By Jamie Maudsley

Handicapping the field

With just a couple more nights before the season opener at Delaware Speedway the field is shaping up, with a tremendous number of competitors in every division except the Open Wheel Modifieds.
But how will they shake out when the first green drops on Friday May 1st (if the wet stuff holds off)?

APC Late Model Preview - The championship will probably boil down to a four-car race.

When the dust settled on the 2008 season for the APC Late Models Steve Robblee was able to capture track title number eight last.�  That performance, in addition to his 100-plus feature wins at Delaware has to make Robblee the odds on favorite to add title number nine.
There are trio of drivers that stand the best shot at giving Robblee fits throughout the season � Scott Lindsay, Ron Sheridan, and Jesse Kennedy.�  Lindsay is a two-time track champ and has played Joe Frazier to Robblee�s Ali for close to 20 years now.�  He was a champ the last time the track was NASCAR sanctioned, and will be looking for all the riches and glory that goes with the title again this year.�  Sheridan put up his biggest career win in the Labour Day APC 300 last year, finished second to Robblee by just six points and has been eyeing his first title at Delaware for a number of years now, but just hasn�t been able to close the deal.�  2007 champion Jesse Kennedy won features as well in 2008, and will be looking to add his second crown this season.�  Kennedy, Sheridan, and Lindsay have to be considered to have pretty even odds at that championship, with Robblee a slight bit of a favorite.

The rest of the drivers with a shot at feature wins

Dion Verhoeven would probably join the quartette above, except that he hasn�t been able to commit to the entire season.�  Verhoeven is a former champion and should put up a feature win or two, depending on how many events he runs.
David Elliott will be more of a fixture this season at Delaware, trading in the weekly trips to Flamboro for the �-mile of Delaware.�  While it took Elliott a number of starts to get comfortable, last year he served notice with a second-place finish in the 300 to end the season.
Kirk Hooker will be tough as well.�  Hooker is also a regular in a dirt Late Model at South Buxton, and should be a threat to win a feature or two at Delaware as well.�  Hooker has to keep his composure if he wants a spot in the top-five in points when the final checkers fall in 2009.
Mark Watson will surprise by winning a feature before the end of his rookie season in a Late Model this year.�  The 2008 Open Wheel Modified champ is a natural, and will turn some heads in 2009 with his �take no prisoners� attitude.�  Look for him to even take a crack at the top-five in points, and wrap up the Rookie of the Year title by mid-August.
Jamie Ramsay finished a career high eighth in points last year, and has shown the ability to run up front on occasion, but the team must find a way to stay consistent throughout the season if he wants to take home some checkers and knock on the top-five in points.
It�s been a long, slow ride to the Late Model division for Chad Rinjen.�  The second-generation racer has won in Trucks and Super Stocks, but has yet to experience the same sort of success in Late Models.�  Wins in the division will come for Chad, the only question is whether it will be this year or not.
When they are in the house, both Pete Vanderwyst and Jonathan Urlin can put up a �W�, but neither have committed to full schedules at Delaware.

Darkhorses

Matt Box, Jesse Pontello, and Rick Emery are all looking to step their programs up this year, but the trio still have some work to do get victory lane pics at the end of any Friday night action.

Other Newcomers
Shawn Thompson and Lloyd Rawlings will step up from the Modified division into Late Models, and will be battling with Marc Jacobs (a former Junior competitor at Delaware) for the right to finish second to Watson in the Rookie of the Year chase.

Powerade Open Wheel Modifieds
The Open Wheel Modified division will play out one of two ways this season.�  Either it will be a battle of seven-time champion Jamie Cox fighting two-time champ Barry Newman tooth and nail for the title, or if Newman doesn�t race, Cox will make the title all but accounted for in mid-June.
Look for Darryl Limon and Paul Shipway to both post a number of feature wins, while David McCollough should have a shot at win number one this year.
A couple of rookies will try their hand at the division this year including Tyler Hendricks and Stephen Richmond.�  Richmond has made a few starts in the division and will be doing double duty as he races a Modified and a Super Stock throughout the season.

Peterbilt of Ontario Super Stocks
With Ray Morneau on the sidelines this year, the championship will be wide open in 2009.�  The battle for that title could be the best of the summer at Delaware, as Darrell Lake, Andrew Perkins, Brad Clarke and Scott Nagy seem to be the odds on favorites to fight for the championship.
Jeremy Reid and John Lidster both made tremendous strides in 2008, winning features and running strong.�  With some additional improvement from either one of them, and the field both could become championship contenders if they continue to improve.
Look for Jeremiah Rabideau to win another feature in 2009, and for second generation Kris Lawrence to continue his route to the top of the division, but they both must be more consistent to fight for the top step on the championship podium.

Truck division
Paul Fothergil captured the division championship last year by 31 points last year, but the tightness in the field was felt from there on back, as a mere 40 markers separated second from seventh.
With Fothergil gone, the title seems to be wide open with Jeff Showler, Tom Zagorodny, Shawn Johns, and Devon Bloemendal as the pre-season favorites to fight it out for the title.�  Look for Justin Demello to join the battle for the championship.� 
Showler is probably the favorite of the group based on speed alone, but he must keep his emotions in check through a championship battle.
If Chad Rijnen makes some appearances, he will be tough on those nights, and look for the Thompson brothers, Mikey and Lonnie to pick up where their father Randy left off as Randy climbs out from behind the wheel for the first time after more than 25 years of Friday night action.

By Jamie Maudsley

edited to add the subject track to the title - Shadow