More than 280 drag racers from all over the United States and beyond convened at Infineon Raceway, Sept. 7, for the final points event of the Summit ET Bracket Drag Racing Series. Drag racers were in attendance from Oregon and Nevada with the furthest racer coming from British Columbia, Canada, who had pariticipated in the PINKS All Out event at Infineon Raceway, Sept. 5-6.
Collecting the big prize in the Super Pro class was Stockton's Dennis Paz and his very consistent 40 Willy's truck who had survived a double break out in his race over the 57 Chevy of Napa's Gene Fridolfs. Paz with a better .017 reaction time to Fridolfs.048 RT opened the door which forced Fridolfs to run under with a 9.347 (9.37 dial-in) to Paz's winning 10.918 (10.93) at 119.27 mph. Santa Rosa's Tom Johnson in a 70 Camaro and the 55 Ford T-Bird of Burlingame's David Cook Sr. made it into the semis before being eliminated. Mike Eling of Rohnert Park and his 65 Chevy El Camino earned the Vault Security Systems $100 cash award for having the best combined package over Napa's Bob Hefley in round one with a combined total of just .003 seconds.
Round one of the Pro ET class started off with 70 cars. In the end it was a pair of MoPars who decided the class championship. Jeff Haddix of Rio Linda in a 67 Barracuda, who made his first appearance in a number of years, was being plagued by an ailing transmission. Alan Rutter of Willows driving a 72 Duster eliminated St Helena's Mike Mitchell and his 72 Vega in the semi's to gain a final spot and a shot at the money. Rutter left first with a .126 RT followed by a late leaving Haddix who could only muster up a .193 light. Rutter with an on-the-dial 10.568 at 123.76 forced Haddix into a break out with a 3 under 9.872 at 139.75 Eric Doukas of Fallon Neveda in a 65 Pontiac LeMans cashed in on the Vault Security Systems best package award and earned an extra $100 in his win over the 64 Nova of Delhi's Fred Landolt that added up to a .023 total.
Sportsman's honors went to Rodeo's John Terry and his 70 Nova who stopped San Pablo's Rick Morgan's 73 Camaro in the final. Terry topped the 54 car field using a stellar .007 RT against Morgan's .066 light then closed the deal with a matching and on the dial 15.363 at 83.63 to Morgan's game 12.156 (12.11) at 109.89. Rohnert Park's Kevin Brown, driving a 00 Chevy Z28 Camaro, and Rodeo's Doug McCay and his 08 Ford 150 truck got into the semifinal round before dropping out.
Motorcycle class honors went to Novato's Doug Love and his street-driven 01 Triumph Bonneville. Love eliminated first-time finalist DeQuincy Zenon of Oakland who rode a 94 Kawasaki. Love lead from the start going .013 on the tree to a .240 RT which ended with Zenon breaking out with a too quick 11.269 (11.33) 121.75 to Love's better 13.012 (13.02) at 99.80 The lone semifinalist was Antioch's Greg Doster with his 06 Harley V Rod.
Earlier in the day, Jeff St Germain of San Jose locked up the track championship and will be replacing his father, Trace, who was the defending Infineon Raceway motorcycle champion.
Napa's Chris Simas scored the Wally Trophy in High School and has secured himself a spot later in the month in the Race of Champions at the Division 7 Summit ET Finals at Top Gun Raceway in Fallon, Nev. Simas and his 72 Chevelle got the nod when newly crowned high school track champion Kevin Neft of Petaluma pressed the tree a little too hard and fouled out with a -.008 RT in his 73 Maverick. Simas made a dial in check pass and put up a winning 12.567 (12.52) 107.26 to Neft's 12.675 (12.65) 104.39. The 81 Corvette of Sonoma's John Iacoviello picked up the semifinal round trophy.
In the dragster dominated Super Comp class, Oroville's Rod horn defied the odds and took the class win with his 23 T Altered roadster. Using a 500 cubic inch Jim Spernak-built Ford, Horn scored wins over Glenn Kern, Adam Libeatore, Rick Beckstom followed by a single into the semis.
"Dyno" Dean Hall driving the same Sarmento dragster that took him to a big class win at the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals in July got things rolling with his Kenwood Vineyards speedster first by knocking off Matt Hartzell; then followed that up with a victory over Dave Morgan. In the semis, Hall sent Eric Reyes to the trailer which then set up his final round meeting with Horn. Horn got the early jump, .007 to Hall's .036, and had enough at the finish line going 8.963 at 144.64 to Hall's much faster but trailing 8.955 at 176.86. Reyes was low qualifier with a 8.905.
The 10.90 index Super Street class ended up with a pair of Fords as well as the Adams family bragging rights on the line. David K Adams of Livermore, behind the wheel of his 88 Mustang, squared away with his son Davey and his 70 Maverick only to see the younger Adams foul out. The lone semi finalist was the Paz Performance backed Willy's truck of Dennis Paz who later went on to win the Super Pro class. Paz topped the qualifying field with a 10.906
It took five rounds of tight racing to determine the outcome of the Trophy class which consisted of 51 cars. Heading into the final round was Joe Janusch of Orangevale taking on the Tigges Jewelers and Tyler Brayton racing 89 Mustang of San Francisco's Vince Cardinale. Janusch and his 68 Chevelle eliminated Scott McKenna's Livermore based 68 Camaro in the semis while Cardinale was disposing of fellow townsman John Lewis and his sleek looking 51 Ford that advanced him to the final round. Reaction time favored Cardinale .028 to a .030 with both drivers running under that favored Janusch 11.242 (11.28) 117.33 to Cardinale's way too quick 12.435 (12.64) 98.93.
Top points will determine who is selected to represent Infineon Raceway at the Pacific Division ET Finals, Sept. 26-28, at Top Gun Raceway in Fallon, Nev. For more information on the race or on the bracket drag racing program, call 800-870-RACE. The next bracket drags event at Infineon Raceway will be held on Nov. 16.
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