Who doesn’t love an underdog? Who doesn’t love a weekend warrior making the big dance?  Who doesn’t love a virtually unknown driver giving the top dogs a run for their money?

Doug Horton and Jason Montgomery and even Dave “Turk” Tyrchniewicz all have something in common. Over the years, they have become household names partially because of their underdog success during the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park.

In 2006, Horton’s runs at East Bay catapulted him into the national MORE

Kudos to the DirtonDirt.com staff for providing an awesome list of 2009’s best accomplishments, drivers, races and more. As I did with my personal Best Race of 2009, I’d like to take a more in-depth look best finishes I saw over the course of the last 12 months. Everybody loves an exciting finish, right?

(1) North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn., June 17: The best finish I saw in 2009 goes to Chad Simpson for his wild, last-lap win in the WDRL event at North Central (Minn.) Speedway on MORE

In watching DirtonDirt.com’s recent Best Races of 2009 video, I couldn’t help but think that a few of us may have seen races that were worthy of making their top five, but weren’t on the list. For me, undoubtedly the best race I saw was the Sunoco American Late Model Series on April 17 at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park.

For starters, this $2,000-to-win show boasted an impressive field of 54 cars that included the likes of Matt Miller, Jeep Van Wormer, George Lee, Ryan Markham, Rusty Schlenk, MORE