NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series - Sunday Results from Heartland Park Topeka
NHRA LUCAS OIL DRAG RACING SERIES - WEST CENTRAL DIVISION HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2003 Top qualifiers Bradshaw and Branch prevail for wins TOPEKA, Kan. - In the final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, being held this weekend at Heartland Park Topeka, top qualifiers Alan Bradshaw and Tate Branch both won in their respective categories. In his opening round bought, Bradshaw, the defending NHRA West Central Division champ, won over North Kansas City, Mo., racer Chris Rickets. The semifinals matched Bradshaw against two-time winner this year, David Wells. In the matchup, the win would go to Bradshaw, who ran 5.487 seconds at 253.42 mph to Wells' 5.556 second pass at 253.99 mph. On the other side of the ladder, No. 3 qualifier Gary Cooper made his way to final by defeating Shelly Howard in round one and the Lucas Oil-backed dragster of Morgan Lucas, who is currently second in national points in the class, in the semifinals. In the final, it was all Bradshaw. The Odessa, Texas native ran 5.607 seconds at 246.21 mph to defeat Cooper, who ran 7.394 seconds at 142.85 mph. This was Bradshaw's third final round appearance of the year and second win. Bradshaw's first win came one week ago in Dallas, Texas at the NHRA South Central Division's Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at the Texas Motorplex. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, defending South Central Division champ, Tate Branch of Artesia, N.M., opened his day by taking the win over Canadian racer Kevin Richardson, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the semifinals, Branch faced Sully, Iowa's Dale Brand before meeting up with former West Central Division Champion Cy Chesterman in the final. In his road to the final, Chesterman took out fifteen-time West Central Division Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion Vern Moats of Des Moines, Iowa, before then defeating defending division champion, Kirk Williams in the semis. In the final, Artesia, N.M., runner Branch ran a 5.833 second pass at 246.08 mph to take the win over Chesterman, who ran an off pace 6.771 second pass at 153.23 mph. This is Branch's second win of the year in Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition. His first win came at the South Central Division's season opener in Houston, Texas in March. In other racing action, Clint Sallee of Glendive, Mont., took the win over Jeff Perrella of Hibbing, Minn., in Competition Eliminator. Denver, Colo., native, Ted Romero captured the Super Stock win when he defeated Jeff Dona of Gordonville, Mo. The Stock Eliminator win went to Mike Manning of Rogers, Ark., over Belle Fourche, South Dakota's Bob Swan. In Super Gas, Terry Ekart of Manhattan, Kan., captured the class crown after taking out Forney, Texas native Tommy Phillips. Council Bluffs, Iowa racer Louie Lerette won over Max Tafoya, Jr. of Albuquerque, N.M., to take the win in Super Gas. The Super Street win was awarded to Steve Dominguez of Derby, Kan., who won over Heath McPhetridge of Grove, Okla. In NHRA Kerker Motorcycle Series competition, five-time motorcycle champ Brian Johnson of Burns Township, Minn., earned his first Kerker Series win of the year when he defeated hometown runner, Carl Lewis of Topeka, who fouled. The following are Sunday's final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, West Central Division event at Heartland Park Topeka: TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER: ROUND ONE 5) David Wells, LeMars, Iowa, 5.566, 252.24 def. 4) Gene Snow, Fort Worth, Texas, 5.596, 248.07 3) Gary Cooper, Wichita, Kan., 5.426, 237.84 def. 6) Shelly Howard, Tulsa, Okla., foul 1) Alan Bradshaw, Odessa, Texas, 5.417, 255.48 def. 8) Chris Ricketts, North Kansas City, Mo., 5.741, 230.17 2) Morgan Lucas, Riverside, Calif., 5.477, 260.16 def. 7) Bruce Bowler, Denver, Colo., 5.797, 242.93 SEMIFINALS Cooper, 5.454, 235.15 def. Lucas, 5.680, 249.26 Bradshaw, 5.487, 253.42 def. Wells, 5.556, 253.99 FINAL Bradshaw, 5.607, 246.21 def. Cooper, 7.394, 142.85 TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR: ROUND ONE 1) Tate Branch, Artesia, N.M., Chevy Camaro, 5.789, 244.16 def. 8) Kevin Richardson, Winnipeg, Manit., Pontiac Firebird, broke 2) Cy Chesterman, Sioux City, Iowa, Pontiac Trans Am, 5.854, 245.23 def. 7) Vern Moats, Des Moines, Iowa, Firebird, 11.808, 68.57 3) Kirk Williams, Glenwood, Iowa, Firebird, 5.856, 244.29 def. 9) Shawn Jones, Albuquerque, N.M., Camaro, 12.883, 59.85 4) Dale Brand, Sully, Iowa, Firebird, 5.907, 240.94 def. 5) Thomas Frickenschmidt, Lockwood, Mo., Firebird, 6.117, 220.15 SEMIFINALS Branch, 5.834, 232.39 def. Brand, 5.963, 238.22 Chesterman, 5.828, 247.43 def. Williams, 5.961, 241.93 FINAL Branch, 5.833, 246.08 def. Chesterman, 6.771, 153.23 COMPETITION ELIMINATOR Clint Sallee, Glendive, Mont., Dragster, B/D, 7.056, 175.82 def. Jeff Perrella, Hibbing, Minn., '32 Bantam, A/EA, foul SUPER STOCK Ted Romero, Denver, Colo., '98 Grand Am, GT/JA, 10.814, 120.82 def. Jeff Dona, Gordonville, Mo., '69 Camaro, SS/IA, foul STOCK ELIMINATOR Mike Manning, Rogers, Ark., '87 Monte Carlo, K/SA, 12.913, 101.45 def. Bob Swan, Belle Fourche, S.D., '67 Shelby, D/SA, 11.278, 115.66 SUPER COMP Terry Ekart, Manhattan, Kan., Dragster, 8.908, 164.71 def. Tommy Phillips, Forney, Texas, Dragster, 8.935, 153.00 SUPER GAS Louie Lerette, Council Bluffs, Iowa, '69 Camaro, 9.891, 139.36 def. Max Tafoya Jr, Albuquerque, N.M., '66 Nova, 9.879, 143.51 SUPER STREET Steve Dominguez, Derby, Kan., '67 Camaro, 10.895, 127.88 def. Heath McPhetridge, Grove, Okla., '85 Camaro, 10.831, 130.39 KERKER MOTORCYCLE Brian Johnson, Burns Township, Minn., '03 Suzuki, 10.435, 122.69 def. Carl Lewis, Topeka, Kan., '99 Suzuki, foul