Banquet
2022-23 Season Banquet
The 30th season
New Berlin, WI - Celebrating the 30th season of competition in the IndySlotCar Series included a special salute to two-time Husarsbilt Cup champion Ev Kamikawa and his lengthy career as a driver and broadcaster for the series as he became the eighth member of the IndySlotCar Hall of Fame. The rest of the proceedings included the trophies and awards to various winners and the Husarsbilt Cup going to first time champion Joe Heitz.
2015 IndySlotCar Banquet Celebrates Another Great Season
Greenfield, WI -- For the 22nd year, the drivers of the IndySlotCar Series gathered for the annual awards banquet to toast the winners and laugh...console the losers. It was the fifth straight year the event was held at Club Paragon's popular party room. Popular IndySlotCar TV hosts Deano Bravo and Professor Rex Karrs emceed the festivities, though Bravo seemed confused about whether Roger and Chip and Michael would be attending, there is no Roger or Chip in the series and he didn't recognize the several Michael's that did attend.
Once that was straightedn out, awards were handed out for numerous categories that are annually voted on by the drivers, Best Sportsmanship went to Amy Butler; while the highly competitive Top Chef Award went to Melanie Strom and Badger Raceway, the consensus was that it was the salted nut roll that put them over the top; Ev Kamikawa's death card while leading the HO Indy 500 garnered him the Hard Luck Award; Matt Hayek's fast start to the season, winning his first two appearances as well as a third race in the season drove him to be named Most Improved Driver.
IndySlotCar TV producers chose Chris Spehert to have made the best contribution to the series video coverage declaring him the Austin Award winner.
The points races were tough in many categories, Mike Lack and John Wiedemann won a reconstituted team award, accepting the RacingNation.com Cup for their efforts, Lack also took home the prize for the Road Course Championship, while Matt Hayek was the Oval Champion. The top three in points, John Wiedemann, third; Ev Kamikawa, second, coming within a death card of taking his third championship and Mike Lack collected the Husarsbilt Cup for the second straight season.
The complete "Season Rewind" made its debut at the banquet, featuring the winners and thrills and spills plus highlighted the insanity that is IndySlotCar, it will be available soon on the IndySlotCar YouTube channel.
The 2015-16 season is a mere four and half months away, there will be racing get togethers throughout the off-season and the next thing you know cars will be fired in anger to start it all again. Stay Tuned!
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The 2014 Annual IndySlotCar Awards Banquet
Greenfield, WI - Celebrating the past season and first time Husarsbilt Cup champion Mike Lack, the series gathered at the popular Club Paragon to hand out the awards. The year's Hall of Fame inductee Jim Kaehny, the two-time series champion was accompanied by long time teammate and fan favorite driver John Baas. In addition to the Husarsbilt Cup to Lack for his season points championship, he also clinched the Oval and Road Course titles and his home track, the Lack Track won the Top Chef Award. Lack's JMM Racing teammate John Wiedemann took home the second place trophy as well as the award for Best Livery, third place trophy went to Dungeons & Dragon Racing's Matt Hayek, also voted the Best Sportsmanship Award, D&D teammate Mike Kristof won the Most Improved Driver Award. Corey Galbraith was crowned Rookie of the Year, the first time that award had been handed out since 2008-09. Mike Fitzlaff received the Hard Luck Award from his fellow drivers for the tough time he had this past season, including foot surgery just before the HO Indy 500.
2013 IndySlotCar Banquet photos
2012 IndySlotCar Banquet Huge Success, Surprise
(Greenfield, WI) -- The annual IndySlotCar Series banquet capped off another successful season, celebrity emcee Dick Alpert returned to host for the the first time in six years, handing out awards voted on by the drivers, including the Sportsmanship Award to Mike Fitzlaff, who also took the Hard Luck Award, especially for being knocked out of the HO Indy 500 while leading when he was dealt the "Death Card" during a pit stop. Dan Margetta's South Shore Superspeedway was voted Best Food for his homemeade Lasagna, Matt Hayek's Dad's Root Beer car won the Best Livery award, Dean Strom was the overwhelming choice for Most Improved Driver and Ev Kamikawa won the coveted Austin Award for making the best contributions to the videos of the races on YouTube. Trophies for the top 3 in points: Ev Kamikawa, third; Mike Lack, second and Road Course champion; Mark Walczak wins the Oval Track champion and Husarsbilt Cup champion. Watch the entire 2011-12 Season Rewind
The surprise of the night was the Hall of Fame inductee, Phil Cianciola returned to the series he started for the first time in seven years to accept the honor as well as to see how the series continues alive and well after 19 seasons. Phil was inducted by former IndySlotCar Series driver and broadcaster Ned Wicker. A video recap of his career was also unveiled including his spectacular racing career and exploits as broadcaster.