National Sand Drag News - TVSD Show-Me Fall Nats Sept '12 Race Recap

The Mid-America Sand Drag Series made its third stop of the 2012 season in late September. This event would be the Show-Me Fall Nationals at Thunder Valley Sand Drags in Grain Valley, MO. Great fall weather greeted racers with cool air setting the stage for fast times and hot competition. Let’s take a look at the action from this event.

Top Eliminator

The Top Eliminator was the highlight class at this event, and it certainly did not disappoint with seven entries making qualifying attempts. When qualifying was complete, Marc Luce with the Breakin’ Luce Blown BBC-powered Dragster ended up with the top spot on the strength of his Friday evening 2.971. Right behind him would be Texas racer Courtney Stidham in the Twisted Blown SBC-powered Dragster as he ran a solid 2.979. V8’s would sweep the Top 3 as Jeff Sieg slid the Blown BBC Dragster normally driven by his brother into the third spot with a stellar 2.986. Unfortunately, parts breakage would take out several of the contenders early. Terry Glasscock brought out his “Whistler” Turbo Pinto-powered Dragster, and ran a couple of breakout passes of 2.91 & 2.88 before transmission breakage took him out, while Jack Monroe suffered the same fate as transmission problems took him out after qualifying #5 with a strong 3.05.

Round one started with top qualifier Luce just breaking the beam on his bye run. Next up, Mike Smith earned a Single run as Monroe was unable to answer the call, and Smith had a bit of a wild ride getting a little out of shape en route to a 3.23. Another Single was up next for Courtney Stidham as he was scheduled to face Glasscock. The Twisted machine ran a solid 2.98 to advance on. Rounding out the opening stanza would be #3 qualifier Sieg versus Russ Bailey in his new Blown BBC-powered Fiat, which was previously campaigned by Karen Hauser. Sieg would take the starting line advantage .179 to .252 and lift early in a 3.19 to 3.18 victory.

Starting off the semi-final round would be a wild match up between Luce and Smith. Luce would turn on the red light by just .042 handing the win to Smith, who clicked it off early to a 3.73. Next up would see Stidham & Sieg battle. Stidham would be on his game on this pass as he cut a .032 and went 2.99 while Sieg’s car shut off right at the hit.

So, a great final round would be set up by two of the most consistent TE entries so far in the 2012 MASD season with the Turbo VW-powered entry of Smith against the Blown small block Chevy power of Stidham. When the tree dropped, Stidham took the advantage .071 to .120 and they were side-by-side all the way down track. As the dust settled, the win light came on in Stidham’s lane as he ran a solid 2.98 to force Smith into a 2.92 break out. This would be Stidham’s first win of the 2012 MASD season.

The points race tightened up a ton with the action at this event. Heading into the Season Finale at Atoka Motorsports Park, Luce takes a two point edge over Sieg with Smith & Glasscock just three points back. Sitting back in fifth place still within striking distance just 12 points back in Stidham. So, it’s anybody’s ball game still.

Courtney Stidham - TE Winner

Mike Smith - TE Runner-Up

Pro 1 Cars

The Pro 1 bracket class came back for its second stop of the season at Thunder Valley coming off of John Acker’s domination of the opening half of the season. The Texas racer used a string of great Reaction Times & consistent ET’s to win the first two events of the MASD season. The question at this event was if he could be stopped.

At this event, each class ran both Friday & Saturday night, with Saturday’s event being the MASD points race. The semi-finals of Friday night’s class was some of the best racing I have seen all season. In the first pair, TVSD local Dennis Burrows in his VW-powered Buggy lined up against Atoka, OK’s Marc Luce in his Motorcycle-powered Dragster. Burrows would lay down the best run we have seen in 2012 with a .001 RT & 3.741 (3.74) for a package of .002. Luce was no slouch on this run with a .028 light & 4.175 (4.12), but it would not be good enough on this day. In the next pair, points leader Acker in his SBC-powered Dragster lined up against Russ Bailey’s SBC-powered Coupe. Russ would have the better RT .056 to .108 and hold on at the stripe to take the win with a 4.165 (4.09) and margin of victory being .016. The final round would see good friends Burrows and Bailey line up to decide who takes home the trophy on this night. Bailey showed he has adapted well in his first season of racing a V-8 as he cut a .028 light and forced Burrows into a 3.724 (3.74) break out.

Unfortunately for Bailey, he was unable to repeat Friday night’s success on Satuday as Kenny Kapple laid down a nice pass with a 3.629 (3.59) to defeat him in round one. Eliminations wore on, and believe it or not, that Acker guy showed he was still the man to beat. He would make it to the semi-final round to face off with the VW-powered Buggy of Tony Hatfield. Acker would go .005 on the tree, and run a 4.251 (4.15) to take the win as Hatfield broke out. This would set up a final round between Acker & Friday night’s runner-up Dennis Burrows. Both drivers were on their game all weekend long, and the final round would show this in the numbers. Burrows would take a slight RT advantage .042 to .045, however at the stripe he would run too fast for the second night in a row with a 3.723 (3.74) while John lit up the win light with a 4.209 (4.20).

John’s third straight win locks up the 2012 MASD Pro 1 Cars championship as he takes a 40 point lead into the Season Finale where he will look to sweep the season in this category. The battle at Atoka will be for second place as Burrows leads Tim Feuerhelm by 11 points.

John Acker - Pro 1 Saturday Winner

Russ Bailey - Pro 1 Friday Winner

Pro ATV

Pro ATV has been a highly entertaining category to follow in the 2012 MASD season. Nothing has been predictable from the start of the season, with great battle after battle. Heading into this race, the Martin Father-Son team topped the standings with son Luke leading his father James for the lead.

Friday night’s action came down to a pair of TVSD local racers as Darren Dockins and John Butler lined up to determine the night’s winner. In this battle, Butler would leave a touch too soon with an .025 red light, which handed the win to Dockins with a 4.348 (4.35).

The points night of racing went through many twists and turns as the points leaders battled for precious round wins. Unfortunately for the Texas-based Martin team, both Luke & James went out in round two opening the way for several racers to gain ground. In the semi-finals, Mollie Eades asserted herself as a championship contender as she beat June event winner Charlie Curtis in a great side-by-side race with a 4.041 (4.04). In the next pair, Tim Martin lined up against Friday night’s runner-up Dockins. Martin would leave first, but take too much stripe causing a break out with a 4.058 (4.09). This would set up a final round between a pair of TVSD regulars in Eades & Dockins. They would leave at nearly the same time, only .001 separating them, but at the finish line it was Eades taking her first MASD class win as she ran a 4.073 (4.00).

Saturday night’s eliminations set up a thrilling point series finish at Atoka. Luke Martin holds a one point lead over Darren Dockins. From Dockins, it is only one more point back to Charlie Curtis, and another point back to Eades. So, to recap, the top 4 contenders are separated by a whole four points. And you can’t forget Season Opener winner James Martin, who is just 8 points back. This should be quite the championship showdown.

Mollie Eades - Pro ATV Friday Winner

Darren Dockins - Pro ATV Friday Winner (NSDN Photo)

Other Bracket Classes

There was an all Hatfield final round in the Pro 2 cars class as Terry defeated Tony in the final round. Brad Buxton took the Sport Comp win on Saturday night with his Dragster after Joe McNeill took the first night’s win with his Jeep. Josh Mansfield (Pro 2 ATV) and Joey Tate (Sport ATV) were Saturday night winners while Jamie Winsor kept up his winning ways by taking both of those classes (Pro 2 ATV & Sport ATV) on Friday night. Mikel Eades (Juniors) & Luke Buxton (Peewees) won their respective kids classes.

Photos Courtesy
Lonestar Graphics (www.LoneStarGraphics.com)
NSDN

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