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NHRA: Late night racing competition leads to upsets, surprises and good racing

11 August 1999

Note:  The race was completed at 3:45 a.m. Monday

        CLEVES, Ohio - In an event delayed by rain for eight hours, those
who persevered were rewarded with a non-stop night race.  The hearty souls
who stayed around, both fans and competitors, were treated to an
eat-your-heart-out final in Federal-Mogul Dragster and a few upsets in
Federal-Mogul Funny Car.
        In the F/M dragster final, division leader Shawn Bowen, of
Montrose, Mich., beat Dave Hirata's event-low elapsed time on a hole shot. 
Hirata, of Lowell, Ind., had been on a tear all day, setting the track
speed record at 255.89 mph and then resetting it at 263.69 mph in the
final.  Unfortunately for Hirata, Bowen's .442-second reaction time (r.t.)
to his own .526-second r.t. was the difference in the race as Bowen made a
5.647-second run and Hirata outran him at 5.572 seconds.
        In the F/M funny car final, Danny Townsend, of Muncie, Ind.,
defeated Branford, Ont., Canada's Todd Paton.  Townsend's upset victory
came after he knocked out defending division champion Marc White in the
first round and defending event champion Chuck Cheeseman in round two.
        Winners in other categories were Ed Bennett III, of Carleton,
Mich., in Comp., with his third straight divisional event win; Brian
Butler, Troy, Ohio, in Super Stock; Jeff Potts, Minford, Ohio, in Stock;
Jeff Strickland, Red Bay, Ala., in Super Comp; Division points leader Don
Trabel, Sunman, Ind., in Super Gas; and Jay Rowe, Connerville, Ind., in
Super Street.
        The following are the final results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul
Drag Racing Series event at Edgewater Sports Park:

FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
Round 1
1) Shawn Bowen, Montrose, Mich., 5.667 sec., 247.18 mph def. 8) Jeff
Wilson, Windfield, Mo., 5.790 sec., 247.18 mph
2) Dave Hirata, Lowell, Ind. (no time recorded) def. 7) M. Gebus, (no time
recorded) 3) Bill Reichert, Owasso, Mich., 5.749 sec., 247.445 mph def. 6) Bill
McCornack, Lexington, Ky., 5.940 sec., 241.67 mph
5) Randy Bayne, Elwood, Ind., 6.131 sec., 205.38 mph def. 4) Mike Miller,
Okemos, Mich., 12.859 sec., 58.91 mph

Round 2
Bowen, 5.708 sec., 246.23 mph def. Bayne, 10.310 sec., 72.96 mph
Hirata, 5.585 sec., 260.19 mph def., Reichert, 5.831 sec., 245.90 mph

Final Round
Bowen, 5.647 sec., 248.00 mph def. Hirata, 5.572 sec., 263.69 mph

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR 
Round 1
1) Todd Paton, Branford, Ont., Can., 6.040 sec., 238.41 mph def. 8) Fred
Hagen, Chicago, 6.468 sec., 224.38 mph
7) Danny Townsend, Muncie, Ind., 5.965 sec., 245.76 mph def. 2) Marc White,
Glendale Hts., Ill., 7.744 sec., 130.81 mph
3) Chuck Cheeseman, Galena, Ohio, 5.989 sec., 244.10 mph def. 6) Kim
Fritts, Greenup, Ill., 6.308 sec., 224.66 mph
4) John Lawson, Joliet, Ill., 6.165 sec., 235.23 mph def. 5) Jeff Craig,
Muncie, Ind., 10.480 sec., 78.87 mph

Round 2
Paton, 6.036 sec., 238.60 mph def. Lawson, 6.147 sec., 240.44 mph
Townsend, 5.940 sec., 240.83 mph def. Cheeseman, 5.986 sec., 243.37 mph

Final Round
Townsend, 6.185 sec., 240.83 mph def. Paton, 9.427 sec., 90.81 mph

COMP ELIMINATOR
Ed Bennett III, Carleton, Ind., def. Steve Ambrose, Woodhaven, Mich.

SUPER STOCK
Brian Butler, Troy, Ohio, def. Gary Stinnett, Emporia, Kan.

STOCK ELIMINATOR
Jeff Potts, Minford, Ohio, def. Joey Wilkes, Zanesville, Ohio

SUPER COMP
Jeff Strickland, Red Bay, Ala., def. Ken Bowers, Antwerp, Ohio

SUPER GAS
Don Trabel, Sunman, Ind., def. John Pavey, Kokomo, Ind.

SUPER STREET
Jay Rowe, Connersville, Ind., def. Mark Hackett, Quincy, Ill
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