 Grant Zimmerman Sunday was a beautiful day for racing. The weather was so good the old saying came to mind, "Chamber of Commerce weather"! For myself, after missing nine race dates due to health issues, it was great to get back to my happy place, the racetrack! Enough, back to the racing. Sunday's racing consisted of Street Eliminator, Sportsman Eliminator, Pro Eliminator and Super Pro Box/No Box. The Super Pro sub-classes would face off for the $5,000 Big Check. In Street Eliminator, it took four rounds of competition to reach the Final between Steve Quickel and Brian Hampton. In looking at the result sheets, it wasn't an easy trip for either driver. In the first round, Steve won a double red light foul, when his competitor Carla Reynolds, went red first. Brian faced some tough competition before getting a bye into the Final. There, Steve was quicker off the line, .105/.113 and ran closer to his dial-in to take the win, 12.50/12.624-17.59/17.776.  (L) Steve Quickel The next class up was Sportsman Eliminator. They took five rounds to reach the Finals, between Steve Mroz and Fred Trombley. Both Steve and Fred had similar routes to reach the Final. They either beat you on the tree or ran closer to the dial or both! They were tough all day. Steve had a bye in the fifth round to get into the Finals. There, they both came to the tree and only Steve launched to take the win. It seems in staging, Fred timed out. With the automatic start feature, after Pre-stage, you have ten seconds to Stage. Fred exceeded that time. Afterwards, Fred said, "I probably have been close many times! Steve won, he deserved it!"  (L-R) Dave Ancel, Gina Ancel, Steve Mroz, Herman Zehnder, Joe Zehnder, Darcy Ancel, Jordan Ancel Next up was Pro Eliminator. The competitors went five rounds to reach the Finals between Corey Duncan and Brando Carlson. The competition in Pro was tight all day. Both Corey and Brando were on their game with good lights and running close to their dial-ins. For Corey, the round 4 race win against Marty Thornton was strange. As they were Staging, Marty revved his engine as he preparing to launch. I thought that strange, being that he was the faster car and would start second. Corey then revved and launched. Marty did not. At the time, it was thought, after Marty Staged, he rolled back into Pre-stage causing a foul. In the Final, Corey was quicker on the light, .023 to Brando's .091. Brando pushed it a little too hard breaking out by 0.014. Cory took the win.  Corey Duncan (second from left) Next was Super Pro, with No Box first. Reaching the Finals was Grant Zimmerman and Shane Pope. Both Grant and Shane were excellent on the light this day. Grant's worst light was a .041 to Shane's .080. Those lights were in the No Box Final. At the stripe, Shane was pushing and broke out by .001 with Grant taking the win. In the Box sub-class, it took seven rounds to reach the Finals between Dion Degnitz and Charlie Hamma, both in dragsters. Both had fantastic reaction times all day with Charlie having a perfect light (.000) in the second round. Through the seven rounds to reach the Final they had a combined ten .00_ lights! In the Final, Charlie was just a little too quick and went red -.007 to Dion's .013 giving the win to Dion. This put the door car (No-Box) up against the Box dragster. In the Final, Final, Grant Zimmerman, driving the slower car, launched first with a .018 light to Dion's .015 reaction time. At the stripe, Grant ran his number with a one to take the win, 6.47/6.471. Dion was 5.38/5.397. It was a great race!  Dion Degnitz  Grant Zimmerman and Family Track Bites As chronicled earlier, Steve Mroz won this day's Sportsman's race. This was Steve's first Sportsman win as he was a previous Street Eliminator winner. Steve's brother, Bill, recently required brain surgery for a treatable brain tumor. Bill is currently recovering. Bill drives the family chopped top Buick Regal. They are holding a "Race to Recovery" raffle to assist Bill in his recovery. The tickets are $20 with a drawing on August 31st with a grand prize of $2,000. If you can help, contact Steve.  This day also brought Herman Zehnder back to driving. Herman was a long time bracket racer alongside his brother Joe. I believe Herman was a six-time Route 66 Champion in his red Mustang. After selling the car to Autumn Lawson, Herman had taken a break from driving. Since his brother Joe went back to driving a Camaro, he convinced Herman to return to driving with his Mustang convertible. Joe has successfully driven the Mustang to track championships. It's good to see Herman back behind the wheel.  This day also brought Kamryn Schubbe's debut in the big car, a super pro box car. Kamyrn graduated from the Junior Dragsters. In the first round she lost when she broke out by .002. She had a respectable run, .028/4.86/4.858 @ 139.36 mph. She bought back into the race and in the second round she had another respectable run. She had a -.004 redlight, but her numbers were great, -.004/4.85/4.861 @ 142.36. Give her a little more seat time and she will start turning on some win lights. Congratulations Kam!  The competition was extremely tough on Sunday! There were a large contingent of very good bracket racers. One little slip and you lost. A great day of racing.
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 Last Sunday was race #2 of the Big Bucks Bracket Bash. After Saturday's nearly four hour rain delay, it was nice to have a beautiful day to race. On the schedule were all the classes: Street Eliminator Sportsman Eliminator Pro Eliminator Super Pro Box/No Box Only Super Pro would be racing 1/8 mile with the rest the 1/4 mile. First up was Street Eliminator. They went four rounds to reach their Final. In the Final, it was Stephen Mroz from Summit, Il. in his 2014 Camaro against Ted Thompson in his 2012 Mustang. The classic Pony car matchup. Steve was very consistent all day. In Round 2, his opponent was a long time friend and frequent competitor, Bill Larson. Bill was a little anxious at the start and redlighted. In Round 4, Stephen had a bye into the Final. Ted was also very consistent with his reaction times and running close to his Dial-in. In Round 1 he was aided when his opponent, Ken Rosebrook redlighted. In the final, Ted had the better reaction time, .046/.069. However, both broke out and Stephen ran closer to his Dial-in enough to overcome his reaction time.  The next class up was Sportsman. This class went four rounds before the Final. In the Final it was Jeff Toepper against Dennis Wrosch, another classic pony car matchup, Camaro vs Mustang. Jeff's route to the Final was a little up and down. In Round 2, Jeff was up against Ted Thompson and both broke out, however Jeff ran closer to the dial-in to take the win. In Round 3, Jeff had the bye into Round 4. There, he was up against a tough competitor that he has raced on many occasions, Fred Trombley. Fred got a little anxious at the start and redlighted handing the win to Jeff. Dennis took a more traditional route to the Finals. He consistently had better lights than his competitors. When he didn't run closer to this dial-in he beat them at the start. In the Final, Dennis, again, was faster at the light than Jeff, .032/.051. At the stripe both broke out with Jeff, again, running closer to the dial-in to take the win.  Next in the queue was Pro Eliminator. They went five rounds to reach their Final, with Troy Bogner and Jordan Ancel facing off. Troy earned a Round 1 bye with his qualifying in Time Trials. In Rounds 2 and 3, his opponents, Jessie Albright and Fred Berardi Jr., both redlighted. Rounds 4 and 5 were both more traditional wins to include a .001 light in Round 5. Jordan, through the first three rounds, had better or tied her opponent's reaction times to take the wins. In Round 4, Mark Langfoss beat her on the tree, .039/.067, but broke out giving the win to Jordan. This led to a bye round to the Finals against Troy. In the Finals, Troy cut a .006 light and Jordan went -.055 red to give the win to Troy. This was Troy's second win in as many tries this season.  Renee and Troy Bogner Onto the Super Pro Class. Super Pro is broken into two sub-classes of Box and No-Box. After both sub-classes determined their winners, those then faced off for the overall Super Pro winner and the big check. Leading off was the No-Box class, which went five rounds to reach the Final. The Final pitted Kevin Lancaster against Bob Disch. Kevin was racing well with great reaction times and having his car dialed in. In Round 3, he earned a Bye into Round 4, where he faced off against Brian Dumdie. Brian redlighted handing the win to Kevin. In Round 5, Kevin bested his opponent, Steve Marquis, on the tree and dial-in, 0.23/6.03/6.031, to reach the Final. Kevin had his worst light of the day, .057, which is still very good, but it didn't matter as Bob Disch went red by -.029 to give the win to Kevin and a place in the Final-Final. The Box class went seven rounds to reach their final. In the Final, it was Dennis DiValerio against Saturday's big check winner Tim Vincent. Dennis, in Round 1, lost to Scott LaBudde, but, with a buy back, came back in Round 2 to defeat Jim Laughlin, who broke out. In Rounds 3,4,&5, Dennis was chopping down the tree with a worst being a .012 light. That earned him a bye in Round 5. In Round 6, he continued his great R/T's with a .001. His opponent Monty Fisher went red by -.003. Tim cruised through the competition with great lights and dial-ins through six rounds. This gave Tim a bye in the seventh and a place in the Final. In the Final of Super Pro, it was Dennis DiValerio against Tim Vincent. Both took different routes to make it this far. At the start, Tim left first with the slower car with a respectful .022 light. However, Dennis cut a .003 light. With Dennis chasing, he forced Tim to push it causing Tim to break out, 4,84/4.829, giving the win to Dennis. In the Final-Final of Super Pro it was No-Box winner, Kevin Lancaster against Box winner Dennis DiValerio. They both cut great lights, Kevin .006 and Dennis .014. Kevin ran closer to his dial-in, 6.03/6.052 to Dennis' 4.29/4.321 to take the win and the $5,000 big check. Track Bites In the Pro Elimination Final, it was Jordan Ancel's first final since graduating from the Junior ranks and driving the "big" car. I have been shooting the Ancel Family Racing for a long time. Below is the first time I photographed Jordan racing, May 5, 2013. Her sister, Darcy, had driven this car the previous year and had gotten a new car. Jordan got the seat in this car. It was renamed from "Dynamite Darcy" to the "Agitator". She has come a long ways, celebrating in the Winners Circle with her Mom and Dad and the Bogners at Byron Dragway to commemorate her first Final ! All weekend long, there was a lot of discussion about the upgrades made by Dennis DiValerio to his dragster that allowed him to pull a wheelie. While going through Sunday's images, I found another dragster doing wheelies driven by Charlie Hamma. It's unusual to have two dragsters pulling wheelies as much as these two. Racers will travel all over to race on any given track. Most do have a home track which is normally the closest to where they live. On Sunday, there was a group of racers that I have worked with a very long time. We first met at Route 66 and now they congregate at Byron Dragway. It was a good day to get together with two of them, in the photo, winning this day. And this does not include the Pro Eliminator final with Troy Bogner and Jordan Ancel.  Dennis DiValerio On Saturday morning, as I was preparing to leave for the Big Bucks Bracket Bash at Byron Dragway, my General Manager, wife Janet, asked if I had checked the weather report. I replied, "I did last night." She stated you better check it again. When I did, I saw that the report changed with rain expected around 2 pm instead of later that night. I made the call to head to the track. With the impending rain, the Byron personnel moved swiftly to get the event started. There would be two rounds of qualifying with eliminations following. As soon as Time trials ended there was a quick turnaround to start eliminations. The first cars out were the No Box cars. The No Box cars would run five rounds to reach its Final. However, in between the rain hit causing a rain delay of almost four hours. In their Final it, would be Terry Heller from Morrison, Il. in his 71 Chevrolet Vega against John Hixon from Plainfield, Il. in his 70 Buick GS. Terry got to the Final, by being very consistent with his hitting his Dial-In, except in Round 2 when his opponent, Shane Pope, redlighted by -.007. John got to the Final on the strength of his Reaction Times. Except in Round 1, when his opponent, Jordan Ancel had a problem getting off the line, his worst R/T was .034. In Round 2, John received a bye with his .000 R/T in Time Trials. In the Final, John cut another good light, .022, however Terry had a great light, .008. Both ran over their D/I .006. Terry won on the strength of his Reaction Time. This was a great race!  Photo courtesy of Byron Dragway In the Box class, there would be six rounds of competition to reach the Box Final. In the Final, it would be Tim Vincent against Shane Pope. The path for Tim and Shane to the Final appears to have been through their Reaction Times. Tim's worst was .020 and Shane .026. In the Final, this held true when Tim had a holeshot win when Shane ran closer to his dial-in, 4.75/4.751 to Tim's 4.89/4.896, however Tim's .006 R/T beat Shane's .015 by .009. This race was won on the start line. This set up Tim Vincent against Terry Heller in the Final, Final of Super Pro for the $3,000 big check. In the race, it was Terry, in the slower car, to leave first being chased by Tim. At the stripe Terry broke out by .007 giving the win to Tim.  Photo courtesy of Byron Dragway Track Bites Just for complete disclosure, I left this race early. After watching the radar for quite some time, I never thought this race would be completed! I will never doubt BJ again!! In the second round, Nate Kelley driving the "Gone Batty" dragster, after launching, broke and pulled off the track. Normally, that would end his day, however his opponent, John Schadt, redlighted by -.002 to give the win to Nate. They found a broken part in the distributor and were able to quickly repair the motor. Nate made it to the semi-final against Shane Pope. Sometimes it is better to lucky than good! In addition to the Super Pro race there was a Test & Tune.  Wayne Maurer III After the Saturday rain, it was nice to have good weather to race. Sunday it was the Diesel vehicles turn to hit the track. The Diesel Drags is a little different event, in that there are not any elimination rounds. It's more of a "show" event. There were five rounds of qualifications for the Awards at the end. In the three brands of diesels the following were the winners: Cummins (1) #302 TJ Frey (2) #616 Walker Knight (3) #603 Dustin Fowler Power Stroke (1) #608 Dan Bigelow (2) #601 Tyler Davison (3) #617 Craig Grisolia Duramax (1) #614 Ron Saltzma (also Best Blackout) (2) #613 Joe Tordai (3) #606 Derek Patterson (also Best Appearing GM) Most Unique Wayne Maurer III  In addition to the Diesels, there was a Test & Tune: Track Bites The Ness family brought two junior dragsters to Byron today. One was their son, Cohen Ness, age 12, testing and his sister, Lennox, age 9, was licensing. As part of the day of racing, it was decided to offer a Diesel Bracket Race. Only two trucks decided to race. It was Gil Odjick and Brandon Schmidt. The race was won at the start when Gil had a .106 reaction time to Brandon's .736. Brandon could not overcome that.  Gil Odjick One of the more interesting cars testing today was the 1951 Studebaker Starlite Coupe, Silver Stude", driven by Calvin Johnson from Hollandale Wi. The car has a 468 c.i. Chevy engine. When Calvin puts on the side mufflers and street car tires it becomes street legal.  The diesel that won the Most Unique award was the Mudtang of Wayne Maurer III. It is a 2000 Mustang body hung on a 2000 Ford F250 frame. The vehicle began it's life in Michigan and was bought by Wayne and brought back to Hampshire, Il. for completion.  With the great weather, it made for a great show with quite a few fans in the stands.   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.  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.   Max Kahler On Saturday, at the Rockford Speedway, Max Kahler displayed a dominate performance to take the win in the 88-lap Big 8 Spring Classic feature race. The race had a halting start with two accidents before lap 2. Max was able to avoid the mayhem to take the lead on lap 8. From there, Max put on a show of consistency maneuvering through lapped traffic and several race cautions to extend his lead, for the win. All Day Max was the fastest car taking the win in his Heat race and the fastest time in Time Trials. Finishing second was 2021 Spring Classic winner Dale Nottestad and third Dennis Smith Jr.  L to R,Dennis Smith Jr., Dale Nottestad, Max Kahler In the Mid Am Late Model Series Magnuson Memorial 44 race, it was four time Mid Am Series champion Ron Vandermeir Jr. showing the rest how it is done by winning. It wasn't an easy race by any means. In the middle of the race Ron was battling with Kenny Benson Jr. and the battle was heating up. Kenny was warned by race control but on a subsequent lap, he got into Ron's quarter panel causing him to spin. Race Control parked Kenny and the lead was given back to Ron. From there, Ron continued in the lead to take the win. This race was dedicated to Rockford Speedway's announcer John Magnuson Jr., who passed away in November 2021 from the complications of Covid 19.  In the first race of the 2022 season and the Spring Classic, it was the 4-cylinder Bandits in the Bandit Blast, a 25-lap race. It was the 26x of Cody Armato taking the win.  Saturday was a great start to the 2022 race season with some very good racing. Congratulations to all the winners. At Rockford Speedway next week will be the WXRX Iron Man 250 4-cyl Enduro.
To see the entire Rockford Speedway schedule please click here.  Brett Deutsch Saturday, at Byron Dragway was a day of firsts! This was my first Byron Diesel Drags Presented by Superior Automotive. Back in the day, I had covered an earlier iteration of this event at Route 66 Raceway. This was also my first witnessing of a World Record. Brett Deutsch, from Elburn, Il., brought his 1969 C10 Duramax to attempt to break the world record for a non-dragster Duramax vehicle. The time to beat was 7.44 in the quarter mile. On Brett's first attempt, at about the 300 foot mark, the truck broke traction and got a severe tire shake. Brett backed out of it and re-gained control.  On the second attempt, the truck launched well but something wasn't quite right and Brett had to get out of it, again.  On the third attempt, the truck launched really well witnessed by the title photo. It wasn't an easy run as the truck started to drift left. Brett was able to keep control and hit the stripe with a 7.289 at 175.41 mph to break the world record!  Here are more images of the world record breaking day. Congratulations Brett! Brett's wasn't the only diesel vehicle at Byron Saturday. There was a large contingent diesels putting on a great show. There were several awards for the diesel vehicles. One of which was for overall fastest. That was won by Adam Twarowski from Warren Mi.  There was also a small Gamblers Race. In the final, it was Robert Hill, Beloit, Wi., vs Gil Odjick, Byron, Il. Both broke out at the stripe, however Robert ran closer to his dial-in to take the win. Besides the racing trucks, there were several display diesel trucks. This is Austin Ingram's, Bristol Wi., 2016 Super Duty. It had a unique tranmission cover. Austin has two other trucks, an 05 and 08 and is looking for a 97. And there was Preston Lewis's, Gilberts, Il., 2014 F250. In addition to the on-track diesel trucks there was a Test & Tune happening. During the Test & Tune, I saw the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air of Don Dumdie, driven by Brian Dumdie, approach the starting line. I though it was unusual that a normal bracket car would be testing this late in the season. I found Don and he explained that at the Indy Brackets, they broke the crankshaft in the motor. They were ready to replace that motor in the off-season. To get a jump on next season, they installed the motor and came to test. They are trying to work out some of the bugs in the total car. There was also a dragster licensing this Saturday. I saw Rob and Dana Highland with the car and assumed their daughter Mikayla was licensing as she is leaving the Junior ranks. Then I saw Jim Schubbe with the car. Now, I didn't know who was in the car because Jim's daughter Kamryn is also graduating to the "big" car from juniors. I caught up with the families and learned that Kamryn was in the car. Her dad, Jim, stated they have a dragster for her to drive in Super Pro bracket racing next season. All told this was a great race day, with all kinds of action and surprises. Several diesel trucks had catastrophic failures, a world record and a great show put on by the diesels.
This is my last on-track event for 2021. While it was a trying season, at the end I was sad to call it over. Almost every year, by the time you get to October, you are looking for some down time. You've been at a race track almost every weekend from April through October. You are tired mentally, physically and your equipment is tired. However, this season I was forced to the sidelines until July. During the dog days of summer, I was just trying to get back on my game. Saturday was the best I have felt all season. I am looking forward to 2022. I want to thank everyone for their support this year and hope to see many at PRI in December. If not, we will see you next season. To see all of Saturday's photos please click here. If you see something interesting and wish to order, please click on the "Ordering" tab at the top of the page or here.  This past weekend, Byron Dragway hosted the Fall Bracket Nationals. This was the last bracket race for the 2021 season. Saturday was the Super Pro Box/No Box race. There was one Time Trial pass for all cars, followed by the first round of eliminations. Here is some of the action. The No-Box cars ran seven rounds before reaching the finals. In the final it was Steve Roehrs, Federic Wi., against Cross Plains, Wi.' Taylor Schlueter. Steve was killing the tree all day with his worst light being a .036 on his bye run. Before that his worse light was a .014. That continued in the final with a .011 to Taylor's .066. Taylor tried to lead at the stripe, however in so doing he broke out, 7.042 on a 7.05 DI. Steve ran a 6.443 on a 6.40 to take the No-Box win a spot in the $4,000 Super Pro final.  Steve Roehrs foreground, Taylor Schlueter background After seven rounds of eliminations, the Box final came down to Tim Vincent, St. Charles, Il., against Stephen Liss, West Bend Wi. In a very close race, it was Tim Vincent taking the win light. Tim was slightly better on the tree .042 to Stephen's .047. However, it was Stephen running closer to his dial-in 5.095 on a 5.09 DI to Tim Vincent's 5.080/5.07. Tim won by .0001. It doesn't get much closer than that!  As darkness closed in on the track, Tim Vincent and Steve Roehrs turned their cars around quickly to run for the winner's $4,000 Big Check! At the tree Tim was slightly quicker with a .018 RT to Steve's .024. At the stripe, Tim took the win light with a 5.069 on a 5.06 DI. Steve broke out slightly with a 6.423 on a 6.43 DI.   It was a long day of racing, but the racing was quite spectacular. It appeared, everyone was pushing everything to the limit. Sunday The day broke with a lot of rain clouds stretching as far as the eye could see. The forecast was not looking particularly good. Because of the threat of rain and the addition of classes to the schedule, Staff decided to start earlier than announced. They were in the "Hurry-up Mode". About half way through Pro Eliminator time trials, it started to rain. The action was stopped, but the rain didn't. After several hours, the rain let up and track drying started. The sun was out briefly and as the track was nearly dry, the clouds rolled in and it started raining with lightning and thunder this time. After a period of time, it was clear that there weren't enough daylight hours left in the day to get the track dry to start racing again. The decision was made to call a rainout that would not be made up. The Byron Staff did everything humanly possibe to get this race in, but Mother Nature had a different thought. This concluded the Bracket racing season. Here are a few images from the racing prior to the rain. I want to thank the entire Byron Staff for allowing me to cover the Big Bucks Bracket 2021 season. Due to my early season health issues, I wasn't able to get out until around mid-season. I hope I was able to capture some of the racer's memories. I will probably be out for the Diesel Drags in late October so I hope to see everyone there.
There are two albums covering this weekend and here are the links: For Saturday click here. For Sunday click here. If you see something that interests you, it can be ordered by clicking here or on the Ordering tab at the top of the page. |
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