2017 AST Voltson Super Trucks season
2017 AST Voltson Super Trucks season | |
# of Rounds | 10 |
Ovals | 9 |
Road Courses | 1 |
Driver's Champion | Bryan Kelly |
Owner's Champion | Binford Racing Team |
Season Opener | Saar Nebraska 100 |
Season Finale | Voltson Marne 100 |
Championship Overview |
The 2017 AST Volston Super Trucks season was the fourth season of the AST Voltson Super Trucks; a lower-budget, semi-professional auto racing series that utilizes pickup trucks with V6 engines primarily on short tracks across the Great Lakes Basin region of North America.
Three-time and defending series champion Darrell Quick elected to enter only one race in order to focus on his commitments in the FARC Lowe Dollar Series, meaning that for the first time in series history, the champion would be someone other than himself.
Rockford Speedway's longtime competitor Bryan Kelly would earn the series title for Binford Racing Team. Interestingly, despite leading more laps than any other driver on the season and scoring three runner-up finishes, Kelly never won a race. To date, he is the only Super Trucks champion to have zero victories to their name.
Pre-Season Overview[edit | edit source]
The technical regulations remained unchanged from the year prior. Saar, Lycoia, and Isanni all return to the series with their respective models of pickup truck.
The points system that the series had used since its inception in 2014 was replaced by a new one that was introduced to the three touring divisions of FARC for 2017. The new points system rewards both qualifying well and leading laps much greater than the previous one.
A new qualifying format was implemented for races in which the number of entries exceeded the maximum starting field cap. Instead of giving the front row to the fastest two qualifiers and then running heat races to determine the remainder of the starting order, time trial qualifying now determines both the starting order and the drivers who fail to qualify. These changes did not apply to the races at Michigan International Speedway, Nelson Ledges Road Course, and Berlin Raceway, which would still run heat races if necessary.
Schedule[edit | edit source]
All ten venues which hosted a race in 2016 returned to the calendar.
The Saar Nebraska 100 saw a series-record 43 entries, necessitating heat races and ensuring a maximum starting field of 40 trucks.
Team Chart[edit | edit source]
- Numbers marked in blue indicate a part-time entry.
Points System[edit | edit source]
The series will implement the same new points system that is being used by the FARC touring divisions, replacing the one that had been used since 2014.
The most points that a driver can score in a single race is 135; 100 points for winning plus 20 for earning the Pole Award plus 5 for leading at least one lap plus 10 for leading the most laps of any driver. The most points that one can gain or lose to another driver in a typical 20-truck field is 99, and in a full 40-truck field that number is 134 points. To date, only once has a race featured a full field of 40 trucks.
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 100 | 80 | 70 | 68 | 66 | 64 | 62 | 60 | 58 | 56 | 54 | 52 | 50 | 48 | 46 | 44 | 42 | 40 | 38 | 36 |
Position | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd | 34th | 35th | 36th | 37th | 38th | 39th | 40th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 34 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Bonus Points | |
---|---|
20 | awarded to the pole sitter |
5 | awarded to any driver who leads at least one lap |
10 | awarded to the leader of the most laps |
10 | awarded to the driver who makes up the most positions from his or her starting position by the conclusion of the race |