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| Bear Motorsports Dominates Final Rounds at Auto City Nationals 06/30/03 Milan, MI - The CITGO Bracket Racing Series - Auto City Nationals drew over 350 cars this past weekend to the Milan Dragway in Central Michigan. Promoters Danny Sons of DragRaceResults.Com and Chris Barker of Barker Trailer Sales made their first trip to the newly renovated facility. " We certainly are making plans to come back next year and the year after that with the success we saw here. The improvements made by Chris Baxter (track manager) made all the difference between a good race and the great race we had," said Sons. Even with a rainout Saturday and a double up Sunday, the full weekend program wrapped up by late afternoon. The Friday program included a "Run for the Money" followed by a 5K Super/Pro and a 1.2K Sportsman race. The Sportsman final provided the closest money race of the weekend when Dale Davis and Matt Munson put together identical packages in the final run – forcing the tower to look to the fourth decimal to call the winner. Davis got the call and a $1200 check. After taking out Brian Cireddu in the semis, Dennis Taylor lined up with James Monroe in the $5000 Super/Pro final. Monroe enjoyed a bye through the semis. Both hit good lights and looked to decide the race at the finish line. There, Taylor watched Monroe cross the line first but enjoyed the win light thanks to his dead-on run – Monroe had broken out. Earlier it was Rick Van Walsen taking what would turn out to be the only "Run for the Money" of the weekend due to the large car count. Saturday brought cloud cover, rain and in the end less than two rounds of racing. CITGO Series promoters Sons and Barker along with track manager Baxter put their faith in a clear Sunday forecast and a top notch track crew – deciding to run the rest of the Saturday program along with the Sunday program. Sunday skies were clear but the race still had one minor delay. After an 8am call to the lanes and a few cars down the track, the local Sheriff paid a visit and put a stop to things. Fortunately, the temporary injunction was only until 9am and they were back to racing. The day would now include both 5K and 10K Super/Pro races, 2K and 1.2K Sportsman races, a full Quick 32, a Stock/Super Stock race and three Jr classes. The Quick 32 ran doorcar and open wheel cars separate and then brought each class winner together for a bonus run-off. Both class finals suffered quick thumbs more than quick cars with both decided at the light. In the open-wheel it was John Horton taking the red-light win from Bear Motorsports driver Randy Sheuer Jr. In doorcar it was Tim Horan leaving early against Barney Barnhart. Horton and Barnhart took $500 each for the class win and then lined up for a $1000 bonus. There, Barnhart used a much better light to put the doorcars in the winners circle. The Saturday Super/Pro final would bring together Mike Ledford and Chris Bear, the second Bear Motorsports driver to hit a final that day. Ledford had taken out Vic Ellinger in the semis while Bear had to tie up Joe Fritz to reach the finals. Bear, dialing just slightly slower than Ledford actually left the line second on a bad light and never caught up. Ledford returned to the winners circle and claimed the biggest check of the weekend - $10,000. The Sportsman final for Saturday featured a bad case of stiff neck when Rod Stanford nailed the light but ran out the back door, never looking back at the faster Wayne Adams. Stanford broke-out, giving up the 2K check to Adams. Sunday would continue with the biggest Jr Drag showing of the year for the CITGO Series. Over 30 young drivers would take the track in three classes. The Advanced class would bring together Tim Fields and Harold Thompson III with Fields taking the win on a better light. The Intermediate class gave a red-light final round win to Michael Gramlich over Jeffrey Wistinghauser. Finally in the Pee-Wee class, it was Joel Gowen taking the solo run to the stripe. To round things up for the Saturday program it was a Stock/Super Stock final round featuring Victoria Smith putting together the better package against Tim Ferguson. Somehow, after all of this there was still time for a full Sunday program. The Super/Pro final would feature the third and forth final round showing for the Bear Motorsports team. Chris Bear topped Jeff Hura in the semis while team mate Randy Sheuer Jr put an end to Mike Ledfords big weekend. In the finals Bear showed who was boss, slapping a .512 light on Sheuer and holding the finish line for the win. Sunday’s Sportsman final watched Chris Klein miss the tree giving the final weekend race win to Jeff Hura. In the end it only took Milan Dragway track officials 10 hours to get through two days worth of racing. " I don’t know how they did it but they did," said Danny Sons, "It didn’t feel hurried, it wasn’t out of control at anytime. Chris Baxter kept things going as smooth as any race could be." The next CITGO Bracket Racing Series event will be the 10K Derby at the Bluegrass Raceway Park in Owingsville Kentucky July 26-27. Visit www.citgobracketseries.com for full details. DRR HOME PAGE |
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