Byron-Day 2 of Two Wheel Speed w/Midwest Index Shootout and T & T

Joe Robbins

Sunday broke as another beautiful day for racing. It was partly sunny with temps in the 70's. It was to be the second day of Two Wheel Speed and a Test & Tune with the addition of the Midwest Index Shootout with six classes competing.

First up is SS Bike 950. This is a 9.50 index race. Larry Sargis gained his right to the Finals with a bye run and Gil Odjick made it in when Chris Panko redlighted.  At the start, Gil was just slightly better with his reaction time, .084 to Larry's .087. Larry made it up at the stripe running closer to the index, 9.714 than Gil's 9.763.

Larry Sargis

Up next, was another index class, 890 Bike. Chris Panko received a bye to make into the finals. Where he was to face Thomas "Turtle" Cole, who defeated Bruce Damewood, when Bruce redlighted. At the start, it was "Turtle" with the faster response time, .024, to Chris' .055. Chris made up that time by not by much, 8.941 to Turtles 8.975. That was a .003 win for Chris.

Chris Panko

Street Bike is a Bracket style race. The riders each select a time they cannot go less. If they are under the Dial-in (D/I) they breakout and lose. To get to the Finals, Larry Sargis defeated Ted Thompson and Jeremy Murphy had the Bye. Larry had this one from the start with a .026 light to Jeremy's .057. At the stripe, Larry ran closer to his D/I of 9.45 with a 9.505 as Jeremy ran hard to catch  Larry and brokeout by .002, 9.20/9.198. This gave Larry his second win of the day!

Larry Sargis

 Drag Bike is like Street Bike in that is a Bracket race. The finalists were Thomas Cole and Bill Homuth. "Turtle"  defeated Bruce Damewood  in the Semi-final and Bill defeated Bill Baker, Bill had the better light (.010/.031. However Turtle ran significantly closer to his D/I, 8.293/8.27 than Bill at 9.358/9.28 to take the win.

Thomas "Turtle" Cole

As the final race for the bikes, the Street Bike winner, Larry Stargis, faces off against Drag Bike winner, Thomas "Turtle" Cole for the overall Bike win. Larry was going for the triple.  Larry had a D/I of 9.45 and "Turtle" at 8.28. Turtle had the better light, .042, to Larry's .069. At the stripe it was Larry running closer to his D/I, 9.487 to "Turtle's" 8.346 to take the win. This gave Larry three wins for the day. I would say that was a good day.

The Midwest Index Shootout runs six classes of Index racing. The first was Street Intimidator. In the final it was Jeff Smith against Brian Hampton. Jeff had a much better light than Brian, .054/.149. Brian had to push to overcome the bad light and ended up breaking out giving the win to Jeff.

Jeff Smith

In Steet Heat it was an all truck final. Damien Hampton, from Mendota, against Rockford's DJ Jones. DJ had the better light. .032/.042, however Damien made up the difference by runing closer to his D/I to take the win.

Damien Hampton

In Street Limited, it was Alyx Kemp versus DJ Matiecka in a classic Mustang against Camaro race. Street Limited uses a 10.80 dial-in. DJ was a little quick on the throttle and redlighted giving the win to Alyx, who was driving the Mustang.

Alyx Kemp

In Pro Avenger, it was Jimmie Moore from Byron against Elgin's Scott Frost. Jimmie had the better light .027/.106. Scott didn't have as good a light and actually came closer to the 10.20 Index with his 10.212 to Jimmie's 10.227. Scott could not overcome an R/T of .106 with Jimmie taking a "Holeshot" win.

Jimmie Moore

It was Lenny Anderson, Genoa, against Rockford's Kelly Spears. Lenny had the better light .020/.040, but Kelly came closer to the 9.50 Index but could not overcome the slower reaction time. This was another "Holeshot" win in Pro Dominator for Lenny.

Lenny Anderson

In the final race for Midwest Index Shootout, Pro Extreme, with Jim Hickey against Darryl Appel. Darryl had the better light, .051/.055, but Jim ran closer to the 8.60 Index. Jim's victory was by .004!

Jim Hickey

In between the Series' runs, there was a Test & Tune.

Track Bites:

Junior driver Allie Coonan completed her NHRA licensing requirements to be able to compete in the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League. Congratulations Allie and welcome to the drag racing community.

Allie Coonan

In the Bike runoff it was Larry Sargis and Thomas "Turtle" Cole. In the first round eliminations in each of their classes, both riders lost. They both purchased a "Buy Back" to be able to return to competition. I think it was money well spent because they won their classes and earned their run off positions.

You can only hope for good weather and good racing. Sunday, both were on display at Byron Dragway making for a great day! Next weekend is Labor Day Weekend which means it's US Bracket Nationals at Byron. Within the restrictions of Covid-19, I hope to see as many folks as are able to come and while practicing social distancing.

To see the rest of Sunday's images, please click here.

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