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2011 NHRA SUMMIT RACING SERIES DIVISION 1 FINALS OUT RUNS THE WEATHER

By Charlie Brown, Delmar, DE – Six-hundred seventy-five race teams representing 12 states and 14 dragways descended on the U.S. 13 Dragway last Thursday for the three-day NHRA Summit E.T. Racing Series Northeast Division 1 2011 Finals. Due to intermittent rain on Friday and Saturday the finals extended to Sunday before the event was complete.

 

Taking the Super final was Jimmy Harrison, Sr. of Putnam Valley, NY in his ’98 Undercover dragster and representing Lebanon Valley Dragway. Harrison faced Alphonse DiMino of Bethlehem, Pa. iin his ’02 Cressman dragster and representing Numidia Dragway. Dimino had a .018 reaction to Harrison’s.020 but Harrison made it up at the top end with a 7.770/171.69 on a 7.76 dial. DiMino ran a 7.704/168.95 on a 7.68 dial. Semi-finalists were Chris Wilson of Lincoln University, Pa. who lost to DiMino and Peter Prasnal of Eatontown, N.J. who lost to Harrison.

 

In the Pro final, James Young of Parsippany, N.J. in his ’85 Cutlass representing Numidia faced Steven Vancraeynest of Bloomingdale, N.J. in his Camaro representing Atco Raceway. Young had a .014 reaction light to Vancraeynest’s .023 and held that advantage to take the win with a 10.551/124.49 on a 10.55 dial. Vancraeynest was also on his dial running a 9.358/139.08 on a 9.35 dial. Semi-finalists were Dave Raser of Oxford, Pa. who lost to Young and Mike Barber of Douglasville, Pa. who lost to Vancraeynest.

 

In Pro Bike, Michael Tremblay of Dorchester, N.J. on his GSXR 1000 and representing Atco Raceway rode up against Ken George of Landing, N.J. on a ’97 Suzuki representing Raceway Park. George had the better reaction with a .029 to Tremblay’s .034 but Tremblay had the better run to take the win with a 9.587/140.99 on a 9.56 dial. George ran an 8.666/144.48 on an 8.63 dial. Semi-finalists were James Farmer of Denton, Md. who lost to Tremblay and Ed Hughes of Lowell, Mass. who lost to George.

 

The Street final saw Tom Harhart of Elysburg, Pa. in his ’62 Impala representing Numidia Dragway paired against John Briese, Sr. of Galloway, N.J. in his Malibu representing Atco Raceway. Harhart had the better start with a .025 to Briese’s .111 reaction and took the win with a 14.455/84.41 on a 14.40 dial. Briese broke out with an 11.772/112.07 on an 11.85 dial. Semi-finalists were David Harvey, III of Atco, N.J. who lost to Harhart and David Sciarretta of Honeybrook, Pa. who lost to Briese.

 

In High School Eliminator, Kalvin Kline of Smithburg, Md. driving a Dodge D100 and representing Mason-Dixon Dragway took on Dana Loffredo of Brick, N.J. in a Camaro representing Atco Raceway. Kline took the win with a .072 reaction and a 12.411/95.86 on a 12.33 dial. Loffredo had a .182 reaction and a run of 17.149/74.86 on a 17.04 dial. Semi-finalist was George Whiteman, III of Brentwood, N.H. who lost to Loffredo while Kline had a bye.

 

Numidia Dragway in Numidia, Pa. took the overall Team Title with 90 points. The enthusiastic group also won the Team Spirit Award for the week. Runner-up was Mason-Dixon Dragway in Hagerstown, Md. with 68 points with Atco Raceway in Atco, N.J. finishing third with 62 points. The host, U.S. 13 Dragway made a good showing in finishing fourth overall with 60 points while Island Dragway in Great Meadows, N.J. rounded out the top five with 58 points.

 

Rounding out the team points were sixth, Lebanon Valley Dragway, West Lebanon, N.Y., 56 points; seventh, Cecil County Dragway, Rising Sun, Md., 53 points; eighth, Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, Pa., 52 points, ninth, Old Bridge Twp Raceway Park, Englishtown, N.J., 46 points; tenth, Capitol Raceway, Crofton, Md., 45 points; eleventh, ESTA Safety Park, Cicero, N.Y., 41 points; twelfth, Quarter Aces Drag-O-Way, Boiling Springs, Pa., 25 points; thirteenth, New England Dragway, Epping, N.H., 20 points and Spencer Speedway, Williamson, N.Y. with two points.

 

The Hoopes Fire Protection Best Engineered Car went to Kermit Schindeldecker of Gettysburg, Pa. and representing Quarter Aces Drag-O-Way and his Super Pro 1955 Olds Convertible.

 

The Classic Auto Body Best Appearing Car went to James Bradshaw of Severn, Md. representing Capitol Raceway and his beautiful 1955 Chevy Wagon.

 

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