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August 15, 2005 Northern Nationals gallery is here (All photos courtesy Guy Van Syckle) Final round results Top Fuel
Clay Millican got back on the winning track after two consecutive events away from the final round. He defeated who will likely be the r/u in the final season standings, Doug Foley, for the third time this season. After crashing at Milan Michigan ending his streak of five wins in a row two races ago, Clay lost in round one at the last event in Toronto. The Top Fuel field this weekend was the best field in 2005 , with a solid 5.80 bump spot, and three drivers outside the field running 4's as well. In the final round, Foley gave up any chance for a win when he smoked the itred and got crossed up crossing the centre line. He still extended his second place standing over Bruce Litton with the r/u finish.
Funny Car
Funny Car was again the Rob Atchison show, he ran low et of the weekend (a 5.80) in the semi final round against rival Mark Thomas. In the final round he defeated surprise finalist, Chris Foster. The win, his sixth in eight races and fourth consecutive, puts a stranglehold on the top spot in the standings. He is close to 7 rounds ahead with only 12 rounds of racing remaining.
Pro Mod Eliminations
Pro Mod looked like it would be the trifecta for Carl Spiering as he took the Pro Mod Shoot-out on Saturday, coupled with his win at Toronto two weeks earlier. He was looking for the win at Martin, but came up with a runner-up finish when Mike Castellana ran low et of the weekend, a great 6.16/231 to get by a red lighting Spiering. His only losses in the last four event's have been due to red lights. Spiering moved into 4th place (from 8th) in the standings and Castellana moved into 2nd (from 4th) with the win.
Round 1: Scott Cannon, Lyman
SC, '53 Studebaker, Right lane, (0.127) 6.250 225.82 def. Pat Moore,
Kinsman
Pro Stock
Steve Spiess is on an eight round winning streak after he dismantled the field for the second race in a row. After qualifying #1 and setting track records, he extended his point lead to over 120 points ahead of Robert Patrick. Spiess has had the dominant car since the Edmonton event, and his only (two) round losses were because of holeshots. The rest of the class better find out what kind of water Spiess is drinking, and try to get a bottle or two, cause his domination will end the points chase before to long.
John Montecalvo, Center
Moriches NY, '05 Cobalt, Right lane, (0.049) 6.498 213.77 def. Frank
Round 2;
Final round eliminations
Top Stock (contested Saturday) -- Paul Mercure, Chevy Camaro, 9.843, 135.29 def. Paul Cambria, Pontiac Firebird, 10.186, 131.04. Top Sportsman -- Gary Wojnowski Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 7.196, 175.68 def. Aaron Glaser, Chevy Camaro, broke. Top Dragster -- Troy Williams Jr., Dragster, 6.843, 173.54 def. Ricky Adkins, Dragster, 7.015, 185.10. Quick Rod -- Rob Kropfeld, Dragster, 8.912, 157.37 def. Joe Fisher, Dragster, 8.876, 170.64. Super Rod -- Rusty Cook, Chevy Corvette, 9.893, 162.53 def. Ken Bowers, Corvette, 9.859, 153.13. Hot Rod -- Paul Richardson, Oldsmobile Firenza, 10.942, 144.04 def. Tim Cmar, Chevy S-10, 10.897, 128.10. Super Stock -- Todd Matthias, Chevy Camaro, 9.614, 139.34 def. Donn Rhode, Camaro, 9.674, 136.41. Stock -- Jeremy Mitchell, Chevy Camaro, 11.441, 111.95 def. Jack Zimmerman, Dodge Challenger, 10.608, 123.22. ET Bracket -- Jon Smith, Chevy Malibu, 10.256, 130.40 def. John Hernandez, Plymouth Barracuda, 9.716, 138.29. ET Box -- Jon Smith, Chevy Malibu, 10.333, 129.42 def. Larry Townsend, Ford Thunderbird, 9.085, 147.96. ET No Box -- John Hernandez, Plymouth Barracuda, 9.684, 138.47 def. Mike Austin, Chevy Nova, foul.
Pro Modified Shootout (contested Saturday)
Carl Spiering, Chevy Corvette, 6.192, 230.65 def. Jim Halsey, Chevy Camaro, 6.234, 225.26.
August 13, 2005 Martin Michigan Final Qualifying With all the excitement surrounding T.J. Zizzo’s IHRA Top Fuel debut and Doug Foley following up his strong showing in Toronto two weeks ago with a quality Friday evening qualifying session, people seemed to be overlooking someone very important. It isn’t often when the four-time defending World Champion is an afterthought, but that is what Clay Millican (Drummonds, Tenn.) was at the Torco Race Fuels Northern Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. It didn’t take long for Millican to put himself back squarely in the spotlight. Breaking both ends of the track record, Millican blasted his way to the #1 qualifier position with a 4.609/318.09 pass during the Saturday afternoon qualifying session. No one in the evening session could better Millican’s afternoon run, leaving Millican in his Werner Enterprises ’05 Hadman on the top of the heap. “Let everyone else think about the other teams,” Millican’s Crew Chief, Mike Kloeber, said. “All we can do is think about ourselves and getting this car down the race track one run at a time. What everyone else thinks is kind of up to them. We just keep our heads down and do good work. If we do that we’ll get good results.” Millican is grateful so many quality cars were in Martin for the race. “I think is it awesome that Evan Knoll has so many good cars out here,” Millican said. “Without cars here we won’t get fans in the stands and without fans in the stands we won’t have a race. That means I don’t get to show off. Evan Knoll is out there making things happen and I’m really glad for that.” In fact, six of the eight drivers who qualified for the Top Fuel field, T.J. Zizzo, Doug Foley, Bruce Litton, Rick Cooper, Dale Creasy, Jr. and Bobby Lagana, Jr. receive sponsorship money from Knoll’s Torco Race Fuels. The evening session was not without suspense, however. Lagana, Jr. (Scarsdale, N.Y.) was sitting on the bump with a 4.836 when Chris Karamesines (Chicago, Ill.) and Tim Cullinan (Franklin Park, Ill.) pulled into the staging lanes for the second to last pair of cars before the field was solidified. Both had the chance to bump Lagana out and Karamesines had a solid run…but fell .002 short. “It’s my brother Dom’s birthday today so we’ll take it,” Lagana said. “This is tough, though, because I feel really bad for The Greek. We are such close friends and I root for him all the time, so that makes this really hard. But I’ve been on his end so many times.”
Top Fuel 1. Clay Millican Werner Dragster 4.609@ 318.09&
Pro Mod In the Torco Pro Mod class the big story was not who made the field for Sunday’s elimination rounds…it was who was on the outside looking in. Shannon Jenkins from Tuscaloosa, Ala., the #1 ranked Pro Mod driver in the world, could not get down the track under power on his final shot and will not be involved in Sunday’s competition. The #1 qualifier won a little bit more than just lane choice and the chance to race the #16 qualifier in Sunday’s first round of eliminations. Carl Spiering (Jordan Station, Ont.) also won the Torco Pro Mod Shootout and the $20,000 prize that went along with it when he defeated Jim Halsey in the final of the competition. The Torco Pro Mod Shootout pitted the top eight Pro Mod cars ranked through a qualifying points system this season. Spiering is on a roll as he was the national event winner at the ACDelco Canadian Nationals two weeks ago. His 6.192/230.65 put him ahead of Mike Castellana, who also ran in the 6.19’s during Saturday afternoon. 1. Carl Spiering Eaton Electrical *'63 Corvette 6.192 230.65 Pro Stock Steve Spiess’ ’05 Chevy Cobalt continued to be the Torco Pro Stock car the entire field is chasing as he claimed the #1 qualifying position for the second time in as many races. Spiess (Manhattan, Ill.) ran a 6.446/214.48 to sit atop the field heading into Sunday’s elimination rounds. He won the Pro Stock Ironman two weeks ago at Toronto Motorsports Park, in the process barely missing becoming the first Torco Pro Stock driver in IHRA history to card a lap in the 6.30’s when he notched a 6.400 pass in Saturday evening qualifying session. He set the track record at U.S. 131 at 6.446. 1. Steve Spiess Spiess Construction Cobalt 6.446 214.48 Funny Car Jim Sickles (Caledonia, N.Y.) put two-time defending IHRA Funny Car World Champion Rob Atchison in an unfamiliar place when final qualifying was completed…not at the top of the heap. Sickles, in his last shot at the track Saturday evening, posted a 5.829/242.67 to top Atchison’s 5.835/240.34 and send Atchison to the #2 spot. Five-time IHRA Funny Car World Champion Mark Thomas had his fans on edge Saturday evening, as he could not crack the top eight and make the field during the first two qualifying sessions. He came up big in his last chance, however, as his 5.877/241.11 put him in the #3 position and into Sunday’s field. 1. Jim Sickles Meyer's RV Monte Carlo 5.829 242.67
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