Smith, Bohannon, Mattingly lead Doorslammer National Open winners
The 34th annual NHRA Doorslammer National Open at Ohio Valley Dragway in Louisville, Ky., saw Mitch Smith in Top Sportsman, Charlie Bohannon in Super Stock and Tommy Mattingly leading the list of winners.
Smith captured the NHRA DART Top Sportsman title with his Jasper Engines Pontiac GTO downing Tom Blincoe in the final with a near perfect .007 reaction time and an easy 4.74 at only 135.93 mph as Blincoe experienced trouble on the leave after having back-to-back .006 and .002 lights in the two previous rounds. Smith, a two-time division Top Sportsman points champion, moved into second place in the standings only 25 points behind Tom Stultz, who closed out his season with 320 points after a disappointing foul in the second round. Eric Burnett from Clarksville, Ind., led qualifiers with a 4.301/171.91 mph effort in his twin-turbo-powered '05 Cavalier.
There were actually three Bohannons in final rounds on Sunday with Charlie taking the Super Stock crown with his Bohannon Racing SS/HA '67 Vette over Josh Epperson at the wheel of his family's SS/BA Plymouth Savoy. Charlie's brother Joe made it to the final in Super Pro and son Tyler was in the final of Jr. Dragster.
Former division champion Mattingly regained his winning form with his O/SA '65 Chevelle wagon. Mattingly got the better reaction time in the final with Mark Poole and held on for the win despite Poole's 7.108 on his 7.10 dial-in.
Other winners Sunday included Dale Johnson from Franklin, Ky., in Super Pro; Tim Knieriem from Mt. Washington, Ky., in Pro ET; Travis Sells from Vinegrove, Ky., in Trophy and Zach Rinnert from Bloomington, Ind., in Jr. Dragster.
On Saturday Aaron Glaser defeated Chris Ray in the Top Sportsman Shootout; Donnie Fuller won the Super Stock-Stock combo over Todd Frantz; Billy and Tony Thoman met in the final of the bonus Top Sportsman race with Billy winning. Other Saturday night winners included Brad Goodman in Super Pro, Lincoln Helm in Pro ET, Daniel Davenport in Trophy, and Nick Michal in Jr. Dragster.
Tim Branon from Madisonville, Ky., was the lone NHRA eighth-mile national record setter at the event, with a new H/S mark of 7.15 at 94.58 mph. [10/7/2008]
Zizzo adds Virginia to schedule
T.J. Zizzo and the PEAK/HERCULINER/O'Reilly Top Fuel dragster will make an unscheduled stop this weekend at the Virginia NHRA Nationals just outside of Richmond.
"We got home from Memphis and turned the car around like it was the second round of eliminations," Zizzo said. "No one was ready for the season to end.
"We've got a better shot at winning the racing if we're there than if we're sitting at home watching it on ESPN," he joked.
"We didn't want our season to end the way it did in Memphis," T.J said of the team's first round tire smoking loss to Doug Kalitta. "We've got a great team and these guys deserve another round win before the winter gets here." (Steve Embling photo) [10/7/2008]
Can VMP be lucky again for Cory Mac to move up in points?
Cory McClenathan, currently No. 2 in points, is aiming to close the gap between him and Top Fuel points leader Tony Schumacher this weekend at the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. The driver of the FRAM Top Fuel dragster enters the third race of the six-event Countdown to 1 playoffs 166 points behind his Don Schumacher Racing teammate.
McClenathan is the winningest Top Fuel racer at Virginia Motorsports Park, having collected four titles at this track in five final-round appearances (2006, 1999, 1998 and 1995), the most he's won at any one track in his career. He was also the 1997 runner-up.
"I like the structure of the Countdown better than I did last year," said McClenathan, who missed it in 2007. "It should definitely involve the top 10 (drivers in points). I think that it's something they should have done last year, but we all knew they had to start from somewhere to make some adjustments, and I think they've made the right ones so far. It's good for everybody. It's given the No. 9 and No. 10 people a place to shoot from and it's made it interesting. And the fans really seem to like it.
"The front-runners throughout the season have remained the cars to beat during the Countdown. The FRAM dragster has been able to move up a couple of spots and we feel good about that. Obviously, most of us feel like we're just running for second place at this point. It is what it is. Tony Schumacher and the Army team would really have to mess up. We'll have to wait and see how things play out.” (Ron Lewis photo) [10/7/2008]