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St. Louis Surprizes!
May 5, 2008
Did you see that? The NHRA national race in St. Louis yesterday was an exercise in surprises. Tim Wilkerson, one of the nicest guys in drag racing, started the race from the pole as low qualifier for the event in Nitro Funny Car. He went on to win the race with a string of 4.82 second passes that was only broken in the final round in his victory over Mike “Zippy” Neff. Neff not only succeeded in getting his first-ever round win yesterday, but waded through a blazing Funny Car field to face Wilkerson in the final. Tim not only won yesterday’s race, but also went on to take over the points lead from Ashley Force who went down in the first round to Tony Pedregon. John Force collected his 1000th round victory yesterday on his 59th birthday. That’s a milestone that may never be repeated. The Funny Car field was just one of yesterday’s surprises.
Pro Stock was anything but normal in yesterday’s race. The Gateway International track seemed to have a grudge against the Pro Stockers. We saw more out-of-shape sideways racing from the Pro Stock field that we did from the nitro racers! In one of the races most dramatic moments, Summit Racing Equipment’s Jason Line exploded his engine in a fireball that looked more like a Funny Car incident that anything that would normally be expected in Pro Stock. The fire from the exploding engine could be seen under the car from the stands at the long-end of the dragstrip. Top Fuel saw Team Kalitta’s Hillary Will with some of the biggest numbers in the Fuel category only to go down in the semis against Tony Schumacher. We have a feeling her day in the spotlight is just around the corner! Pro Stock Motorcycle saw Andrew Hines on his Harley-Davidson taking the win for his second straight national event victory.
All of the stars of the NHRA POWERade circuit will be here at Summit Motorsports Park, June 26-29 for the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals. In addition to that, Tim Wilkerson, John Force, Ashley Force, Robert Hight, Tony Pedregon, Cruz Pedregon, Ohio’s own Jim Head, and more will be back here for the ACDelco Night Under Fire presented by Amalie Motor Oil on Saturday, August 2nd! Don’t miss the only local showing of the best drag racing in the world right here at Summit Motorsports Park. Call 419-668-5555 or click on the “Schedule” button on this website to order your tickets for either of these once-a-year events!
