NHRA FMDRS: Meyer gets back to winning ways

HALLSVILLE, TEXAS-The South Central Division Federal-Mogul event concluded today under overcast and windy weather conditions as drivers from as far away as Johnson, S.C. position themselves for divisional and national championships "When you come to a division four event, weather is always a challenge," said South Central division director Craig Hutchinson. Adding, "This has been the best weekend, weather-wise, that we have had this year." Making up for lost time and claiming his first victory of the year is Freeport, Texas resident and consummate threat for the national championship, Jay Meyer. Meyer blasted through the field to beat Karl Brounkowski of Magnolia, Texas in the final. Meyer outran the number seven seed by posting a time of 5.641 and a speed of 244.16 mph compared to Brounkowski's time of 6.364 at 212.29 mph. Meyer, who's most impressive run of the weekend, came against last year's winner of this event, Troy Buff. In a rematch of last season's final round here at Hallsville, Meyer narrowly beat Buff in crowd-pleasing fashion, by leading from start to finish and posting a track record time of 5.501 at 254.18 mph versus Buff's 5.615 and 253.52 mph. In the Federal-Mogul Funny Car category, number one qualifier Jimmy Jones of Cleburne, Texas was unable to make Sunday's elimination's after destroying his engine during Saturday's final round of qualifying. "We lost a head yesterday and could not get the car back in working order," said Jones. "This low qualifier money is going to come in handy in getting new parts." Jones' misfortune left the door open for Richland, Texas native and rookie Funny Car pilot, Jody Austin. The driver of the 1997 Oldsmobile Federal-Mogul Funny Car took full advantage of his opportunity by out-gunning number nine qualifier Kebin Kinsley of Arlington, Texas. Austin recorded a time of 6.202 at 221.02 mph, while Kinsley ran a 6.248 at 231.60 mph. "Someone needs to pinch me and make sure this really happened," said an excited Austin. "Making the field as the number two qualifier and winning this thing is great." Adding, "I feel bad for Jimmy because he is a fried of ours and we hate to see him go out like this." Winning his third divisional event in a row, and securing the Super Stock All-Star entry at the same time, was Jeffrey Miller of Pearland, Texas. "I just want to thank Mike Bush for being such a great crew chief," said a happy Miller. In the end there were nine winners. These include: Jay Meyer of Freeport, Texas in Federal-Mogul Dragster, Jody Austin in Federal-Mogul Funny Car, Mike Saye of Johnson, S.C. in Competition Eliminator, Jeffrey Miller of Pearland, Texas in Super Stock, Ronnie Cardwell in Stock, Rodney Costlow of Dallas, Texas in Super Comp, Craig Anderson of Waxahachaie, Texas in Super Gas, Ray Todd of Friendswood, Texas in Super Street and Chris Jordan of San Marcos, Texas in Motorcycle. Others receiving awards this weekend include: R.J. Dorsett of La Porte, Texas for his 1957 Chevy for Best Appearing Car. John Brener of Abita Springs, La., and his Brener & Metz Crew for the All-state R.V. sponsored Best Appearing Crew award. Lastly, The Best Engineered car award was taken by Dallas, Texas resident Audie Wood for his 1969 Chevelle. The following are Sunday's final results from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Hallsville Raceway in Hallsville, Texas: FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER Round 1 #1 Troy Buff, Spring, Texas, 5.587 seconds, 259.81 mph def #8. Larry Becktold, Luther, Okla. 6.798, 164.01 #4 Jay Meyer, Freeport, Texas, 5.678, 232.07 def. #5 James Thompson, Vernon, Texas, 5.764, 254.04 #7 Karl Brounkowski, Magnolia, Texas, 6.271, 204.60 def. #2 Shelly Howard, Tulsa, Okla., Broke #6 Nick Copeland, Magnolia, Texas, 6.928, 137.58 def. #3 Gene Snow, Fort Worth, Texas, 9.907, 72.88 Semi-Finals Brounkowski, 8.311, 102.99 def Copeland, Broke Meyer, 5.501, 254.18 def Buff, 5.615, 253.52 Finals Meyer, 5.641, 244.16 def Brounkowski, 6.364, 212.29 FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR Round 1 ** #9 Kebin Kinsley, Arlington, Texas, '90 Achieva, 6.368 seconds, 191.32 mph def. #8 E.J. Johnston, Violet, La., '96 Achieva, 6.475, 212.03 #4 Warren Dauzat, Baton Rouge, La., '96 Achieva, 7.129, 143.11 def. #5 Todd Simpson, Ponder, Texas, '99 Avenger, 6.872, 149.28 (Foul) #2 Jody Austin, Richland Hills, Texas, '97 Oldsmobile, 6.407, 218.97 def. #7 Richard Shaver, San Antonio, Texas, '99 Camaro, 6.281, 241.24 #3 Jackie Stidham, Chickasha, Okla., '00 Camaro, 6.146, 226.51 def. #6 Bob Alberty, Muskogee, Okla., '99 Pontiac, 6.219, 222.99 **#1 Qualifier, Jimmy Jones, Cleburne, Texas was unable to make the field. Semi-Finals Kinsley, '90 Achieva, 6.146, 232.91 def. Dauzat, '96 Achieva, 6.373, 227.77 Austin, '97 Oldsmobile, 12.589, 64.40 def Stidham, '00 Camaro, Broke Finals Austin, '97 Olsmobile, 6.202, 212.02 def Kinsley, '90 Achieva, 6.248, 231.60 COMP ELIMINATOR Mike Saye, Johnson, S.C., '92 Cutlass, 9.007, 147.96 def Larry Pritchett, Clarkrange, Tenn., '98 Pontiac, 8.458, 159.74 SUPER STOCK Jeffrey Miller, Pearland, Texas, '97 Firebird, 9.572, 138.63 def John Clegg, Victoria, Texas, '73 Firebird, 9.377, 139.67 STOCK Ronnie Cardwell, Ruston, La., '90 Pontiac, 11.929, 110.73 def Ricky Kyles, Forney, Texas, '65 Plymouth, 13.572, 96.62 SUPER COMP Rodney Costlow, Dallas, Texas, 8.966, 159.16 def Ricky Kyles, Forney, Texas, 9.000, 174.03 SUPER GAS Craig Anderson, Waxahachie, Texas, '63 Corvette, 9.913, 160.21, John Brimer, Arlington, Texas, '86 Trans Am, 9.913, 150.43 SUPER STREET Ray Todd, Friendswood, Texas, '68 Chevy II, 10.960, 116.12 def Bryan Sandlin, Baytown, Texas, '78 Camaro, 10.927, 134.44 MOTORCYCLE Chris Jordan, San Marcos, Texas, 9.742, 132.13 def Robert Sanders, Houston, Texas, '89 Kawasaki, 8.499, 155.27 --30--