NHRA FMDRS: Wells and Williams get their kicks at Chicago

JOLIET, Ill.-The NHRA's North Central division season opener came to a
close today at the beautiful Route 66 Raceway.  More than 550 drag racers
took assault on the quarter mile track hoping to get a head-start for one
of the eight racing championships that will be awarded at the end of the
season.

Capping the weekend with a victory is long-time racer and Glenwood, Iowa
resident Kirk Williams.  Williams posted a time of 5.897 seconds at more
than 247 miles per hour in his Federal-Mogul Funny Car.  He out-gunned the
number three qualifier Cy Chesterman of Sioux City, Iowa. Chesterman's run
was good, but not good enough to over-take the veteran racer.  Chesterman
recorded a 6.075-second at 202.39-mph pass in his '99 Trans Am.

"This is such a great track and we could get used to running here," said an
ecstatic Williams.  "What a way to end the weekend!"
In one of the most exciting races of the weekend, Shawn Bowen of Montrose,
Mich. and Lemars, Iowa resident David Wells squared off in the
Federal-Mogul Dragster final.  Wells ran an elapsed time of 5.537 at more
than 258 mph in his Blue Bunny Ice Cream sponsored dragster to capture the
victory over Bowen who took the track at 5.572 seconds and 260.81 mph.

Earning the Sealed Power Low Qualifier award was Bruce Bowler of Denver,
Colo., in Federal-Mogul Dragster.  Marc White of Glendale Heights, Ill.,
took home the $1,000 check in Federal-Mogul Funny Car with a pass of 5.688
seconds and 251.25 mph in his '01 Firebird.  Others taking home low
qualifier money were: Richard Bourke of Old Tappan, NJ in Competition
Eliminator, Michael Mans of Rogers, Minn., in Super Stock and Bruce Parson
of Lewisburg, Ohio in Stock.

Taking home the Best Appearing Car award was Steve Hoyt of Fort Wayne, Ind.
for his 1963 Corvette.  The Best Engineered car award was given to "Hot"
Rod Fuller for his '01 Corvette.  Finally, Richard Haggard and his Heckler
team from Lockport, Ill. earned the Best Appearing crew award. 

The following are Sunday's final elimination results from the NHRA
Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet,
Illinois:
 
FEDERAL-MOGUL DRAGSTER
Round 1
#8 Dave Hirata, Lowell, Ind., 6.516 seconds, 234.37 mph def. #1 Bruce
Bowler, Denver, Colo., 26.568, No Time

#4 David Wells, Lemars, Iowa, 5.640, 236.13 def. #5 Keith Stark, Danville,
Ill., 9.383, 93.54

#7 Ken Perry, Gormley, Ont. Canada, 5.770, 207.78 def. #2 Bill Reichert,
Owosso, Mich., 11.504, 73.89

#3 Shawn Bowen, Montrose, Mich., 5.573, 259.36 def. #6 Jeff Wilson,
Winfield, Mo., 12.623, 63.73

Semi-Finals
David Wells, 5.873, 237.63 def. Dave Hirata, 14.315, 67.78
Shawn Bowen, 5.583, 259.16 def. Ken Perry, Broke

Finals
Wells, 5.537, 258.07 def. Bowen, 5.572, 260.81

FEDERAL-MOGUL FUNNY CAR
Round 1
#1 Marc White, Glendale Heights, Ill., '01 Firebird, 5.871 seconds, 240.94
mph def. #8 John Reikas, Glendale Heights, Ill., '96 Camaro, 6.342, 221.34

#5 Kirk Williams, Glenwood, Iowa, '97 Firebird, 5.955, 244.74 def. #4 Vern
Moats, Des Moines, Iowa, '00 Firebird, 12.037, 45.21

#2 Chuck Cheeseman, Galena, Ohio, '98 Firebird, 5.758, 247.93, def. #7 Dave
Kovar, New Lenox, Ill., '00 Firebird, 6.126, 230.65

#3 Cy Chesterman, Sioux City, Iowa, '99 Trans Am, 5.740, 252.66 def. Mark
Poyser, Fort Wayne, Ind., '98 Mustang, 6.065, 229.00

Semi-Finals
Kirk Williams, '97 Firebird, 5.880, 245.66 def Marc White, '01 Firebird,
5.908, 244.12

Finals
Williams, '97 Firebird, 5.897, 247.93 def. Chesterman, '99 Trans Am, 6.075,
202.39

COMP ELIMINATOR
David Billingsley, Decatur, Ill., '93 Cutlass, 7.568 seconds, 172.39 mph
def. Jerry Arnold, Kalamazoo, Mich., '98 Dragster, 8.559, 152.92

SUPER STOCK
Randy Wilkes, Zanesville, Ohio, '92 Camaro, 10.110 seconds, 131.33 mph def.
Mike Cates, Milan, Tenn., '91 Calais, 9.416, 140.69

STOCK
Kyle Riley, Chicago, Ill., '77 LeMans, 12.505 seconds, 97.52 mph def. Jeff
Potts, Minford, Ohio, '97 Camaro, 11.133, 117.42

SUPER COMP
Jeff Spierling, Streator, Ill., '95 Dragster, 8.896 seconds, 148.17 mph
def. Josh Kamplain, North Salem, Ind., '95 Dragster, 8.893, 163.06

SUPER GAS 
John Vineyard, Almont, Mich., '33 Ford, 9.956 seconds, 145.22 mph def. Bob
Zimmerman, Fon Du Lac, Wis. '92 Cavalier, 9.892, 141.11

SUPER STREET
Tim Gary, Cols, Ohio, '67 Barracuda, 10.959 seconds, 138.90 mph def. David
Van Horne, Columbus, Ohio, '72 Nova, 10.896, 130.43