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7/26/2012
Terre Haute, IN
Crossroads Dragway, the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) member track in Terre Haute, Indiana, held its annual National Dragster Challenge event and regular Track Championship Points race for Super-Pro, Pro, Sportsman and High School Classes on Saturday, July 21.
Derick Troxell, from Seymour Indiana, driving the Moser Engineering rear engine dragster entry of Indiana State University’s Team Sycamore Racing, faced off in the Super-Pro final against Kevin Adams of Terre Haute driving his beautiful ’67 Nova. Adams was last year’s Junior Dragster points champion at the track receiving a $1,000 scholarship to go to ISU. Troxell and Adams have raced each other in Junior Dragsters, but this was the first final round they have met since moving up to Super-Pro. Adams was deadly on reaction time all day with an average over all five rounds of an incredible .015 seconds. Adams picked up the first two round wins by running dead on his dial and the second two rounds by being the lesser of double-breakouts. After buying back in after a narrow loss in the first round, Troxell settled in with great reaction times and ran right on his dial the rest of the event. Dialing down round after round and the car still running just a bit faster than the dial each round finally caught up with Adams as Troxell went green off the tree and ran one over his 5.28 dial for the victory to Adams third straight breakout. For Troxell, this was his fourth Wally win of his career, with two in Junior Dragsters and now two in Super-Pro.
In the Sportsman class, Kevin Judd, from Indianapolis, kept his Monte Carlo on a narrow average 8.24 dial as he piloted to the final round. The track’s points leader Chad Eaton, from Paris, Illinois raced hard every round using all of his experience and letting his opponent take the win stripe first (his opponents broke out by the slimmest of margins) in three of the first five rounds, to face off against Judd in the final round. In the final, Eaton’s car fell off the 7.50 dial struggling to a 7.62 E.T. (elapsed time) handing the win over to the consistent running Monte Carlo of Judd.
Nick Finney, from Greenwood, in his black ’69 Buick Special, ran the left lane all day and put together two great package runs of .034 and .035 (the combined total of time above the dial and above a perfect reaction time) just when he needed it most to face off for the coveted Wally Trophy in the Pro class against Joe Davis, from Mooresville driving his baby blue ’64 Nova. Although Davis ran consistent all day, he was blessed with three red-lights from opponents on his quest for the Wally. As fate may have intervened, Davis himself, turned on the red-light in the final, giving the win to Finney.
Amara Tewell of West Terre Haute scored her second High School Class Wally in a row, this year over Alan Grayless III.
Next racing will be Fri. Fun Night with the Scheid Diesel Fri Fun Night series July 27 with gates opening at 6 PM. Saturday, July 28, will be another Summit ET Track Championship points race for Pro, Super Pro, Sportsman, and High School classes along with the 5th annual Slammin’ 16 race. This year, the Slammin’ 16 race features a National Dragster Challenge Wally for the winner. Gates open at 11 AM, time trials at 12:30 PM and eliminations will follow at approxi mately 4 PM. All times are Eastern. For all racing information and scheduling, go to www.crossroadsdragway.com, find Crossroads Dragway on Facebook or call the track phone at 812-229-2167. Photos courtesy of Pam Lobb, reporter/photographer Super-Pro National Dragster Challenge W: Derick Troxell Seymour, IN '01 RED Dial: 5.28 ET: 5.29 MPH: 130.17 RT: .042 R/U: Kevin Adams T.H. '67 Nova Dial: 5.80 ET: 5.78 MPH: 117.50 RT: .025 Semi: Ron Pound T.H. '69 Camaro Paul Emmons Vincennes '72 Nova Pro National Dragster Challenge W: Nick Finney Greenwood '69 Buick Special Dial: 6.70 ET: 6.72 MPH: 101.13 RT: .043 R/U: Joe Davis Mooresville '64 Nova Dial: 6.56 ET: 6.62 MPH: 102.25 RT: -.030 Semi: Dehner Maurer Brownsburg ’73 Duster James Gibbs Monrovia ’66 Dart Sportsman National Dragster Challenge W: Kevin Judd Indy '85 Monte Carlo Dial: 8.22 ET: 8.25 MPH: 81.53 RT: .015 R/U: Chad Eaton Paris, IL '85 Monte Carlo Dial: 7.50 ET: 7.62 MPH: 90.93 RT: .062 Semi: P.J. Davenport T.H. '68 Dart Dave Vaughn T.H. '71 Torino High School National Dragster Challenge W: Amara Tewell W.T.H. S-10 Dial: 8.28 ET: 8.29 MPH: 81.84 RT: .070 R/U: Alan Greyless III T.H. '89 Mustang Dial: 10.20 ET: 10.25 MPH: 70.31 RT: .060 Jr Dragsters W: Brayden Stultz T.H. Jr. Dial: 8.91 ET: 8.96 MPH: 70.01 RT: .059 R/U: Clayton Stultz T.H. '02 Mike Bos. Dial: 12.90 ET: 13.24 MPH: 47.31 RT: .065
