Pete Berner won his second Pro Stock Ironman of the season by defeating current points leader Tony Gillig in the final at Norwalk Raceway Park. Berner nosed Gillig with a 6.443 pass at 214.18 mph to top Gillig’s 6.472/211.20 pass.
“We’re coming along,” Berner said. “Tony is a really good racer, his dad and I are really close and Tony and I are really close. They have a really good team and you have to be prepared when you race them. We’ve been pretty fortunate. We have great power and have a great car here. The crew did its job and I did my job.”
Tim Stevens became another first-time winner when he defeated three-time defending Alcohol Funny Car World Champion Rob Atchison in the finals.
Stevens, who suffered a severe crash at the 2004 World Finals in Rockingham, was racing in just his second race this season after completing his ’06 Dodge Stratus chassis.
“This really has not sunk in yet,” Stevens said. “This whole team did an outstanding job this weekend. We didn’t do very well last year, but this new car is very good. We haven’t even tested it. When we get more information on it we are going to be very dangerous.”
Stevens ran a 5.935 at 237.21 in the final to top Atchison on a hole-shot. His reaction time was 0.045, enabling him to reach the line first against Atchison’s 5.910/241.58 with a 0.115 reaction time.