Round one of Sportsman Spectacular in the books, championships still to be decided
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (October 12, 2012)
– Day 1 is in the books and of the hundreds of drivers on hand at
Memphis International Raceway on Friday, all are one step closer to
taking their own sizable chunk out of the huge weekend purse and
possibly a world championship at the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World
Finals in Tennessee.
The
opening day of the IHRA Summit World Finals was all about the Summit
Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular presented by AMSOIL as drivers
qualified and finished a single round of eliminations in addition to the
re-entry round all on Friday. The open field Summit Sportsman
Spectacular will conclude on Saturday before the IHRA moves into its
championship portion of the program with the Summit SuperSeries
presented by AMSOIL and Moser Engineering on Saturday and Summit
Tournament of Champions presented by AMSOIL on Sunday.
Top Sportsman top qualifier Kamron Wright
Until
then drivers not already qualified for the Summit Tournament of
Champions are left fighting in the Sportsman Spectacular for the
previous few spots remaining in the tournament. Non-qualified drivers
have extra incentive to win as a victory may just move them into the TOC
later in the weekend. Not to mention the $5,000 prize awarded to the
seven winners on Saturday.
Through
one round of eliminations, five of Friday's top qualifiers are still
alive in the Summit Sportsman Spectacular including top dogs Kamron
Wright (Top Sportsman), Joel Warren (Stock), Patrick Forster (Quick
Rod), Joe Tankersley (Super Rod) and David Boudreaux (Hot Rod). The
other two class top qualifiers Chase Murray (Top Dragster) and Mark
Nowicki (Super Stock) did not survive the brutal opening day.
Of the 35 drivers to qualify in the top five of their respective class, 27 are left standing going into Saturday.
Beginning
in IHRA's premier doorslammer class, Kamron Wright of Odessa, Texas
took the Top Sportsman top spot with a solid 6.688, 206.45 lap in the
beautiful Tennessee fall air. Tennessee native Mark Pickens qualified
second, followed by Donny Urban, Russell Marr and Calvin Butler. All
five drivers survived day one eliminations and will live to race another
round – one of only two classes with a perfectly intact top five.
In
IHRA's quickest and fastest sportsman class Top Dragster, only top
qualifier Chase Murray didn't advance out of the top qualifiers. Murray,
from Orange, Texas, took the top spot after two qualifying passes with a
6.347, 216.45, but fell in round one by a narrow margin to former
champion Scott Ball. Eli McGee, of Gray, La., qualified second, followed
by Brett Nesbitt, Scott Doyen and Gordon Cole. All of those drivers
advanced to Saturday.
Top Dragster third place qualifier Brett Nesbitt
Some
of IHRA's toughest competition came in the Super Stock and Stock ranks
as dozens of drivers battled it out in the two classic classes.
In
Super Stock three of the top five qualifiers moved on, however the man
in the top spot Mark Nowicki of Gaylord, Mich. did not make day two.
Nowicki took the top spot in his '98 Avenger, but fell to the legend
Anthony Bertozzi. Nowicki elected not to enter the re-entry round and
instead focus on his TOC campaign. Pete Peery of Bowie, Texas qualified
second, followed by Gianni Cantusci and David Latino who all moved on.
Fifth place qualifier Mark Young lost in both round one and the re-entry
round.
Stock
top qualifier Joel Warren out of Clinton, N.C. also remained alive
after a solid day one behind the wheel of his '98 Camaro. Also
qualifying in the top five were Louisiana's Jimmy Hidalgo, B.J. Bianchi,
Verne Buchanan and Amy Faulk. Hidalgo and Buchanan are no longer
dancing.
Wrapping up the weekend were the Rod classes which suffered far less carnage than the other classes.
Quick
Rod had the most first round losers among the top qualifiers as third
place qualifier Steve Muller and fifth place man Danny Melton both fell
short. Patrick Forster, of Pittsburgh, Pa., qualified first, while John
Biermann and Jacob Otto rounded out the top five.
In
Super Rod Elkton, Tenn. native Joe Tankersley topped the class behind
the wheel of his '70 GTO and is still dancing. However second place man
Donald Webb of Four Oaks, N.C. was not so lucky, falling in both the
opening and re-entry rounds. The rest of the top five – Charlie Kenopic,
Mike Brunell and Chris Yates – are still in the show.
Finally
in Hot Rod all five drivers won in round one and will live to play
another day. David Boudreux topped the charts behind the wheel of his
'69 Mustang, followed by Texas native Ray Dew, David Bills, Michael
Schiberl and Ronnie Maggard.
The
Summit Sportsman Spectacular will conclude Saturday afternoon followed
by time trials for the Summit Tournament of Champions and Summit
SuperSeries runoff immediately following. The weekend will conclude on
Sunday with the running of Tournament of Champions.
Hot Rod top qualifier David Boudreaux
