2008 Auto Racing All-America Team Selected, Christopher & Kobyluck on the
lists

BURBANK, Calif. - The polls have closed for voters choosing 2008
All-America Auto Racing Team and  five drivers with landslides of more
than 70 percent of the vote are contenders for the Jerry Titus Award --
the team's Driver of the Year.

 Who those five are is not revealed until the All-America ceremonies in
Ontario, Calif., on Jan. 10 but they will come from among the 17 drivers
named to the First Team by the voting members of the American Auto Racing
Writers and Broadcasters Association.

 Three former Titus winners are on the team this year -- Indy Car
champions Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005), and NHRA Top Fuel
driver Tony Schumacher (2006) but only Schumacher bids to repeat this
year.

 The Titus, given in remembrance of the late racer/journalist, signifies
the top vote-getter on the All-America team regardless of category, is
announced at the conclusion of the annual AARWBA banquet Jan. 10 at the
Hilton Hotel in Ontario, Calif., which is open to the public. Two drivers
from each of seven categories are elected to the First Team, two more to
the Second Team, and all drivers receiving at least five percent of the
vote earn honorable mention.

 Schumacher won his sixth NHRA Powerade Top Fuel championship this year,
his fifth in a row. With a dominating 15-victory season he won his sixth
selection as an All-America in the Drag Racing category, every one of
them First Team. He is joined by NHRA Funny Car champ Cruz Pedregon in
only his second All-America appearance -- his previous being on the
Second Team16 years ago when he interrupted John Force's streak of
championships in 1992.

 Jimmie Johnson won his third straight NASCAR Sprint Cup but he and Carl
Edwards -- runner-up in both of NASCAR's top two championships, Sprint
Cup and the Nationwide Series -- raced figuratively wheel-to-wheel
through the vote tally in the Stock Car category. While Johnson achieved
a three-peat only accomplished once before in Cup history, Edwards posted
the most victories (9) on the season in addition to another seven in the
Nationwide Series. Johnson makes his seventh All-America team, five in a
row on First Team. Edwards is First Team for the first time after two
earlier appearances on the Second Team.

 Donny Schatz also scored a championship three-peat this year in the World
of Outlaws Sprint Car series, becoming only the second driver in WoO
history to win as many as three in a row. It was not his only hat trick
as he also won the prestigious Knoxville Nationals for a third
consecutive year in addition to 18 wins on the WoO circuit. Joining
Schatz in the Short Track category is U.S. Auto Club double champion
Jerry Coons Jr., who won both the Silver Crown and Sprint series. Added
to his USAC Midget championships in 2006 and 2007, he is only the fifth
driver in USAC history to win all three championships. Both drivers are
now three-time All-Americans from the past three seasons, Schatz First
Team each time and Coons the past two years.

 Scott Dixon, the Indianapolis 500 winner and champion of the Indy Racing
League, added another five victories for his championship season. Yet he
was still only 17 points ahead of series runner-up and two-time winner
Helio Castroneves who set a series record with eight second-place
finishes. The two of them easily outdistanced the other nominees in the
Open Wheel category. Both are now four-time All-Americans, the third time
for Dixon on First Team but the first time Castroneves has achieved the
top rung.

 In the Road Racing category, drivers racing as teammates in the same car
are voted on as a single entity resulting in pairs from both the American
Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series being chosen to
the team. From Grand-Am comes the Daytona Prototype champions Scott
Pruett and Memo Rojas, whose six victories included the 24 Hours of
Daytona. From ALMS came the runners-up in the P2 category, David Brabham
and Scott Sharp, whose four-win season included an overall victory at
Lime Rock outrunning the supposedly faster P1 cars.

 Pruett, with his 10th First-Team selection and 12th overall, is now tied
with drag racing legend Don Garlits for the third-most times on the First
Team, and behind only Steve Kinser and John Force. He is also the 15th
driver to be voted an All-American as many as 12 times. His teammate
Rojas is an All-American for the first time ever. Sharp makes the team
for a fifth time, three as First Team, while Brabham is First Team for
his first time in three appearances.

 In Touring Series it was NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Johnny
Benson and young ARCA champion Justin Allgaier who dominated the
category. Both achieved nail-biter finishes to their seasons, Benson
winning by just 7 points in the final Truck Series race while Allgaier's
come-from-behind title was a result of winning the final three races of
the ARCA season. It is Allgaier's first time as an All-American and
Benson's second -- his first coming 15 years ago when he was ASA
champion.

 The tight vote in the At Large category finally produced IRL Indy Lights
champion Raphael Matos and ALMS GT2 champions Jorg Bergmeister/Wolf
Henzler for the First Team. Matos not only won three times in the IRL
junior series but also twice in sports car races. He was an honorable
mention last year when he won the Atlantic Series championship.
Bergmeister is First Team for a third time, while his teammate Henzler
makes his first appearance.

 Information on the All-America Banquet, presented by the A1GP World Cup
of Motorsport, is available at www.AARWBA.org. The banquet and ceremony
is open to the public.  --Rocky Entriken

 FIRST TEAM
OPEN WHEEL:  Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon
STOCK CAR: Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson
ROAD RACING: David Brabham/Scott Sharp, Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas
DRAG RACING:  Cruz Pedregon, Tony Schumacher
SHORT TRACK: Jerry Coons Jr., Donny Schatz
TOURING SERIES: Justin Allgaier, Johnny Benson
AT LARGE:  Jorg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler, Raphael Matos

 SECOND TEAM
OPEN WHEEL: Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan
STOCK CAR: Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch
ROAD RACING: Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas, Jon Fogarty/Alex Gurney, Lucas
Luhr/Marco Werner (3-way tie)
DRAG RACING: Jeg Coughlin, Tim Wilkerson
SHORT TRACK: Tracy Hines, Jason Meyers & Cole Whitt (tie)
TOURING SERIES: Ted Christopher, Benny Gordon
AT LARGE: Frank Manzo, Travis Pastrana

    HONORABLE MENTION
          (At least 5% of the vote)
OPEN WHEEL: Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon
STOCK CAR: none
ROAD RACING: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell
DRAG RACING: Greg Anderson, Spencer Massey
SHORT TRACK: Darrell Lanigan
TOURING SERIES: Eric Holmes, Matt Kobyluck
AT LARGE: Laurie Cannister, Rob MacCachren