestigious award are, in alphabetical order: Khalid alBalooshi (Top Fuel), Blake Alexander (Funny Car), Alexis DeJoria (Funny Car), Courtney Force (Funny Car), John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Todd Lesenko (Funny Car), Chris MaGaha (Pro Stock) and Scotty Pollacheck (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
“For more than 100 years the Automobile Club of Southern California has represented integrity, commitment and professionalism to our millions of members. The Road to the Future Award has come to symbolize these same attributes in the sport of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing,” said Robert T. Bouttier, president and CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California. “To be nominated recognizes not only that a rookie driver had a noteworthy first season, but also that they demonstrated exceptional potential for the future. We congratulate all eight of the nominees for this year’s award and look forward to enjoying their achievements both on and off the race track for many years to come.”
- Lesenko, 49, from Edmonton Alberta, drove the Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car to four quarter-final appearances and qualified a season-best 13th at Phoenix and the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, N.C. He also recorded his career best speed and ET during the most recent NHRA event held at Reading, PA.
In 2002 the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award and the NHRA Rookie of the Year Award were combined to create one award recognizing the future stars of the sport. Past winners of the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award have developed into some of NHRA’s biggest stars, including Tony Pedregon (1996, Funny Car), Ron Capps (1997, Funny Car), Doug Kalitta (1998, Top Fuel), Antron Brown (1999, Pro Stock Motorcycle), Melanie Troxel (2000, Top Fuel), GT Tonglet (2001, Pro Stock Motorcycle), Gene Wilson (2002, Pro Stock); Brandon Bernstein (2003, Top Fuel); Jason Line (2004, Pro Stock); Robert Hight (2005, Funny Car); J.R. Todd (2006, Top Fuel); Ashley Force Hood (2007, Funny Car); Mike Neff (2008, Funny Car); Spencer Massey (2009, Top Fuel); L.E. Tonglet (2010, Pro Stock Motorcycle); and Hector Arana Jr. (2011, Pro Stock Motorcycle).
NHRA Rookie of the Year winners prior to the merger of the two awards included the late Darrell Russell (2001, Top Fuel), Don Lampus (2000, Top Fuel), Scotty Cannon (1999, Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (1998, Pro Stock), Gary Scelzi (1997, Top Fuel) and co-winners in 1996, Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Matt Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Posted by: NHRA Communications
Photos by: Dave DeAngelis & Bruce Biegler
For more information on Todd Lesenko’s racing season visit: www.NitroFCCanada.com
