Byron Dragway - Juniors, Midwest Index, Two Wheel Speed and Test/Tune

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

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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.