KENT, Washington -- Hello from the Evergreen State of Washington! On Monday, I traveled from the balmy Denver weather to the milder and rainy weather of Seattle, Wash. The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series returns to Pacific Raceways in Kent this weekend for the Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals.
The Denver Winner’s Circle found Ringers supporting racers taking home Wally’s in three of the four professional categories; Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock and Top Fuel.
In bikes, Matt Smith didn’t have much of a challenge after the starting line as his opponent and friend Angelle Sampey lit the Christmas Tree red by 0.047 seconds too early. Smith cruised onto a 7.400/177.81 mph run to take home his second win of the year. Smith was also the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle No. 1 qualifier.
Like Smith in bikes, Allen Johnson was also the No. 1 qualifier at his sponsor’s title race, the Mopar Mile-High Nationals. As a matter of fact, his Mopar teammate, Richie Stevens Jr., sat in the number two position heading into Sunday’s finals. Throughout the day, A.J. defeated Greg Stanfield, Greg Anderson, Warren Johnson and finally a broken Ron Krisher in the money round. A.J. and his crew’s last win came in Seattle almost a year ago to date.
One team dominated the Top Fuel finals on Sunday and that was the team of David Powers Motorsports and both its drivers, Whit Bazemore and Hot Rod Fuller. Baze was looking to take home his first Wally as a Top Fuel competitor, but was denied the chance by his teammate in a close race to the finish light. Hot Rod cruised by Baze 4.683/312.93 mph to 4.770/308.35 mph to claim his second win of the season. Hot Rod also stretched his points lead to 144 points in front of Larry Dixon.
The Penske Racing teammates fared well last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, both recording top-10 finishes. Kurt Busch’s weekend started off a little rough with brushing the wall in practice, resulting in pulling out his backup No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge and starting at the tail of the field. Despite the last place starting position, his great driving and his awesome crew was able to land him a sixth place finish at the end of the USG Sheetrock 400. His teammate Ryan Newman started in the third position and finished a little bit further back than he started, but still finished in the top=10 in eighth place.
Newman didn’t have as good of luck on Saturday in the USG Sheetrock 300 Busch Series race though. He only lasted four laps in his No. 12 Kodak think: Dodge before being involved in an accident. He was scored in 43rd.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series visited Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., on Saturday night. Two Ringers teams competed in the Built Ford Tough 224; South Point Racing (driver Brendan Gaughan) and Green Light Racing (drivers Chad McCumbee and Tim Sauter). Gaughan had the highest starting position out of the three racers in fifth place, but his great qualifying effort didn’t lead to a great finish. At the end of the 150 laps, Gaughan was scored in the 22nd position, while Green Light Racing teammates McCumbee and Sauter finished 20th and 26th, respectively.
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series has this weekend off, their final one of the season, as does the Craftsman Truck Series. The NASCAR Busch Series heads to Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., for the Gateway 250.
Sprint car racer Jonathan Allard raced his final two races in California until September last weekend and made a clean sweep on Friday and Saturday. Friday night he hit his home track in Chico, Calif., Silver Dollar Speedway, for his sponsor’s title race. His win on Friday recorded Allard’s total ninth win of the season. Saturday saw Allard and his No. 9 GT Trends back in victory lane again, this time at the Golden State Challenge Series sanctioned event. The Saturday win notched Allard’s fourth GSC win of 2007 and his 17th GSC career win.
Onto WSORR off-road racing! Scott Taylor and his Skyjacker Ford F-150 ventured to Bark River, Mich., for Round 5 and 6 of the WSORR PRO-2WD events last weekend. Round 5 saw Taylor’s Skyjacker F-150 engulfed in flames after a torque converter failed, then in turn causing transmission fluid to spray all over the exhaust. Taylor walked away from the incident, but his team had to scurry to make repairs for Round 6 on Sunday. Taylor had a pretty unchallenging race and was able to bring home his Skyjacker F-150 on the podium in third place. Taylor left Bark River in second place in the WSORR PRO-2WD championship standings.
In WSORR PRO=4WD action, Scott Douglas drove his No. 7 AMSOIL/Kumho Tire Ford F-150 home to sixth and second place finishes in Rounds 5 and 6 at Bark River on Saturday and Sunday. Douglas of El Cajon, Calif., left Bark River fourth overall in the WSORR PRO-4x4 championship standings.
Both the PRO-2WD and PRO-4WD classes will return to Bark River, August 10-12 for Rounds 7, 8 and 9.
I would like to offer a special congratulations to Ringers supporting racer Joe Sylvester and his Bad Habit Pro Alcohol Monster Truck. Joe picked up his first professional career win in Mansfield, Ohio at the Monster Truck Nationals over the weekend. Congrats to the entire Bad Habit team!
That’s it for this installment of my minute! Next, I will be coming to you from the beautiful wine country in Sonoma, Calif.!
About Ringers Gloves
Ringers Gloves, Official Gloves of NHRA and title sponsor for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, is a full-line manufacturer of high-end, task specific gloves, SFI 3.3/1, 3.3/10, 3.3/20 racing gloves, UnderX protective undergarments and rdigs pit boots.
Keep up with your favorite Ringers racers in ‘07 by logging onto www.ringersgloves.com for photos and highlights!
