Nov 16th & 17th
The weather cooperated with us on Saturday with temps in the high 50’s as we had a great turnout for our Test & Tune / Gamblers Race show. One hundred fifty three cars, bikes and junior dragsters rolled in the gates to participate. What a mix of cars we had from a large group sport compacts, many late model Camaros, Challengers and Mustangs, drag radial cars, full on bracket cars and street bikes. The track was excellent as many cars ran big numbers, one Eagle Talon ran a 9.12 @ 160 mph. We did run a Gamblers Race that had Troy Gehrart winning running his Mustang powered by Joe Wetzel’s motor.This race was also well attended by our race fans.
On Sunday the weather nearly got us, rain, fog and drizzle was pretty much everywhere but at the track and it did affect the car count of Footbrake, Super and Test & Tune cars and bikes. To reward those that attended Elmer and Cathy Wachter kept the purse high giving $1,000 to win and $400.00 runnnerup in Footbrake though we had just 29 cars in the class. The same was done in Super, 9 cars entered, $500.00 to win, $250.00 for the runnerup. The racing was close, great lights and near dead on runs. In the end in Footbrake Dave Clinedinst on his bike running Rob Roberts Jr, with dead on his 5.58 dial with a zero and a .017 light while Rob was .029 at the start but went 7.77 on his 7.79 dial. Dave was on the tree and close to the dial on all six rounds of racing. Rob had a solid day also with his worst light all day was a .033. In Super Jerry Williams went .007 with a right on 4.79 to Rusty Blsckford’s .014 light and a one off 6.11, great, close well run race. Mark Gray was third. Like many races, most racers ran two time runs with the same e.t. or one off, run to run. Most ran their dials with great lights. Again this takes a good, well set up car, good drivng skills and lastly very good track prep.
Remember, this coming Sat. and Sun.Nov. 23rd and 24th are the final events of the year. Both have the Junior Dragsters running at 9:30 am each day, then the big cars go at noon. All classes are contested with racing being eighth mile racing. On Sunday, winners and runnerups of all classes get turkeys AND Contingency Connection packages and purse money. Come on out and race or hangout with us on the final weekend of the 2013 racing season at Mason Dixon Dragway!
November 10th 20th Anniversary SBRA Finals
Day three — SBRA Bracket Finals — We started the day at a bit after 9:00 am with Bill Smith hosting a RFC chapel service. The Juniors then took the track and ran til done. At the end, Sarah Danner beat Kevin Kohr with a slight starting line advantage. Brandi Connor was third. In Footbrake, after 153 cars and nine rounds later it was Eric Day going .007 against Garret Suders to win the huge class. Steve Watts was third. Super had Jeff Krushinskie winning over the -.001 redlighting Joe Mayne III. Al Crawford took third place. After placing second at the NHRA Summit Bracket Finals, Brian Canoles won this big event over Mike Rankin who went red, Brian ran his fastest run of the event with a 5.02 in the final. Clay Davies was the third place rider.
Now for track points, it went like this — Natural Bridge 73, Mason Dixon 72, Eastside 64, Beaver Springs 62, Colonial Beach 59, Old Dominion 46, Elk Creek 42, nice job all racers especially Natural Bridge. Beaver Springs got the Team Spirit award. This race was completed in a timely manor, the final pair ended the day at 6:50 pm, not bad for a 300 car race!
A big thanks to all that participated, racers and their crew and family members, sponsors, track staff and management. We look forward to this event in 2014.
We are racing next weekend, Sat. a test & tune and maybe a gamblers race and class racing on Sun.
See you at the track! BITS FROM OUR PITS by: Mike Bassin
November 9th 309 Cars in Competition
Day Two — SBRA Bracket Finals — On day two we had a lot more cars on the property with Race of Champions and a Gambler Race being contested. The weather was slightly warmer than yesterday, temps in the low 50’s but breezy, the track also stayed excellent all the way to 10:30 pm when we finished the day. Let’s go with Race of Champions — Junior Dragsters, Kevin Kohr won over Sarah Danner, Super had Jamie Niedomanski over Ronnie Horwath, Footbrake winner Darhl Clark, over Ralph Martin Bike Tom Dunham over Mike Charcalla. The Gamblers races were big, over 150 cars ran in Footbrake alone, in the final Marty Fleagle Jr. had a .011 light to defeat the breaking out Tom Harhart, Kevin Pollard was third. In Super Mason Dixon’s own Al Crawford held off Randy Krause’s dragster with a slight .008 to .011 starting line advantage and ran deadon 6.19 to Randy’s one off 4.87, great, well run race by both drivers. Taylor Dunham had the better light in the Bike final to win over Brian Canoles as both riders were two over their dials. Finally in the Junior Dragster class, Megan Lotts beat Dylan Wood, Brandi Conner took third. On Sunday it is track against track and racers running for the big money! Let’s do it!
Nov 8th, 2013 Day One of a 3 Day Race
Day One — SBRA Bracket Finals — Yes, it was a bit cold, temps never got over 45 degrees but racing was excellent. Track prep was top shelf and with good air everybody was real fast. Hi-roller Super was won by Archie Davis who also had two perfect .000 lights back to back. Wayne Rogers was the runner-up, Mike Daymude took third. In Hi-roller Footbrake it was Scott Vaughn over Joe Mayne with Ryan Mayne taking third spot. Gamblers Super was won by Mike Daymude over Kelly Taylor. Gamblers Footbrake had Greg Cash over Brad Doss. Gamblers Bike had father Tom Dunham over son Taylor Dunham. Junior Dragster was won by Sarah Danner over Kevin Kohr. We had great racing today, over 180 cars and more to arrive on Saturday, we started on time at 10:00 am and finished up about 6:30 pm. running six different classes before it got real cold. We look forward to day number two! Time Trials 10 AM Sharp
November 2nd and 3rd
Two days of the Lee Sherman Memorial Stock / Super Stock race is in the books. This was the second biggest turnout of Mike Carr’s and family Tri-State Stock / Super Stock race cars at Mason Dixon. Fifty four cars on Sat. and sixty four cars on Sun. On Sat. Bob Fazio in his wheelstanding SS/L Mustang beat Dan Fahey in his G/PS Impala, Bryan Worner took third. Electronics bracket racing cars had Steve Morgret the winner in Electronics and in Footbrake Mike Boyd took the win. The track was fast all day long and everyone got plenty of runs.
On Sunday local Dan Henderson wheeled his B/SA Max-Wedge 63 Dodge to several mid 10.50 passes to face off with Chris Kilraine in his 67 Fairlane 390 powered wagon in the final. Chris won it with a better light, 11.94 to a 10.52. Brad Huntzberry and Tom Losket were the semi racers. In Footbrake Gene Belt in his Suzuki beat Andy Dolan’s Malibu in the final. Randy Hess took third place. Electronics class was won by Dennis Hammond over Andy Dolan. Chuck Wishard was third. In the “Wally” race, Gene Belt won over Dennis Hammond. Of note Andy Dolan ran two classes, lost both finals but did win 11 rounds in a row before the final round exits, still a good racing and payday for our 2013 track champ. A very big thanks to all who attended and participated this weekend. Also track prep was again top notch, Stock and Super Stock cars can be tough to hook on a less than perfect track, almost everyone launched hard and ran good numbers both days. Nice job Mason Dixon track staff.
Don’t forget, just three more weekends of racing, SBRA event starting Fri. Nov 8th at 10:00 am running all three days, Fri., Sat., and Sun. See you at Mason Dixon Dragway.
DIESEL DRAGS SHOW AND PULL
SAT Oct 26 & Sun Oct 27th
The Big Rigs invade Mason Dixon
The Diesel Truck event is in the books. A big thanks to our sponsors, Rich Price’s Antrim Diesel Service of Greencastle, Pa, Antrim RV Sales and Bully Dog Performance Technology. Day one featured a test and tune that kicked off at 10:00 am and ran til about 2:30 pm, 120 trucks made numerous runs throughout the test session and at about 5:00 pm the truck pull part of the showed got underway. A big crowd attended the test and tune and the truck pulls with the day finally ending a bit past midnite. Great show!
Day two was all about drag racing and over 110 trucks competed in the four classes. We ran a pair of Quick 8 races, one for the Big Rigs and one for the Pickups. In the Truck class it took a 12.44 to get in, of note, there were 18 trucks that ran 12.99 or faster. In the finals Sean Kurz, number one qualifer won over the number two truck of Jonathan Price, 11.00 to 11.95. In the Big Rig Quick 8 it was Craig Morris over Quebec’s Vince Couture 13.17 to a quicker 13.15. Craig was low quilifier with a 12.65 @ 116 mph pass. Good racing in both Quick 8 races.
In the Pickup Class there were 76 entries, in the end it was Jonathan Neiderer winning over the red lighting Joshua Higman, 13.02 to a 12.51.
In the Big Rig final it was Rich Riddick over Leon Smith, 13.80 to a 14.22. This class had over 20 trucks entered, all ran well and looked great too! This whole event, both days was very well attended, we thank all that participated, racers, race fans and sponsor / partners. We look forward to doing this race again in 2014.
We race four weekends in November. Sat. and Sun. Nov. 2nd and 3rd we run the NHRA Stock and Super Stock cars. We expect to see 60 or more cars entered. Also we will run two bracket classes, electronics and foot brake cars on both days. Nov. 8, 9 and 10 we will run our SBRA race that got rained out two weeks ago. For those not quilified to race you may still enter the gamblers races on Fri. and Sat. The points race on Sun. is for the qualified racers only. See you this weekend!
Sunday Oct 20th
Perfect weather and a great, fast race track greeted racers and race fans for our Pro Stick race. All these cars were fast and big wheel stands from many were the norm. A field of fifty five cars made round one. In the final Shannon Wisecarver won out over red lighting Lynn Umberger, 9.97 to a 10.92.
The Footbrake racing was excellent and in the final Richard Parsons drove his Vega to a deadon 6.28 coupled with a .027 light to defeat the one off 6.36 of Mark Harbaugh. This was a close well run final, Michael Boyd was third.
In Super it was Jim Day in his Comet running a one over 6.46 to win over Steve Morgret’s breakout run of 5.49.
The Slant Six Mopar racers ran their second race of the weekend with Ron Hamby winning over Phil Stoneback. It was again fun to have this group with us and look forward to the Slant Six racers coming back in 2014. We also ran nearly forty cars and bikes in the test & tune class. Big thanks to Eric Kitchen and all his Pro Stick racers for putting a great show today. Next week, the Diesel Truck racers will be in the house. Test & Tune on Sat., Truck pull on Sat. night and the racing on Sunday, starts at noon, Pickups and Big Rigs have a Quick 8 and bracket classes. See you next week.
Saturday’s REAL STREET EVENT
Let’s start with a big thanks to all that participated in our Street Legal Quick 8 race today. We also had Justin Reggio from Maryland Performance Center with eight of his Real Street racers competing in a heads up eighth mile race. The presenting sponsor was Chris Kane’s Custom Towing of Silver Spring Md. Most of the cars ran mid fives with Charlie Booze Jr. winning over Russ Martin with a great .019 light and a 5.59 @ 123 mph pass. Russ did have low et. and top speed with a 5.49 @ 128 mph run in the semis.
In the Real Street (Street Driven) quick eight it took a 6.63 to get in the field. In the final Donny Nesselrode beat Bryan Anders with a 5.95 against a too quick 6.11 on the 6.17 dial.
The biggest class was the 13.99 and quicker group with Charles Copeland over John Moser. The 14.00 and up class had Kevin Lusby winning over the red lighting Steve McCulley. Ths Slant Six cars were with us today, fourteen cars ran with Ron Hamby winning over Rodney Hargis. Many test & tune cars were on the grounds with many Pro Stick racers getting ready for Sunday Oct. 20th race. We open at 10 am, racing starting with time runs get underway at 12 noon.
A final couple of subjects, the track staff did a GREAT job on track prep, huge wheel stands were the norm and the cars went straight and fast. Sadly Steve Dickey our lead tech man and head of staging lanes hurt his knee a week ago and will be on crutches for a while. Get well quick Steve. Also one of our great racers, Scott Bodmer was injured in a fall, he will face a long recover period. Best wishes to Scotty also.
See you tomorrow for the Pro Stick Race, eighth mile Electronics and Footbrake and test & tune will also be run.
Wednesday
Day one of the 2013 SBRA Bracket Finals is in the books. Time runs started at 1 pm for the two gambler race classes contested, one for electronics cars and one for footbrake / bikes. The track was great and a corrected altitude of around 300 ft had everyone running fast. In footbrake semis Tinka Newton ran Mike Schultz on his bike, Tinka broke out by one giving the win to Mike. In the final it was two bikes, Mike Schultz drawing Mason Dixon’s Gene Belt. Mike went red and Gene ran a dead on 5.30 @ 126 mph for the win.
In electronics it was Brian Niedomanski winning over Ronnie Horwath in the semis with a one over 4.75 to Ronnie’s 5.90, both drivers with teen lights. In final Brian beat Mike Daymude with a .002 light and a one over 4.76 while Mike was two over at 5.40. Good close runs with most cars running the number or a mere one over. Great track prep and well sorted out race cars make this happen. Good racing everyone. See you tomorrow, time runs for gamblers race start at 1:00 pm!
October 6th
The last weekend of September we had two very well attended test & tune events. Over 130 cars on Saturday and a good group showed up on Sunday. Max Naylor brought his Top Sportsman Dodge Avenger down from New Buffalo, Pa. to make some test passes, Ray Thurston drove while his wife Sandy was part of the crew. An easy pass first 7.98 @ 172 mph then a harder 330 ft pass of 2.80 and lifting, probably a 6.80 pass full out. On Saturday Oct. 5th we had an excellent turn out of cars and today, Sunday Oct. 6th we ran the Outlaw Pontiac Drag Racing Series cars with Bill Sheffer winning with his low ten second Trans Am over Cliff Mayes Firebird 10.12 to a 11.14. Jeff Raff and Andy Nutt were the semifinalists.
In the all-run gamblers race Dahryl Clark ran Mark Coover in the final, both drivers ran dead on the dials with Dahryl cutting a slightly better light. Lee Chronister in his Comet took third spot. Mark Coover did something extraordinary today, his two time runs were 6.096 and then in round one another 6.096. Three runs all the same to the thousandth of a second. Also Jeff Brady had Nathan Etzler driving his dragster to several high 7.60 runs @ 173 mph. Every run 1.10 sixty foot times too.
This week we host the biggest SBRA bracket finals ever with seven tracks and their racers competing for a $65,000 purse for five days of racing starting with a gamblers race on Wed. Oct. 9th, time trials start a 1:00 pm
Good luck to all participants this week at Mason Dixon! See you at the track.
I will try to post what happens daily in this column!
September 15th
A big thanks to Bill Smith for covering for me in the announcers booth today. I attended my stepdaughters 50th birthday bash. Bill did fill me in on the racing though. How about Stevie Dustin winning in Junior Dragster, way to go Stevie!
In Footbrake Chris Crawford won out over Paul Roderick.
Gene Belt beat Boyd Mathias in a fast field of bikes.
Track champ Ronnie Horwath beat Mark Decker in the Super class.
Just as a side note, Mike Daymude took his ’71 Demon to Numidia Dragway and ran in the Nitroplate.90 Nationals in Super Gas. On Friday he ran in the gamblers race and reached the finals where he barely went red. On Saturday Mike didn’t go as far. The car ran great in Super Gas trim, 8.90 @ 155 mph into a very stiff headwind. Nice work Mike and the rest of the Daymude gang.
Good luck and safe racing to all that are heading to the Bracket Finals this week. Let’s also hope for a strong effort from our excellent team of racers. See you back at Mason Dixon Dragway soon!
September 7th and 8th
What a great Street Nite we had on Saturday. We had over 150 cars entered with great racing all evening. The bump spot for our Quick 16 was a record 5.84 with Jerry Williams in his Monte Carlo as the low qualifier at 4.83 @ 144 mph. In the semis Kevin Moore had the better light to win over Jerry Williams while Jeremy Curry won out over Mike Daymude. In the final it was Jeremy Curry with .011 light taking the double break out win over Kevin Moore, 5.09 to a 5.73. In Pro Troy Gerhart won over Gary Kellican. Lisa Dustin picked up a win over Gary Staubs in Street. The Bike class was won by Leslie Thomas over Kermit Garnett III. To give you an idea of the track and the cars racing, John Moton asked for a time run after he lost in round one. He decided to put the “spray” to his ’63 Vette and the car handled well and flew, here’s the incrementals, 1.06, then 2.99 and then an excellent 4.59 @ 154.50. It takes great track prep and good working cars to have these fast and close runs.
Day Two, SBRA Points Race. The Junior Dragsters took the track first, Madelin Culbert beat Brandi Connor in the final. Of note, Lacey Dustin is now running in the high tens and her lights were excellent, she went all the way to round four before going out, great effort! The Outlaw Pontiacs were in the house, Cliff Mayes beat Billy Farrell while Anne Beard took third. There were 20 entries which was a good turnout for the Pontiacs. Marcus Henry took out Al Hite in the Super final. In Foot Brake, Michael Boyd won over Jody Sneckenberger. Michael was sharp all day long. Dave Clinedinst won over John Eaton in the Bike final.
Bill Smith of Fairfield Pa. performed a church service and the invocation on Sunday, a big thanks to Bill, he will race with us a good bit til the season ends. A big thanks to all who raced or were spectators this weekend, both events were well attended. Next week we have a private track rental on Sat. but on Sunday we run another SBRA Points race [1/8 mile]. See you at Mason Dixon this weekend!
Labor Day Weekend Classic
Labor Day weekend racing started on Friday night with a well attended test & tune event from 6pm to 10pm. On Saturday we attempted to run a 1/4 mile Summit ET Series race. Well, the weather messed with us again, at around 4:30pm rain hit and poured for about a half hour causing a more than two hour rain delay. We cut the race down to a one qualifying run and go and make it an 1/8 mile race. We got it all in but the Super Pro final in by midnight. Here’s how it went. Trophy went to Rich Eichelberger. Chris Crawford beat Stephen Dustin in Pro in a close one. In Street Dale Fridley beat Andy Dolan who went red in the finals. In a tough bike field John Eaton beat Boyd Mathias. John was .014 on the tree and dead on his 5.53 dial. In Super the two remaing drivers were Michael Shoop and Ronnie Horwath.
On Sunday, though it was hot and real humid, we got the race in uninterupted by rain. Eric Swiger took the Junior Dragster class winning over Chesney Gosnell. The semi racers were Charlotte Mallow and Steven Henry. Ryan Gray took the Trophy class. In Street Andy Dolan won over red lighting Joe Wetzel. The Pro the winner was Robert Pare with a .001 light over Clayton Garber who went red. Jamie Niedomanski laid down a .009 package to defeat Mike Daymude who barely broke out.
Now Labor Day. In High School Faith Warner was a winner over Sarah Stone. The Trophy final had Gary McDonald over Greg Orris. Street had yesterdays winner Andy Dolan doing it again winning over Scott Thomas. Again a repeat winner in Pro as Jack Pare beat George Hoff. Motorcycle class was tough again today as Kermit Garnett III won over Brian Canoles. Super Pro had a dragster final as Marcus Henry winning over Joe Mayne who went a mere -.002 red.
In conclusion, what a weekend. Some good things, Eric Swiger’s grandad added $50.00 cash to the Junior Dragster winner. Eric won it, Chris Lil, Burdette Brothers, put up a $100.00 to the first perfect light and Doug Whipkey claimed it. We did NOT give up on Saturday with the heavy rain, many tracks might have called it a day but with all the staff and equipment out on the track to clean it up, we got the race completed. Andy Dolan and Robert Pare were exceptional in wining twice each in the three day event. The Daymude family raised money for the Megan Daymude Foundation. The goal is to help out a new Junior Dragster racer with some sponsor help in 2014. Also we will put together a Top Dragster race at Mason Dixon in Megan’s name in 2014. We also had a very good race surface all four days despite the heat and high humidity. Cars again were mostly running the same each time run to maybe .01 run to run.
Don’t forget we have another Street Nite, Sat. Sept 8th and a SBRA 1/8th mile race on Sunday. See you next week!
August 25th, 2013
Great weather this weekend greeted racers and race fans for the Street Nite race on Sat. and the Ford’s at Mason Dixon race on Sunday.
A big spectator crowd and lots of race cars were the order of the day on Sat. The quick sixteen was quick alright, the bump was a 5.88 and the pole was a 4.69 @ at 149 mph by Steve Carper. The number two spot, 4.70 run was by John Mohton, third spot was Jerry Williams at 4.82 and Dan Shaffer at 4.90. Twenty six cars tried to qualify and three other 5 second cars didn’t make the show. This was the quickest field this year. In the semis John Mohton had to run dead on 4.69 to beat the one off 5.73 of Colton Kerchner. both lights were in the low twenties. The other semi run had Jeremy Curry going .008 at the start to win over Ronnie Horwath. In the final Jeremy Curry had the better light, .019 and ran a one over 5.09 to win out over John Mohton’s dead on 4.69.
The other classes had a good turnout also, in Pro Gary Keller took the win, Street had Richie Burns as a winner, in Bike George Stanley took first place and in Trophy Kevin Buhrman took the honors. The next Street Nite is Sat. Sept 7th. I bet the Quick Sixteen bump will be lower yet than the 5.88!
The Ford event also was very well attended, over a hundred twenty cars went racing and over a hundred fifty show cars were on the grounds.
In Diesel Truck Dwayne Davis beat Dwayne Feigley. In Mustang it was Doug Whipkey over Bill Stone, Trophy was won by Sharon Osborne over Richie Perry, the Street winner was Annie Waters beating Frank Gallianardo.
We had a big field of Pro cars and in the final, Ronnie Proctor drew Bill Smith. Bill dialed a 10.37 while Ronnie dialed a 10.20 but ran a one under 10.19. Bill Smith the winner! Great job by both racers in a tough field of racers.
Over in Super Pro, Chris Shives dialed a 8.96 and was .025 at the tree. Jim Day went just barely red to give Chris the win.
A big thanks to all who supported Mason Dixon Dragway this weekend, from racers, spectators, sponsors, vendors and track staff. This weekend was well attended and both races were excellent.
Labor Day weekend is coming fast. On Friday, 6pm to 10pm for test and tune, Sat. and Sun. a Summit Points Race and on Labor Day Mon. a National Dragster Challenge, this is a 1/8 mile race and is a no points race.
See you at Mason Dixon this coming Labor Day Weekend!
Excellent weather greeted racers and race fans on this Summit Racing ET event. Temps in the high seventies and light breezes had cars running strong all evening long. We kicked it off at 3:30 pm with the Junior Dragsters taking the track. In the semis it was Charlotte Mallow beating the red lighting Ryan Ely. Danielle Manilli was also a winner when Steve Gosnell went red. In the all girls final [again!] Charlotte Mallow was slightly closer to her dial to win over Danielle Manilli, both dialed 7.90, Charlotte ran 7.91, Danielle 7.93, the lights were close also. Of note Dylan Moore had a perfect .000 light in qualifying while three other racers had double “0”. lights, nice driving.
The big cars hit the track at 5:00 pm and after two time runs we were underway. The Outlaw Pontiac Drag Racing Series cars had a good turnout with fifteen cars Steve Dress took the win in his ’68 Firebird over Cliff Mayes in his ’82 Firebird with a better light and a two over the dial 10.47. Bill Scheffer and Randy Peer were the semi racers. Steve Dress was dead on in the first two matchups and was two off lifting a bit in the semis and in the final. The Bird was working!
In Street, Andy Dolan and Jason Deavers squared off in the final. Jason had a bit better light, .030 to a .042 and ran closer to his dial for the win. Andy would pay Jason back later.
Pro had a nice turnout and in the semis Andy Dolan got Jason Deavers with Andy winning out with a dead on 11.04 run while Greg Ecker cut a .008 light to defeat Dahrl Clark in a close one. In the final, Andy Dolan had a .016 light to beat Greg Ecker who broke out by .05. Andy a runnerup in Street and a win in Pro, a good nights work for sure.
The bikes were real fast tonite and put on a show, in the final Dave Clinedinst got by John Eaton in a very close race. Dave was .029 while John was better with a .023 light, the difference was Dave running a 8.91 on a 8.90 dial to John’s 8.83 on his 8.80 dial. On a test run later, Brian Canoles ran a 8.05 @ 165 with boost on the turbo cranked up a bit, sevens are next.
Super Pro final had Steve Morgret getting the win over Jason Derr in has low seven second dragster. with a 8.69 to a 7.29. Gary Athey and Mitch Willingham were the semi racers.
Everyone was real fast and consistent from start to finish, excellent track prep by the Mason Dixon staff members contributed to the good performances by all of our racers. Also the corrected altitude was at 1088 ft. at 11:00 pm as racing was winding down, very good air for August.
A big thanks to Joe Hutzler, sports anchor for HMTV channel 6 TV in Hagerstown, for fliming alot of racing action, this footage will be aired on Monday at 8am, 9am and noon on Monday. If you don’t live in Washington County you can catch this programming on their website. Joe also did some announcing and he will be back regularly to cover more upcoming events. Having Joe here is another nice addition to racing at Mason Dixon.
On Saturday, Aug 24th we will have another Street Nite Event with the Quck 16. Can Jerry Williams win again? On Sunday Aug. 25th it is Fords at Mason Dixon, gates open at 8am and racing starting at noon.
Sadly we were rained out today but will run the National Dragster Challenge Sept. 2nd. See you next weekenf at Mason Dixon!
Here’s what has happened the first two days of the Division One Junior Dragster Event at Mason Dixon Dragway. On Wednesday racers arrived and were teched in during the afternoon. We had times runs and then round one of the scheduled Gamblers Race. Sixty eight entries made round one. In the semis Megan Culbert beat Kyle Tavares in a double break out affair, Kyle out by .05 and Megan out by .02. Steven Knight beat 2012 Eastern Regional champ Thomas Oates in the other semi in a really tight race, both broke out, Thomas out by .003, Steven out by just .002. In the final Megan Culbert had the better light but had engine trouble at about the 330′ stripe while Steven Knight took the win. This was a seven round race. By the way there was a number of double “O” lights with Sydney Coleman having a perfect light in round one.
On Thursday we had open time runs at 3:30 pm and as we started qualifying we got light rain, after an hour of cleaning / drying the track sprinkles again wet the track. We then called it a day. We will attempt to run this gamblers race after the racers dinner tomorrow, we will start time runs tomorrow morning at 8:30.
Let’s just say Friday was a real struggle, four seperate rain delays / cleanups caused pauses in the racing action. We did finally get the racers two time runs plus the running of the prestgious Race of Champions event. In the semi finals, Mason Dixon’s Charlotte Mallow faced off with Brittany Eyers of team Raceway Park. Brittany caught the better light but Charlotte tightened it up at the top end, the result was a double breakout win for Brittany who was out by one, Charlotte out by two. Great race! In the final, Maple Grove’s Vince Branca went red by mere -.004 to give Brittany Eyers the Race of Champions win. Nice job Brittany!
On Saturday we thought the weather would be no issue but again showers rolled in twice til it finally cleared for good about noon. Now we’re rolling. Everyone got one time / qualifying run and eliminations were under way.
The 8 – 9 year old group had Robert Croce getting the win over Catilyn Hooper.
10 – 11 year old group had Mark Price Jr. barely winning out over Jesse Marshall.
12 – 13 year old group featured Holly Ray Bausher getting a close win over Deja Brown.
14 – 15 year old group had Mason Dixon’s own Jake Bevard winning with a .002 light over Ron Klein in a close one. Jake was sharp on the tree all five rounds and was .002 in round one also.
16 – 17 year old group final was real close, Sean Serra went .002 to Vince Testa who went .036 at the
start, it turned out to be a double break out race, Sean out by two and Vince only out by one. Vince
getting the win. A close well run race by both drivers!
We also ran a first roud losers consolation race and in the end it was Julia Sparago over Collin Hoerr. Collin had a slightly better light but Julia drove around at the stripe for the win, there were 75 cars in this race. Around 6:20 pm the racing was completed.
A big thanks to all who participated, racers and their family members and crew members, the Divison One NHRA staff, all the Mason Dixon staff, management and especially track owners Elmer and Cathy Wachter. Lesser people could have given up on the less than ideal weather and the gloom and doom forecasts. About half the hours at the track involved the rain and the cleanup over four days but there was no give up in anyone this weekend. Also a HUGE thanks to our sponsors and vendors and racer family members for their support. All received something for their racing efforts from cases of soda to at all types of gift certificates to cash. Weather aside another excellent event at Mason Dixon Dragway!
This coming weekend features a Summit Points race on Saturday and a National Dragster Challenge 1/8 mile race on Sunday! See you at the track!
Once again weather issues caused Saturday’s Street Nite event to be cancelled. Light rain on and off throughout the afternoon did us in again. The decision was made to move the Street Nite race, MANDRA cars and a test & tune to Sunday, and for once the weather cooperated in a big way, clear skies, low humidity and temps in the high 70’s greeted racers and race fans.
First off we had an excellent turn out of test & tune street cars, race cars and street bikes making many runs. Two NHRA stockers, Bill Belden and Dan Henderson and one Super Stocker, Harry Golliday making several runs each.
The big show was the Quick 16 shootout which had Rusty Blackford Jr. on the bump with a 6.04, the top spot was John Mohton in his Cavalier running at 4.71. We nearly had an all five second field for this show. Only Rusty’s Charger ran in the sixes. In the semis Colton Kirchner dialed a 5.73 but broke out by seven thousandths against Steve Morgret who had dialed 5.58 and ran a safe 5.61. In the other semi, Frank Howell went red -.013 to Jerry Williams who a right on 5.32 with .006 light, this was a .012 package, very hard to beat that one. In the finals Jerry Williams ran a 5.33 on the 5.32 dial against Steve Morgret’s 5.63 on a 5.60 dial. The margin a victory was .008 in favor of the winner, Jerry Williams. The Quick 16 was an excellent show today, great job to all that entered the class. Jerry’ lights were in order, .004 .038 .006 .028.
In Pro Jeremy Weaver in his 68 Camaro won out with .016 light coupled with a 9.72 to defeat Johnny Campbell who was close with an .021 light and 10.39 et. This was a good well run race, good job to both racers.
George Stanley won over Kermit Garnett III in the bike class, George cut a great .011 light for the win. This was a four round race for the bikes.
Street had Ken Mallow and Darius Winger in the finals. Ken had the better light.037 to Darius’s .053 but the win went to Darius running a 12.24 to Ken’s 17.34, a double breakout affair, Darius was out by the least amount and took the win.
Troy Gehart brought the Ford Explorer to play and won Pure Street over runner up Trevor Croker.
And finally in MANDRA Randy Campbell beat Bud Poust who broke out by one, Merritt Snyder was the third place racer. MANDRA had fourteen entries today, all good running and good looking cars.
A big thanks to all for supporting us today on what was really short notice. It turned out to be a good call moving the race to today. Lots of spectators and a nice amount of race cars. Did everybody like the new Daktronics score boards? They are much easier to read, we had them at only 60% brightness.
This coming week it is the Division One Junior Dragster finals at Mason Dixon, racers and families from all over the northeast will be with us from Wed to Sat. Aug 7th to the 10th. See you at Mason Dixon Dragway!
Once again a threatening weather forecast of showers and storms for our SBRA 1/8 mile points race Saturday July 27th didn’t keep away most of our racers from what turned to be a real good event. We did have two brief rain delays, just sprinkles really, but we managed to keep going and finish the event by about 9:30 pm. The Foot Brake racers had sixty entries and the racing was excellent all day. In the semis, Paul Roderick Jr. in his blower Cobra Jet Mustang beat the barely breaking out Colby Imes with a dead on 5.94 to Colby’s 6.14 on his 6.15 dial. In the final Paul went .048 at the tree to Daryl Clark’s .025. Daryl got there first but ran out by one thousandth, 7.299 on the 7.30 dial, a heartbreaker for sure. By the way, Paul dialed 5.94 on all seven rounds of racing running either dead on or off by one.
Over in Super in the semis, Ronnie Horwath won out over the red lighting Marcus Henry [-.003] with a right on 5.91. Jody Sneckenberger beat Al Crawford in a double break out affair. Great lights by both drivers .006 for Jody and Al went .027. In the finals it was Ronnie Horwath running a 5.924 0n the 5.92 dial with an .011 light to Jody’s two off the dial 6.38 0n the 6.36 dial and .008 at the tree, great race!
Dave Clinedinst ran John Price in the finals, it was a double break out affair, Dave went 5.60 on his 5.61 dial, John was out more, 6.48 on his 6.53. Dave dialed 5.61 on all four rounds, the bike just works!
Sundays racing never got under way, light rain and sprinkles wouldn’t quit and we cancelled at about 11:45 am.
Now for other news, the new Dactronics score boards are here and installed on the poles, they weren’t operational for for this race but will be next week. We were able to run a “test”, they are just plain beautiful! What a great addition to Mason Dixon Dragway!
Scoreboards
Don’t forget next week on Sat. Aug. 3rd we run our Street Nite event. Quick sixteen is the feature, $30.00 entry fee, $1,000 to win, a Pro, Street, Pure Stock and Street Bike class are also being contested, then we run a Test & Tune on Sunday, Aug. 4th. noon to 5 pm. See you this weekend at Mason Dixon Dragway!
Sunday was a Test & Tune / Gambler Race event. In the Foot Brake class, Steve Dustin cut an .032 light and ran dead on his 11.92 dial to defeat George Stanley who ran a 10.00 flat on the 9.95 dial, his light a decent .042.
In the Super final, Joyce Hoff in her high eleven second Camaro ran a best two out of three against track owner, Elmer Wachter in his wife Cathy’s VW wagon. Round one, Elmer wins when Joyce had trouble at the starting line. Round two, Elmer goes red -.001, Joyce runs 11.74 on her 11.70 dial for the win. Money round, Elmer late, Joyce not late and flies by at the top end for the win, a dead on 11.70 run. Nice work Joyce and Mike Hoff.
A free lunch went to the best light by anyone from 1 pm to 2 pm, Brandon Taylor in his 11 second, 125 mph street legal and always driven to the track VW turbo hatchback. This car flies! Oh, the light was a .007. Others ran just did the test & tune thing, all types of cars, trucks and bikes participated. We did have a short rain delay for very light showers and then it did rain as we were concluding the racing for the day. Nice event, looking forward to the SBRA 1/8 mile racing this Saturday, July 27th! See you then!
Let us start with our Junior Dragster racing action. The class was smaller today as fourteen of our racers are in Bristol representing Mason Dixon Dragway in the Eastern Regional event. For three weeks now, the boys have been the class winner but not today. In the semis Brandi Connor won out over the breaking out Ryan McFadden while Stephanie Morgan beat Alyssa McFadden. In the final for the Maryland State Championship Plaque Brandie Connor beat the barely redlighting [-.003] Stephanie Morgan. This is Brandie’s second win this year, nice work!
In Trophy, the big story is Dave Eriksen who has been fighting health issues taking the win on his first outing this year. Dave hit the tree well on all three rounds, his best light .018, the other two .022 in round one and a .042 in the final. Also in the second chance race Dave finished second to Kevin Hamilton. The lights were close but Dave broke out by .02 in the final. Welcome back Dave!
Andy Dolan was the big winner in Street and as usual was real sharp at the starting line. In the semis Andy went .002 against Dan Roberts while Lisa Dustin drew the bye to the finals. Andy had the better light, .019 against Lisa to take win and the Maryland State Championship plaque.
The last three in Pro were Troy Gehart, who drew the bye and Rocky Moore and Chris Crawford. The starting line advantage went to Chris .008 to an .024 for Rocky. This one was close, Chris getting the win light. In the final Chris again hit the tree well with an .018 light to Troy’s .054, Chris taking the win.
Super had Rusty Blackford Jr. winning over Al Hite in a great final. Rusty went .013 to Al’s .015. Rusty was dead on his 9.55 dial while Al was one off the 10.90 dial with a 10.91 et. Rusty had great lights on all but one round, this is Rusty’s first win for 2013.
Dale Hamilton was the winner in our Bike class with a win over Tom Eaton in a close final. Both riders had close lights, Dale a bit closer to his dial.
The big story could have been the weather, It was real humid with temps in the mid eighties and storms all around us, just as the Pro final was run, it started raining, good job to all as we kept the event rolling which allowed us to finish the racing. See you on Sunday!
Lots of stuff to talk about with the SBRA racing action this past weekend. On Friday we ran a 6 pm to 10 pm test and tune event and it was well attended. Saturday was the big day. First off, the Daymude family with Greg driving the blown alcohol dragster made two passes. The first a check out run netting a 4.17 at 173 mph to the eight mile. The second run looked like this .98 in the 60 ft, 2.65 at 330, 4.04 at 177 mph to the eighth and lifting at 1100 ft. still ran a 6.32 at 191 mph, a nice straight clean pass, nice numbers! The Junior Dragster racing was excellent, Tristan Simpkins beat Chesney Gosnell in the final, Steve Gosnell was third. Also Chris Lill of Burdette Brothers Trailer Sales of Hyattstown Md. gave out $25.00 cash to the best losing package in round one through four, those racers were Niki Bennett, Charlotte and Jo Jo Mallow and Steve Gosnell. Twenty four racers made round one.
Eighty two entries lined up for round one in the Footbrake class, Paul Roderick in his ’13 Ford Cobra Jet ran well round after round and in the final went .001 to take out Tim Cramer in his late model Camaro. Troy Gerhart and Ryan Mayne were the semi racers.
Super also had a good mix of racers, fifty two cars, with Pennsylvania’s Dale Ressler in his Dodge powered dragster winning out of the red lighting [-.001] Al Crawford.
Seven Bikes competed and all but one ran well into the fives. Brian Canoles had the better light in final defeating Boyd Mathias 5.40 to a 5.59.
Second chance race was won by Todd Welzel in his fast dragster over Kal Kline, Archie Davis and Josh Cramer were the semi drivers.
Though the weather was hot and track temps ran over 140 degrees the track worked well all day and evening, we finished up at 11:20 pm. Yes there were some break out runs as it got cooler but still we had great close racing all day and evening.
Now for Sunday. We started at 9:30 am with the Junior Dragsters. When it was all done it was Eric Swiger beating runnerup [again?] Chesney Gosnell. Steve Gosnell took third spot. High School was won by Faith Warner over Sarah Storm. Trophy was won by Bruce Combs in his new Mustang.
Footbrake again had a big turnout with Dicky Bodmer winning over Mark Harbaugh. Dicky was .032 to Mark’s .021, both were close to the dial, Dicky off by one 6.73 to Mark’s 6.49 on the 6.47 dial, real close.
Super had three dragsters in the end, Marcus Henry beat Todd Welzel in the semis in close one. Marcus 5.07 on a 5.06 dial .003 light to Todd’s dead on 4.74 and .015 light, one thousandth margin of victory!
In the final Mark Decker won with a better light .020, over Marcus Henry.
The Bikes had Dave Clinedinst over Tom Eaton, Brian Fandel took third. All the bikes today dialed 5.74 or quicker.
The second chance race had Chris Crawford over Boyd Mathias. No more than we finished up, a line of storms rolled through the area. With the racers and track staff keeping the action moving we avoided the rains. Good job to all making this a fun event. Next week we run a Test and Tune on Sunday and on Saturday July 20th we run a Summit Points race and the Maryland State Championship race with beautiful Wally / Plaques, this award will be something everyone would like to take home! See you next week at Mason Dixon Dragway!
Starting off on Saturday morning we ran the AMC race / car show event. Not a lot of race cars but we certainly had some excellent entries. In the finals it was two Rambler Americans with Bill Ketchum in the sedan taking out the red lighting wagon of Gary Keller. Also in attendance was Aris Asdourian in his SS/C AMX running mid nine second passes and Dan Walleigh driving Aris’s D/SA AMX to some good runs. Nice cars and a fun event.
At 3:30 pm we started our Summit ET Series Event with the Junior Dragsters , in the fianls, Jake Bevard squared off against Chesney Gosnell with Jake getting the big win. It seems like it has been a while since the boys made it to the winners circle. Twenty eight cars competed in the Junior division, nice tun out! The rest of the racing had the weather coming in first place. We did get two rounds of Trophy and Street in the books but Super, Bike and Pro just made round one. The light rain hit us about 8:00 pm and we gave it about an hour til had to call it quits. We gave it our best shot, but no luck with the rain.
On Sunday with a less than favorable forecast we had 104 entries and a lot of spectators for our noon to 5:00 pm test and tune event. There was everything running, full size gas and diesel trucks, fast sport compacts and late model muscle cars, Pro Stick racers, several running nines and eight second passes, bracket cars, one Super Stocker and one Comp Eliminator car and some quick street and drag bikes. Merv Moyer Jr driving his Comp Eliminator C/A stick Mustang made two clean runs, a 7.75 and a 7.73 @ 173 mph. Sixty foot times were 1.12 both runs. Overall a very good day with no rain!
Don’t forget the 4th of July event actually kicks off on Friday, July 5th at 6:00 pm til 10:00 pm for a test and tune event. On Saturday, July 6th, SBRA 1/8 mile racing starts at 3:30 with the Juniors and 5:00 for the big cars and on Sunday, July 7th, Juniors go at 9:30, big cars at noon. Both days are SBRA points races and are Contingency Connection races also. Please be safe this week and we WILL see you this weekend!
Let’s start with our Street Nite Race on Saturday. In the Street class Glen Holder driving his ’88 Mustang won out over Kristina Murphy in her ’71 Nova 11.00 to an 11.96 with Glenn having a better light .034 to a 0.54 for Kristina. Of note Kristina was on the tree and out reacted all of her five opponents til the final round. Nice driving by both racers. In the Pro category Dahrl Clark beat a red lighting Jeremy Manford in the final . We know how tough Darhl is but how about Jeremy going to a final in his first race for the 2013 season, he needs to race with us more. Also it was good to see Gary Kellican in action again as he has missed about four weeks of racing with health issues, he’s good now, winning two rounds and beating his son Chris in round two with the better light. Welcome Back! Now for the Quick 16– twenty three cars vied for the field, fourteen cars ran in the fives and the bump was a 6.04 [ 1/8 mile racing]. Low Qualifier was Jerry Williams 5.01 and Jon Mohton also ran a 5.01. In the semis Paul Roderick Jr., who wasn’t even going to enter the class, beat the red lighting Bobby Spielman while Jerry Williams hammered a 4.98 on a 4.97 dial as Mike Daymude went red. In the final Jerry Williams ran a two off 5.00 to Paul Roderick Jr. Slowing 6.18 on his 5.99 dial.
Sunday was a test and tune day and we ran the Index classes also, in the 11.50 group Vince Fourcade beat John Moser 11.53 to a 11.64 and in the 10.50 group Kevin Scheer won over Jim Day 10.68 to a 10.60.
FBR racing, Marion Ford and some his bikes tested with one running a 7.92 and a 7.95 et.
This Saturday, June 29th, the AMC group will race in the morning and then we will run a Summit Points Race, Junior Dragsters kick it off at 3:30 PM, big cars take the track at 5:00 PM. This race is a Contingency Connection race and the winners in Super, Pro and Street will receive Contingency Connection Bonuses along with the normal purses. Check out the Contingency Connection website for more info. On Sunday June 30th is a test & tune day noon to 5:00 PM.
Lastly, I’ll make this short, please respect our facility when visiting us on race days. Take care of the property and equipment, try to leave it at least as nice as you found it! Thanks!
See you this weekend!
Saturday’s racing didn’t start quite like we had hoped, the storms that rolled through on Thursday took out some of the Compulink timing system components. After a couple hours of hard work by track owner Elmer Wachter and staff we were back in business. We started with the Junior Dragsters and again like last week Charlotte Mallow reached the finals against the very tough Madeline Culbert. The lights were close, Madeline .022 and Charlotte .039, both were .03 off the dials, Madeline getting the win. Logan Simpkins took third place. Jumping over to Street Eliminator, long time racer Bruce Suders beat the barely red lighting Kal Kline in final. Andy Dolan took third spot. Now to Pro. In the final, both Jody Sneckenberger and Mark Harbaugh dialed identical 10.02s. Both ended up running 10.05 with Jody taking the starting line advantage, .020 to a .045. for the win. Kevin Moore was third. This week the Bikes showed up with fourteen riders making round one. In the semis, John Eaton won over Brian Canoles while Kermit Garnett III got by Kevin Hamilton. In the final it was John Eaton with .002 light forcing Kermit to break out by .04. Super Pro was full of excellent races. Ronnie Horwath won out over red lighting Mark Decker’s dragster in the final, semi racers were Mark Gray and Mitch Willingham. Ronnie Horwath’s lights for the five rounds TOTALED .044. The lights were in this order, .007 .007 .015 .011 .004, this averages to just under a .009 light. The car works well to and is very predictable. Lastly in Trophy Ginger Deavers won in her S-10 Chevy truck.
On Sunday we ran our Junior Dragster Challenge with two racers to receive a “Wally”. In the eight to eleven year old group Christopher Burch won out over Lacey Dustin and Thomas Oates beat Dylan Moore in the semis. In the finals Thomas went .009 at the start and ran a 8.96 on the 8.93 dial, Christopher was .012 at the tree but broke out by .006, this was a well run race by both drivers! The older driver bracket, twelve to eighteen year olds Tristan Simpkins won over red lighting Noah Lind. Chesney Gosnell took third. We also ran a test & tune event in the afternoon, the rain showers finally arrived right at the end of the day.
This coming Saturday, June 22nd we will run our second Street Nite race featuring the Quick 16 class, On Sunday June 23rd we again run a test & tune with the Index classes, 8.50, 9.50, 10.50 and 11.50 index breaks. See you at Mason Dixon!
P.S. The Scoreboard rumor is TRUE due to be shipped to MD the 2nd Week of July. Plans to install Prior to Jr Dragster Division One Championship Race.
Let’s start with Saturday’s SBRA 1/8 mile drag racing action. There were seventy six excellent Footbrake cars, thirty Super cars, Bikes, Junior Dragsters and the Outlaw Pontiac Drag Series racers on the grounds. What stood out in this race is that nearly half the racers ran an identical e.t in their two time runs and most everyone else was only .01 from run to run. How did so many drivers accomplish this feat? Hers’s my answer. First — the car better be right, the tires need to be very good, worn tread and abused sidewalls won’t cut it. The suspension / traction set up has to work well. The tune-up has to be spot on. Second — the driver has to do the same burn out each time, line up right in the groove at the starting line, stage the same and hit the shift points right on each run, anything done differently will cause the e.t. to vary . Third and last is track prep. Our staff arrives early and most track prep has been performed before most racers arrive. Knowing the correct use of the track equipment and traction compound use must be right on for each event. By the way, both time runs were done between 5 PM and 7 PM, corrected altitude changed very little during that time. Now the racing, In Super Pro it took six rounds of racing, in the semis Michael Shoop went barely red, -.003 against Joey Harrison driving his wife Brittany’s Mustang with 6.22 to Michaels 6.43. In the final 2012 track champ Ronnie Horwath ran a dead on 5.87 with an .028 light against Joe Harrison’s dead on 6.24 with a slightly better .021 light. Margin of victory was .008, a real close well run drag race. The huge Footbrake class saw Ed Talbert running his daughter Nicole in the semis and barely winning when Nicole broke out be .002. In other semi, Ryan Mayne drove his Malibu wagon over Dahrl Clark with a killer .002 light and a .01 over 6.73 run. In the final, veteran Ed Talbert won as Ryan Mayne barely went red with a -.003 light. In Bike, talk about a heartbreaker, in the final John Eaton left first with .010 light while Canoles was .035 green. John broke out by .001 with 5.519 on the 5.52 dial. That was close! Dave Clinedinst was the semi finalist. Though a small Bike field, all but one ran in the fives. A real fast field! Once again, the girls rule in Junior Dragsters. The semis had Jo Jo Mallow over red lighting Kaylee Henry and Charlotte Mallow over Samantha “Sammy” Miller. Charlotte cut a great.018 light over Jo Jo’s close red light effort in the final. The OPDS Pontiacs didn’t have a big field as Steve Dress and Troy Tribby had issues with cars and left them at home. Hopefully a bigger event on their next event with us. Also of note, how about Andy Dolan, running two classes ran back to back perfect .000 lights then nearly ran a third one when he went .002. He also had a .004 light earlier in the day. The man can drive!
On Sunday, we ran a test and tune, many real nice race cars and street cars got to make laps down the track today, in the 11.50 Index Class had Richie Burns over Mark Myers 11.83 to 11.84, Richie with the better light. The 10.50 Index Class had Chuck Wishard in his gorgeous ’69 Camaro winning over Pat Gordon’s Mustang. Pat lost when he went barely red with a -002 foul start. Several othe drivers made license runs, of note, Bruce Coombs had his IROC Camaro running effortless low nine second passes. Top Sportman driver Ray Thurston ran his Max Naylor/George Cramer prepped 2005 Avenger run a short 330 ft run leaving with a 1.06 sixty foot blast.
Don’t forget, next Saturday June 15th, Summit ET Series event, Juniors start at 3:30 PM, big cars at 5:00 PM, Sunday June 16th, Junior Dragster Challenge, a test & tune and an 1/8 mile gamblers race, $30.00 entry, starts noon goes til 5:00 PM. See you at Mason Dixon!
Let’s talk about our just completed American Motorcycle Racing Association [AMRA] event. First off a big thanks to the promoters Marty and Jayne VandenHeuvel for bringing their event to Mason Dixon Dragway. This was a two day event with Saturday being the qualifying day with all fourteen classes making three runs. The feature class, Pro Fuel had N.C. rider Dale Nilles with the number one spot running a 7.55 at 169 mph. Nine bikes ran for the eight bike field. We had minimal down time considering everyone made three passes and about 175 bikes overall participated. And it was plenty hot, temps hit 90 degrees with high humidity.
Day two brought on some challenges, a fairly high likelyhood of showers / storms were predicted and we wanted to get the race in or at least go to the later rounds. We had some sprinkles around early and once they stopped we went right to eliminations at 11:30 am. Starting with Pro Fuel, low qualifyer Dale Nilles ran a 7.55 at 168 mph to take out Billy Jackson’s 8.22 at 162 mph. Kenneth Little Jr. and Walter Halonski were the semi racers. Other class winners were Jeff Workman in Modified, Brian Macallister in V-Mod, Nick Contas Jr. in Outlaw Street, David Dennick in Dresser and Ron Willis in Top Eliminator. Some classes weren’t completed as the rains and lightning rolled in about 3:30 pm. the Eliminator class, Street, Pro, Super Pro and Super Gas had four or less bikes in each that didn’t get to finish. This was an overall good event as the riders and track staff did their best to run this race safely and quickly, had we had another half hour we’d finished. Again, a big thanks to all the racers, sponsors, track staff and the AMRA for making this race a good one!
This Saturday, June 8th we are running a SBRA 1/8 mile points race and on Sunday June 9th we are running an index class race [ 8.50, 9.50, 10.50 and 11.50 ] and test and tune open to all! See you this weekend at Mason Dixon Dragway!
First off a big thanks to all who participated in our Memorial Day weekend of racing at Mason Dixon. Also a big thank you to all the genorous racers, race fans, sponsors, track staff and to the Wachter family for all the money raised to help Parker Scott Stephens. His parents Megan Daymude and Mark Stephens sadly died from injures in a May 4th traffic accident. Parker is part of our racing family and we will keep helping him along now and in the future. Again a big thank you!
Day three was also a good one as kicked off the day with the Junior Dragsters, Kaylee Henry was the big winner while Chesney Gosnell was the runnerup driver. Again we had twenty eight cars show for round one.
We had a nice turn out in both High School and Trophy today. Good driving was evident in both classes, several of the trophy cars ran 10’s.
Moving over to Street, Jason Deavers was the big winner, his .33 light was enough to drive aroud Dave Toms’ .042. Dale Fridley’s twenty second AMC wagon took third.
Pro class was a good one, Brian Lind ran a dead on 10.03 with a zero and an .041 light to beat the breaking out Mark Harbaugh. His run dialed at 10.00 but ran a 9.98. Rocky Moore took third.
The bike guys had a big field and finally in the finals Dale Hamilton won over Tom Eaton, Dale’s light was an .024 and one over the dial of 10.27. Brian Canoles took third. Seven of the sixteen bikes ran in the eights, that’s some fast bikes.
Super racers Michael Shoop and Mark Bender opted to split the money and not run the final as sprinkles just started before the cars were to run. Rusty Blackford Jr. driving a loaner from Jerry Shewbridge made the semis as did Jerry Williams in his great looking Dragster.
Don’t forget the Harley race this weekend, on Friday night a test & tune open to all cars and bikes with Saturday time runs and qualifying for the Harleys and the eliminations will run on Sunday. See you this weekend!
Looking for Nostalgia Cars that want to compete this coming weekend
$40 Entry Fee Covers both Sat Testing and Sunday Racing $$$
More cars and more race fans showed for day two of our Memorial Day event. Over eighty cars alone entered Pro and all the other classes had more entrants than Saturday, the racing was excellent also. Starting with the Junior Dragsters it was Charlotte Mallow over Meagan Culbert in the finals, twenty eight cars entered round one.
In Street Rick Shindel had an .015 light in final to beat the red lighting Rick Wenger. Jim Berry was third.
The Pro final pitted Dahrl Clark against Reading, Pa driver Marty Fleagal Jr. Both drivers were two off their dials, Dahrl’s light was .025 while Marty went .028, Dahrl winning with .005 margin of victory, a very close and well run drag race. Andy Dolan took third place.
The Bike class was big today also. George Stanley was .018 at the start and won out over the very fast Kermit Garnett. Great job George!
In Super Rick Holden’s seven second Prowler took out the SBRA champ Mark Decker’s dragster who went red at the start.
We will be racing tomorrow, Memorial Day Monday, Juniors at 9:30 AM and big cars start at noon. We also are running the High School class. Another big thanks to our racers and race fans and all of our track staff members and sponsors for making day two a sucsess. See you at the track!
Day one of our three day Memorial Day race is in the books. First off a big thanks to all that participated today. Though real windy it did finally warm up a bit as the day progressed but the racing was red hot from start to finish. The Junior Dragsters kicked it off with twenty four cars making round one. In the semis Eric Swiger won out over Danielle Manilli in a close one and then in the final Eric ran right on his 7.90 dial to beat Charlotte Mallow who went .02 under her 7.90 dial.
Next in Street, Dave Toms ran dead on his dial while runnerup Andy Dolan broke out by .03, Kal Kline took third spot.
The Pro class was loaded with sixty excellent racers but at the end Ronnie Proctor Jr, who was sharp all day took out a breaking out Dahrl Clark. The lights were close .024 for Ronnie and .022 for Dahrl. Ronnie was good .02, Dahrl out by .008, a close well run race. Robert Pare took third.
The Bikes were also racing well, Boyd Mathias cut an .012 light against Brian Canoles who went barely red with an -.004 light. Joe Stanley was third.
The trophy class was won by Clifford Williams in his very nice 65 Nova.
Now for the Super Pro class. Bobby Spielman lined his Thunderbird up against Marcus Henry in his dragster. Bobby left with a perfect .000 light and ran a 9.01 on the 9 flat dial, Marcus left with an .025 light and broke out by a mere .005 of his 7.92 dial. Great race! Bobby earlier had a perfect light and was .003 over his 9.00 dial back in round one. I can’t recall any driver with two perfect lights on the same day, that’s some driving! Dennis Hammond and Michael Shoop made the semi finals.
We will be back tomorrow morning [Sunday] at 9:30 am with the juniors, then the big cars go at noon! Don’t forget tech will open early, let’s get teched and ready to race as early as possible, see you tomorrow!!
The 2013 Mopar Event at Mason Dixon Dragway is in the books. Even though the weather forecast was threatening for both days we completed the event with just a mere half hour rain delay just before round one of competition was to start on Sunday. Let’s start with Saturdays activities. We ran our usual test and tune event plus the Slant Six Mopar race and the East Coast Impala Racers event. Thirteen cars in the Slant Six class made it to the lanes for round one. In the semis Ron Henby beat Micah Covalt and Brian Mimkin got by the breaking out Ryan Covalt who broke out by .01. In the finals Ron Henby’s excellent early Dart ran a safe 12.36 to Brian Mimkin breakout 15.46 on the 15.50 dial. Sadly Will Burns turbo assisted Barracuda pushed out a head gasket and wasn’t able to compete, this car is plenty powerful and appears to be capable of low ten second or quicker ETs once sorted out. Of note five Covalt family members participated this weekend! The ECIR group had eleven entries, these 4,200 lbs cars were plenty fast, several ran in the twelves with one car touching the high eleven second zone. In the end Bill DeBlasio won over Jason with a 12.61 over the breaking out 14.50 run.
Now to Sunday. No rain! Vendors set up early and the show cars were on the grounds early also. At noon we got time runs under way and just before round one we had a small shower, the drying process only took about a half hour and were ready to race. This was day two for the Slant Six cars, in the semis it was Lou Madsen over Romeo Furio who broke out and Denny Covalt over wife Wendy Covalt. In the finals Lou Madsen won over Denny Covalt who went red. Good job Slant Six racers, we’ll have them back later in the season. Trophy was won by Amy Taylor in a late model Challenger over Leon Whitacre, Street had one of our regulars, Steve McCulley driving an AMC Spirit over Randall McNamee in his fastback ‘Cuda. The lights were nearly identical but Steve was right on his 14.41 dial while Randall was five off his 11.29 with an 11.34. Pro was the biggest class and a pair of full size ’65 Mopars were in the final. Larry Wachter in his Dodge beat David Wachter’s Plymouth who had the better light but broke out by .008. Finally in Super Michael Bauman ran 7.69 on his 7.68 dial while Kevin Moore’s ‘Cuda ran a 9.00 but went red by -.007. Michael’s winning light was .007, the big block Mopar dragster ran 1.08 sixty foot on every run, this car works!
A big thanks to all that participated — race fans, show car entrants, vendors, racers and track staff, we hope everyone had a fun weekend at Mason Dixon Dragway!
We’ll be back for all three days of the Memorial Day weekend, Sat. Sun. and Mon. Also keep in mind the AMRA bike event, all Harleys, Sat. And Sun June 1st and 2nd! See you next week!
Sadly Saturday May 11th racing program was rained out. Showers hit early and we cancelled out early in the day. Sunday, Mothers Day May 12th the weather was much better. The Junior Dragsters kicked off the racing action with Lacy Dustin and Samantha Miller in the final, the lights were close with “Sammy” running closer to the dial to take the win. In the semis Samantha Miller beat Seth Reed with a perfect .000 light and Lacy Dustin won over last weeks winner Brandi Connor.
In SBRA footbrake class we had an excellent turn out. In round five, David Toms earned the bye. Jeff Meleo ran dead on over Jeff Heilman at 6.75. Gary Kelican beat a red lighting Jim Moran. Round six had Jeff Meleo beat a red lighting David Toms. Gary Kelican sat out his bye. Finally in the finals Jeff Meleo again ran the 6.75 dial while Gary Kelican drove around but broke out with a 6.31 on the 6.33 dial. How about eleven double O lights in footbrake alone, great driving job by many today in footbrake action.
Moving to Super Pro Al Crawford went .009 on the tree and a dead on 6.240 to beat Mike Shoop who cut an .013 light but broke out by two with a 6.319 on his 6.33 dial. The dragsters of Jerry Williams and Marcus Henry were the other semi racers, this one ended on the line with Jerry Williams going -.007 red against Marcus Henry who was .011 at the tree and one over his 5.02 dial. In the final both lights were excellent, Marcus Henry was .011 and Al Crawford was .004. Marcus ran closer to his dial to take the win. Barely .01 was margin of victory at the stripe. Of note, Al Crawford had a .008 and .009 package in round four and five, super driving by Al.
In Bike eliminator, Brian Canoles ran a on the dial 5.33 against Boyd Mathias and his breakout 5.55 on his 5.56 dial. Rick Tharp won over John Eaton with a slightly better light. In the final Brian Canoles again ran his 5.33 dial with an .036 light, Rick Tharp had a great .013 light but ran out by .09.
We also had a number of time run cars making many laps. Next weekend the Mopars invade Mason Dixon, test tune and vendor set up on Sat. May 18th and the race, car show and vendor displays are on Sunday May 19th. See you this weekend!.
On Saturday, May 4th we had a test and tune day, good weather greeted the racers and the turn out was pretty good. Sunday, May 5th the weather started a bit cool and breezy but as the day progressed it got much nicer with sunny skies and temps in the mid sixties. We ran test and tune cars with several of the Pro Stick cars making runs getting ready for next Saturday’s Pro Stick race. Make sure to be with us next Saturday, along the Pro Stick race we will also run a Summit ET Race with all classes being contested. Junior Dragsters start at 9:30 AM then the big cars go at noon. The Outlaw Pontiac racers were with us and fifteen cars made the first round. The feature part of the day was an 1/8 mile footbrake $2,000 to win race. After six rounds it was Troy Gehrart in his Mustang and Roger Lewis in his ’65 Chevy Nova in the final. Troy won out with a 6.51 at 105 mph and an .026 light. Both drivers were sharp all day, Troy’s car ran the number everytime he needed to, congrats to both drivers.
Next weeked, Summit ET series race with Pro Stick cars on Saturday, May 11th and a SBRA 1/8 points race on Sunday May 12th. We hope see you this coming weekend!
For the NEXT 7 days Only Mason Dixon Dragway is Offering a SEASON PASS to all events $1000.00, a value of well over $1800 Minimum.
SEE KAREN AT TRACK for Details (Offer Ends MAY 6th, 2013)
This past Saturday April 27th we started the day with a private track rental in the morning for the Northern Virginia Mustang and Corvette club members. Over forty cars participated, most all were fast everyone got to run many passes down the quarter mile. At noon we started our time runs and qualifying runs for our first SBRA points event of the 2013 race season. The SBRA races are run on the 1/8 mile format and the racing from round one to the finals were nearly all very close races, many separated by less than a foot at the stripe. Many of the drivers ran both time runs with identical or .01 difference E.T.s, if you didn’t run your number you were probably going to be beaten. In Super Pro division last years track champ Ronnie Horwath narrowly beat Mike Daymude in the final. Ronnie dialed a 5.83 and ran a 5.836 with an .024 light, Mike dialed his Dodge Demon at 5.40 and ran a 5.416 with a better .017 light, margin of victory was .003, about 8 inches, great race! Mark Decker, last years SBRA Super Pro champ was third. Moving over to Footbrake, Brad Doss in his street legal 64 Dodge Dart defeated an early leaving Scott Vaughn who went barely red, -.005 on the start. Brad was solid on the tree all day long though his winning light was just a .051. Jeff Meleo and Garrett Suders were the semi racers. The MANDRA group brought fourteen cars, all are nice and are pretty much period correct nostalgia cars, Jim Shearer won out over the redlighting Wise – Campell Studebaker entry.
Jumping over to Sunday April 28th racing we again attempted to run another SBRA 1/8 mile race. About 12:30 PM light sprinkles then light rain persisted and caused us to cancel the racing for the day. In the morning we were able to run the Junior Dragster portion of program and complete it. Remember last week when Brandi Connor broke by .001 in final against Samantha Miller? Well, Brandi made another final and cut an .026 light against Dalyn Palmer and made work to give her a win and also a first place spot in points after two events. Congrats to both racers!
Next week, Saturday May 4th is a test & tune, noon to 5 PM then on Sunday May 5th we will run a 1/8 mile 2k foot brake race, the Outlaw Pontiacs will compete and test & tune will also run, all this starts at noon. Eric Kitchen’s Pro Stick circuit will race on Saturday May 11th along with a Summit points race. For race fans, the Pro Stick cars put on an excellent show, most of the cars run 9’s and 10’s with several 8 second cars as well, last year this event brought Sixty cars. Good close racing with hard launches and many big wheel stands by stick car drivers. Keep checking this website for upcoming events, come on out spend some time with us at Mason Dixon Dragway!
Let’s take a quick look back at the last two weeks of racing at Mason Dixon, this past Sat. April 13th we ran a well attended test and tune and our second index class race. We had twenty seven this time, a big improvement from the first race with the 10.50 class with 13 cars, 11.50 with 11 and the 9.50 group had 4. Tom Fidler put up $50 for the low qualifier of the 10.50 class, he is still working on getting his car up and running for the next index race on June 9th.
Yesterday, Sat. April 20th we ran the first Street Nite race featuring the Quick 16 $1,000 to win with the fastest sixteen door cars on the property competing, quickest to slowest was a 5.21 to 5.91 field, all fast cars with Chris Shives and Ronnie Horwath making the final, Chris won. The racers split the purse. Pure Street, Sportsman, Pro and Bike were contested as well, a good show, good car count too. For as cool and breezy as it was, race fans in good numbers witnessed the good racing action.
Today, April 21st we ran our first Summit ET race series event. Junior Dragsters took the track first with 19 entries making round one. In the finals in a very close race, Samantha “Sammy” Miller won out over Brandi Conner. Brandi had the better lite and took the stripe but broke by one thousandth under her 7.99 dial. Samantha ran right on her 8.91 dial for the win. Eric Swiger took third place. Super Eliminator had Rick Waxter in his super clean S-10 Chevy truck winning over a barely red lighting Marcus Henry in his dragster. Ronnie Horwath took third. By the way Rick’s worst lite was a .026, good solid driving job all day long. Pro was won by Ed Talbert leaving with a .001 lite against Andy Dolan who did make close running right on his 11.03 dial. Brad Doss took third spot. In Street, Andy Dolan won out over Greg Orris in an exceptionally close and well run race. The lites were .005 for Andy, Greg was .008. At the stripe Greg ran out by .02, 11.93 on his 11.95 dial while Andy was a one over 11.03 dial at 11.04. And finally the bike class had Dale Hamilton taking out Tom Eaton the final with a two over 9.92 run while Tom broke out by .07 running an 8.28 on his 8.35 dial in.
Now for next weekend, on Sat. April 27th we are running the first SBRA 1/8 mile points race along with the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Drag Racing Association “MANDRA” cars. On Sunday we will again run the SBRA 1/8 mile race for points. The Junior Dragsters start at 9:30 am, big cars go at noon. For our race fans, if you like the nostalgia cars, gassers, jr. Stock, nostalgia super stock etc. Be at Mason Dixon Dragway on Saturday.
Please check our website often for changes or additions to our race schedule.
See you at Mason Dixon Dragway!!
April 6 and 7 Recap
Finally warmer weather greeted racers and race fans this past weekend. On Saturday we had a good turn out of test and tune racers. The track was excellent as cars and bikes hooked hard and with good air ran big numbers. As an example Dennis Hammond’s Super Pro Mustang laid down six runs in the 8.80 range, all the sixty foots were 1.21 but one, and that one was a 1.20.
Sunday was a regular race day but with no points. The first Summit ET series points race is Sunday, April 21st. Not a huge turnout but good racing was the norm. Two performances stood out. In Juniors, Caleb Holley of Carlise Pa. won over Brandi Conner in the final. Caleb was with us the day before making several runs and was sharp both days. Super Pro winner was Brittany Harrison driving her upgraded Mustang with solid lights and the car running the number. Now on alcohol and a new suspension set up the car now is running low 9.70s and a 9.69 @ 137 in the final. It was also Brittany’s 24th birthday, what a way to celebrate by winning with a newly upgraded race car! Louie Romanell was runner up. In Pro, Dean Harmon took the win over Brad Doss, George Stanley won Bike over Kermit Garnett and Richie Burns beat Kenny Moser in the Street final.
This Saturday, April 13th, is a test and tune day and the second index class race with 8.50, 9.50, 10.50 and 11.50 index classes contested, lets get more cars out and support index class racing at Mason Dixon! Gates open 10:30 am and time runs start at noon. Also, Sat. April 20th is our first Street Nite race. Quick sixteen door cars run for a $1000 to win. See you at the track!
March 31st Recap
The 2013 racing season is finally under way at Mason Dixon Dragway. We had scheduled nine days of test and tune races in March and did manage to get five in the books, some were run in very windy and cold conditions though. This past Saturday we ran our first index class race in conjunction with our test and tune day. Not a big turnout of index racers but those that entered enjoyed the day. This will take a couple of events to get it going well but should grow and is a neat alternative to handicap style racing. A good number of our regular racers were getting ready for the first bracket race events, many cars are now faster than last year.
April is gonna be busy! This Sat. April 6th we have a test and tune and a 1/8 mile gamblers race and then on Sunday, April 7th we will run all classes with Jr. Dragsters at 10 am and the big cars at noon, all classes contested, 1/4 racing. Sat., April 13th is a test and tune day and the index classes going again, starting at noon, goes til 5 PM. Let’s get some more cars out this time and support index racing at Mason Dixon. For the race fans, the index classes are very fun to watch, the cars leave side by side with races being close the whole quarter mile. On Sat., April 20th we will run our first Street Race program, this features a field of the fastest sixteen door cars on the property running the 1/8 mile. Those that don’t qualify fold over into Pro class. Entry fee is only $30.00. This is a great event for our race fans, many times the cutoff to qualify is in the high five second elapsed time zone in the 1/8, the top qualifier is usually in the high four second zone. The pay out is $1000 for winning four rounds, do you have a fast door car? Do you like to watch fast door cars having at it? Be at Mason Dixon on Sat., April 20th. Time runs / qualifying starts at 2 PM. April 21st we run the first Summit ET Series points race running all classes. The Jr. Dragsters kick it off at 10 AM and the big cars at noon. The Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Drag Racing Association cars are coming on Sat. April 27th with a neat assortment of Gassers and Super Stock type cars along with our first Southern Bracket Racing Association 1/8 points race. Make sure you sign up for our points program to get a shot at not only going to the Bracket Finals at Numidia Dragway in Sept., but also being entered in the SBRA Bracket race at Mason Dixon in Oct. Details about these programs are on this website. Sunday April 28th we will run SBRA points race again, all classes are being contested.
Please check out our website regularly for any changes or additions to our schedule. We look forward to bringing you the best racing possible with a variety of different events that will be entertaining to both racers and race fans! See you at the track!
Mike Bassin, Track Announcer