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| January 23, 2008 News |
| EKN Awards 2007: Nominations Now Being Accepted |
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Karting’s leading website, eKartingNews.com, is proud to announce that they are now accepting nominations for the 2007 EKN Awards. This year, the program will be 100% online, from the nomination process on the EKN Forums to the official announcement of the six winners during the new EKN Awards Week.
The award program was launched back in 1999 by EKN Publisher Rob Howden through his publication Shifter Kart Illustrated with the stated goal of honoring the sport’s best drivers, regardless of their organization connections. Early winners of the prestigious Driver of the Year Awards included Darren Elliott, Kyle Martin and Scott Speed. The program eventually worked its ways onto EKN after the site was purchased by the Howden Media Group and starting in 2005, the nomination process moved to the website from the paper fax format sent to SKI subscribers. After seven years under the Super Kart Illustrated banner, the SKI Excellence Awards program move completely to the HMG website in 2006. In previous years, the winners were announced in conjunction with the Kart Expo International at the end of February. This year, EKN Awards Week will lead up to the annual karting convention held in the Chicago area with the individual winners being announced each day on the site’s homepage.
“eKartingNews.com has become the online portal for kart racing in North America and it only feels right that we maintain our editorial approach by announcing this year’s deserving winners via our Top Story position,” stated Howden, EKN Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. “It is important to us that we still poll the karting community to select the nominees for each category, as their love and passion for the sport will surely provide us with the correct quartet of nominees.”
 | Jim Smith of Smith Speed Creations presenting Gary Carlton his Driver of the Year personalized painting
(Photo: EKN) |
The 2007 EKN Awards will feature six separate categories in driver, team and crew classifications. The top honor will be the Driver of the Year award. The recipient will receive a personalized painting by motorsports artist Jim Smith of Smith Speed Creations, along with the coveted DotY trophy. Other driver awards include Rising Star, Young Driver of the Year, and Road Racer of the Year. For those working under the tents, the prestigious Team of the Year will honor the top squad of the 2007 season, while the Mechanic of the Year – formally known as Tuner of the Year - will honor the sport's top wrench.
A new addition to the EKN Awards program is the EKN All-Stars Team. The five nominees for the Driver of the Year award will make up the honorees in which the top award of the EKN Awards will be chosen from.
The following is a description of the six EKN Awards that will be announced next month:
Driver of the Year: This award will be given to the driver who has displayed the finest overall performance throughout the year. The award is focused on senior-level competitors only. Taking into account the nominee's on-track performance, their ability to work with their mechanic, off-track conduct and professionalism and also their interaction with the team will be key.
Team of the Year: Focused on the major racing series in North America, winning the Team of the Year Award requires a mix of on-track performances, team unity and cooperation under the tent, as well as a very high level of professionalism. Ideally, race results will come from more than a single class and will include a presence in the respective series' headline division(s).
Mechanic of the Year: Being chosen as the EKN Mechanic of the Year will require impressive on-track results for the mechanic's driver. The ability to work closely with their pilot(s) in improving a kart's performance throughout a weekend event will also be taken into consideration. Another key factor is a mechanic’s finishing record.
Rising Star: The Rising Star Award is given to a competitor who spent the year in the Pro or Semi-Pro classes and is destined for greatness at the headline level in the very near future. Success at the Semi-Pro level or impressive and consistent finishes at the Pro level are what is needed to be considered for this award.
Young Driver of the Year: The Young Driver of the Year is the only award in the program available for Junior drivers - ages 12-15 years old. The criteria is similar to the Driver of the Year in that it is given to the Junior driver who has displayed the finest overall performance throughout the year. The nominee's on-track performance, the ability to work with, and provide feedback to, his or her mechanic, off-track conduct and professionalism and also their interaction with the team will be taken into account. Maturity is also a key factor.
Road Racer of the Year: The RRoY is given using the same criteria as the Driver of the Year. However, in keeping with the road racing community, the award is focused on success in multiple series and in at major road racing events throughout the year. Winning against the best drivers in each of the unique road race communities is a big plus.
With EKN Awards Week just a month away, the EKN viewers will be charged with the responsibility of determining the nominees. To assemble the nomination list in the six categories, the members will be asked to nominate two names for each award through two available methods. An official forum thread has now been established for nominations only, while for those who wish anonymity from public view, e-mail nominations will also be accepted. A discussion thread will also be started in the forum to allow a spirited debate on the subject.
Each member is allowed one nomination listing, which you may edit over the next 14 days when the thread will be removed on February 6 for calculations. The EKN staff will then collect the lists to complete the nomination list for each award, to be release February 13. The winners will be announced during the week of February 18-23.
To be able to submit your nominations, visit the Official EKN Awards Nomination Thread or email your list to the EKN News Desk at news@ekartingnews.com To discuss the EKN Awards Nominations, visit the Official EKN Awards Discussion Thread. |
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