Western Pennsylvania's perennial driving champion Dave Palone and record-setting driver Tim Tetrick have finished in a tie for harness racing's highest honor for drivers, the Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year Award.
The award, the most difficult in harness racing to win, requires a driver to finish in the top 25 in North America in money won, races won, and driver percentage (UDR) standings. Points are awarded from 25 points down to one point for 25th, with a 25-point bonus for finishing in the top 25 in all three categories. Only five drivers, out of 4,321 who drove in at least one purse race last year, were able to accomplish that feat. Based on Palone's and Tetrick's performances, the North American title would up a tie for only the third time in the 41 years the award has been presented by HTA, an association of 38 major harness racing organizations in the U.S. and Canada.
Palone, who has won the HTA award four times before (1999, 2000 and 2003) finished first in UDRS with a .447 "slugging average," third in wins with 887, and sixth in money win with $10,104,572. With the 25-point bonus, Palone finished with 93 points.
Tetrick, who won the 2007 award in a year in which he won more races and purse money in a single season than anyone in history, finished first in money earnings with $19,752,066, eclipsing last year's record total of $18,342,367, seconds in wins with 903, and seventh in UDRS. The addition of the 25-point bonus gives Tetrick 93 points.
The Top 10:
1. Dave Palone (93 points)
1. Tim Tetrick (93)
3. Tony Morgan (84)
4. Brian Sears (65.5)
5. Jason Bartlett (63)
6. Brad Forward (42)
7. Mike Oosting (40)
8. Andy Miller (33)
9. Stephane Bouchard (29)
10. Peter Wrenn (27)
(HTA)
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