courtesy IHRA and Drag Race Central.

Budds Creek

MECHANICSVILLE, Md.--

Weekend wrap up

(June 15, 2008) - Last season Dale Creasy Jr. was a regular visitor to the winner's circle at IHRA Nitro Jam events. He won six times during the 2007 season in easily cruising to his second consecutive world championship.
This season things have not come quite as easily for the Beecher, Ill. resident. Through three national events heading into the President's Cup Nationals, Creasy had failed to find his way through the field and into the winner's circle. That all changed when he knocked off Todd Simpson in the final round to claim the Ironman at Maryland International Raceway.

"Today was a day we have been looking for," Creasy said. "This morning I was wondering if this was going to be a 'go fast' kind of race track or if it was going to be tricky. Either way we thought we had something for everyone else. It worked out well. We have a tune-up we run at Grand Bend for a hot race track that we've been working on for two years. All the tracks are good until it gets this hot. You can't do anything with a 140-degree race track."

Creasy's '08 Impala was the strongest car all weekend. He qualified on top of the qualifying sheet before marching through the rounds of eliminations. He defeated Mike Smith in the first round when Smith rolled through the beams and posted a -.217 red-light. Creasy then knocked off Andy Kelley in the semifinals with a 5.118/293.73 pass to Kelley's 5.323/280.14. He then marched past Todd Simpson in the final round, posting a 5.080 at 294.95 mph while Simpson shook the tires in the other lane.

"I told my guys before the race that we aren't doing badly this year, we're just not doing what we did last year," Creasy said. "But that was a season where if you would have written it down before-hand no one would have believed it. Everyone is getting tougher in this class and we had to adjust to it. Today we were the best car out there."

Bobby Lagana Jr. (Scarsdale, N.Y.) also found the winner's circle for the first time this season, defeating defending World Champion Bruce Litton to take home the Torco Pro Nitro Top Fuel Ironman at MIR. The victory was Lagana's fourth career national event win.

The win was special for Lagana because his father, Bobby Sr., was at MIR with him and his brother Domenick was tuning his car for the first time. Lagana clocked a 4.869/306.40 pass in the final to top Litton's 4.998/225.82.

"I have absolutely the best deal in life," Lagana said. "My family is great, I have an awesome girlfriend, my brother is unbelievable. Dom is the most incredible person in my entire life. I told him he was tuning the car this weekend and we never missed a beat. I have everything I could possibly want."

Mike Castellana proved the nitrous Pro Modifieds are back with a vengeance. Castellana knocked off Ed Hoover in the final round by clocking a 6.097 at 238.93 mph. Earlier in the weekend he posted the fastest speed by a nitrous Pro Modified car in IHRA history, posting a 239.14 mph pass.

"We really had a handle on this car all weekend," Castellana said. "Shannon Jenkins and SpeedTech Nitrous Systems really gave me a great car. My son was here with me, so this was a great Father's Day present."

Castellana knocked off Pat Stoken, Kenny Lang and Mike Janis to reach the finals.

"This class is very strong," he said. "It doesn't matter what round and where someone qualifies. Anyone can win when Sunday rolls around."

Laurie Cannister (Johnstown, Ohio) continued her dominance in the Alcohol Funny Car class, winning for the third time in four national events. Cannister defeated Paul Noakes in the final round at Maryland International Raceway. Cannister won at MIR last season as well.

"Two for two here. It's great we were able to start here, then come back to prove this wasn't a fluke," Cannister said. "The whole crew was great this weekend. We didn't have any trouble with the track being hot or greasy, we seemed to have a handle on it. I know a lot of other teams had a tough time with the track but we just hung in there and did what we know how to do."

Frank Gugliotta (Mt. Airy, Md.) was able to find the winner's circle for the first time this year, defeating Jason Collins in the Torco Pro Stock final. The win was special for Gugliotta because it came at his home track.

"It feels great to win at home," Gugliotta said. "I've been trying to win in Pro Stock here for a long time. I won in Top Sportsman here before, but winning one in Pro Stock has just eluded me. I've runnered-up but it seemed like I could never seal the deal. And I am really happy I could get a win for Bob Yoak. He was the first one to ever put me in a Pro Stock car and I really wanted to win him one. I finally did."

Sunday's final results from the Torco Racing Fuels President's Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway. The race is the fourth of 11 in the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.869 seconds, 306.40 mph def. Bruce Litton, 4.998 seconds, 225.82 mph.

Nitro Funny Car -- Dale Creasy Jr., Chevy Impala, 5.080, 294.95 def. Todd Simpson, Chevy Camaro, 6.214, 159.99.

Pro Modified -- Mike Castellana, Pontiac Firebird, 6.097, 238.93 def. Ed Hoover, Chevy Camaro, 6.102, 232.31.

Alcohol Funny Car -- Laurie Cannister, Chevy Camaro, 5.780, 246.57 def. Paul Noakes, Dodge Avenger, 6.015, 238.17.

Pro Stock -- Frank Gugliotta, Ford Mustang, 6.417, 219.86 def. Jason Collins, Chevy Cobalt, 6.431, 219.83.

Top Sportsman -- Sandy Wilkins, Chevy Cavalier, 7.319, 164.17 def. Wayne Woodard, Cavalier, 7.401, 162.37.

Top Dragster -- Gary Koebbe, Dragster, 7.075, 185.74 def. Steve Furr, Dragster, foul.

Super Stock -- Craig Marshall, Pontiac Grand Am, 8.970, 145.02 def. Monty Bogan Jr., Pontiac Firebird, 9.588, 139.10.

Stock -- Dan Fletcher, Chevy Camaro, 10.592, 113.74 def. Wayne Totard, Pontiac Grand Am, 10.720, 126.45.

Quick Rod -- Danny Waters Jr., Dragster, 9.020, 155.79 def. Kathy Fisher, Dragster, 9.067, 158.45.

Super Rod -- Cameron Manuel, Chevy Corvette, 9.890, 142.66 def. Steve Furr, Chevy Camaro, 9.889, 155.42.

Hot Rod -- Chris Carpenter, Chevy Vega, 10.867, 132.32 def. Chris Nyerges, Chevy Camaro, 10.858, 136.19.

Point standings

Top Fuel

1. Bruce Litton 383
2. Spencer Massey 353
3. Mike Strasburg 296
4. Bobby Lagana Jr. 295
5. Scott Palmer 212
6. Terry McMillen 206
7. Kevin Jones 187
8. Chris Karamesines 108
9. Michael Gunderson 50
10. T.J. Zizzo 36
11. Fred Farndon 20
12. Doug Foley 10
13. Dave Gallegos -15
14. Todd Paton -30

Nitro Funny Car

1. Dale Creasy Jr. 316
2. Paul Lee 271
3. Matt Hagan 260
4. Terry Haddock 242
5. Steven Macklyn 208
6. Andy Kelley 188
7. Jack Wyatt 168
8. Todd Simpson 165
9. Jeff Diehl 127
10. Bob Gilbertson 111
11. Daniel Wilkerson 101
12. Cory Lee 76
13. Mike Smith 52
14. Rob Bruce 10
Jason Duchene 10
Mitch King 10

Pro Modified

1. Kenny Lang 322
2. Jim Halsey 256
3. Mike Castellana 254
4. Scott Cannon 241
5. Mike Janis 224
6. Jason Hamstra 198
7. Tommy D{Aprile 193
8. Billy Gibson 176
9. Pat Stoken 156
10. Ed Hoover 154
11. Quain Stott 127
12. Thomas Patterson 122
13. Burton Auxier 99
14. Billy Harper 87
15. Chip King 84

Alcohol Funny Car

1. Laurie Cannister 458
2. Rob Atchison 326
3. Thomas Carter 296
4. Paul Noakes 252
5. Dale Brand 232
6. Mark Thomas 170
7. Larry Dobbs 167
8. Terry Munroe 120
Tim Stevens 120
10. Tony Bogolo 107
11. Neal Parker 62
12. Rocky Hummel 30
13. Melinda Green-King 20
14. Bunny Burkett 10
Dylan Hache 10
John Hart 10

Pro Stock

1. Jeff Dobbins 327
2. Elijah Morton 300
3. Frank Gugliotta 292
4. John Montecalvo 284
5. Pete Berner 239
6. Richard Freeman 183
7. Robert Patrick 157
8. Cary Goforth 154
9. Rob Mansfield 149
10. Jason Collins 148
11. Dean Goforth 139
12. Brian Gahm 138
13. Bob Bertsch 97
14. Trevor Eman 96
15. Tom Lee 54

Final qualifying

MECHANICSVILLE, Md. --

(June 14, 2008) - Rain washed out the final round of professional qualifying Saturday evening at the Torco President's Cup Nationals, setting the fields for all professional fields following Saturday's afternoon session at Maryland International Raceway. Four of the five provisional #1 qualifiers from Friday retained their positions atop their respective fields, with Dale Brand replacing Larry Dobbs atop the Alcohol Funny Car field.
Defending Torco Pro Nitro Funny Car World Champion Dale Creasy Jr. claimed his first #1 qualifying position of the season, clocking a 4.967 during Friday evening qualifying.a number that stood up when all qualifying was said and done. Paul Lee (Wynnewood, Pa.), the winner three weeks ago in Milan, ended up #2 on the ladder while Matt Hagan (Christiansburg, Va.) ended up third and Todd Simpson (Ponder, Tx) fourth to round out the top half of the ladder.

Bruce Litton, the defending Torco Pro Nitro Top Fuel champion from Indianapolis, will start Sunday's elimination rounds from the #1 qualifying slot. Litton posted a 4.699 Saturday night to claim the top spot on the qualifying sheet. Bobby Lagana Jr. (Scarsdale, N.Y.) qualified #2 while Mike Strasburg (Lindon, Utah) and Kevin Jones (Berea, KY) filled out the top half of the field.

Tommy D'Aprile (Port Charlotte, Fla.) was the #1 qualifier in the Torco Pro Modified class for the first time this season as his Friday 6.042 at 236.13 was good enough to give him the pole position. Kenny Lang (Grande Pointe, Mb) was second on the qualifying sheet by virtue of his 6.079/239.95 pass. Jim Halsey (Street, Md.) and Mike Janis (Lancaster, N.Y.) rounded out the top four.

Dale Brand's amazing 5.716/247.57 pass in the Saturday afternoon heat put him on top of the Alcohol Funny Car qualifying list. The Sully, Iowa resident drove his '01 Camaro to the quickest pass of the day to move in front of Larry Dobbs (Welland, Ont.), who finished second on the list. Mark Thomas (Louisville, Ohio) and Rob Atchison (London, Ont.) rounded out the top four.

Jeff Dobbins (Wilmington, N.C.) claimed his third consecutive #1 qualifying position in the Torco Pro Stock class, piloting his '06 Escort to a 6.358 at 221.56 mph to claim top qualifying honors. Robert Mansfield (Margate, Fla.) was second on the qualifying sheet with a 6.372 while Tommy Lee (Jacksonville, N.C.) and John Montecalvo (Center Moriches, N.Y.) filled out the top half of the ladder.

All Saturday tickets will be honored at the gate Sunday. Showers are expected to move through the area overnight and the weather forecast for Sunday is for partly cloudy skies with no rain expected. Final professional eliminations will begin as scheduled. The first Pro Stock and Pro Modified elimination round will kick off at 11:00am, with the first Alcohol Funny Car, Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car elimination rounds scheduled to commence at noon.