NHRA FMDRS: Sunday titles for Cheeseman and Wilson in Chicago
25 September 2000
JOLIET, Ill. - The final round of elimination's were ran as ominous
weather lingered over the quarter mile track as the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag
Racing Series made its final stop of the 2000 season. In the end there
were eight winners. In Federal-Mogul Dragster, Jeff Wilson of Winfield,
Mo.; Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Chuck Cheeseman of Galena, Ohio; Competition
Eliminator, Charlie Westcott of Parma, Mich.; Super Stock, Scott Richardson
of Goodlettsville, Tenn.; Stock, Scott Dugdale of Circle Pines, Minn. Super
Street, Justin Rosenbohn of Leclaire, Iowa; Super Gas, Tom Small of
Indianapolis, Ind.; and Dave Dahlem of Tremont, Ill. in Super Comp.
Continuing to dominate in the Federal-Mogul dragster category and
sure-fire winner of the division championship is Jeff Wilson of Winfield,
Missouri. Wilson, who won for the fourth time this year with a run of
5.526 and 258.47 mph, is making a strong push to finish in the top three
nationally. Said Wilson, "We can only take care of ourselves, the rest of
the pieces will fall as they may." Also, collecting his second runner-up
in the 2000 season is Cincinnati, Ohio resident Gary Ward. Ward, ran a
5.619 seconds and 246.30 mph to earn his second trip to the finals with a
victory over sixth seeded Randy Bayne.
Working on his second division championship in the Federal-Mogul
Funny Car class is veteran driver and long time competitor, Chuck Cheeseman
of Galena, Ohio. Cheeseman, who last won a division championship in 1993,
out-dueled a strong up-and-comer in New Lenox, Illinois, resident Dave "The
Fonz" Kozar with a run of 5.885 seconds and 249.35 mph compared to 6.097
and 230.21. Kozar, making his first start in a final in only his third
event that he has entered, beat number one qualifier Cy Chesterman.
Chesterman, clearly the favorite, had the win with a stellar reaction time
only to lose after blowing a motor at mid track.
The following are the final results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul
Drag Racing Series event at Division Three's Route 66 Raceway:
FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
Round 1
1) Jeff Wilson, Winfield, Mo., 5.443 e.t., 259.91 mph def 8) T.J. Zizzo,
Prairieville, Ill., 5.811 e.t., 236.34 mph
4) Dave Hirata, Lowell, Ind., 6.442 e.t., 201.10 mph def 5) Keith Stark,
Danville, Ill., Broke- Red Light
2) Russ Lindert, Manteno, Ill., 5.570 e.t., 252.43 mph def
7) Phil Mass, Gurnie, Ill., 5.870 e.t., 237.71 mph
3) Gary Ward, Cincinnati, Ohio, 5.649 e.t., 232.83 def 6) Randy Bayne,
Elwood, Ind.., 5.856 e.t., 235.78 mph
Semi-Finals
Wilson, 5.460 e.t., 258.27 mph def. Hirata, 12.997 e.t., 66.31 mph
Ward, 5.619 e.t., 246.30 mph def. Shields, 6.838 e.t., 142.91 mph
Final Round
Wilson, 5.526 e.t., 258.47 mph def Ward, 5.647 e.t., 243.94 mph
FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR
Round 1
1) Cy Chesterman, Sioux City, Iowa, 5.710 e.t., 254.14 mph def. 8) John
Hart, Hicksville, Ohio, 6.580 e.t., 217.14 mph
2) Chuck Cheeseman, Galena, Ohio, 5.706 e.t, 251.72 def 7) Kim Fritts,
Greenup, Ill., 11.254 e.t., 66.90 mph
6) Fred Hagen, Chicago, Ill., 5.951 e.t., 250.41 def. 3) Don Gerardot,
Monroeville, Ill., 6.200 e.t., 226.01 mph
5) Dave Kovar, New Lenox, Ill., 6.093 e.t., 231.32 mph def 4) John Reikas,
Glendale Heights, Ill., 6.664 e.t., 209.10 mph
Semi-Finals
Cheeseman, 5.691 e.t., 250.64 mph def Hagen, 5.759 e.t., 255.92 mph
Kovar, 6.349 e.t., 242.00 def. Chesterman, 8.248 e.t., 106.52
Final Round
Cheeseman, 5.885 e.t., 249.35 mph def. Kovar, 6.097 e.t., 230.21 mph
COMP ELIMINATOR
Charlie Westcott, Parma, Mich., '98 Pontiac, F/SM, 9.193 e.t., 147.65 mph,
def. Don Stratton, Beloit, Ohio, '34 Chevy, B/SR, 8.187 e.t., 160.18 mph
SUPER STOCK
Scott Richardson, Goodletsville, Tenn., '99 Firebird, GT/FA, 10.205 e.t.,
123.8 mph, def. Ricky Decker, Charleston, Ind., '94 Chevy , GT/CA, 9.747
e.t., 132.32 mph
STOCK ELIMINATOR
Scott Dugdale, Circle Pines, Min., '67 Chevelle, H/SA, 12.467 e.t., 77.35
mph, def. Mike Walter, Paris, Ohio, '67 Camaro, F/SA, Broke
SUPER COMP
Dave Dahlem, Tremont, Ill., '98 Dragster, 8.921 e.t., 151.48 mph, def. Rod
Fuller, Rogers, Ark., '98 Dragster, 8.932 e.t., 155.01 mph
SUPER GAS
Tom Small, Indianapolis, Ind., '66 Camaro, 9.928 e.t., 150.60 mph, def.
Greg Kamplain, North Salem, Ind., '27 Ford, 9.959 e.t., 148.09 mph
SUPER STREET
Justin Rosenbohn, Leclaire, Iowa, '73 Vega, 10.887 e.t., 125.25 mph, def.
Jeff Bowling, Hamilton, Ohio, '70 Dodge, 10.956 e.t., 125.42 mph