World of Outlaws Driver Donny Shatz became the first to win three straight titles in that series. (Photo: worldofoutlaws.com) » More Photos

Donny Schatz also scored a championship three-peat this year in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series, becoming only the second driver in WoO history to win as many as three in a row. It was not his only hat trick as he also won the prestigious Knoxville Nationals for a third consecutive year in addition to 18 wins on the WoO circuit. Joining Schatz in the Short Track category is U.S. Auto Club double champion Jerry Coons Jr., who won both the Silver Crown and Sprint series. Added to his USAC Midget championships in 2006 and 2007, he is only the fifth driver in USAC history to win all three championships. Both drivers are now three-time All-Americans from the past three seasons, Schatz First Team each time and Coons the past two years.

Scott Dixon, the Indianapolis 500 winner and champion of the Indy Racing League, added another five victories for his championship season. Yet he was still only 17 points ahead of series runner-up and two-time winner Helio Castroneves who set a series record with eight second-place finishes. The two of them easily outdistanced the other nominees in the Open Wheel category. Both are now four-time All-Americans, the third time for Dixon on First Team but the first time Castroneves has achieved the top rung.

In the Road Racing category, drivers racing as teammates in the same car are voted on as a single entity resulting in pairs from both the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series being chosen to the team. From Grand-Am comes the Daytona Prototype champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, whose six victories included the 24 Hours of Daytona. From ALMS came the runners-up in the P2 category, David Brabham and Scott Sharp, whose four-win season included an overall victory at Lime Rock outrunning the supposedly faster P1 cars.

Pruett, with his 10th First-Team selection and 12th overall, is now tied with drag racing legend Don Garlits for the third-most times on the First Team, and behind only Steve Kinser and John Force. He is also the 15th driver to be voted an All-American as many as 12 times. His teammate Rojas is an All-American for the first time ever. Sharp makes the team for a fifth time, three as First Team, while Brabham is First Team for his first time in three appearances.