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Evans, Hilsabeck and Turner get weekend sweeps
Mardi Gras Nitro Jam comes a close with huge Sunday of racing
BATON ROUGE, La. (May 6, 2012) – While Saturday's sold out Mardi Gras Nitro Jam was marred with weather, Sunday's finale more than made up for it.
After
a passing thundershower forced the postponement of the Mardi Gras Nitro
Jam finale to Sunday, nitro racers and sportsman racers alike went to
work under the hot Louisiana sun on Sunday and over a dozen winners were
crowned on the final day of the Mardi Gras Nitro Jam presented by
Domino's Pizza at State Capitol Raceway.
Fuel Altered winner Mike Hilsabeck
In
professional competition three drivers swept the weekend as Bill Evans
(Pro Fuel), Mike Hilsabeck (Fuel Altered) and Jay Turner (Nitro Harley)
took home a pair of Ironman trophies while James Day (AMSOIL Prostalgia
Nitro Funny Car) and Al Suggs Jr. (Outlaw Pro Mod) added their name to
the list with wins as well on Sunday.
Sportsman
winners from day one of the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour
presented by AMSOIL and Tournament of Champions qualifier were Russell
Marr (Forney, Texas) in Top Sportsman, Chase Murray (Orange, Texas) in
Top Dragster, David Latino (Donaldsonville, La.) in Super Stock, Jimmy
Hidalgo (Donaldsonville, La.) in Stock, Vernon Rowland (Blanchard,
Okla.) in Quick Rod, Floyd Russo (Gonzales, La.) in Super Rod and Bart
Nelson (Laporte, Texas) in Hot Rod. All seven drivers earned automatic
bids into the year-end Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions
presented by AMSOIL.
Hilsabeck
had perhaps the biggest weekend sweep of the professional categories as
the Phoenix, Ariz. driver swept the Nostalgia Fuel Altered category in
his first weekend out with Nitro Jam. Hilsabeck, behind the wheel of the
"Arizona Thunder" Altered, beat defending class champion Ron Maroney on
Friday and followed that up with a big win over young Kyle Hough in
"Nanook" on Sunday.
Pro Fuel winner Bill Evans
Hilsabeck
had the second best elapsed time of the opening round on Saturday to
advance to the final and kept that speed on Sunday with a 6.597, 196.54
pass to drive around a tire-spinning Hough for his second career Nitro
Jam victory.
"We
had a great time in our first weekend out with Nitro Jam and we look
forward to doing this again in the future," Hilsabeck said. "It was
great to be able to bring back the history and excitement of this class
to a whole new generation of fans and Nitro Jam gives us that
opportunity to put on this incredible show."
Evans
also doubled up over the weekend with a big win over Robin Samsel on
Sunday in Pro Fuel Dragster. Evans consistently had the best times of
the entire weekend in the nitro-powered category and used that momentum
to pick up his 11th career Ironman on Sunday against Samsel. The Florida
native ran a 5.616, 238.72 in the final to drive around Samsel who ran
into trouble moments after stabbing the throttle.
Nitro Harley winner Jay Turner
In the consolation pairing Kristen Dennis drove around Cherissa Smallwood.
In
Nitro Harley Jay Turner moved to 8-0 in round wins this season with yet
another victory behind the handlebars of his wildly-designed "big pig"
Harley Davidson. In Sunday's final North Carolina's Turner met up with
Mike Scott and ran a weekend best 6.470, 211.01 to pick up the win.
In the consolation round Louisiana's Randal Andras defeated Steve Dorn.
Louisiana
native Al Suggs Jr., from just down the road in Denham Springs, took
the Outlaw Pro Mod category with a win over last year's winner "Pizza
Joe" Palmisano. With thousands of local fans on hand to cheer him on and
a record-breaking '41 Willys to guide, Suggs went three rounds of 1/8th
mile competition against Wayne Collins and Bill Doucet before meeting
Palmisano in the final.
Palmisano
got a jump on Suggs, but the No. 1 qualifier showed just why he was
featured on just about every media outlet in the area as he stormed back
with a 4.052, 182.77 to take the win over Palmisano who ran a
4.244,167.91.
AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car winner James Day
Wrapping
up the pro categories was James Day behind the wheel of the "Candies
& Hughes" Barracuda as he went undefeated in his grudge race with
Brad Thompson. Day won his opening round tilt on Saturday before the
rains came and kept that momentum on Sunday with a weekend-best 5.853,
241.93 to Thompson's 6.407, 188.63.
In
the sportsman categories Russell Marr defeated Rowdy James in Top
Sportsman, Chase Murray defeated T.J. Tracey in Top Dragster, David
Latino defeated Wayne Winfield in Super Stock, Jimmy Hidalgo Sr.
defeated Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. in Stock, Vernon Rowland defeated David
Nicoll in Quick Rod, Floyd Russo defeated Chris Eidson in Super Rod and
Bart Nelson defeated Thomas Marlow in Hot Rod.
Next up for the Nitro Jam tour is the Pittsburgh Nitro Jam June 1-2 at Pittsburgh Raceway Park.
Outlaw Pro Mod winner Al Suggs Jr.
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Sunday's final results from the IHRA Mardi Gras Nitro Jam presented by Domino's Pizza, Day Two at State Capitol Raceway. The race is the third of eight in the 2012 Nitro Jam Series:
PROSTALGIA NITRO FUNNY CAR
James Day, Mission Viejo, Calif., '70 Barracuda, 5.853, 241.93 def. Brad Thompson, Fresno, Calif., '70 Nova, 6.407, 188.63.
PRO FUEL DRAGSTER
Bill Evans, Miramar, Fla., dragster, 5.616, 238.72 def. Robin Samsel, Marion, Ind., dragster, 15.185, 58.46.
NITRO HARLEY
Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 6.470, 211.01 def. Mike Scott, Blind Bay, B.C., 17.066, 65.29.
NOSTALGIA FUEL ALTERED
Mike Hilsabeck, Phoenix, Ariz., '23 roadster, 6.597, 196.54 def. Kyle Hough, Las Vegas, Nev., '23 roadster, 12.182, 70.19.
TOP DRAGSTER
Chase Murray, Orange, Texas, dragster, 6.340, 213.67 def. T.J. Tracey, Millington, Tenn., dragster, 7.499, 166.63.
TOP SPORTSMAN
Russell Marr, Forney, Texas, '03 Cavalier, 7.286, 181.48 def. Rowdy James, Odessa, Texas, '00 Corvette, 7.491, 180.28.
SUPER STOCK
David Latino, Donaldsonville, La., '06 Cobalt, GT/DA, 9.645, 130.15 def. Wayne Winfield, Kemah, Texas, '87 Camaro, GT/HA, foul.
STOCK ELIMINATOR
Jimmy Hidalgo, Donaldsonville, La., '91 Corvette, E/FIA, 11.172, 119.06 def. Jimmy Hidalgo Jr., Donaldsonville, La., '02 Firebird, A/FIA, foul.
QUICK ROD
Vernon Rowland, Blanchard, Okla., dragster, 8.887, 173.41 def. David Nicoll, Metairie, La., dragster, foul.
SUPER ROD
Floyd Russo, Gonzales, La., '95 Lumina, 9.886, 156.52 def. Chris Eidson, Mineral Wells, Texas, '63 Corvette, 9.874, 153.95.
HOT ROD
Bart Nelson, Laporte, Texas, '77 Astre, 10.916, 127.80 def. Thomas Marlow, Mesquite, Texas, '90 Camaro, 10.928, 120.49.
JUNIOR MASTER
Marissa Boudreaux, Prairieville, La., dragster, 8.076, 78.40 def. Cory Marr, Forney, Texas, dragster, 7.959, 75.28.
JUNIOR ADVANCED
Cory Gulitti, Spring, Texas, dragster, 9.026, 64.59 def. Rebecca Guedry, Brusly, La., dragster, 9.319, 72.83.
JUNIOR BEGINNER
Trace Casey, Van Vleck, Texas, dragster, 13.222, 46.82 def. Bryant Huesers, Rayne, La., dragster, 13.145, 48.95.
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Final round-by-round results from the IHRA Mardi Gras Nitro Jam presented by Domino's Pizza, Day Two at State Capitol Raceway, the third of eight events in the 2012 Nitro Jam Series:
NITRO HARLEY:
ROUND ONE -- Jay Turner, DQ def. Steve Dorn, DQ; Mike Scott, 6.646, 184.08 def. Randal Andras, 10.901, 129.96;
SEMIFINALS -- R. Andras, 6.495, 212.76 def. S. Dorn, 10.984, 88.14
FINAL -- J. Turner, 6.470, 211.01 def. M. Scott, 17.066, 65.29.
PROSTALGIA NITRO FUNNY CAR:
ROUND ONE -- James Day, Barracuda, 6.053, 236.03 def. Brad Thompson, Nova, 6.457, 188.24
FINAL -- J. Day, 5.853, 241.93 def. B. Thompson, 6.407, 188.63.
PRO FUEL DRAGSTER:
ROUND ONE -- Robin Samsel, Dragster, 5.776, 246.71 def. Cherissa Smallwood, Innovative, 7.232, 141.33; Bill Evans, Spitzer, 5.510, 257.51 def. Kristen Dennis, Monden, 8.727, 95.11;
SEMIFINALS -- K. Dennis, 5.777, 206.42 def. C. Smallwood, 10.135, 82.70;
FINAL -- B. Evans, 5.616, 238.72 def. R. Samsel, 15.185, 58.46.
NOSTALGIA FUEL ALTERED:
ROUND ONE -- Mike Hilsabeck, '23-T Ford, 6.578, 181.52 def. Tom Padilla, '23-T Ford, 6.799, 209.93; Ron Maroney, Bantam, 6.521, 212.11 def. Kyle Hough, '23-T Ford, DQ;
FINAL -- M. Hilsabeck, 6.597, 196.54 def. K. Hough, 12.182, 70.19.
