Lavy Wins Texas Stampede With Broken Car; Richardson, Cameron and Blakely Make Two Finals Each
(Denton TX – April 2-3, 2005) The BTE/Citgo Series Texas Stampede, presented by Advanced Product Design, came to Denton Dragway in Denton, Texas, on April 1-3. This was the fifth of 27 events planned for 2005 and the second Dynatech Division Four event.
FRIDAY
J.J. Endicott of Haltom City, Texas started his weekend off on a good note by winning $1040 in the High Roller gambler race. Also, by the end of the weekend, Endicott moved into a five way tie for first place in Super Pro points. Steve Adams made the win easy by leaving before the tree was activated. Scott Richardson also began a good weekend with a semi-final finish, along with Steve Bien of Texas.
SATURDAY
Freddie Lewellen from San Angelo, Texas became the first winner of the day by winning the Super Pro portion of the Pace American / Barker Trailer Sales Run For The Trailer event with his Opel. Eric Gray from Cheney, Kansas won Dynatech Sportsman Run For The Trailer and New Mexico racer Brittny Blakely enjoyed being the Race Tech Run For The Money Winner in Jr Dragster.
Multi-time NHRA Champ Scotty Richardson made his 2005 BTE/Citgo debut back in his old stomping grounds of Texas. Richardson tried to pull off a double victory in Afco Super Pro and Dynatech Sportsman, succeeding in Super Pro and coming up short in Sportsman.
The road to the Afco Super Pro final was easy for Richardson, with three red lights, a bye, and a break in the final by Dennis Cameron. The win for Richardson paid double after promoters Danny Sons and Chris Barker made the popular decision to double the winner’s purse, even though the car count fell several cars short of the double bonus. "We wanted to show the racers of Texas that we mean business, and that we want to put on great races for them. We appreciate the support we have seen in Division Four from all the racers and tracks", stated Sons.
In the Dynatech Sportsman final, David Burrows from Texas strapped a .504 light and a dead on with a four 6.784 pass on Richardson, who was tardy with a .549 on the tree and three off with a 7.23.
Victor Mena won Saturday’s Race Tech Jr. Dragster and A. Blea won the four-foot tall Jeg’s trophy by beating J. Kennedy in the Jeg’s Trophy final.
SUNDAY
Bright and early Sunday morning, Dale Simon from Ft Worth, Texas enjoyed a “double win” by first winning the Barker Trailer Sales / Pace American Run For The Trailer event and then earning the MGM Best Appearing Car award with his dragster. Eric Gray doubled up, winning the Sportsman edition of Run for the Trailer for the second day in a row. Brittny Blakely also won Race Tech Run for the Money in Jr Dragster for her second day in a row. The MGM Best Engineered Car award went to David Broadnaz's Irving, Texas based ‘63 Dodge.
Denison, Texas racer Jessie Lavy had all the luck with him Sunday in Afco Super Pro action. His car was actually broken in the semis, but since he had the semi-final bye, he simply broke the beams. He then showed up for the final round, hoping for a miracle, and to his pleasant surprise, got the win from Robbie Mayse after Mayse "hung the cherry" with a .497 react. Lavy turned in an easy 7.62 at 59.12mph (5.06 dial) to Mayse’s close .01 under 5.05, 134.63mph effort. The lone semi-finalist was Bob Sackuvieh from Belton, Missouri.
Dennis Cameron from Mt Pleasant, Texas, enjoyed being in his second final of the weekend, this time in Dynatech Sportsman. Cameron cashed this one in, defeating Cody Sandlin's S-10 pick up in the final. Cameron went dead on in the final with a 5.498 on a 5.49 for the win. Sandlin, who was .008 seconds slower in the reaction time department with a .528, was close behind, running a 7.15 on a 7.14 dial.
Defending World Champion Brittny Blakely opened up her points lead to 14 points in the Race Tech Jr Dragster class, five ahead of second place Jonathan Maynard. She accomplished this feat by defeating Saturday's winner, Victor Mena, in the final. Blakely was on kill, reacting with a .533 and running a .01 over 7.95 at 81.39mph. Mena was also .01 over, but late on the tree.
In Jeg’s Trophy class, Preacher Mark Walter from Centerville, Georgia defeated Tony Malone from Aubrey, Texas. Walter’s 7.67 on a 7.67 target did the trick, while Malone broke out with a so close 7.36 (7.37 dial).
For more information on this event or series, contact www.citgobracketseries.com, www.dragraceresults.com or call Danny Sons (615-643-8279), or Chris Barker (606-780-4700).