NHRA FMDRS: A drive at the park for White and Wilson in Edgewater
7 August 2000
CLEVES, OHIO-The Fourth event of the 2000 North Central Division
Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series took place over the weekend at the
Edgewater Sports Park located on the outskirts of Cincinnati. More than
620 drivers and grandstands full of passionate race fans endured the wrath
of Mother Nature as weather dominated the final day of drag racing.
Following numerous rain delays, racing finally resumed with the top honors
going to Jeff Wilson of Winfield, Mo., in the Federal-Mogul Dragster
category. Wilson posted a time of 5.870 narrowly beating Montose, Mich.,
resident Shawn Bowen with a time of 5.981 seconds. After regaining the
top qualifying position from last years defending race champion, Danny
Townsend, Chuck Cheeseman of Galena, Ohio, gave it everything he had but
came up a little short against Marc White. White, of Glendale Heights,
Ill., increased his divisional points lead with a fantastic run in the
finals. White had a time of 5.979 at 243.44 mph compared to Cheeseman's
run of 5.936 at 240.70 mph. With four divisional races completed, White and
Cheeseman are tied at two-a-piece heading into the next race at Bowling
Green, Kentucky.
Wilson continues to be a force in the Federal-Mogul Dragster division.
After his second place finish at Martin, Mich., He regained his winning
ways by out-dueling a very strong field here at Edgewater Sports Park.
Said Wilson, "Anytime you can come away with a victory competing against
these guys, it's special. It was not a pretty win by all means, but a win
is a win no matter how you slice it."
On a serious note, Federal-Mogul Funny Car racer and veteran
driver, Bob Gottschalk, 57, of Toledo, Ohio was competing in the second
round of eliminations when the Funny Car he was driving crashed into the
guardrail. Gottschalk, was extricated from the vehicle and stabilized by
local EMT's on site, and than airlifted to a local hospital for further
treatment and evaluations on his injuries.
In other action, sharing the $2500 Winston Top Qualifier money were
Dave Hirata, Federal-Mogul Dragster; Chuck Cheeseman, Federal-Mogul Funny
Car; Jerry Arnold, Competition; Jerry Silveus, Super Stock; and Don Holmes,
Stock. The Best Appearing Car Award went to Mount Washington, Ky.;
resident Matt Alvey while Mike Lawrence of Cincinnati, Ohio landed the Best
Engineered Car Award. Finally, Wayne Hutton's team of Portland, Tennessee
won the Best Appearing Crew Award.
Three new NHRA national and three track records were set this
weekend at Edgewater Sports Park: Robert Book of Frankfort, Ill., set the
new standard in A/D Comp Eliminator with a run of 6.656 seconds and 203.85
mph; Steve Krumlauf of Westerville, Ohio drove his '88 Pontiac GT/J to a
record time of 10.742 and 124.00 mph in the Super Stock category; Dave
Edwards of Washington, Ohio took home the national record in L/SA Stock
Eliminator with a pass of 11.708 seconds. Federal-Mogul Dragster super
star, Dave Hirata bested his own track e.t. record with a run of 5.549
seconds. The Federal-Mogul Funny Car category had two track records
broken. The low e.t. record was eclipsed by Galena, Ohio's own Chuck
Cheeseman with a time of 5.902 seconds. In addition, Muncie, Indiana,
resident Danny Townsend broke the track speed record with a speed of 249.65
mph.
The following are the final results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul
Drag Racing Series event at Division Three's Edgewater Sports Park:
FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
Round 1
8) Mike Miller, Okemos, Mich., 9.241 e.t., 78.88 mph def. 1) Dave Hirata,
Did not run (Mechanical failure)
5) Shawn Bowen, Montrose, Mich., 5.790, 250.76 def 4) Gary Ward,
Cincinatti, Ohio, 6.105, 193.13
2) Jeff Wilson, Winfield, Mo., 5.600, 253.59 def 7) Dana Stripe, Columbia,
Mo., 5.874, 237.09
3) Russ Lindert, Manteno, Ill., 5.745, 246.77 def 6) Randy Bayne, Elwood,
Ind., 9.698, 83.27
Semi-Finals
Wilson, 5.671 e.t., 252.59 mph def. Lindert, 5.717 e.t., 247.45 mph
Bowen, 5.919 e.t., 244.76 mph def. Miller, 10.104 e.t., 75.41 mph
Final Round
Wilson, 5.870 e.t., 241.48 mph def Bowen, 5.981 e.t., 246.10 mph
FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR
Round 1
1) Chuck Cheeseman, Galena, Ohio, 5.944 e.t., 231.83 mph def. 8) Kim
Fritts, Greenup, Ill., 6.122 e.t., 237.65 mph
2) Danny Townsend, Muncie, Ind., 6.186, 244.36 def 7) Jeff Lancaster,
Hamilton, Ont. Can., 6.891, 180.79
3) Marc White, Glendale Heights, Ill., , 249.37 def. 6) John Reikas,
Glendale Heights, Ill., 9.937, 86.33
4) Bob Gottschalk, Toledo, Ohio, 6.134, 237.65 def. 5) Roger Cutler,
Galesburg, Mich., 6.232, 241.41
Semi-Finals
White, 5.904 e.t., 248.07 mph def. Townsend, 6.184 e.t., 219.76 mph
Cheeseman, 5.872 e.t., 245.29 def. Gottschalk, Broke
Final Round
White, 5.979 e.t., 243.44 mph def. Cheeseman, 5.936 e.t., 240.70 mph
COMP ELIMINATOR
Jerry Arnold, Kalamazoo, Mich., '98 Dragster, E/ED, 8.869 e.t., 120.16 mph,
def. Mike Saye, Johnston, S.C., '92 Cutlass, G/A, 9.088 e.t., 148.27
SUPER STOCK
Mike McKinney, Richmond, Ind., '00 Firebird, GT/DA, 10.254 e.t., def.
Brian Butler, Centerville, Ohio, '90 Beretta, GT/GA, 10.260 e.t.,
STOCK ELIMINATOR
Edmond Richardson, Goodlettsville, Tenn., 11.401 e.t., 109.94 mph def.
Donnie Fuller, Louisville, Ky., 11.728 e.t., 111.55 mph
SUPER COMP
Brian Folk, Durand, Ill., 8.930 e.t., 161.92 mph def. Tony Collier, Xenia,
Ohio, 8.904 e.t., 161.20 mph
SUPER GAS
Steve Cohen, Trilby Fla., '63 Corvette, 9.942 e.t., def. Danny Edwards,
Columbus, Ohio, '85 Daytona, 9.894 e.t.
SUPER STREET
Erich Beer, Prospect Heights, Ill., '82 Firebird, 10.931 e.t., def. Lamar
Stevenson, Montgomery, Ala., '69 Camaro, 10.942 e.t.