Route 66 ET Bracket Race #8-Champions are Crowned

Sunday was the final Route 66 Bracket Race of the 2018 season and the Track Championships were decided. In addition, the King of the Track was finalized and the Indy Bracket Finals Team was formulated. More on the King of the Track later. The weather was beautiful and the racing spectacular! 

As is customary, the day started with two rounds of Time Trials to decide the pairings for the start of the Eliminations.

After the Time Trials were completed, Eliminations started. It was the High School class that ran their Final first. It was Tori Trench against points leader Connor Lawson. Tori left first with the slower Dial-in, but Connor had the better reaction time (.138/.164). At the stripe Connor broke out by .022. This gave the win to Tori. All was not lost for Connor, as he clinched the High School Track Championship.

The next final to be completed was Pro Bike. This race pitted Frank Linders against Bruce Damewood. I noticed that Bruce was riding his new bike and not his "Old Reliable" Suzuki. He stated this was the bike he wanted to bring to Indy so he wanted to get some passes in. As they came to the tree, Frank had the slower Dial-in, so would leave first. Unfortunately, he left -.007 early causing a red light. This gave the win to Bruce and confirmed his Track Championship.

Next up after Bike, it was Roman Sakas up against the championshiop point leader Paul O'keefe in the Sportsman class. This was a heads up race with both having a 12.28 dial-in. Paul had a faster reaction time (.048/.092) however at the stripe Paul broke out by .053 giving Roman the win. This was Roman's second ever final and first win. It wasn't a total loss for Paul as he won the Sportsman Track Championship.

Next was Super Pro to showcase its Final. In this match-up it was Al Kuefler, in the dragster, against Bill Stevenson in the Modified. Al had a .009 reaction time and an ET of 7.337 on a 7.33 dial. Bill could not match that and Al took the win light.

For the season, it was Dave Ancel wrapping up the Super Pro Track Championship.

The final class to be contested was Pro. This matched Tony Lyons versus Don Swanson. Tony had the slower dial-in and left first. Don crushed the light with a .007 reaction, however Tony ran closer to his dial-in and took the win light.

The Championship for Pro was a nail biter when Herman Zehnder went out in the second round. When John Coyle went out in the fourth round it gave the Track Championship to Herman. This is Herman's fifth championship at Route 66. He was tied for the most Route 66 Championships with Troy Bogner at four until this day. Herman is the only five time Champion in Route 66 history.

As you recall, the semi-final and finals for last week's King of the Track had to be postoned due to rain. It was decided to contest the finish of the event this day. Unfortunately, Terry Heller was racing elsewhere and could not finish this event. In the semi-finals it was Megan Hurley in her Mustang against the motorcyle of Bruce Damewood with Bill Chase getting the bye. In their race, Meghan had the slower car so she left first. Bruce beat her on the tree (.017/.083) and ran closer to his dial-in to take the win.

In the final, it would be Bill Chase vs Bruce Damewood. At the line, Bruce left a little early (-.006) but ran a perfect dial. Bill Chase broke out, however Bruce's redlight foul gave him the win and King of the track Championship.

TRACK BITES:

During the event, there was at least three perfect lights in competition. The Hollywood Casino Lucky Light Award was given to Kevin Hamelin,  Norm Lupescu and Tony Lyons. There may have been a fourth. I am trying to obtain clarification. If there was I will update this.

After the event, Autumn (Audi) Larson posted on Facebook she will be vacating the seat of the family's '67' Blue Nova with her dad Mike campaigning the car in 2019. She hopes to get a few passes next season, just not full time in the car. We will miss you behind the wheel, Audi!

I want to congratulate all our winners today and the Champions. Without you, I couldn't do what I do. You gave us all an exciting season. See you at the Championship Banquet and I am looking forward to a great 2019 season!

To see all the photos from this bracket race, please click here.

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