ENDERS-STEVENS’ HOMETOWN WINS HEADLINES NHRA SPRINGNATS

Erica Enders-Stevens captured the 99th victory by a female racer on Sunday as she took Pro Stock honors at her home track in Houston. She was joined in the NHRA SpringNationals winners circle by Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Mike Janis (Pro Modified).

NHRA SpringNationals

Antron Brown notched his third win of the young season in Top Fuel on Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway in Houston, downing Khalid alBalooshi in the final round with a stellar 3.79-second lap. In Funny Car, Robert Hight remained red-hot, advancing to his fifth consecutive final round, and put his quickest run of the weekend on the boards to defeat Jack Beckman, 4.05 to a 4.17. Erica Enders-Stevens, competing at her home track, scored her second win on the year — and the 99th by a female competitor — when she edged out Allen Johnson on a holeshot in the final round, 6.59 to a quicker but losing 6.58. And in Pro Modified, Mike Janis drove his supercharged Camaro to victory with a string of steady 5.9-second laps, and in the final, was the benefactor of a scant .009 red bulb by opponent Mike Castellana.

Event Winners:

Top Fuel: Antron Brown
Funny Car: Robert Hight 
Pro Stock: Erica Enders-Stevens
Pro Modified: Mike Janis
Nitro Harley: Tommy Grimes
Top Alcohol Dragster: Randy Meyer
Top Alcohol Funny Car: Shane Westerfield
Competition Eliminator: Clark Smiley 
Super Stock: Dale Hulquist 
Stock: Jacob Pitt 
Super Comp: Austin Williams
Super Gas: Stephen Collier
Top Dragster: Allan Constantine

NHRA Division 3

Many-time division champion Bill Reichert added another North Central Division Lucas Oil Series trophy to his collection Sunday at the season opener at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, defeating Jared Dreher in the Top Alcohol Dragster final, 5.27 to a 5.50. Ray Drew began the year in Top Alcohol Funny Car on a high note, powering from the No. 3 qualifying spot to victory over an out-of-shape Fred Hagen. Competition Eliminator, as it should, came down to the top two qualifiers, as Fred Allen and his Altered fended off the hard-charging, six-second dragster of Robert Bailey for the title.

Event Winners: 

Top Alcohol Dragster: Bill Reichert
Top Alcohol Funny Car: Ray Drew 
Competition Eliminator: Fred Allen
Super Stock: Dave Layer
Stock: Kevin Zaskowski 
Super Comp: Chris Sullivan
Super Gas: Luke Bogacki
Super Street: Dean Kearns 
Top Dragster: Karma Hopper
Top Sportsman: Dwayne Gallogly
Pro Stock Snowmobile: Scott Hagen

NHRA Division 6

The NHRA’s Northwest Division Lucas Oil Series also kicked off its 2014 season over the weekend with the annual NAPA Auto Parts Ignitor at the Firebird Raceway in Idaho, which is headlined by the NHRA’s Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Cars. Washington native Kris Krabill took Funny Car honors on a holeshot, using a 5.90 to defeat the dead-late Dan Horan and his much quicker 5.84 in the final. Perennial championship contender Jimmy DeFrank defeated Brad Rounds in an all-Division 7 Super Stock finale, using a quicker .012 reaction time to charge to victory, and former world champ Tibor Kadar took Stock honors over Brad Burton to join a host of other champions. Eliminations in Comp were not completed during the weekend and will be contested at the series’ next stop in Spokane.

Event Winners: 

Nostalgia Funny Car: Kris Krabill
Super Stock: Jimmy DeFrank
Stock: Tibor Kadar
Super Comp: Tom Gresham
Super Gas: Ed Olpin
Super Street: Chris Cannon
Top Sportsman: Steve Downs
Top Dragster: Dan Provost 
Sportsman Motorcycle: Craig Jensen

PSCA Spring Break Super Show

Scot Slotten wasn’t the quickest racer in the field, but he did what he needed to round after round to collect the Outlaw 10.5 crown from the No. 5 qualifying position at the PSCA’s Spring Break Super Show in Fontana over the weekend, using a 4.62 in the final round to oust Doug Sikora’s record-holding Mustang. Roger Holder Jr. defeated Rich Hoyle in Xtreme Drag Radial, 4.59 to a 4.90, while Ryan “Toaster” Jones scored in Wild Street with a stout 4.88 from his Chevy II.

Event Winners: 

Outlaw 10.5: Scot Slotten
Xtreme Drag Radial: Roger Holder Jr.
Wild Street: Ryan Jones
Hot Street: Bryan Cobbett
Outlaw 8.5: Chad McGee
Open Comp: Daniel McClelland
Mustang Maddness: Anna Marciano
Super Index: Dick Kreiger
Triple Index: Jeff Craig
Bracket 1: Brad Pierce
Street Muscle: Colin Brandt
Junior 8-12: Morgan Clinton
Junior 13+: Kaitlyn Savolt

IHRA Division 1

Travis Housh and John Dustin headlined the IHRA Patriots Division 1 Pro-Am Tour event at the Richmond Dragway, each collecting multiple wins on on the weekend. Dustin doubled-up in the Hot Rod class, ousting Glenn Grinstead and Jake Milstead on consecutive days, and also added the Quick Rod title to his weekend resume on Saturday. Hough also ran the table in Top Sportsman in his split-window Corvette, defeating Brian Pryor on Saturday and Gary Pitts on Sunday.

Event Winners (Saturday/Sunday):

Top Sportsman: Travis Housh
Top Dragster: Chad Traylor/Wyatt Colbert
Super Stock: Richard Preiser/Doug Hobgood
Stock: A.J. Currie/Brian Martel
Quick Rod: John Dustin/William Pitz
Super Rod: Dave Lynden/Donald Webb
Hot Rod: John Dustin