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PAGE 4B
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009
AUTO RACING
AUTO RACING
Onda earns first Atlanta Dragway win
BURNING RUBBER
Sportsman winner Scott Reynolds lights the tires
before a run. Photo by Amy Glover
By Amy Glover
SUMMIT ET points race
regulars returned to Atlanta
Dragway this past weekend,
and with good weather and
fast speeds, they put on a
great show for the fans.
Dragsters dominated the
Super Pro final, with Jim
Onda of Toccoa in his '96
dragster against Tommy
Motes of Loganville in his
'00 Undercover. The men
were dialed closely, Onda
at 4.89 and Motes at 4.93.
Motes had a slightly better
.024 reaction time next to
Onda's .029 light. However,
Motes’ dragster failed towards
the top end, slowing due to
mechanical issues, finishing
with a 7.76 elapsed time at
48.44 mph. Onda sped past
to cross the win stripe first, in
5.09 seconds at 113.58 mph.
According to Jim Onda, he
“wasn't even going to come
today,” but ended up record
ing his first win at Atlanta
Dragway.
Canton’s Chad Brewer,
who won Pro class in the
previous Summit event,
topped his peers once more
with his impressively reli
able ’67 Camaro. Brewer
was up against Jody Blalock
of Commerce, who raced a
unique '47 Hudson. Brewer,
dialed at 7.30, left the starting
line first with a .022 reaction
time, followed by Blalock
(dialed at 6.55), who cut a
.073 light. Blalock couldn't
catch Brewer's Camaro,
which crossed first in 7.33
seconds at 91.99 mph, with
the Hudson slightly off the
dial in 6.63 seconds at 103.21
mph.
J.D. “Doc” Burford of
Greenville, S.C., made it to
his third Summit ET series
final in a row, alongside Scott
Reynolds of Cartersville.
Reynolds' '90 Formula
350 left the line first with a
.020 reaction, Burford's '07
Corvette close behind with a
.067 reaction time. Burford
couldn't catch Reynolds at
the finish, taking 13.08 sec
onds on a 13.02 dial-in, at
110.38 mph. Reynolds had a
tighter run, finishing with a
14.45 ET on his 14.42 predic
tion, at 92.90 mph, and thus
became the night's Sportsman
champ.
The Motorcycle final was
determined at the Christmas
tree, with a red-light foul
guaranteeing the victor.
Jimmy “Cha Cha” Heisler of
Woodstock left first, cutting
a .088 light on his ’00 Ninja.
Perhaps the anticipation was
too much for Loganville’s
Michael Tlapa, who jump-
started the tree with a -.035
red light on his ’01 Hayabusa.
Tlapa rode it out, a 10.34 sec
ond run on his 10.10 dial, at
135.36 mph, while Heisler
finished with a 10.64 on a
10.59 dial-in, at 123.84 mph.
Joe Brown of Baldwin and
Howard Bowman of Homer
were the Motorcycle semi-
finalists.
Madison Lee, age 11 of
Campobello, S.C. and
Wesley Mayfield, age 12 of
Gainesville ran together in the
8-12 Junior Dragster finals.
Mayfield left the line first
with a decent .018 green, but
was trumped by Lee's .010
light. Mayfield’s elapsed-
time was 8.94 seconds at
68.84 mph, .03 seconds faster
than his 8.97 dial-in, while
Lee pulled off an 8.91 ET
at 73.60 mph, on her 8.90
dial. Though Mayfield broke
out, handing the win to Lee,
Lee earned the victory with
a smooth run, also reaching
third in points.
The 13-17 Junior Dragster
category featured the formi
dable Brett Bowman, age 17
of Homer against Jennifer
Jarrett, age 16 of Cartersville
in the final round. The two
were dialed closely, Bowman
at 8.02 and Jarrett at 8.04.
Jarrett left the line a bit too
early, launching with a -.021
red-light. Bowman following
with a .095 green. Jarrett also
ran 8.02 at 81.77 mph, .02
seconds quicker than her 8.04
prediction, while Bowman
ran dead on his 8.02 dial-in,
at 80.24 mph. Bowman is
now second place in points.
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ON THE GO
Jefferson native Ryan Crane (51) goes side-by-side with Jerry Coulter (16) during
Friday’s ARCA/RE/Max event at Michigan International Speedway. Crane recorded
his second top ten finish in his second ARCA event.
Crane takes seventh at Michigan
LAST WEEKEND’S
ARCA RE/MAX race at
the two-mile Michigan
International Speedway
marked a lot of firsts for
twenty-five-year-old Jefferson
native Ryan Crane. It was
his first time on a track over
1.5 miles in length and his
first in a car that produced
speeds well over 180 mph.
One would have never known
such at day’s end as Crane
brought home his #51 Phoenix
Construction Dodge seventh
in just his second series start.
After Thursday’s qualify
ing and practice session got
washed out due to heavy
rains, Crane was forced to
a twenty ninth place start
ing position and only fifty
minutes of practice race day
morning to get accustomed
to the two mile track and his
James Finch owned race car.
After quickly getting used to
the track, Crane posted the
fourteenth quickest time dur
ing the abbreviated session.
From the drop of the green
flag Crane had his work cut
out for him coming from the
rear of the field. Crane and
fellow short track racer Brian
Ickler worked in tandem slic
ing their way through the
forty one car field. Early on,
Crane did an excellent job
dodging an accordion style
restart which saw several cars
stack up and spin just missing
the #51 machine.
“We had a pretty decent
day I thought,” Crane, who
currently calls Panama City,
Florida home, said. “Each lap
I was learning something new
and learning on communicat
ing with the team on what
the car needed to make it
faster. Just not having that
extra practice on Thursday
hurt us a bit and it pretty
much took three quarters of
the race to get the car where
I needed it to be to get up on
the wheel. It’s just a learning
experience for me each and
every time I hit the track in
one of these cars and I can’t
thank James Finch enough
for giving me this opportunity
because without him there’s
no way I would be here right
now.”
Crane’s next ARCA start
will come at a speedway
that he has competed on, as
he plans to compete at the
Kentucky Speedway on July
18.
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