Joe Howell is King of the Track at BIR

BRAINERD, Minn. – Joe Howell is the 2015 King of the Track at Brainerd International Raceway.

Howell, who’s racing in BIR’s Bracket Drag Racing Series for the first time this year, narrowly beat Myron Streit in the finals of the King of the Track run-off Saturday to claim the crown, a Wally trophy and bragging rights for a year.

Howell showed up for last weekend’s Bracket race sitting in first place in the Pro ET Class, which qualified him for the King of the Track run-off on Saturday. He had some good luck in the first round when Jon Kelly fouled at the starting line. He beat Joe Moriarty in Round 2 and then faced off against James Findell, who took down last year’s King of the Track, Ben Line, in the first round with a near-perfect reaction time of .001 seconds. But Findell was too quick on the trigger and fouled at the starting line, giving Howell a free pass to the finals against Streit, who has been red hot in the Super Pro Class and was sitting on top of the point standings.

Howell and his 1986 Mustang was a hair quicker off the starting line and held on to beat Streit by 17/1,000ths of a second at the finish line.

“I’ve been racing against Myron for 20 years so when I saw that I was racing him in the finals, I knew I had to step it up,” said Howell, who has been in the King of the Track races at other tracks but had never won.

The King of the Track is an annual race at BIR. It pits the top two racers in each class against each other to determine who represents the class. The winners are then paired up for a run-off, with the last driver standing earning the King of the Track title and a Wally. Howell now has four Wallys.

The King of the Track race was part of the fourth Bracket Drag Racing Series weekend of the season, which featured a lot of winning by racers named Loeffelholz.

Gary Loeffelholz won the Super Pro Class on Sunday with a finals win over his 17-year-old son, Kyle. Gary’s other son, 21-year-old Reno, won the Pro ET Class both Saturday and Sunday, which will shake things up for Howell and the rest of the racers at the top of the standings. Reno was in 17th place entering the weekend.

Reno had his 1968 Mustang dialed in all weekend, beating Brandon Schmall in the finals Saturday with a time of 9.196 seconds and 143.25 mph, and then disposing of Gary Schueneman in Sunday’s finals with a 9.292-second pass at 133.75 mph. There were 82 cars in the Pro ET field.

On top of that, Reno pocketed $2,000 in Saturday’s Super Pro/Pro ET Shootout, where the Super Pro and Pro ET winners race for a $3,000 purse. Reno beat Jack MacFarlane, who took home $1,000 for his efforts.

Schmall rebounded from his Pro ET finals loss Saturday by winning the Sportsman Class by beating Jerry Jolly with a pass of 12.437 seconds and 98.86 mph.

In Pro Bike/Sled, Jimmy Paulson scored a win on Saturday and a runner-up finish on Sunday to maintain his place at the top of the standings. He beat Jayme Bode on Saturday with a 9.361-second run at 133.90 mph, and lost to Mike Voss in Sunday’s finals when Voss ran 9.434 seconds and 129.42 mph.

In Street Trophy, Tyler Gadacz continued his winning ways with finals victories Saturday and Sunday over Hannah Line and Todd Anderson, respectively.

Brian Tuma and his 1934 Roadster took home $1,200 by winning the Quick 16 Shootout Saturday. He beat Jordan Pratt in the finals. Pratt fouled at the starting line but still took home $500 for his runner-up finish.

Two weekends are left in the six-weekend Bracket Drag Racing Series. The next one is Aug. 8-9.

The following are results from the weekend.

SATURDAY, JULY 11

Super Pro
Finals: Jack MacFarlane of Aitkin def. Ryan Scheleck of St. Cloud

Pro ET
Finals: Reno Loeffelholz of Shafer def. Brandon Schmall of Lino Lakes

Sportsman
Finals: Brandon Schmall of Lino Lakes def. Jerry Jolly of Maplewood

Stock/Super Stock
Finals: Douglas Jonak of Zimmerman def. Joe DeMarias of Forest Lake

Pro Bike/Sled
Finals: Jimmy Paulson of Stacy def. Jayme Bode of Gibbon

Comp Trophy
Finals: Sid Osterman of Pequot Lakes def. Mike Larson of Brainerd

Street Trophy
Finals: Taylor Gadacz of Little Falls def. Hannah Line of Cromwell

Junior Dragster Advanced
Finals: Maggie Ruzich of Hibbing def. Cassidy Takacs of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Junior Dragster Intermediate
Finals: Samantha Cielinski of Gilman def. Camryn Takacs of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Junior Dragster Novice
Finals: Dylan Dancer of Foley def. Cameron Giese of Kandiyohi

Super Pro/Pro ET Shootout
Finals: Reno Loeffelholz of Shafer def. Jack MacFarlane of Aitkin

Quick 16 Shootout
Finals: Brian Tuma of Pillager def. Jordan Pratt of Otsego

SUNDAY, JULY 12

Super Pro

Finals: Gary Loeffelholz of Shafer def. Kyle Loeffelholz of Shafer

Pro ET
Finals: Reno Loeffelholz of Shafer def. Gary Schueneman of Elko

Sportsman
Finals: Mark Pease of Corcoran def. Brad Mickle of Lino Lakes

Stock/Super Stock
Finals: James Findell of Zimmerman def. Ron Zenzen of St. Cloud

Pro Bike/Sled
Finals: Mike Voss of Maplewood def. Jimmy Paulson of Stacy

Comp Trophy
Finals: Brandon Keller of St. Cloud def. Andrew Walcheski of Foley

Street Trophy
Finals: Tyler Gadacz of Little Falls def. Todd Anderson of Brainerd

Junior Dragster Advanced
Finals: Sarah Johnson of Nowthen def. Sydney Thompson of Nowthen

Junior Dragster Intermediate
Finals: Camryn Takacs of Thunder Bay, Ontario def. Jazper Wiebusch of Ham Lake

Junior Dragster Novice
Finals: Riley Luberda of Foley def. Dylan Dancer of Foley