Bradshaw wasn’t looking good at half-track in the final, but opponent Chris Demke’s engine went silent at the 2-3 shift, allowing Bradshaw, who last scored in 2003, when he won the national championship driving for Randy Meyer’s team, to race by for a 5.49 win. Demke’s blower snout broke, which shed the belt, slowed him to a 5.86, and left him with three runner-ups in three national event finals this year and four in four career finals in Topeka.

Demke was coming off low e.t. of the meet, 5.38, in a semifinal win over Canadian Gord Gingles, who had been murdering the Tree all weekend, with reaction times of .015, .002, and .008. Bradshaw, driving for the
Winnipeg-based Doucette Bros. A/Fuel team, was beaten to the finish line in that round by Brandon Pierce, 5.44 to a shutoff 5.71, but Pierce, now driving for Gene Snow, failed fuel check. His tank contained 94.3 percent nitro – 0.3 percent over the legal limit.

Granted the unexpected reprieve, Bradshaw was reinstated and earned his first national event victory since the 2003 Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd. He had four previous wins, all in his 2003 championship season, including one at Topeka.

In the early rounds, both of which were run on Saturday because of massive storms forecast for Kansas on Sunday, Bradshaw took out defending event champ Rich McPhillips, 5.45 to 5.72, and No. 1 qualifier James
Thompson, 5.41 to 5.45. Thompson’s 5.39 in qualifying held up for low e.t. until Demke erased Gingles, the 2012 Central Region champ, in the semi’s with a 5.38, ending the best national event outing of Gingles’
career. Demke, who qualified No. 2 with a 5.39, the only other run all weekend in the 5.30s, picked up the pace in every round of eliminations with times of 5.44, 5.42, and 5.38 opposite Michael Manners, Aaron
Olivarez, and Gingles, respectively.

Kaplan also got quicker in every round, wheeling his Bearspaw Mustang to a 5.689 against Charles McLaws, a 5.687 against Mark Billington, and a semifinal 5.651 against Sean Bellemeur’s Mastercam Camaro. His best run of eliminations, a 5.644, took out No. 1 qualifier and defending event champ Tony Bartone in the final on a slight holeshot against Bartone’s 5.640. Bartone was on time with a .052 light, but Kaplan was even quicker with a .038 that actually was his second-worst of the race.

For Kaplan, of Calgary, Alta., his first Alcohol Funny Car title comes in just his fourth national event start. He last won at the 2011 U.S. Nationals in Comp in a AA/AM ’23-T altered. Both cars were tuned by Calgary’s Les Davenport.

With the final-round appearance, his third in a row in national competition, Bartone moved into a first-place tie in the Top Alcohol Funny Car standings with Dan Pomponio, who has been to just four races this year
but has won all four. Bartone established low e.t. of the meet with a 5.60 in qualifying, beat Wayne Butler with a 5.67 in round one, singled in round two, and edged Shane Westerfield on a slight holeshot in the semifinals, 5.64 to 5.63, in a rematch of last year’s final.

Tommy Phillips grabbed his 28^th national event win as he defeated Jeremy Demers in Super Comp and a pair of local racers took home the honors in Top Dragster and Super Street.  Phillips went six rounds for the trophy in his ’10 dragster covering the quarter mile in 8.909 seconds at 155 mph to Demers who ran too quick on the 8.90 index.  Larry Piper, Wamgo, Kan., and John Dasher, Silver Lake, Kan., each took wins for the local fans.  Piper beat fellow Kansas racer Jackie Gerhardt, Topeka, Kan., in Top Dragster with a pass of 173 mph in 7.145 seconds for his first national event win and Dasher won on a double breakout with Ray Todd in the Super Street final.

Steve Williams put his K&N Filters ’63 Corvette in the winner’s circle for his 5^th national event win and second in Super Gas while Austin Williams (no relation) went the distance in Stock Eliminator.  S. Williams, Beaumont, Calif., knocked out Shawn Carter, Park Hill, Okla., and A. Williams, ran down Russ Speer in his ’72 Duster.

Tim Nicholson returned to the Heartland Park Topeka winners circle with a win over Harvey Emmons in Super Stock.  The Concordia, Kan., racer, won here back in 2010, held off Emmons with a 10.314 second pass at 120 mph in Super Stock.

The following are the final results from the 25^th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka:

Top Alcohol Dragster — Alan Bradshaw, 5.494, 248.93 def. Chris Demke, 5.867, 177.21.

Top Alcohol Funny Car — Jirka Kaplan, Ford Mustang, 5.644, 252.95 def. Tony Bartone, Mustang, 5.640, 255.29.

Super Stock — Tim Nicholson, Chevy II, 10.314, 120.84 def. Harvey Emmons III, Chevy Cavalier, 9.880, 124.51.

Stock Eliminator — Austin Williams, Plymouth Duster, 11.443, 109.22 def. Russ Speer, Chevy Camaro, 12.025, 103.67.

Super Comp — Tommy Phillips, Dragster, 8.909, 155.47 def. Jeremy Demers, Dragster, 8.885, 177.84.

Super Gas — Steve Williams, Chevy Corvette, 9.940, 152.61 def. Shawn Carter, Chevy Cavalier, 9.891, 166.05.

Super Street — John Dasher, Chevy Camaro, 10.870, 130.90 def. Ray Todd, Chevy II, 10.856, 128.38.

Top Dragster — Larry Piper, Dragster, 7.145, 173.27 def. Jacqueline Gerhardt, Dragster, 6.872, 197.08.

]]> http://www.dragcoverage.com/?feed=rss2&p=7347 0 http://www.dragcoverage.com/?p=7333 http://www.dragcoverage.com/?p=7333#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 17:52:35 +0000 cpollage http://www.dragcoverage.com/?p=7333

Pictures By: Cody Pollage

The following are Saturday’s final results from the 2013 X-Treme Drag Racing League Bash on the Bayou:

Pro X-Treme — Tommy D’Aprile, Chevy Corvette, 3.673, 207.34 def. Quain Stott, Corvette, 3.749, 202.18.

Pro Nitrous — Robert Mathis, Chevy Camaro, 3.868, 194.18 def. Jeff Naiser, Camaro, 4.528, 117.47.

Pro Turbo — Todd Moyer, Corvette, 3.892, 202.91 def. Mike Murillo, Camaro, 5.535, 97.10.

X-Treme Pro Mod — T.J. Tindle, Ford Mustang, 3.992, 186.54 def. Kevin Rivenbark, Pontiac Firebird, 3.964, 184.70.

X-Treme Pro Stock — Dean Goforth, Chevy Camaro, 4.121, 174.57 def. Rick Cowger, Chevy Cobalt, 5.061, 99.94.

SuperCar Showdown — P. B. Candies, Ford Mustang, 5.753, 120.53 def. Brett Candies, Mustang, 5.964, 119.19.

Top Dragster — Keith Raftery, Dragster, 7.850, 99.48 def. Laramie Reid, Dragster, broke.

Top Sportsman — Bert Prejean, Chevy Camaro, 4.328, 142.29 def. Earl Folse, Camaro, foul.

Pro Junior Dragster — Morgan Torres, Halfscale, 7.940, 81.12 def. Darian Boesch, Half Scale, 7.960, 80.91.

Day 1 Winner: Chelsea Spence
R/U: Tommy Plott

Jeff Strickland had a very good outing at the NHRA National event in Atlanta. Strickland made it two finals. He won in Stock and took the runner-up position in Top Dragster.

In round one, Friday morning, of Stock Eliminator, Jeff Strickland was aganist Brandyn Phillips. Phillips was .047 at the tree and broke out by three-thousandths of a second. That would put Phillips on the trailer, and Strickland into round number two. Strickland was .023 and one over the dial. In round number two, Strickland was .058 at the tree, and two over the dial. He would advance into the third round. Jeff Hairrington was .043, and six over the dial in the losing effort.

In round 3, Strickland faced off with Dan Fletcher. Strickland got treed off the starting line. Fletcher was .008, while Strickland was .031. Fletcher then ran into some problems, and Strickland drove around to advance to the semis. In the semi-final round, he was paired up with Raymond Skipper Jr. Strickland was .056 at the tree, and once again put it one over the dial. Skipper was .079 at the tree, and went dead on his dial with a three, but could still not get there by eight-thousandths of a second, and Strickland was into the finals.

In the final of round of Stock Eliminator, he would meet, number ten in the world, Jeff Adkinson. To say Strickland was ready for the finals was an understatement. He was perfect, .000 on the tree, put it four over the dial for the win. This would give Strickland his third NHRA Stock Eliminator National Event Wally, and ninth of his career.

(Strickland – 3rd from left)

There was still unfinished business though, as he was also competing in Top Dragster. In round one, he met up with Mario Boesch. The Louisiana runner, Boesch, was .025, six over the dial and in the way. Strickland was .007, and six over the dial for the win. In round number two, he faced off with Lauren Freer. Freer would go on to win in Super Comp, but she was denied here. She was .005, two under the dial for the loss. Strickland was 014, at the tree, put it one under the dial and got the double-breakout win. In the third round, Strickland met up with Cameron Manuel. Strickland was .015, dead on with an eight to advance. Manuel was .010, and two over.

In the semi-final round, Strickland was .006, two over the dial to get the win light. Scott Duggins was .027, dead on with a three, and could not get there by two-thousandths of a second. This would put Strickland in his second final of the day. He had already won in Stock. Could he double up?

Well in the final round, Strickland was 018, and six thousandths under the dial. Miller was .023, and one over the dial to deny the double-up for Strickland. All in all, it was still a good day for the Alabama runner, and everybody involved.

Strickland was quick to thank TCI, Hoosier, Renegade Racing Fuel-Oils, Autometer Wilkerson Racing Engines, CBI Performance Warehouse, American Race Cars, Ok Motorsports, PCD Wrap Designs, the NHRA & Lucas Oil Series, SignPunk.com, StickerPunk.com, DragCoverage.com, DragRaceResults.com, and his friends and family.

Strickland was also grateful for Erin, Kayla, Talan Strickland. Don,Sherry, Greg, Carey Strickland. Shane Carr, Dave Connolly, Jeff Adkinson Family, Robbie Shaw, Kevin Helms/Southland Dodge, Brad Zaskowski, Jason McCormack, and most importantly – thank God for Everything!!!

Photo By: Roger Richards

David Latino has been on a tear this year. If you remember back to Baton Rouge earlier in the year at the IHRA race, he nearly swept the event. He has just about won everything except for an NHRA national event.

Well that all changed Friday evening in Atlanta, when the final round of Super Stock came to the line. Latino was good when he needed to be, and lucky when he needed some luck. He beat some very tough racers, and even took out some champions on his road to victory.

In Round number one, Latino was paired up with Peter D’Agnolo. D’Agnolo was .022 at the tree and put it three over the dial. That was not good enough. Latino was .018 at the tree and put it one over the dial to advance into round number two. In round number two, Latino got a freebie. His opponent was a no-show. Latino took the green and went down the track for the easy round win.

Round number three, he got matched up with the always – tough Anthony Bertozzi. It was a close race. Bertozzi was .022 at the tree and went 9.040 on his 9.03 dial. That’s a good package, and will win some rounds. Wrong place, wrong time for Bertozzi? This time it was. Latino was .011 at the tree and went 9.694 on his 9.68 dial to get there first by a tight seven-thousandths of a second.

In the semi-final round, Latino faced off with Dan Fletcher. Remember every racer says you have to have a lucky round somewhere during the race. This was Latino’s. When the green lights dropped, it looked like it was over. Fletcher had four hundreths of a second in the bank. Fletcher got to the top end of the race track though, took to much stripe, and broke out. This giving the win light to Latino who was one over the dial.

In the final round, it was all on the line. Heads Up. Both cars were in the GT/DA class. No breakouts, no dial ins. Latino vs. Ryan Richardson. Latino was .148 at the tree, while Richardson was .008. That was the only time in the race Richardson led though. Latino had the horsepower to drive around him and go 9.699 to beat Richardson’s 10.19. When the win light came on, David Latino had just won his first NHRA Super Stock National Event.

by Tim Glover – photos by Wanda Glover

After a one week rain delay, fans enjoyed experiencing the completion of the 2013 edition of the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals. The event was held at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, GA on May 10 – 11, 2013. The weather forecast for Friday was good, but Saturday’s forecast promised even more rain, and delivered, delaying the show by a little more than an hour after round one Saturday afternoon. Rains returned again later in the day during the winner’s circle ceremonies, but the event was already in the books.

The overcast conditions definitely helped with the records department. By the end of the weekend, track records were reset several times. Doug Kalitta raised the new Top Fuel high mph mark to 325.61mph in round two, and Antron Brown lowered the quickest Top Fuel elapsed time mark to 3.788 in the semi-finals. Chad Head set the new Funny Car mph mark to 314.98mph, and Matt Hagan lowered the elapsed time bar to 4.067 seconds.

The Gray family almost made NHRA history, becoming the first father / son team to make it to an NHRA Professional category final round. Although father and child teams have previously scored double victories at an NHRA National event, to date it has been one of them in Pro and the other in the Sportsman category. Father Johnny Gray was in the Funny Car final and son Shane was in the Pro Stock final round. Johnny went on to take the victory in Funny Car class, but Shane missed the mark by 0.023 seconds in Pro Stock, losing to Mike Edwards.

Antron Brown celebrated his 3rd Southern Nationals Top Fuel Dragster victory after defeating Brandon Bernstein, who was throwing down the gauntlet each pass (until the final). In the final, Bernstein’s car tried to apply too much power to the track, resulting in a tire-smoking 7.105 at 90.64mph pass. In the meantime, Brown’s Matco Tools dragster ran like a bracket car during competition and posted the race winning 3.801 at 321.35mph. The semi-final finishers were Doug Kalitta and Shawn Langdon. “The Commerce race fans know their drag racing. When they ask about your fuel percentage you start to think they are a spy! I see a reflection of me in them, remembering when I was on their side of the ropes,” said Brown. He then added, “Happy Mother’s Day to my wife, mom and grandma.” Brown also has two other Southern Nationals wins, in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Johnny Gray met number one qualifier and track record ET holder Matt Hagan in the Funny Car final, and earned his fifth NHRA “Wally” trophy with a 4.077 second at 314.17mph pass. Hagan’s pass was just a little off, with a 4.16 at 309.49mph. The semi-final finishers were Cruz Pedregon and Tim Wilkerson. Gray, who has been married for 42 years, announced this is his final season, stating “It would be great to be on the stage with my son Shane, as this is my last year racing for points.” Gray mentioned that his crew backed the tune-up on his car way down, and then slowly picked their way back up during the event. “They picked pretty good,” he added.

“All praise and glory to my God, my Saviour,” was one of the first things Pro Stock winner Mike Edwards said after his narrow defeat of Shane Gray in the final. The Pro Stock final featured Mike Edwards’ 2013 Camaro versus Shane Gray’s ’13 Camaro. Gray did everything he could do at the starting line, reacting with a stellar 0.001 second time. However, his car fell off the pace, posting a 6.643 second time at 208.17 mph. Mike Edwards also had a great reaction time (0.027 seconds) and secured his 30th NHRA Pro Stock victory with a 6.595 second at 209.14mph pass. Last year’s winner Greg Anderson and Jeg Coughlin ended their day in the semi-final round. Edwards has qualified #1 at every event this season except Houston, and this was his second win in 2012. “I’m glad I don’t have to cut a double-oh light. I don’t have it in me. I would love to give that driver hat to someone else one day,” added Edwards.

Due to the circumstances, NHRA elected to allow Sportsman racers to complete their eliminations on Friday, allowing them to return home in time for Mother’s day. Pro qualifying was shortened to two rounds on Friday, and final eliminations were held Saturday.

While fans were waiting for the Pro categories to return for competition on Saturday, participants in the Atlanta Dragway Junior Dragster program made exhibition passes in front of the fans with their high tech single cylinder cars that ran speeds approaching 82 mph on the 1/8 mile race course. The Junior Dragster program is open to participants from 8 – 17 years old.

Several racers that call Atlanta Dragway their home track also entered the Southern Nationals. Jeremy Hancock, James Noel and Jerry Sosebee bowed out early in Super Comp. Jacob Rutledge went out early in Super Street, followed by James Noel in Top Sportsman and Danny Vancica in Top Dragster. Ronnie Wilkerson had the best day of the crew, making it down to six cars in Super Gas. Alpharetta, GA racer Bob Vandergriff’s Rob Flynn tuned C&J Top Fuel dragster made a great pass in round one, posting a 3.89 at 318.47mph, but it was eclipsed by Tony Schumacher’s 3.79 at 323.74mph. Schumacher lost in round two.

Two Sportsman category contestants returned to the Southern Nationals winner’s circle for the second year in a row, Billy Upton in Super Gas, and Jeffrey Barker in Top Sportsman. Sportsman racer Jeff Strickland from Red Bay, AL narrowly missed a double win, ending his day with a Stock Eliminator victory and a runner up in Top Dragster.

Jeffrey Barker and his wife Lindsey Barker from Kathleen, GA were both doing well in competition, and were both still in competition by the semi-final round. Jeffrey went on to take the win in Top Sportsman for the second year in a row, and Lindsey lost to eventual runner-up Michael Rastall (who lost against another girl, Lauren Freer of Mooresville, NC) in the Super Comp final. Jeffrey had a big scare after breaking his transmission during round one (his opponent fouled, giving him the win). He barely made it to round two, able only to break the staging beams for that round, but then he came back strong.

Jeff Strickland from Red Bay, AL has been around the racing scene quite a while and had already scored an impressive Stock Eliminator win driving a manual transmission equipped ’70 Nova (he had a perfect 0.000 second reaction time in the final). His Top Dragster had been running in the low 7.20 second range all day. Strickland missed a double victory by the narrowest of margins, 0.006 seconds (ran 7.204 on a 7.21 dial), when he went lost to Ray Miller (Spring Hill, FL) in the final.

Like Strickland, top notch racer Troy Williams Jr from Bradenton, FL has also been around for a long time, and knows how to win. He purchased his Jegs / Laser Grader of Atlanta ’96 Chevy S10 a few weeks ago, and had it dialed in by the event, scoring the Super Street victory. “When I let go in the final, I knew I could win it. I told myself to just don’t mess up,” added Williams.

The rest of the class winners and runner up are as follows:
Super Stock Time MPH Index
Win: David Latino 9.699 127.10 heads-up
R/U: Ryan Richardson 10.19 112.59 heads-up

Stock
Win: Jeff Strickland 10.68 120.35 (10.64)
R/U: Jeff Adkinson 10.67 114.44 (10.64)

Super Comp
Win: Lauren Freer 8.904 173.87 (8.90)
R/U: Michael Rastall 8.884 169.34 (8.90)

Super Gas
Win: Billy Upton 9.915 153.79 (9.90)
R/U: Scott Lawton 9.925 146.89 (9.90) foul

Super Street
Win: Troy Williams Jr 10.94 130.83 (10.90)
R/U: Mike DeSio 10.87 138.74 (10.90)

Top Sportsman
Win: Jeffrey Barker 6.690 206.61 (6.68)
R/U: Tommy Turner 6.711 208.14 (6.70) foul

Top Dragster
Win: Ray Miller 6.843 191.87 (6.83)
R/U: Jeff Strickland 7.204 174.08 (7.21)

For more information and results on the Southern Nationals, please log on to www.nhra.com.

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Reichert qualified in the No. 1 position over a week ago before Mother Nature and rain forced officials to postpone eliminations until today. Reichert then ripped off runs of 5.41, 5.43 and 5.42 seconds in three rounds of eliminations for the win and the trophy. The Michigan racer defeated Marty Thacker in the final running 252.90 mph to Thacker who clocked in at 5.469 at 260.61.

The win is Reichert’s second of the year coming off a win at the recent NHRA national event at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C., last month.

Bohl, Racine, Wis., took out No. 1 qualifier and reigning NHRA Lucas Oil National Champion Frank Manzo for the funny car win in 5.703 seconds at 251.02 mph. Bohl defeated John Bojec in round one and Brian Harvanek in his semifinal match up. This is Bohl’s first win of the year in three outings.

The following are the final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Spring Spectacle of Speed at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis:

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER:

Final

Reichert, 5.426, 252.90 def. Thacker, 5.469, 260.61.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR:

Bohl, 5.703, 251.02 def. Manzo, 9.141, 96.03.

Atco, NJ – Second Generation driver Jimmy Stack Sr. took no prisoners at the Inaugural Mid Atlantic Super Street Association races held at Atco Dragway in Atco, NJ. Stack started from the #1 qualifying position in his Garbinski & Livezey 71 Challenger on Saturday. He was closely followed by Nick Mayo, Frank Quarino Jr., Ben Saia and Bill Trum.

For his efforts of qualifying number one, Stack received a bye-run in the 1st round. He then took down John Fedeli, Kevin Tiedemann and Jason Lawrence in the semis. In the finals Stack raced past Division 1 champion Matie Ganjoin and his 1969 Camaro. Ganjoin took down Mark Kelly in the first, Bernie Staub, Bill Trum and received a bye-run into the final round against Stack.

In the final round Ganjoin got the jump at the start (.028 to .038) but, the high mph Challenger caught Ganjoin and forced him to break out giving the win to Stack 10.908 to 10.884.

On Day Number Two East Chester, NY resident Kevin Tiedemann took the number one qualifying spot in his 1970 Nova. He was followed by Bob Kodadek, Stack, Greg Kelly and Bernie Staub. Tiedemann took down 2012 .90 Nationals Champion Keith Mayers in the first round to earn a bye-run to the semi-finals.

In the semi’s Tiedemann took down Bill Nycz 10.932 to 10.889 to earn a date with Stack. Stack who took down Dave Harvey Sr, Kodadek and Staub in the semi’s 10.957 to 10.891. In the finals Stack laid down an 8 thousandths package on Tiedemann. Stack took the advantage at the tree (.008 vs. .031) and laid down a perfect 10.900 to Tiedemann’s 10.897.

The Mid Atlantic Super Street Series will run race number 3 & 4 on May 18th & 19th at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. For information on MASSA contact Rob Keister at 856-332-2851 or e-mail him at Rekeister@aol.com.

Watch this video on YouTube.