Zero Expectations...Good Night of Racing

After the last Bracket Race of the season two weeks ago and the Classic last weekend, I had no idea what to expect from this Friday night's Race Your Ride presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts. As I pulled into the parking lot, it was void of any cars (I was a little early), except this!

This was a name out of my past! I spoke with the owner, Troy Martin, and asked if there was any connection between this car and the original. He stated,"Not really, except the driver, Mike Minick, was the grandson of the original driver." I think that is a pretty good connection!!

​As the gates opened, slowly, cars started to roll in. On a trailer, was a 1949 Chevrolet pick up truck owned by Rob Stewart and driven by Dave Stewart. This was the first time at the track for the truck and the first ever for slicks. It has a small block Chevy engine and has actually been used as a push truck for another dragster owned by the Stewart's.

As more trailers arrived and started unloading, the night's racing looked like it was going to be pretty good. Amongst the cars, there was the Beedy & Malloy dragster, Rock n Roll Express dragster, Rocky Ausec's Solid Rock Mustang Mach 1 funny car.

There was also a couple of junior dragsters. Cooper Hamelen was back testing his car after it broke down in the semi-finals of the last race of the season. There was also a new driver, Donna Betz, going for her license. The Betz' recently purchased the car from long time 66 racer family, the Stahnke's.

Cooper's car ran good, however Donna had a minor engine adjustment problem on her second run and was unable to complete the orientation before the night ended. She will be back!

​Amongst the cars running tonight, there were street cars, some of our bracket racers, a few Top Sportsman cars,  a motorcycle and front engine dragsters. Here are some images of the cars.

On top of a good racing night there was a good crowd for a Race Your Ride. The only downside to the night was that five minutes after the closing of the staging lanes, a persistent light rain shower shut down the racing for the night. Even with that, the night way exceeded my expectations.

​To see the rest of the images from the night, please click here.

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