AHDRA RUSH THUNDER IN THE VALLEY NATIONALS

PRESENTED BY SMITH BROTHERS HARLEY-DAVIDSON

 

 

Elimination Day at Thunder In the Valley!

SHIGEMATSU LOVES BRISTOL!  No doubt he does after taking his third consecutive Top Fuel victory here!  A great finale from the Rush Thunder In the Valley Nationals!  Congratulations to all the winnerÕs here today.

IÕm headed to the winnerÕs circle to talk to all of them.  Check out all of the final results on the ladder pages and weÕll have more on the action from Bristol on ahdra.com soon.

Good night from Thunder Valley!

 

HereÕs a look at todayÕs semi final action and IÕm headed to the staging lanes to cover the final rounds for SPEED Magazine!  Wanda Poff is in 3 finals today and has a chance to match DerekÕs trifecta!  Tak Shigematsu is going for the Bristol Triple too!  Lots to catch in todayÕs final.  Stephanie will have all the numbers for you after each exciting finish!!!

 

Good afternoon from Bristol Dragway.  IÕve grabbed a seat finally here in race control as we head to the semi final rounds here at the Rush Thunder In the Valley Nationals!  Take a look at the action:

 

ScreaminÕ Eagle Top Fuel

Tak Shigematsu heads to his 3rd consecutive Bristol Dragway final after defeating Tommy Grimes.  Shigematsu will face Joey Sternotti who took out Phil Schmidt in the semis. 

 

S & S Pro Stock

Shaun Reno takes out Greg Krenik and will race Eddie Lee who advanced on the bye in the final. This is LeeÕs 4th final in Pro Stock competition with one win and for Reno it is final #4 with two wins on the charts.

 

Rush Pro Fuel

Randal Andras gets a bye to the final after Sam White reports in broke for the semi. White had problems in round two today and broke at the tree and his opponent David Poague gave up the win after contact with a foam block on the track-thus putting White back in the show.  White was evidentially unable to make the repairs and hands the bye to Andras.

Andras will race Doug Horne in todayÕs final.  Horne just took out Tommy Sloan in his semi final match.  Horne advances to 5th final of the season and coming fresh off his double win in Cecil County, MD.

 

Rush Pro Gas

Mike Lozano gets out of shape but advances on his semi final single.  Lozano will race Dale Raudenbush in the final after Rick Moore lost fire in the water box. 

 

Kresto Pro Drag

Rocky Jackson meets with a bang off the line and Rickey House advances to the final against the defending champion, Rick Moore. 

 

AHDRA Pro Modified

Greg Krenik goes to final #8 for the season after defeating Doc Goodwin.  Krenik takes on Randy Borho for the 5th time this year.

 

CutterÕs Foam Street Pro

G.T. Tonglet upsets pointÕs leader Andy Simon in the semi.  Tonglet heads to the final against Danny Worth who coasted through the traps on his bye in the semi.

 

Bison Racing Super Gas

Wanda Poff is racing her heart out today in three semi finals.  In Super Gas she gets yet another holeshot advantage today and gets the win light for a final round appearance against Ronnie Fensick who advanced on the bye.

Poff still has two classes to run today for a chance at multiple finals.

 

ScreaminÕ Eagle V-Rod

Lou Gerencer goes to his sixth final of the season after defeating Stacy McMillan and will race Mike Roberts who defeated Jim Sweet in his semi.

 

S & S 124 Challenge

Chris Sansevere goes to the final today after taking out Lou Gerencer.  Sansevere gets Mike Roberts in the final who broke the beam to advance on his single.

 

Pingel Super Eliminator

Great race between Larry Maynhart and #1 qualifier, Kevin Winters and itÕs Maynhart headed to the final with a win by one hundredths of a second over Winters.  Maynhart will face a multiple champion in the class-Donnie Huffman who advanced on a single.

 

Drag Masters Hot Street

Charlie Douglass makes his third attempt at a win today after defeating Dennis Copley in the semis.  Douglass, the No. 1 plate holder will have to fight off Bruce Croneberger III to get that win in todayÕs final.  Croneberger advanced on a bye in the semis.

 

SEP

Nate Carnahan has a shot at his 2nd AHDRA career win after advancing to his 2nd consecutive final.  Carnahan defeated Troy Young in the semi and he will race Kevin Winters in the final today.  Winters upset Greg Best who has a strong SEP performance record going in 2008, but a redlight today stops him from going for a third win.

 

ScreaminÕ Eagle Destroyer

Wanda Poff scores final appearance #2 here in Bristol after advancing on a bye.  She will race Nick Gonatas Jr. who took out Douglas Horne in his semi.

 

Syn 3 ET

Wanda Poff IS going to 3 finals today as she has a bye in the ET final!!

Can she match DerekÕs trifecta???

Poff will race Fred Howell in todayÕs ET final.

 

 

Catch all the results from todayÕs action on the ladder pages updated after each round!  More blue skies and pleasant temperatures are forecasted today.  Sunshine and fast racingÉall on tap at the Rush Thunder In the Valley Nationals!

 

 

Sunday, August 10th

Sportsman EliminationÕs begin at 9:00am

(as needed to narrow the fields to 16 or less)

12:15pm Opening Ceremonies

12:30pm Pro EliminationÕs begin

 

 

 

Final round wrap up:

Qualifying Day at Bristol Dragway

 

Syn 3 ET

Chip Sutinen of Ypsilanti, MI had a .013 reaction in this mornings first round and it kept him at No. 1 for two rounds.  Sutinen had to hand over the top spot in the final lap of the day when Donnie Huffman bettered the .013 with a .003 to take over No.1.

 

ScreaminÕ Eagle Destroyer

Douglas Horne is coming off double class wins at his hometown track in Cecil County, MD and today, heÕs back at the top of the pack with a 9.326 at 142mph that kept him No.1 after all three rounds.

 

S & S Super Sport

David Doremus opened up the day with a 10.338 for the No. 1 spot in the 10.30 index class before Kevin Barber clocked a 10.313 in the second round to take over the top position.  No one bettered BarberÕs number in the final round and he clinched the No. 1 qualifying honors.

 

SSC 124 Challenge

Mike Roberts, the defending champ started his day with a 9.46 at 142mph before improving in round No. 2 with a 9.41 at 141mph.  Roberts lead the field all three rounds and takes the starting line tomorrow for the seventh time as SSC #1 qualifier.

 

ScreaminÕ Eagle V-Rod

Another seven time #1 qualifyer-Lou Gerencer!  His opening round pass (9.525/142mph) held as the best of the day for the top spot.

 

Drag Masters Hot Street

Bruce Croneberger III started off with a 10.15 at 131mph for the No. 1 spot after two rounds.  In the third and final shot of the day, Croneberger picked up horsepower (9.932/131mph) and he stands up tomorrow for the sixth time as the top qualifier this season.

 

SEP

Kelly Overcash of Sanford, NC clocked a 11.502 out of the trailer and secured the #1 qualifying spot against the 11.50 index.  Greg Best gave it a good try at catching him with a 11.509 for the second position.

 

Bison Racing/Eagle Harley-Davidson Super Gas

The competition was tight in the 9.70 field.  Jeff Stevens led the day with an 9.702 and by the final round, several racers gave it their absolute best shot to catch him.  Not today though, Stevens stayed No.1 with the 9.702.

Defending champ Bob Drapp took No. 2 with a 9.705, Chris Sansevere finished third with a 9.706 and Brian Martin was No. 4 with a 9.708.

 

Pingel Super Eliminator

Kevin Winters came out with a dead-on 10.900 to get things started in 10.90 index racing.  Sitting securely at No. 1, when Dennis Copley matched his perfect score in the final round, but the better MPH from Winters allowed him to hang on to the top spot.

 

CutterÕs Foam Street Pro

Andy SimonÕs 8.754 at 153mph set the pace early in the day.  Simon never improved, but Danny Worth managed to move from the bottom to No. 2 when he clocked a 8.965 at 151mph in the third round today.

 

AHDRA Pro Modified

Greg Krenik coming off the long road trip from Sturgis where he earned double wins was fired up and ready for racing today.  Krenik clocked a 8.66 at 152mph for the No. 1 spot, his seventh top qualifying honor in Pro Mod this year.

 

Kresto Pro Drag

Mike Bahnmaier took over the seat on his ride at this weekÕs Sturgis event and earned a win on both the Pro Drag and Pro Fuel bike.  But here in Bristol, Bahnmaier handed the seat position back over to Rick Moore who opened up the day with a 7.37 at 174mph to hold the top position in all three rounds.

 

Rush Pro Gas

Mike Lozano will take his sixth time on the starting line tomorrow for No. 1 qualifier introductions.  Lozano started the day with what would be his best of the day-7.197 at 183mph.

 

 

Rush Pro Fuel

Who said David Poague is a nitro rookie?  You wouldnÕt know it from his recent strong performances!  Poague grabbed his second straight No. 1 qualifying spot in a tough field of competitors today.  Douglas Horne led the field after one round (6.769/208mph) and then Poague clocks a 6.741/189mph to take over in the second round.  Not enough to satisfy him though, he came out in the third round to tighten the grip with an even better-6.732/204mph.

 

S & S Pro Stock

Eddie Lee got the field rocking this morning with a 8.267 at 157mph.  The number wasnÕt bettered and Lee starts race day tomorrow in the top position.

 

ScreaminÕ Eagle Top Fuel

HeÕs going for a 3-peat in Top Fuel competition and heÕs off to a good start!  WeÕre talking about Tak Shigematsu.  He came off the trailer today with a 6.39 at 217mph that has held No. 1 all day.  He smoked the tire in his second and third attempts and all bets are he will open up the show tomorrow big!  Joey Sternotti the #1 qualifier from the past two AHDRA meets is No. 2 with an impressive 6.41 at 226mph and coming off his first Top Fuel win in quite a while, Mike Lehman rocked the clocks in his third attempt with a 6.45 at 214mph to shoot up to the third spot.  The bump spot in the full field, a 6.939! 

 

3:20pm

Final qualifying rounds underway for all classes.  Racing is running smoothly so far and no problems to report.  The results for the classes are posting quickly after the rounds the sun is shining.  Check out the result page for your favorite class for the latest results.

 

 

Good morning from Bristol Dragway!  AHDRA is back in action after a July break and the competition should be fantastic here at Thunder Valley!

Stephanie Druschel will be back at the keyboards this weekend punching in all the results round by round and we will check back in here with any breaking news or reports of delays.

 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

 

Saturday, August 9th

Sportsman Qualifying begins 9:00am

Pro Qualifying begins 11:00am

 

Sunday, August 10th

Sportsman EliminationÕs begin at 9:00am

(as needed to narrow the fields to 16 or less)

12:15pm Opening Ceremonies

12:30pm Pro EliminationÕs begin