NHRA Northwest Division Summit Racing Series Finals, Saturday from Champion Raceway

EAGLE POINT, Ore. - The top drivers in NHRA's Northwest Division Summit Racing Series came together at Champion Raceway to compete for team and individual honors at the 2006 Summit Racing Series Division Finals. Eliminations are slated for Sunday. Drivers in Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Motorcycle/Snowmobile as well as a High School category and two classes of Jr. Dragsters represent 19 tracks vying for top honors and a share of the $10,600 purse. Competitors in the High School and Jr. Dragster classes are running for trophies.

Saturday's action was highlighted by the Race of Champions, a race within a race that pitted the top points-earning drivers from each track in head-to-head competition. The Race of Champions winners in Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman, and Motorcycle/Snowmobile will advance to a national run-off in November at the NHRA Auto Club of Southern California Finals at Pomona Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

In Super Pro, Brad Vinje, Langley, B.C., wheeled his '68 Camaro to the winner's circle and a chance to run for a national championship in November. In the final he knocked off Peter Bereditsch of Surrey, B.C. The Pro category winner, Curtis Monson, Sechelt, B.C., drove his '81 Malibu around Robert Steffen of Tumwater, Wash., for the win and the Sportsman Race of Champion winner, Derrick Jackson of McMinnville, Ore., has earned his second trip to Pomona for the national title fight by beating out Medford racer Michael Wescom. In the Motorcycle/Snowmobile class, Anita Cunningham, Bellingham, Wash., scored the win aboard her '90 Suzuki, beating out R.J. McAnulty of Billings, Mont.

Each category winner will square off against the NHRA Summit Finals champions from NHRA's other six divisions for a winner-take-all $5,000 purse. Each of the drivers who advance to Pomona will receive an additional $3,500 for competing at Pomona Raceway.

The following are Saturday's final Race of Champions results at the NHRA Northwest Division Summit Racing Series Finals at Champion Raceway:

SUPER PRO Race of Champions

Brad Vinje, Langley, B.C., '68 Camaro, 10.585 seconds, 140.97 mph def. Peter
Bereditsch, Surrey, B.C.,  '80 Camaro, 10.959, 125.25

 

PRO Race of Champions

Curtis Monson, Sechelt, B.C., '81 Malibu, 11.374, 115.71 def. Robert
Steffen, Tumwater, Wash., '78 Nova, 11.518, 116.93

 

SPORTSMAN Race of Champions

Derrick Jackson, McMinnville, Ore., '70 El Camino, 12.838, 92.38 def.
Michael Wescom,  Medford, Ore., '77 El Camino, 12.814, 99.96

 

MOTORCYCLE/SNOWMOBILE Race of Champions

Anita Cunningham, Bellingham, Wash., '90 Suzuki, 9.447, 137.68 def. RJ
McAnulty, Billings, Mont., '84 Suzuki, 8.911, 143.09