Sonoma, CA (Nov 13, 2011) —

Rookie DeeJay Riley bested nine other "Orange Plates" in contention for the inaugural BTM Motorwerks Rookie of the Year award. He earned this having scored the highest points from his top 10 race finishing positions throughout out the 2011 season.  This award was crafted to open it to more rookies as not all earned their licenses at the start of the season plus we wanted the award to reflect both commitment and performance throughout the season. It was a tight race for points amongst the Rookies...DeeJay bested runner up Bryan "Lightning" McQueen at the season ender by only 28 points. Going into the November Season Finale race at Infineon, DeeJay was ahead of Frank Bushman by 23 points and Bryan McQueen by 24 points. Frank did not compete in the final event, which then pitted DeeJay and McQueen for the win.

In Race 1, DeeJay placed 16th to Bryan's 19th spot. This gave DeeJay a lead of 30 points, Bryan would need to have an incredible finish in the final 50-minute sprint race to topple DeeJay's lead or DeeJay could have a DNF or DQ for Bryan to surpass his points lead.

As we all know... anything can and will happen in racing...in an almost poetic ending Bryan finished in 13th spot just 7 seconds ahead of DeeJay who finished 14th. DeeJay's final points total bested Bryan's by a mere 28 points. Great racing to the end! DeeJay will receive a special trophy and $250 cash courtesy of BTM Motorwerks.

In addition, in a random hat draw of names of the 2011 rookie class, DeeJay's good fortune earned him free entry to the highly acclaimed road race school "The Art Of Road Racing" held in January 2012 at Thunderhill Raceway. Congratulations DeeJay!

2011 BTM Motorwerks NorCal SpecE30 Rookie of the Year - DeeJay Riley
Photo Courtesy of Brooks Graham

DeeJay (L)and Bryan McQueen (R) mugging it up after the final 2011 season final race
Photo Courtesy of Brooks Graham