Thomas Rules at Redline Raceway

Photos by Danny and Gena White

David Baldwin entered the TOPMA field with his Top Sportsman Corvette, which has runs 4.30's in the past. Baldwin had problems and ran a best of 4.60, 152 to qualify seventh. He lost to Frankie Taylor in the first round with a 4.83, 121.

Marty Neeley missed the field by a hundredth with a 4.86 in his wild Willys Panel. The car features a former Reher-Morrison engine raced by the late Lee Shepherd.

Chuck Poindexter only made one pass in the XS Chevy Luv, breaking a main shaft in the transmission on the way to a 6.14. Poindexter had run a personal best 4.64 the night before at Texas Raceway.

Howard Brown ran a 4.55 at 162 to qualify sixth but put a cylinder out to do it.

Chuck Nuytten ran a personal best in his Corvette in the first round. His 4.17 at 175 with a .462 reaction time just missed catching Steve Wiley's .438 light and a 4.19 ET by one foot!

Eric Clark made his his first TOPMA race of the year with a new centrifugal blower combo. The team struggled to get into the field with a 4.85, and Clark redlighted a 4.66 away to Ken Thomas in the opening round. The Clark Bros. have run 4.41 so far with the mean little blown engine!

Howard Brown lost in the first round to Thomas Myers and only had seven cylinders to do it on. Myers ran a 4.13 to defeat Brown's distant 5.13.

Frankie Taylor set the track record in the last race here, but he struggled this time with little problems. Taylor ran a 4.08 to qualify number two, but went out in the semis to Thomas Myers.

Ken Thomas dominated at Caddo Mills. He set low ET of each round and went between 4.07 and 4.10 all night to win.

Here is the other side of the Taylor Bros. Royce Homes Corvette. Taylor scraped the wall after applying the new signage -- this is the repaired side.

Steve Willey lays down a killer burnout in the Texas Grim Reaper Camaro.

Wiley was the most consistent car next to Thomas, but his 4.19 lost to Thomas' 4.08.

Myers reached yet another final to pad his points lead over the Frankie Taylor and the other TOPMA racers.

Here is the first try to run the final. A technical glitch led to the full tree being dropped, which invalidated the run. On the rerun, Thomas ran a 4.08 to defeat Myers, who began with a great holeshot at .401, but ended with a flaming shutoff at 9.19.

The current TOPMA points leaders, Thomas Myers and his crew.

Ken Thomas ran 4.10, 4.07, 4.07, 4.08, and another 4.08 in the second final to win. He even ran an unofficial 4.08 on the first try to run the final! This was Ken's second win a row in the TOPMA series and also avenges the April race where he was runner-up to Myers.