National Sand Drag News - Avenal Oct '15 Race Recap

The 2015 Avenal Sand Drags Fall Nationals in Avenal, CA took place under warm and sunny mid-October conditions for Central California. The track was hooked up as usual in Avenal leading to great competition in each category. Let’s take a look at the action.

Top Alcohol

The Top Alcohol class featured the two finalists from the previous weekend’s race in Victorville back at it again. In Victorville, it was Gary Mink taking a hole shot final round win over Jake Morton 2.51 to 2.46. Both of these racers were certainly ready to get after it in Avenal. Morton had the win on his mind as he piloted the converter-equipped Morton Racing ride to the top qualifying spot with a Q1 2.47/135MPH blast. Multi-time class champion Mink could only run a best of 2.54 through the three qualifying sessions. On top of that, Morton outran the champ in all three sessions. When is the last time anybody has run quicker than Mink in every session? This led to the Sunday noon time showdown. Both racers were ready for battle as the teams pulled them to the line. Morton let go of the transbrake on time with a .044 to .077 starting line edge, but unfortunately the rear end broke immediately on the Morton Racing ride. This allowed Mink to basically run uncontested for the win recording a 2.52/139MPH in the process. Congrats to the Mink team on back-to-back weekend wins in the Top Alcohol class, and a huge attaboy to the Morton team for putting up a great effort at both events as well.

TA Finalists: Winner Gary Mink (Near Lane) vs. Jake Morton.

Top Eliminator

The Top Eliminator field had five tough entries vying for the win in Avenal. The previous weekend’s TE winner Paul Taylor had the Outta Control Dragster ready for action. Paul would run a best of 2.976 in Qualifying, but it would only be good enough for the #2 spot on the ladder as Jim Rossi in the Bad Toy ran a 2.962 to lead the pack. Behind those two would be Ron d’Artenay (3.05), Marc Whitmore (3.22), and Adam Ross (3.26). Unfortunately for the Ross Racing team, the rear-engine Funny Jeep would be unable to make the call for round one leaving a four car TE field.

The upset of the weekend would occur right off the bat in round one as top qualifier Jim Rossi’s Bad Toy faced off with Marc Whitmore in the Whitmore Speed & Custom Blown Altered. When the tree dropped, both Rossi and Whitmore left before green but Rossi’s red was worse handing Whitmore the win. Marc had been fighting clutch issues all weekend and recorded a 3.37 on this pass. Up next would be the all-dragster battle between Outta Control of Taylor and Red Warrior of d’Artenay. This one was decided on the starting line as Paul Taylor took a healthy starting line edge and held on for a 2.99 to 3.02 victory.

This set up a final round between Taylor’s Dragster and Whitmore’s Altered in Avenal. Whitmore was ready to battle in this one as he cut a stellar .028 RT to Taylor’s .124, but it would be the ultra consistent Taylor ride getting the job done with a another 2.99 for the win. Congratulations to the Taylor Racing team on back-to-back weekend wins in the Top Eliminator class.

Paul Taylor - TE Winner

Marc Whitmore - TE Runner-Up

Bracket Classes

Kenny Hayes kept up his winning ways at Avenal. Kenny ended up taking the win in an all Larry Minor Motorsports-built Jeep Pro 1 final over Bill Meaney recording a .031 RT and nearly dead-on 3.603 (3.60). Pro 2 saw Mike Williams Sr. put his White Lightning Jeep in the Winner’s Circle defeating Justin Adamson with a great .017 RT and 3.911 (3.85). For the second week in a row, the Pro 3 class was huge. It was filled with 21 strong entries in Avenal. Another similarity to last weekend’s race was that Charlie Johnson made it to the Pro 3 final where he would face an Adamson. But this time it would be Justin Adamson facing off with Charlie for the Pro 3 win. These guys were more than ready with Johnson leaving first .001 to .007 on the tree, but at the stripe it would be Adamson getting around him with a 4.432 (4.30) in a race decided by just .003. Austin Rego was clearly the man to beat in the Moto 1 classes on this weekend in Avenal. Rego took the MP1 title on Sunday using a great .023 RT in the final to defeat Jeff Coale. Motorcycle Pro 2 was all Robby Stancliff on this day as he ran a 5.678 (5.55) to take the final round win over Kevin Ruiz.

Kenny Hayes - Pro 1 Winner

Mike Williams Sr. - Pro 2 Winner

Justin Adamson - Pro 3 Winner

Austin Rego - Motorcycle Pro 1 Winner

Robby Stancliff - Motorcycle Pro 2 Winner

The Saturday Pro Gambler was a huge battle as usual at Avenal. This time around it would be the “Bounty Hunter” Chris Adamson taking the win defeating Yuma’s own Sheriff Leon Wilmot in the final round. Chris used a .031 RT and 4.368 (4.25) for the win. Leon would have another chance as he also advanced to the Sportsman 1 final round, where Bill Meaney would use a .036 RT and 3.828 (3.70) to take the victory. Kenny Hayes’ “Flirtin’ With Disaster” Jeep kept up its winning ways at Avenal. After winning Pro Gambler at Victorville with Junior Alimoot at the wheel, Flirtin’ ended up in the winner’s circle at Avenal with Mike Williams running a 4.684 (4.55) to take the final round win over Clayton Banks. Mike Macleod got the job done in the Sportsman 3 class emerging victorious over Rick Souza. Austin Rego collected his second class win of the weekend as he won the Motorcycle Sportsman 1 class over Jeff Coale with a strong .085 RT and 4.403 (4.35). Jonathan Marquez soloed to the Motorcycle Sportsman 2 victory when Timothy Wilson was unable to make the call. The action was fierce as always in the Junior classes at this event. Drake Montgomery piloted the Team Hardcore Rhino to the Juniors win defeating the very cool Junior Truck of Chaylene Pintor in the final round. Jayden Pena made it two finals in two weekends and took the win this time in the Intermediate class over Tessa Nunes. Sky Chaffin emerged victorious in the Youth final round over the always tough Brian O’Tool.

Chris Adamson - Pro Gambler Winner

Billy Meaney - Sportsman 1 Winner

Mike Williams - Sportsman 2 Winner

Sportsman 3 Final: Mike Macleod (Near Lane) takes the win over Rick Souza

Austin Rego - Motorcycle Sportsman 1 Winner

Jonathan Marquez - Motorcycle Sportsman 2 Winner

Drake Montgomery - Juniors Winner

Jayden Pena - Intermediate Winner

Photos Courtesy NSDN

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