(Kelten Weaver photo) John Rittenoure - SHAWNEE, Okla. (November 19, 2022) - The Complete Well Testing Sooner Late Model Series 2022 racing season came to a close on Saturday at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort where top 10 drivers were honored and a new champion was crowned.
Almost $17,000 was handed out to the top 10 drivers thanks to title sponsor Tim Franklin owner of Complete Well Testing.
David Lane of 77 Auto put up $1,000 that went to Rookie of the Year Brett Hansen. Hansen finished 4th in points with 5 victories and 15 top 5 finishes in 18 starts.
Nine drivers earned feature victories out of 82 competitors who entered at least one of 24 Sooner Late Model Series point events in 2022.
Leading the way was 20-year old Hayden Ross of Muskogee who won the season championship with 7 feature wins and 19 top 5 finishes to his credit.
However, hearts were heavy at the awards presentation as Hayden’s dad, Brady, and family stepped to the podium to accept the championship hardware. Shortly after locking up the points title in late September Hayden tragically lost his life in a non-racing 4-wheeler accident in early October. The family expressed their thanks to the Sooner Series racing family for their support as the full room stood.
The unparalleled success of the Sooner Series over the past two seasons is due to Franklin and Complete Well Testing and he hopes to return for 2023.
“I am planning on trying to do this again next year,” said Franklin. “There are a lot of good people here and I appreciate them.”
Franklin was introduced to racing in the 90’s thanks to Eddie Tidwell.
“I owned a sprint car in the early nineties and Eddie Tidwell drove it for me,” Franklin recalled. “That is how I got involved in racing. Then I started concentrating more on work and it kind of got away from me. Eddie started racing late models and I got interested again.”
Well Testing is something that a lot of people probably are not familiar with.
“We hydro test,” Franklin said of his company. “It is not the drilling end of it, but more production. it is after they drill the wells and produce them we check the integrity of the pipe by hydro testing them. And we X-ray the pipe.”
The 2023 season schedule will be announced soon and with the help of people like Franklin and Complete Well Testing the upcoming season is expected to be the best yet for late model racing.
Final Top 10 Standings: 1. Hayden Ross 10310; 2. Kip Hughes 8605; 3. Eddie Martin 7635; 4. Brett Hansen 7415; 5. Eric Brill 6790; 6. Kerney Weaver 6630. 7. Richard Shepler 6510; 8.Troy Bynum 5490; 9. Eddie Tidwell 5350; 10. Ron Brown 4855.
2022 Winners: 3/25 - Hayden Ross (Thunderbird Speedway); 3/26 - Brett Hansen (Thunderbird Speedway). 4/2 - Brett Hansen (Enid Speedway); 4/15 - Hayden Ross (Thunderbird Speedway); 4/22 - Kip Hughes (Thunderbird Speedway); 4/23 - Hayden Ross (Oklahoma Sports Park); 5/6 - Jamie Burford (West Texas Raceway); 5/7 - Jamie Burford (Route 66 Motor Speedway); 5/14 - Dustin Allen (Enid Speedway); 5/20 - Brett Hansen (Thunderbird Speedway); 5/21 - Hayden Ross (Thunderbird Speedway); 6/3 - Kip Hughes (Creek County Speedway); 6/4 - Dustin Allen (Enid Speedway); 6/11 - Brett Hansen (81 Speedway); 7/9 - Kip Hughes (Enid Speedway); 8/6 - Hayden Ross (Enid Speedway).; 8/13 - Dan Smith (81 Speedway); 8/26 - Brett Hansen (Tulsa Speedway); 8/27 - Clint McFadden (Caney Valley Speedway); 9/17 - Jason Redman (Oklahoma Sports Park); 9/23 - Kip Hughes (Thunderbird Speedway); 9/24 - Hayden Ross (Crawford County Speedway); 9/30 - Hayden Ross (Thunderbird Speedway); 10/1 - Cole Wells (Tri-State Speedway); 10/8 - Dustin Allen (Enid Speedway) 10/15 - Joe Godsey (Enid Speedway).
About Complete Well Testing
Based in Oklahoma, Complete Well Testing is a family owned and operated company specializing in hydrostatic tubing testing and EMI tubing scanning.
About Sooner Late Model Series
The Sooner Late Model Series was formed in 2016 by Enid Speedway co-promoter Mark Brill. Brill felt there was not many opportunities for late model competitors to race in Oklahoma and the Sooner Late Model Series was formed. Now the series has grown beyond the borders of Oklahoma with events held in the neighboring states of Kansas, Texas and Arkansas as well.