Dennis Rieck had a hell of a weekend and race at the Fall Nationals. On his Thursday qualifying pass his screw charger-equipped small block Chevy hinged a rod during qualifying, breaking the billet block among other parts. He then left to attend his son’s graduation ceremonies while his crew built a complete new motor at the track on Friday and Saturday. They finished the job in time to answer the call for Saturday’s first round of eliminations and win the race.
Sunday they lined up against eventual winner Shane Sanford for the second round and Rieck just got beat running a 2.638/115.96 to Sanford’s 2.624/137.46. Rieck was all over the track on that pass and after crossing the finish line he made a hard left turn and snap-rolled the dragster, breaking it into three pieces. He went to the hospital for some minor injuries and returned in time for the awards banquet.
On a side note, Rieck not only competes at ASDA races and his company supports the ASDA points fund with money, but he is involved in starting a rival sand drag racing sanctioning body to compete with the ASDA. Sand drag racing, like politics, often seems to make for strange bedfellows.