Byron Dragway - Power Wheel Standing Championship Sunday

Chris Pearce

Sunday morning was a very wet one. Overnight there was a downpour, twice. The Byron staff was out drying the track and again very early in the morning. They did yeoman's work to get the track prepped for racing. Finally, Mother Nature helped as the sun popped out and the track was finally dried and prepped to race.

Midwest Index Shootout was the first out for their first round of eliminations.

This was quickly followed with first round eliminations for Midwest Top Sportsman.

At this point, Mother Nature took back what it had given us earlier and the clouds rolled in and the rain fell. Byron staff immediately got to work trying not to lose the track, too badly. After several hours, as the rain tapered off, they gained ground. When the rain stopped, they were on the way to a dry track.

Due to the lateness of the day, it was decided to call the support series races complete and move forward with the main event, The Wheel Standers! There would be two rounds with two runs per round

The field of fifteen cars lined up and Jeff Wild came out first. He set the benchmark for the rest of the field at approximately 270 feet.

Here is some of the action:

In the first round, 7-time Champion Brian Ambrosini, in the orange Gremlin had a nitrous problem. In the pits, they scrambled to get ready for the second round. As it approached the line, the crew noticed something leaking from underneath the car and they immediately had to shut the car down. It turned out to be a bad oil fitting. They had to retire from the event.

This left the door wide open for Chris Pearce in the "Chinto". In 2020, in this same event, Chris ended up on his roof. Before this event, he announced this would be his last go around for the Wheel Standing Championship. At the tree, he gave it his all and put the "Chinto" on its back bumper and traveled 410 feet to win the the event and his second championship!

​Second place was taken by Jeff Wild and third went to Jason Schubert.

Here are the full results of the event.

wheel_stand_results_2021__1_.pdf

Track Bites

When Dave Pearce announced this was his last go around, he invited all the fans to sign the hood of the "Chinto" so he could take them along on the ride.

Launching Larry with the Bad Fish Barracuda had been practicing all month for this event. Apparently, he decided since he was at the track he might as well run with the Midwest Index Shootout. He obviously had to tone it down a little.

​For a day that threatened a rain out, the fans showed their support and came out in droves!

This was a day that Mother Nature tried to stop, but with the hard work of the Byron staff, they won the day! Byron 1 Mother Nature 0!! It was a great day.

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

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