Several months ago, I blogged about “Two super shoes to watch,” letting readers know about a couple of up and coming drivers – Chad Finley and Johnny VanDoorn. Today, they’re making me look like I actually knew what I was talking about – love it when that happens (it’s so rare)!

Last Saturday, 18 year-old Chad Finley qualified on the outside pole in the last ARCA event of the season – the American 200 at Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC. Unfortunately, Finley would be relegated to last on the starting grid after being forced to pull his #29 Air Lift Company / Auto Value - Bumper to Bumper Parts Stores and Certified Service Centers machine out of impound.

"After we went through tech, we heard a funny noise in the rear end, so we pulled out of line and changed the gear." Finley explained. "We were just heart broken! We just missed the pole too!"

So Finley was relegated to 41st on the starting grid and as soon as the green flag dropped, Finley immediately began to pick his way through the field and made his way up to as high as third and that's where he finished for his second podium finish of 2010 and third of his career in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by RE/MAX and Menards.

Finley tied his career high finish for the second time as he's finished third at Pocono (2010) and Berlin (2009) Ty Dillon took the win at Rockingham ahead of Swindell and Finley who completed the podium positions while Patrick Sheltra finished fourth to clinch the 2010 ARCA Series Championship!

Finley, who has been tagged in the Brad Keselowski Development program, hopes to gain seat time later this season in the NASCAR Truck Series. Time will tell if he is able to adjust to the higher levels of competition, but if his experience behind the wheel in the ARCA series reveals anything at all, we can expect to see Finley at the front in a truck – and likely later (2011) in the Nationwide series as well.

Also of note is the progress this season of Kaos Racing’s Johnny VanDoorn. The Coopersville, Michigan native needs to simply take the green flag at this weekend’s 39th Annual Winchester 400 to secure his name on a second consecutive CRA Super Series Championship trophy.

VanDoorn currently holds a 108 point series championship lead over Brian Campbell, and upon his start at Winchester Speedway this weekend, he will become the first driver ever to win back-to-back championships in the CRA Super Series.

Best of luck to both Finley and VanDoorn - looking forward to seeing you soon on the bigger circuits!