Western Pennsylvania’s perennial driving champion Dave Palone and record-setting driver Tim Tetrick have finished in a tie for

harness racing’s highest honour for drivers, the Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year Award.

The award, the most difficult in harness racing to win, requires a driver to finish in the top 25 in North America in money won, races won, and driver percentage (UDRS) standings. Points are awarded from 25 points down to 1 point for 25th, with a 25-point bonus for finishing in the top 25 in all three categories. Only five drivers, out of 4,321 who drove in at least one purse race last year, were able to accomplish that feat.

Based on Palone’s and Tetrick’s performances, the North American title wound up a tie for only the third time in the 41 years the award has been presented by HTA, an association of 38 major harness racing organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

Dave Palone, who has won the HTA award four times before (in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004) finished first in UDRS with a .447 “slugging average,” third in wins with 887, and sixth in money won with $10,104,572. With the 25-point bonus, Palone finished with 93 points.

Tim Tetrick, who won the 2007 award in a year in which he won more races and purse money in a single season than anyone in history, finished first in money earnings with $19,752,066, eclipsing last year’s record total of $18,342,367, second in wins with 903, and seventh in UDRS. The addition of the 25-point bonus gives Tetrick 93 total points.

Canadian Brad Forward finished sixth with 42 points and was the only Canadian driver to crack the top 10.

(HTA)