Saturday, May 20, 2006

The constant rain has moved out of the area and the gates of Dragway 42 reopen tonight for our first "Street Race Saturday Night" of the season.

Tonight's program is open to any and all vehicles. The track will open at 6 PM and racing will continue until Midnight. Admission is $10 per person to race or watch. As always, youths 14 and under are admitted free of charge.

Do not forget that tomorrow our regularly scheduled Sunday program will be contested with a $500 (or more) to win Box / No Box Combo race, a Junior Dragster points event, plus a Street Trophy and Bike Trophy elimination on tap.

Enjoy the end of the rain and spend your weekend at Dragway 42.

About the only thing Mother Nature's recent weather conditions have been helping is the freshly planted grass in the pits of Dragway 42.

With weather forecasts for the next few days that are not favorable to drag racing, be sure to check our yellow "Breaking News" box in the upper left section of the front page of the Dragway42.com website or the Dragway 42 Dragline phone number for the latest schedule updates.

Monday, May 8, 2006

Racers, fans, and staff at Dragway 42 had a lot of racing and fun this past weekend.

Saturday: The second race of the Summit Super Series season was held plus the first Quick 16 event of the year was also contested.

When the smoke had cleared, Gary Gribben came out the big winner, pocketing $1,000 plus contingencies for his win in Quick 16 AND pocketing another $1,000 (since he is entered in the Dragway 42 points program) plus contingencies for his win in the "Backyard Concepts" Mod class.

Near the end of the final qualifying session for Quick 16 Gribben recognized that there was still an open position available for a door car. Thinking quickly, he went to the back gate, paid the $65 entry, and ran 6.7698 to take the 8th door car and 16th overall spot in the field.

Three round wins later, Gribben and his 1966 Nova were facing off with the 1990 Spitzer dragster of Chris Weinkamer. In a double-breakout race, Gribben's 6.7332 / 100.88 MPH pass on a 6.74 dial-in was enough to hold off Weinkamer's 4.8291 / 141.93 MPH on a 4.85 dial-in.

In Top, Burbank, Ohio's Randy Biddle wisely invested $20 to buyback into the second round in his 2001 Undercover Dragster, then made his way to a final round matchup with Brunswick's Joe Clark. Clark's beautiful black 1955 Chevy got to the finish line first, but ran 11.447 to break out on his 11.47 dial-in. Biddle ran 8.177 / 140.53 mph on his 8.05 dial-in to pocket the $1,000 (because he also is entered in the Dragway 42 points program) prize money plus contingencies for the victory.

As mentioned earlier, Gary Gribben doubled up, also taking the victory in an All-Chevy Nova final in the "Backyard Concepts" Mod class final. His opponent, Jim Stephens of Plymouth, Ohio had a first round .015 redlight, but parlayed his $20 buyback into a $350 payday (since he too is participating in the Dragway 42 points program) for the runner-up effort. In the second double breakout final round for Gribben, his 10.6328 / 121.33 mph run on a 10.67 dial-in was good enough to overcome the 10.9147 / 122.68 mph on a 10.97 dial-in effort from Stephens and his red 1969 Nova.

In the Pro Bike class, Newark's Joe Bayles made it to his second consecutive final round to face Gary Fury, Jr. of Middleburg Heights. Fury, Jr used a holeshot on his 1987 Suzuki to hold off Bayles' 2000 Suzuki for the victory however Bayles retains his season points lead.

In the Street class, Litchfield's Bryon Shanno made it to his second consecutive final round and, as in the Pro Bike class, used a significant holeshot advantage in his 1971 Ambassador to overcome Ashland's Mike Trull in his 1996 GMC Yukon for the victory. With the win Shanno, who did not sign-up for the points program until this event, jumped all the way into the class points lead in just 1 week.

Click here to view the updated Saturday Dragway 42 Point Series standings.

Sunday: A very cold morning turned to a very nice day of racing in the Box / No Box Combo, Junior Dragster Super Pro, Junior Dragster Pro, and Street Trophy classes.

A large number of new cars turned out to see the ongoing, $1/2 million dollar improvement project underway at Dragway 42 facility including an unexpected appearance by the Nostalgia BB/Funny Car Rubber City Connection.

The $500 to Win combo came down to the 1982 Mercury Capri of Cleveland's Dave Widmar representing the No Box side of the ladder facing the 1998 Mike Bos dragster of Spencer, Ohio's Ric Wallin from the Box class. Widmar's .033 reaction time and 12.5850 pass on a 12.58 dial in was enough to overcome Wallin's .016 reaction time, 7.7589 / 171.90 mph breakout run on the 7.78 dial-in.

Widmar defeated West Salem's Bill Davis and his 1979 El Camino in the No Box class combo final while Wallin defeated the 1972 Pinto of Vince Nay from Newcomerstown to take the Box class combo final.

This was the second consecutive final round appearance in Sunday Combo for the Wallin family dragster. One week ago 16 year old Chris Wallin started the streak. Rumors of Linda Wallin racing the dragster next Sunday were quickly snuffed out when it was remembered that this Sunday is Mother's Day and the track will be closed.

In Junior Dragster - Super Pro action, Lorian's Kristen Kiger in her PSP machine took the class victory when Sandusky's Jonathan Rose turned on an .012 red light in the finals.

The Junior Dragster Pro class final saw Brunswick's Matthew Forkapa make his way to a second consecutive final round. Unfortunately for Forkapa, a .0040 red light start handed the victory to LaGrange, Ohio's Josh Phillips. Forkapa and Phillips are now tied for first place in the season long points race in this class.

Click here to view the updated Sunday Dragway 42 Point Series standings.

In the Street Trophy class Akron's Mindy Chaboudy took home the big trophy driving her very clean Ford Mustang to a final round victory over when Massillon's Andrew Renner turned on a .0169 red light in his 2002 Camaro.