Williams Family Takes Second Driver of the Year Award

Vermont Motorsports Magazine Driver of the Year Awards presented by Subway

Late Model stock car driver Eric Williams has been named the winner of the Vermont Motorsports Magazine "On The Road" Driver of the Year Award presented by Subway, as decided by readers of Vermont Motorsports Magazine, an online news website. The veteran Hyde Park driver follows in the tracks of his son, Tucker, who won the VMM/Subway Driver of the Year Award in the Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl category one week earlier.

Eric Williams received exactly half of the more than 1,200 votes cast during a one-week open fan vote on the Vermont Motorsports Magazine website. Williams won the "On The Road" Driver of the Year honor in a category that included 30 Vermont racers competing on a touring series, or at tracks in New Hampshire and New York. Williams won 150-lap main events on the traveling American-Canadian Tour at Thunder Road in Barre in May and at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine in October.

Ascutney teenager Chris Riendeau finished second in the VMM/Subway "On The Road" Driver of the Year poll, earning 28% of the votes. Riendeau was a feature winner at both Twin State Speedway and Canaan Fair Speedway in New Hampshire, and was a regular competitor in three weekly divisions. He also made two appearances on the ACT Late Model Tour. Another Ascutney youngster, Joey Jarvis, finished third in the poll with over 100 votes; Jarvis finished second in Modified championship standings at Twin State and was the division's Rookie of the Year.

Other top vote-getters included White Mountain Motorsports Park (N.H.) Late Model Champion Stacy Cahoon of St. Johnsbury, Granite State Mini Sprint Series Champion Lacey Hanson of Orwell, and Thunder Road Milk Bowl winner John Donahue of Graniteville.

Eric Williams is the fourth VMM/Subway Driver of the Year honoree in the month of November, joining son Tucker, Bradford's Tom Placey of Bear Ridge Speedway, and Orwell racer Tim LaDuc of Devil's Bowl Speedway. Nearly 2,500 votes have been tallied in the month-long polling at Vermont Motorsports Magazine.

Voting for the final Vermont Motorsports Magazine 2009 Driver of the Year Award presented by Subway is now open through 11:59pm on Sunday, December 6. The 20-driver ballot for the 2009 Driver of the Year Award is comprised of the top-voted racers in the previous four categories. Nominees include Bear Ridge Speedway champions Gary Siemons, Dan Eastman, and Placey, Devil's Bowl Speedway Modified power trio LaDuc, Kenny Tremont, Jr., and Todd Stone, Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl stars Jean-Paul Cyr, Dave Pembroke, and Tucker Williams, and traveling racers Eric Williams, Riendeau, Joey Jarvis, Brian Hoar, and Dwight Jarvis.

To vote, visit Vermont Motorsports Magazine at http://vtmotormag.blogspot.com/. The VMM Driver of the Year Awards are presented by Subway of Barre, Montpelier, Waterbury, and Northfield. For more information on Subway, visit http://www.subway.com/.

(PHOTOS: 1. VMM/Subway "On The Road" Driver of the Year Eric Williams; 2. "On The Road" runner-up Chris Riendeau. Photo 1 by Justin St. Louis/VMM; Photo 2 by Alan Ward)