Imagine a dozen sprinters, almost neck-and-neck, two seconds from the finish line. Which runner will put on a burst of speed and win the race?
That scenario illustrates the setup — and the intense drama — for the Sept. 12-18 Toyota Trucks Championship Week, the newly-created two event Postseason, of the Bassmaster Elite Series.
Twelve pros will compete for the 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year crown and the $200,000 top prize at the events. Second place will receive a $75,000 check. Places three through 12 also will take home a check based on a sliding payout scale, for a total postseason purse of $499,500.
The postseason is made up of two separate competitions. The first will be the Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 12-13, Berkley PowerBait Trophy Chase on Lake Jordan out of Wetumpka, Ala. The action then will then shift to Montgomery and the Alabama River for the Thursday-Friday, Sept. 17-18, Evan Williams Bourbon Trophy Triumph.
The dozen qualifiers fought their way into the postseason by way of their top 12 finish in the regular-season Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Points were earned according to finishes in each of eight tournaments.
The qualifiers will not begin the postseason with the same points total, but with one based on what they earned in the March-August regular Elite season. Those totals were rounded and adjusted with the awarding of two bonus points to pros who won regular-season Elite events.
The pros will earn additional points after each postseason tournament. So, the most the pro can add to their score is 100 points. Each Postseason event will feature a sliding scale with 50 points to the winner, 10 points to the 12th-place man. After both events, the pro with has earned the highest number of points —regular season points plus postseason points — will be the 2009 AOY.
The reset points spread is so tight that any of the 12 qualifiers could emerge as the AOY. Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., leads with 205 points going into it. In 12th place is the 2004 AOY, Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., with 174 points.
VanDam, the 2008 AOY, is only one point ahead of the 2009 Bassmaster Classic champion, Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif. VanDam and Reese battled it out last season for the AOY crown.
Reese is only six points ahead of the 2008 Classic winner, Alton Jones of Waco, Texas. Swindle — an Alabama pro who knows the competition waters fairly well — could just as well end up the 2009 AOY.
The pundits are saying that the 2009 race might play out as a VanDam vs. Reese contest.
But then again, it might not. With 50 points to a winner, that 31-point spread from No. 1 to No. 12 could change fast. The Postseason will receive two hours of coverage from ESPN2 on Sept. 27 from 5-7 p.m. ET. Bassmaster.com will be the home for Postseason coverage including daily Hooked Up updates, photo galleries, stories, analysis and more.
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