NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series - Final Results from Race City Motorsport Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NHRA LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES - NORTHWEST DIVISION RACE CITY MOTORSPORT PARK SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2002 JOHNSON SWEEPS CANADIAN LUCAS OIL EVENTS Calgary, Alta. - Racing concluded at the NHRA Canadian Nationals with Brandon Johnson in Top Alcohol Dragster and Roger Bateman in Top Alcohol Funny Car taking wins at Race City Motorsport Park. The Top Alcohol Dragster final featured a battle of the top two qualifiers, Johnson of Shelton, Wash., and Mitch Myers of Hermiston, Ore. "Its awesome, ain't that the way its supposed to be," stated Johnson. In the final, the Shelton, Wash., resident earned the win lights on a 5.718 second, 248.07 mph run to earn his second career event win. The rookie Top Alcohol Dragster pilot earned wins at both NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events held in Canada this year. His other win was at Mission Raceway Park on June 22. "I was a little nervous heading into the final because Myers had beaten me in Seattle," said Johnson. "Overall, Canada has treated us well." An all Canadian Top Alcohol Funny Car final featured Bateman of Calgary, Alta., waging battle against John Evanchuk of Edmonton, Alta.. Unfortunately, the blower drive on Evanchuk's Top Alcohol Funny Car broke after his burnout, giving Bateman the easy win. Despite being qualified fourth heading into today's eliminations, Bateman posted two of the three best elapsed times for the event with his runs on Sunday. In the first round, Bateman set low e.t. in his class with a 6.140 second run. "We just made some small adjustments," said the Top Alcohol Funny Car racer. "It was just a small clutch adjustment and a small fuel change." Winners in other categories are Richard Dingle of Olympia, Wash., in Comp; Terry Anderson of Meridian, Idaho, in Super Stock; Ed Matlejewski of Sherwood Park, Alta., in Stock; John Schmidt of Sherwood Park, Alta., in Super Gas; and Randy Modersohn of St. Albert, Alta., in Super Street. Rob Murphy of Hope, B.C., also took the win in Top Comp and Brian Hudson of Kennewich, Wash., earned the win in NHRA Kerker Motorcycle Series competition. Northwest Division competition of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will head next to Renegade Raceways in Yakima, Wash., August 23-25, for race six of seven in divisional competition. For more information, call Renegade Raceways at (509) 877-4621. The following are final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Race City Motorsport Park: TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER Round 1 1) Brandon Johnson, Shelton, Wash., 5.712, 248.00 def. 8) Nathan Sitko, Edmonton, Alta., 6.519, 205.76 2) Mitch Myers, Hermiston, Ore., 5.704, 240.32 def. 7) William Edwards Jr., Sumas, Wash., 5.889, 232.07 3) Joey Severance, Spanaway, Wash., 5.798, 245.43 def. 6) Greg Tacke, Great Falls, Mont., 6.058, 231.95 4) Michael Cofini, Spokane, Wash., 5.835, 244.76 def. 5) Paul Julien, Mission, B.C., 5.921, 235.47 Semifinals Johnson, 5.671, 250.27 def. Cofini, 5.749, 245.49 Myers, 5.735, 233.22 def. Severance, 5.831, 241.74 Final Johnson, 5.718, 248.07 def. Myers, 5.844, 229.35 TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR Round 1 8) Danny Fillion, Sherwood Park, Alta., '95 Probe, 6.618, 198.10 def. Henry Coolidge, Sunburst, Mont., '97 Firebird, 7.287, 139.86 2) John Evanchuk, Edmonton, Alta., '97 Firebird, 6.359, 227.38 def. 7) Kevin Therres, Humboldt, Sask., '98 Achieva, 11.444, 77.00 3) Ken Kraus, Great Falls, Mont., '01 Trans Am, 6.425, 223.93 def. 6) John Knox, Lacey, Wash., '97 Mustang, 6.408, 222.44 4) Roger Bateman, Calgary, Alta., '97 Firebird, 6.140, 237.59 def. 5) Tim Nemeth, Surrey, B.C., '96 Cutlass, 6.564, 221.83 Semifinals Bateman, 6.240, 235.60 def. Fillion, 6.816, 204.22 Evanchuk, 6.245, 230.12 def. Kraus, 6.425, 223.93 Final Bateman, 6.202, 235.78 def. Evanchuk, did not run COMP ELIMINATOR Richard Dingle, Olympia, Wash., '90 Swindahl, C/ED, 7.938 seconds, 167.16 mph def. Rob Harrison, N. Vancouver, B.C., '91 Beretta, J/A, 8.429, 156.41 SUPER STOCK Terry Anderson, Meridian, Idaho, '67 Nova, SS/H, 10.689, 116.62 def. Rod Hanner, Calgary, Alta., '70 Cuda, SS/EA, 10.671, 102.88 STOCK ELIMINATOR Ed Matlejewski, Sherwood Park, Alta., '71 Chevy, I/SA, 12.764, 103.18 def. James Quan, Sherwood Park, Alta., '68 GT Shelby, B/SA, 11.411, 116.58 SUPER COMP Garth Giroux, Canyon Creek, Alta., '98 AE, 9.226, 160.65 def. Howard Johnson, Graham, Wash., '00 Undercover, 9.047, 161.46 SUPER GAS John Schmidt, Sherwood Park, Alta., '71 Demon, 10.317, 125.89 def. Brian Bond, Calgary, Alta., 10.155, 94.94 SUPER STREET Randy Modersohn, St. Albert, Alta., '67 Chevy, 11.270, 124.51 def. Ron Cross, Springfield, Oregon, '67 Camaro, 11.277, 123.57 TOP COMP Rob Murphy, Hope, B.C., '90 Daytona, 7.940, 178.74 def. Ken Neibauer, Billings, Mont., '95 Firebird, 8.044, 169.71 NHRA KERKER MOTORCYCLE SERIES Brian Hudson, Kennewich, Wash., '80 Suzuki, 9.435, 134.50 def. Steve Cross, Calgary, Alta., '82 Suzuki, 9.650, 129.21