 This weekend at Byron Dragway was the Memorial Day Triple $10K races. Each day, the winner of the Super Pro run-off between Box and No-box cars, would win $10,000. On Saturday, it was the No-box car of Shane Pope taking the win and on Sunday it was the Box car of Dion Degnitz. On Monday, Nick Folk was the winner, but it wasn't exactly easy getting there! In round one he lost to Brent Vincent when at the stripe he broke out by .003. He was able to buy back into the race and in the second round defeated Anthony Lane with a Holeshot (.022/4.59/4.639-.059/4.90/4.926). The next two rounds Nick ran good numbers and won by his opponents breaking out. In round 5 he was up against the Saturday winner Shane Pope (in a box car). Both had outstanding lights and both ran close to the dial-ins, with Nick winning by .003 at the stripe. Nick had a solid win in Round 6 which gained him a bye in Round 7 and a spot in the Box Final against Johnny DiPiazza. Nick took the win, but look at these numbers Nick, .001/4.62/4.628-Johnny, .002/5.46/5.470! Onto the winner of the No-box category. In the No-box category, it was Rockford's Brett Williamson taking the win. His route was just as treacherous as Nick Folk's. In the first round, he lost to Mark Rosenbaum in a double break-out, when Mark ran closer to the number. After a buy-back, he faced a very tough opponent in Kamryn Mason. Both had outstanding lights (.013/.016). Brett won by .005. In Round 3, Brett was up against Todd Hohn with Todd running closer to his dial-in, but couldn't overcome a slower response time (.099/.027). Brett took the win. In Round 4, Brett took the win when his opponent, Mike Cole, redlighted. In Round 5, Brett faced Saturday's $10K winner, Shane Pope. Both redlighted but Shane went first giving the win to Brett. In the Box Final it was Brett against Ricky Pena. Both broke out at the stripe with Brett running closer to his dial-in. This set up the $10K showdown with Nick Folk. Brett had the slower car and left first. Nick chased down the Chevy to take the win. A little more of the day's action. Track Bites A week or so ago I ran into Lisa Lasik and she told me that her son, Jesse, was transitioning to a big car from the Junior ranks. They had been having problems with the car as it seemed every time they brought it out something broke. Today, things started looking up as they were testing the car. On the first pass Jesse had a perfect reaction time, .000. The day went well!  It is understandable that Brett Williamson could be disappointed by the weekend, however he made it to the finals twice, Sunday and Monday. While not $20,000, it still was a good paycheck!
While I couldn't make it to the first two days, Monday did not disappoint. It was a great day of racing. To see all the day's racing action, please click here. If you see something you would like to purchase, please click here.
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 On Sunday, we finally got a good day to go racing! Not too hot, not too cold and most importantly no rain! After last Sunday's rain shortened event and Saturday's rainout, it was time to do some racing. Sunday had the Junior Dragsters, Midwest Index Shootout, Two Wheel Speed and a Test & Tune. The day's action was started by the Juniors running their two-time trials/qualification runs to set the field for both Novice and Elite classes. The Novice class ran two rounds of eliminations to reach their final. In the final it was Wyatt Bacon, Kingston, Il. against Leighton Kreyer, Beloit, Wi. It should be noted that Wyatt had to defeat his sister, Ellie, in the second round to make it to the finals. As the lights flashed on the Tree, Leighton had a great reaction time of .009 to Wyatt's .155. At the stripe, it was a double breakout with Wyatt running closer to his dial-in, DI 8.95/8.935 to Leighton's DI 13.90/13.784 to take the win. This was Wyatt's second win in a row.  Wyatt Bacon In the Elite class, they ran three rounds of eliminations to reach the finals. In the second round, Danny Ellis, Burbank, Il. had a perfect light, .000, in defeating Brindy Jo Covell, Dixon, Il. After a third round win, Danny earned his spot in the Final. Molly Lane, New Lenox, Il. ran her Dial-In on the first round of eliminations, giving her a bye into the third round where she defeated Madyson Goike. In the Final, Danny had a better reaction, .034, to Molly's .101. At the stripe, Molly broke out, 8.71/8.699, giving the win to Danny.  Danny Ellis After the Finals, it was decided to have a Junior Fun Run. All the cars would run and the best two drivers with the best package in both classes would run for the Fun Run Win. In Novice, it was Ellie Bacon against Leighton Kreyer. Ellie had a .070 RT to Leighton's .174 and at the stripe Leighton broke out giving the win to Ellie. In Elite, it was Tanner Listen against Wyatt Bacon. Wyatt could not pull off the second win of the day by redlighting and handing the win to Tanner. The Bacon family had a good day with two family wins. Motorcycles I'm going to apologize to our motorcyle riders as there was some confusion, probably on my part, as to who was doing what. There were some great races, I just don't have all the information. Saying that, in Bike 9.50, it was Byron's Frank Criscione against Dekalb's Andy Bailey in the final. Andy was better on the tree with a .094 to Frank's, .196. However, at the stripe it was Frank running close to the 9.50 index, 9.745/9.871.  Frank Criscione In Bike 8.90, it was Bill Baker vs Andy Bailey. Both riders had very good Reaction Times, Bill .045 to Andy's .033. At the stripe, Bill ran closer to the index than Andy 9.053/9.151.  Bill Baker In the ET Bike Final of Drag bike vs Street bike it was again Bill Baker against Andy Bailey. This time, Bill had a much better light, .032/.104, and ran closer to the Dial-in. Andy went to three finals, but couldn't seal the deal. That deserves something!  Andy Bailey Midwest Index Shootout This was the second race of the 2022 race season for the Midwest Index Shootout. Last Sunday's race was rain shortened. The MIS runs six classes of racers. The first up this Sunday was the slower cars of the Street Brawler class. There were two rounds of eliminations to reach the Final. In the Final, it was Anythony Parks, Franklin Grove, Il., against Streamwood, Illinois' Travis Beer. Anthony was a little slower on the reaction time to Travis, .236/.130. At the stripe, Travis broke out and Anthony ran 15.672 on a 15.60 DI to take the win.  Anthony Parks In Street Intimidator, there were four entrants. In the Final, it was Trevor Beer, Elgin, Il., against Brett Michael, Byron, Il. Both drivers had identical .043 reaction times, both racing hard to the finish with both breaking out. Trevor ran closer to his 12.25 DI to win.  Trevor Beer Next up was Street Heat, with cars no faster than eleven seconds. There were two rounds of eliminations with Martin Rosendahl of Sandwich getting the bye into the Final alongside Greg Darm. Greg was a staple in motorcycle racing and now is on four wheels. This was a great race with Martin running closer of their both 11.50 Di's, but Greg had a significant better reaction time, .047-150 to take a holeshot win.  Greg Darm Up Next, was the Steet Limited 10.80 Index. There was one round of elimination before the Final. The Final was between Mark Brannick, Shorewood, and Michael Chucky Olson, Stoughton, Wi. While Chucky had a great .028 light, Mark was better with a .006. They both raced hard to the stripe causing both to breakout, however Mark was closer to the index to take the win.  Mark Brannick In the Pro Avenger 10.20 class, there were three rounds of eliminations to reach the Final. In the Final it was " Gentleman" Jim Laughlin vs James Holder. James had a better light, .067-.110, but Jim ran close to the Index with a 10.202 to James' 10.246 to take the win.  Jim Laughlin In Pro Dominator, 9.50, the fastest class, there was two rounds of eliminations prior to the Final. It was Rockford's Kelly Spears versus McHenry's Derek Moser. Kelly was the number one qualifier. Kelly had the better light, .039-.107. They both raced each hard all the way to line and both broke out, however Kelly ran closer to the Index with a 9.471 to Derek's 9.364 to take the win.  Kelly Spears With all the competition there was also a large contingent of Test & Tune cars getting ready for next weekend's Memorial Day Triple $10K's Bracket Race. Track Bites There was a new racer licensing at Byron this weekend. Zev Riley, 10, from Dakota, Il., was being assisted by his grandfather to obtain his NHRA Junior Dragster License. He did a great job. Congratulations Zev! I saw Junior Driver Katie Dolbeer and family with Katie driving a different car. I spoke with Katie and learned it was her new car purchased from an Antron Brown team member.  With the weather cooperating, finally, it was a great day of racing. Next weekend is the Memorial Weekend Triple 10K bracket race. Three days of non-stop action. Make your plans to come!
To see all of Sunday's action please click here. If you are interested in purchasing any images from the day's action, please click here.  Saturday, was the 2022 season opener for Byron Dragway. For the opener, Midwest Super Comp Race #1, Junior Dragsters, High School Bracket Races #1 & #2, Junior Street along with a Test & Tune ran. The weather was a little warm, but it was a beautiful day to kick off the season. In Super Comp, it was four-time champion Chad Lamont taking the victory by defeating his Dad, Pat in the finals. Chad had a fairly easy route to the finals. In the first round his competitor, Jim Glosson, redlighted giving the win to Chad. Unfortunately, all day the Super Comp cars were experiencing issues reducing the field. In the second and third rounds, Chad had single passes on his way to the Final against Pat. Pat's route was little more difficult, although for being the #1 qualifier, he had a first round bye. In the second round, he beat Ed Cook in a double breakout by running closer to his dial-in. In the third round, he beat Mark Meier with a good run R/T .079, DI 5.70, ET 5.712 @ 134.23 MPH. Mark had a R/T .120, DI 5.70, ET 5.957 @ 114.91 MPH.  The finals was a great race between Chad, son, and Pat, father. It was Chad taking a holeshot win! Check these numbers: Chad .015,5.70, 5.722, 137.78 Pat .026, 5.70, 5.719, 131.05 In a way, Chad got very lucky. About halfway through the 1/8th mile, his motor starting shedding parts off the front of the block. All told, it was a very happy Winner's Circle!  .Junior Dragsters The Juniors run two classes, the Novice class for the younger kids and the Elite for the older. The Junior Novices had eight cars that ran three rounds before the finals. In keeping with the family racing theme, in the third round it was Wyatt Bacon racing against his sister Ellie to reach the finals. Ellie was just a little fast and broke out handing the win to Wyatt. In the finals, it was Wyatt Bacon against James Pfohl. James had won his first two rounds and earned a bye in the third round to get to the finals. Wyatt cut a .003 light to James' .018. Both had 8.90 D/I's. At the stripe, James broke out by .001 (8.899) giving the win to Wyatt  Wyatt Bacon In the Junior Elite class, there were thirteen cars competing. In the first round it was Lucas Bright with the #1 qualifier bye.  Lucas Bright From there, in the second round, he was up against Madalyn Highland when she redlighted and in the third round his opponent Ben Acker's car broke. This put him in the final. His opponent in the final was Tom Konen. Tom had wins in the first two rounds which earned him a bye in the third to go to the finals. In the final, Tom cut a .014 light while Lucas was a little slow off the start, .113. Tom took the win.  Tom Konen In the Fun Run, the Novice Class was won by Jack Lang and the Elite Class was won by Wyatt Bacon, his second win of the day. High School High School ran two races Saturday with six competitors. In the first race final, it was Mykala Highland vs Evan Folk. Mykala was driving the slower car and started first. When Evan went red by .016, it gave the win to Mykala.  Mykala Highland In the second race, it was Grace Haas against Kaden Mulligan. Grace had a better reaction time and ran closer to her dial-in to take the win.  Grace Haas Junior Street In Junior Steet there were six cars competing. In the finals, it was Mykala Highland against Ben Acker. Mykala earned a bye into the finals and Ben had been having very good lights all day. At the start Ben was just a little quick redlighting,* giving the win to Mikayla. This was Mikayla's second win of the day.  Mykala Highland That concluded all the series and classes of racing. Throughout the day, we also had a Test & Tune. Most of these cars were testing for Sunday's Index races. Here are some of those cars. Track Bite Before the racing began the Junior Dragster drivers and families held a meeting to discuss the upcoming season. Coordinator Dana Highland asked all for a moment of silence for long time Junior supporter, Rick Rucker and family. Over the off-season, Rick lost his life to Covid. During the season, they are planning a Memorial Race.  |
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