04/30/16
RACERS RUN THE MARATHON FOR VICTORY
What started out appearing to be a routine race day turned into a true marathon after an oil down incident in the first pair of the first Pro bracket time shots. With a solid cloud cover keeping the track cool and a chill in the air, the quarter mile long transmission fluid spill took quite a while to clean up. And after the long wait, once the Pro cars tried to pick up where they left off, three of the first four pair down the track had trouble navigating the left lane. So, another lengthy cleanup was undertaken, the Street cars were brought back for a second time shot to test the track surface, and finally, after a quick single time run only for the rest of the fields, eliminations got underway just about nine o’clock.
For those who stuck out the down time the racing was superb for the remainder of the evening. Two new players showed up in the last rounds of Super Pro and Pro while the previous runner-up in Street completed the deal this week. And it was déjà vu all over again in the Bike bracket.
Greg Georges brought out his familiar Camaro to race in the Super Pro class and went the distance for his first win of the year. Georges barley emerged with the win light over the Chevelle of Rich Williams and ran the dragster of David Hebig under the dial to move into the final against John Graziano. Graziano and his 66 Impala ragtop bested John Zulla in the quarters and then advanced over Mike Conway’s 63 Impala to gain his spot for the money run. While Graziano had the head start and a .006 reaction time, Georges was close enough to push him under his dial and he broke out on his 7.76 number with a 7.753 at 124.69. Georges got the win with a time of 7.18 at 144.40 mph.
Almost four dozen Pro hopefuls showed up for first round action and by the time the QF came around seven drivers were setting their sights on the prize. Joe Theodore drove his Monza past the Vega of Gary Wyler, Rob Zetterberg was better than Bob Conway,
Jim Young took out Craig Sonderfan and Bill Van Goor fell into the bye. Zetterberg, who had bought his way back into the eliminator after a first round exit, took on Theodore in a semifinal pairing, and dispatched the Monza with a 9.56, 141.12 to a 10.07 and 134.87. Van Goor then staged his Camaro alongside the Camaro of Young and hung a hole shot on him to ratchet up to the title dash on a ticket of 10.50 and 126.72 versus a 10.26, 126.60. Van Goor got the jump on Zetterberg in the last race and held on through the entire distance to emerge with the win light at 10.52 and 124.61 to the loser’s 9.55 at 141.55.
Street bracket quarters contained both of last week’s finalists, but the results turned
out a bit differently this weekend. Bill Wackermann, coming into the round as the defending champ, bit the dust when John Dickson’s Nova ousted the Camaro, 11.54, 115.88 against an 11.48 and 113.10 in a double break out match. Gary Coleman disposed of Bill Voelzke’s Dart, 13.29 at 100.33 for the Caddy powered
31 Ford to the Mopar’s red light activated 11.52, 112.97. Connie Wackermann ran unopposed with an 11.99, 111.63. Wackermann and Coleman had to face each other in the SF round and it ended up with Wackermann going into her second straight final round appearance as she posted a 12.03 and 109.53 against Coleman’s 13.34 at 100.06. Dickson ran solo and lined up for the final where both were just a bit too quick, but Wackermann was declared the victor as her 11.97, 108.12 effort was closer to her intended dial than Dickson’s 11.49 and 116.77.
Bike eliminator was a of the past two weeks, at least so far as the wining rider was concerned. It is getting to the point where you could write a half 
dozen reports reflecting Barry Stephens as the bracket winner, and simply fill in the name of the last person to take a loser’s slip. Stephens’ first round opponent was unable to answer the call to go racing so he went alone, and met up with Scott McGrath in the semifinal round. He turned back the challenger when both machines ran under but Stephens advanced via being closer to the dial and when Ashton Dickerson took out Don Hookway the last pairing was firmed up. The final was not close as Stephens enjoyed a large RT advantage and handily picked up his third consecutive bracket honors on a time slip of 9.49 and 123.61 versus a trailing 8.72 at 148.12 for Dickerson.
Junior Street saw Greg Brinster overtaking Saige Embley for the cup. Giving up too much on the starting line, Embley’s sub-dial 11.40, 62.25 was not enough to get to the stripe first and Brinster hauled in his first win via a 10.21, 66.84.
Anthony Capirose garnered the Junior Dragster honors when he chased down Alexis Sanseverino. Garett Sprague dropped out in the semis to Sanseverino and Capirose drew a bye run to establish the final pairing. Sanseverino received the handicap start and Capirose gained some back with his starting line reactions and his 7.97, 79.03 pushed the runner-up farther under her dial to lose on a ticket of 9.05 and 72.01.
A big thanks to all the racers who sat it out while the track was being brought back into racing trim and were more than cooperative in returning to the staging lanes to keep the program moving late into the evening. Your patience, cooperation and understanding are greatly appreciated.