Perfect light means Money Trail win

Words by Evan Jones
Photo courtesy Maple Grove Raceway

Lou Vasger timed his start perfectly. He launched his ‘96 S&W dragster with a reaction time of .000 and raced to a quarter-mile finish of 7.68 seconds at 173.12 mph to win the Super Eliminator championship in the Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail Saturday night at Maple Grove Raceway.

It was the first win this season for Vasger (Langhorne, Pa.). He beat Scott Lorish (Center Valley, Pa.) in the final after Lorish was disqualified for leaving the start too early.

Other winners in the fourth scheduled Money Trail race were Robert Smith (Pro Eliminator), Elise Renninger (Street Eliminator), Neil Senft (Top Bike), Matt Ormsbee (Trophy) and Matt Patterson (Junior Dragsters).

In the final rounds of Super, Vasger (shown above) had one close call. In the quarterfinals he beat Janet Burke (Pottstown, Pa.) in a double-breakout run. However, Vasger’s pass of 7.683 was closer to his 7.69 dial-in. In the semifinals, he was only .002 above his dial-in to defeat Billy Boyko (Northampton, Pa..). Lorish made the final when Rick Terkowski (Gilbertsville, Pa.) fouled.

In Pro, Smith (West Chester, Pa.) took his ‘66 Chevy II to Victory Lane with a pass of 10.814 at 120.17 which was right on his 10.81 dial-in. On the other hand, runner-up Phil Williams (Mohrsville, Pa.) had a half-second better reaction time, but broke out in his run by .01.

Smith beat Terry Shay (Exton, Pa.) in the quarterfinals with a pass of 10.83 at 118.21 and then raced passed Michael VanDenHeuvel (Elkton, Md.) in a double-breakout in which Smith only missed his dial-in by .02. Williams, meanwhile, survived double-breakouts against Rob Snyder (Sinking Spring, Pa.) in the quarterfinals and Denny Renninger (Leesport, Pa.) in the semis.