A larger than average turnout of racers made for a super night of racing as the top three brackets had filled staging lanes. Super Pro contained the biggest field in some time and Pro and Sportsman equaled or perhaps topped the best numbers for first round competition. And all of the classes provided excellent and close racing that built drama as the event went on.
Super Pro was like a street brawl with many of the regular entrants dropping off while new comers took control of the class. The quarterfinals reflected advances by Steve Russell and Dave Harvey Jr representing interlopers and Scott Hakucsa holding on to go to the semis. Hakucsa then recei9ved a single on the ladder on his way to the money round with an 8.38, 122 run. Harvey and Russell had a great match where Russell picked up .03 on the tree but let the Valiant driver by up top for an 8.86, 112 to 6.29, 162 victory. With all the dragsters out of contention the final had only fenders and doors as Hakucsa and Harvey squared off in search of the payout. A couple of hundredths for Hakucsa on the tree and a time card of 8.38 at 118.55 made Scott the victor. Harvey ran on his 8.86 at 110.92 that gave him runner-up money.
In excess of 50 entries made a first round appearance in Pro and with buy-backs included the QF had a full 8 cars. Jim Young took out Jordan Smickle in their contest as Andrew Bracuto got the best of Larry Pappas. Jeff Skertic was better than Mike Franek while Dave Harvey Jr took out Terry Benton. Bracuto, who has a reputation of generally finding a way to the money pot used a 10.63 and 121.22 effort in getting by Skertic’s 13.19, 98.93. Young then dispatched Harvey as his 10.44, 121.65 was superior to the losing 10.85 at 117.69. Now when you get two experienced racers like Young and Bracuto facing each other you just know this is going to be a barn burner, and it was, Bracuto was .013 behind on the launch in his Firebird and when Young’s Camaro is in the other lane that can be a hint that the better light is going to prevail. But racing is a matter of inches and fractions of seconds and when Bracuto posted up a 10.626, 126 time against a 10.62 dial, Young’s 10.458, 125 versus a 10.43 handicap confirmed Bracuto was top dog. That race, by the way had a MOV of .009 seconds, which wasn’t even the closest race of the night.
Brent Long headlined the Sportsman category with a win over Dave Harvey III. Long, who at one time was a regular here, made his appearance notable as he marched through the field including a QF win over Jeff Skertic. Sean Conway gunned down Jeff Rahner’s Buick to advance to the semis and Harvey took the measure of John Dickson’s Nova. Harvey soloed into the final and Long easily moved up in his Duster when Conway went red on the tree. Long and Harvey almost welded together on the starting line with the latter picking up just .01 advantage. This was a real “you pick em” kind of race that ended up[with Long being successful as he ran an 11.60 at 114.56 to0 post the win light. Harvey was right there but broke out via an 11.8978, 110.92 against his 11.90 dial.
Chris Miele captured his second straight Bike title when he outlasted Jacob Treats. Teats had earlier eliminated Don Hookway, who has appeared in two finals so far this year and Miele turning aside Barry Stephens and Charlie Koenig to earn his place. Teats ended this early with a foul start to his 90.35 time and Miele ripped off a 9.21 at 143.40.
Frank Cole bested Art Cadavero for Trophy class, 10.86, 122 against a 14.88 at 85.65.
Junior Dragster honors went to Riley Parson when she jumped on Alexis Sanseverino i9n the trophy run. Picking up a half a tenth, Parson easied to an 8.01, 83 mph win that made Sanseverino’s 8.12 and 79.94 second best.
Rylee Eberhart garnered Junior Street in a run off with Jaina Embley. Eberhart’s 9.06, 73.05 break out held on when Embley went further under at 8.96 and 73.58.
