Hammond claims rookie of year honors

Evan Hammond leads heat race action at the Indianapolis Speedrome on May 5. (Aaron Skillman photo)

By Ken de la Bastide

In what became a tight three-way battle through the closing events of the Kenyon Midget Series season the Redline Ace Rookie of the Year honors remained up for grabs. For much of the year Cash Wyke sat atop of the rookie of the year standings chased by Evan Hammond and a closing Kyle Sheard as the season wound down.

After the championship night race at Anderson Speedway, Hammond claimed the honors by a scant three-points over Wyke. Hammond closed the year out with a second best finish of fourth at Anderson Speedway on the final night of competition and scored five top-ten finishes in the final seven races. His run to rookie of the year honors hit full stride in the four “Dirty August” races on the dirt ovals.

Entering the 2023 season, Hammond with five years experience in karting, set a goal of winning rookie of the year honors with the Kenyon Midget Series. He plans to run the entire 2024 season with the Kenyon Midget's in hopes of following Kyle Ford as the champion.

“We're working on the car for next year,” Hammond said last week. “I'm ready for next year.”

He said winning the rookie of the year honors has not totally sunk in and probably won't until the banquet on Nov. 4. “It really meant a lot,” Hammond said of the honor. “It's the greatest accomplishment of my life so far.”

He admitted to having some nervous anticipation entering “Dirty August” because he had never raced on dirt in the past. “I wanted to learn as much as possible,” Hammond said. “Going back to pavement I had a lot more confidence.”

Hammond said entering the 2023 season he accepted the fact that there would be times he made mistakes. “You learn from your failures and find success,” he said. “Entering the year I wanted to learn as much as possible about competing in a real race car. I'm getting comfortable in the car.”

Hammond said he can't decide if he likes racing on paved or dirt oval more and enjoyed both types of surfaces. “I want to learn more and improve on the dirt,” he said. “I'm ready to go racing now.”